Who are the Martial Tai Chi Association (MTA)? (soon to be re-named the Martial Training Association)
The MTA is a group of people (teachers and students) who train in the martial art of Martial Tai Chi (also known as T'ai Chi Ch'uan or Taijiquan) and other styles that employ similar movement methods, including Baguazhang and Xingyiquan.
We are also a fully independent Governing Body that can authorise and arrange insurance for teachers of Martial Tai Chi, or other martial styles being taught in a similar way and in line with our ethos.
We make instructional DVDs (available to buy on this site) that are highly regarded internationally for the quality and quantity of useful martial material they contain.
What is Martial Tai Chi?
Download our leaflet in PDF format.
Martial Tai Chi is Tai Chi that is practiced for the sole purpose of developing fighting skills. We do this so that we can defend ourselves and protect others from harm. We practice and teach the art in an entirely practical way, with absolutely no mystical or spiritual packaging. Students are taught to develop sound body mechanics and tangible physical skills along with a conceptual and tactical understanding of the art.
Martial Tai Chi is not practiced as a method of relaxation, therapy, healing, meditation or spirituality. It is not a way of attaining enlightenment, immortality or supernatural powers of any description.
Nor is it a sport, a pastime or a hobby. Martial training requires dedication, determination, practice and regular attendance. It is not to be undertaken lightly, because it is not easy and it is not always pleasurable. That said, if you throw yourself into it, it is a lot of fun and will bring you a great many benefits. See our Articles page for further information.
Who can do it?
Martial Tai Chi requires a degree of emotional maturity as well as physical and mental co-ordination. It is open to anyone aged 14 or over, that instructors consider to be mature enough to cope responsibly with all aspects of martial training and with any conflicts that might arise in everyday life.
The MTA actively embraces the spirit of equal opportunities, so no one over 14 will be excluded on grounds of gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or age. Reasonable adjustments will be made for students with disabilities.
We endeavour to make our classes as culturally neutral as possible to make training accessible to people from all religious backgrounds, or none at all. The Chinese concepts we discuss are of a purely physical or philosophical nature, relating only to practical fighting theories. We do not practice bowing to the room, to each other, to teachers, pictures, altars or idols, and we do not practice chanting or meditation. Martial Tai Chi requires concentration so that you can perfect your martial techniques and training exercises, but we see supplementary meditation practices as an unnecessary, undesirable and untraditional commercial adjunct.
Martial Morality
Being a moral person is a very important aspect when becoming a martial artist. We ask our members to live by the fairly universal moral / religious values of benevolence, bravery and truthfulness in thoughts, words and deeds.
Our motto is "Safeguard Yourself, Protect Others". A martial artist should not deliberately seek out trouble or pursue vengeance, but it may sometimes be necessary to fight to defend ourselves or others from harm.
The Martial Tai Chi Association (MTA) requires all of its Instructors to:
1) Only ever teach martial arts with the purpose of developing fighting skills, without any exceptions.
2) Never teach martial arts for any of the following (false) purposes - relaxation, therapy, healing, meditation or spirituality.
3) Sincerely teach all of their combat knowledge to all of their students from the outset of training and not just to a select few "inner door" students.
4) Make their teaching as understandable as possible. They must never pass on exercises they do not fully understand the meaning of, or are incapable of explaining the purpose of in plain, anatomical, scientific, or martial terms.
5) Never employ deception or trickery of any sort.
See our Association page, if you think you might like to become a Martial Tai Chi Association Instructor.
See our Classes page if you think you might like to train with us.
