2 questions, about chen style tai chi and kung fu books

Breakdancer · Yellow Belt

Hey all i was just wondering how much knowledge can be attained in kung fu books. because in the city i am in, The kung fu school teaches about 5 1/2 hours a week, but its 4 or 3 kung fu styles all at once. So I want to know if kung fu books that teach kung fu will be any help on further instruction when i'm not in the school. So does anyone know if kung fu books help any?

And my second question, does anyone know if chen style tai chi chaun is any good for fighting?

paolung · Orange Belt

chen style taijiquan is one of the more reknowned systems of taiji fighting, but you must train hard to become proficient in ANY system. taijiquan systems traditionally have a relatively long curve for skill, meaning they usually take a while to be usable in a real fight.

books are good for reference material, not really good to "learn" a system persay but perhaps to see other perspectives and refine what you know to some extent.
_________________
"It is not how much you know but how well you have mastered what you've learnt. When making an assessment of one's martial arts training one should measure the depth rather than the length".
- MASTER "General" D. Lacey

aznkarateboi · Brown Belt

WIth books, you can get the basics down, I've read several martial arts books ( i also train at a martial arts school) and they provide a good description of the basics. But only if you follow them word for word and do exactly as they say and make no errors. otherwise you'll develop bad habits. also you will need to train daily

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