What is Old Yang Style Tai Chi Chuan like at Silent Dragon?

We teach the original 19th century old style Tai Chi Chuan of Yang, Cheng Fu, or Yang, Lo Sin. This is the original Yang family style, from which is descended the “long” 108 movement Yang form (the old form is 128 moves) and the “short” 36 move form of Cheng, Man-Ching.

This includes not just the form, but also the basic “energies,” the traditional applications, and the philosophical underpinnings needed to develop your own applications on the spur of the moment. But Tai Chi is much more than “just the form.”

“Tai Chi Chuan” translates to “Supreme Ultimate Fist,” which is another way of saying, “My Kung Fu is better than your Kung Fu.” We teach the internal and external exercises necessary to develop a powerful, useful 19th century martial art that will work in today’s world. It is not necessary to devote decades of study and twenty hours a week to reach a satisfactory level of internal power and health; we have developed a curriculum that will allow you to do so in three to five hours per week in two or three classes. This will not make you an instant master but it is usually enough for most modern people. Of course, if you decide to go further, we make extra time and space available.

We teach the meditational or “scholars chi Kung (or qigong),” the healing or “doctor’s chi Kung,” and the fighting art and physical exercise chi Kung. These are so rare that most people have never even heard of them, and even most teachers have only read about them in books. Living in such close proximity to New York City, we have had the opportunity and made the effort to meet and learn from teachers that live there or come in for seminars. We also bring our own teachers in for seminars when possible.

We also teach and demonstrate the acupuncture point striking, or Dim Mak. This is the legendary “poison hand” that is often written about but seldom seen. It involves knowledge of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) including knowledge of acupuncture, herbalism, massage, and meditation.

Please understand that we do not claim to be the complete font of knowledge for Tai Chi, but we have access to individuals who are herbalists, or masseurs, or acupuncturists, etc, that are patient enough to answer our questions, and friendly enough to answer them again.

Tai Chi is a martial art, and we teach it as such. I know that many people are now teaching it “for health”—I have a class at the Milford Senior Center (7 bucks per year for Milford residents only—and that’s the membership at the center—my classes come free with your membership). Others describe it as “moving meditation,” or “dance like,” or “relaxing,” and it is all those things, and we have friends who teach Tai Chi in those “flavors.”

But we can beat them up.

Okay, that was mean. But the point is that Tai Chi is a form of Kung Fu, and if the fighting skills are not honored, it is no longer Tai Chi. More importantly, the benefits that everyone wants from Tai Chi (calm, balance, strength, health, etc.) can be achieved only at a ten or twenty per cent level if the martial training is not applied. Even an understanding of the martial applications enables the student to get a far higher ratio of benefits. It is generally understood that, even if the student does not wish to train as a Tai Chi fighter, the teacher should be familiar with the martial training. Unfortunately, this is seldom the case. On television, tai chi is demonstrated, badly, by people who seem to be moving slowly underwater while stoned on valium. Do you wonder how this will get you in shape? The answer is, it won’t. The form shown on TV is the flower of Tai Chi—pretty, but with little real nutritive value. The stems, leaves, and fruit of Tai Chi cannot be shown on TV. But Tai Chi is associated by advertisers with health, relaxation, and of course, automobiles.

If that is what you are looking for, my advice is to go with just the valium.

Many readers will by this time have decided that Silent Dragon is definitely not for them. This page is to keep you kind folks from wasting my time (and yours). I urge you to hunt around for a teacher that will fulfill your needs, remembering the Chinese saying that it is better to search seven years for a good teacher than to spend ten years with a poor one. Most Kung Fu and Tai Chi practitioners in Connecticut eventually check us out. We welcome questions and will do our best to answer them in a clear and concise manner. If you e-mail me with a question, I will add it to the FAQ list.

For the rest of you, who feel they might be interested in contacting me, or in seeing a genuine 19th century martial art in action, please feel free to call me. I would be honored to speak with you.

Once again, let me make the point that Steve Watson, who now owns and teaches at the Branford, CT Silent Dragon, is the Amateur Athletic Associations’ (the group that puts on the Olympics) current World Grand Champion, being unbeaten in National and International contests, and is also the U.S. Wu Shu Federation’s Grand Champion. He is acknowledged, however reluctantly, both by the People’s Republic of China and the (Taiwanese) Republic of China.

Ramsey Yunnan, another long time Silent Dragon student, who teaches in Far Hills, New Jersey, is the middleweight runner up for the Wu Shu Federation U.S. Tai Chi Championship.

We have other students who regularly place and win in regional and state competitions. For a little nothing school in suburban Connecticut to gain this sort of national and international reputation is surprising, at least to me. China is hosting the Olympics in 2008 and is expected to pick martial arts as it’s National Sport, this means that Steve will certainly go and perhaps other members of our student body may participate as well.