In ancient times when a student embarked upon the study of martial arts he was made to undergo a series of rigorous body conditioning exercises for a considerable period of time before he ever threw a punch.
Unfortunately today very few have the patience or dedication to follow this tried and tested process to success in the Martial Arts instead most attempt to seek short cuts and easy methods to mastery. To these I say "There are no short cuts . If the way is easy it is not the true way."
Even for those who are willing to follow the true path the road to mastery is beset by false trails , incompetent and corrupt teachers and esoteric mysticism designed to beguile the mind and relieve one of ones hard earned money.
For the fortunate money is the only thing that they lose, the unfortunate end up physically and/or psychologically damaged by the experience.
How can a novice know what is good and what is bad ? It is impossible for them to tell. Often what looks the most spectacular is the worst thing that they can do, and what seems like nothing is the most profound ability in Martial Arts. The best that a novice can hope for is to seek out a teacher with a tried and tested reputation of producing quality students but this is often not possible outside the major industrial centres.
In Taijiquan the situation is even more desperate as the majority of modern day teachers know nothing of the Martial Art, instead claiming to teach the Art for "Health Purposes" only. Some of these unscrupulous individuals claim that mere practise of the form over a 20 year period is sufficient to make one an invincible fighter. As this is never put to the test everybody can believe it with impunity.
Since they have nothing to teach but the external semblance of the Empty Hand Form, and perhaps the sword form, they add in a lot of esoteric mysticism to convince their students that they are learning the most profound Art. They produce concepts such as "Empty Force" and "Qi Power" with which they can defeat opponents with no force and sometimes without even making contact.
Many practitioners of Taijiquan end up with knee problems primarily because they have been taught by "Masters" who have only learnt for "health Purposes" and know nothing of the purpose and function of the Empty Hand Form. Their bad posture and technique would have been easily exposed had they practised Tui Shou (Pushing Hands) to any degree whatsoever.
What is surprising that even competent Martial Artists who have attained a high standard in their Art by dedicated practise and training can be taken in by these charlatans. It seems that having reached the pinnacle of achievement in their art they lose their way and cannot see how to improve. Thus they seize on any promise of supranormal abilities that can be developed by special training methods. These methods ,however, by some strange coincidence do not require the pain and dedicated training that these practitioners have put themselves through for many years. Unfortunately for them this is not the case. Higher skill requires greater dedication and practise for the achievement of a much smaller degree of improvement.
Many people come to Taijiquan with preconceptions as to what it is and what it can do for them. Unfortunately they have been informed by people whose knowledge of Taijiquan is either limited to watching some old people practising in a park , the deluded ramblings of hippies, or the fantastical claims of unscrupulous conmen who pray on peoples natural desire to acquire something for nothing.
A large majority of people in the West have no idea that Taijiquan is a martial art. They refer to it as just Tai Chi and they "play Tai Chi" as if it were some passtime. Many teachers justify this by saying that in the modern age there is no need for martial training but if that were the case then how do they explain away the popularity of karate, kickboxing and the huge explosion in martial arts in the West.
The simple reason for the reluctance to teach the proper martial style is because it is difficult and takes a lot of effort, dedication and skill and it is easier to make money teaching something that requires little effort on the parts of both the teacher and the student.
Many move from style to style, from teacher to teacher in the hope of finding the elusive secret that they know is there but either their teachers wont teach them or their teachers dont know. This is understandable in all Modern Martial Arts as most people start teaching with an inadequate understanding of their art having only practised for a few years. Their art is incomplete yet they insist on teaching. Since their art is incomplete their students art will be more so. In Taijiquan this is even more apparent when there are so many "Sifus" who can only do the empty hand form and then very badly. It is hardly surprising that they supplement their meagre knowledge with amazing tales of the prowess of their teachers and the great Martial Lineage to which they purportedly belong. The Emperor may not have any clothes but these guys look very fetching in their silk pyjamas.
Having said that there is also a tradition of learning by teaching whereby senior students advance by teaching others. The knowledge gained from this is essential to the growth of understanding of an art. However it must be done in the correct way with humility and with correction from the true Master