As my martial arts training progresses I find myself comparing the journey to the one I’ve made in chess. One of the main differences is that chess players are involved in all-out combat whenever we play a game. Martial artists, on the other hand, are almost never called upon to demonstrate any skill except in some controlled and highly legislated way. So competition is not really a good guide and ratings based on results alone are not the way things are done. So how can someone distinguish the good from the bad, particularly with regard to martial arts schools and teachers?

I’ve been asking myself this question of late because I have an urge to extend my Zhan Zhuang practice beyond health applications and learn to actually defend myself. A conversation with my teacher indicated that if I learned Master Lam Kam Chuen’s Tai Chi form it could be used as the basis for some Tai Chi applications.

There are a couple of problems to be overcome here; firstly I’d have to learn the form from a book because my teacher hasn’t qualified in this as yet, though maybe this is not quite as problematic as it seems because to a large extent the Lam style connects the Zhan Zhuang postures. Then I need to acquire a knowledge of applications and maybe some combat practice.

Anyhow, these thoughts have led me to the idea of studying Tai Chi with a student of Dan Docherty, a controversial figure whose book (Complete Tai Chi Chuan) I’m currently reading. It seems that his ‘Wudang Style Tai Chi’ may be just what I need as he takes a broadminded approach to the form whilst applications are studied alongside from day one. They train people to fight (albeit in competition) and this all tallies more closely with my chess experience; book learning plus a bit of combat.