macky
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Post by macky on Sept 4, 2018 2:02:07 GMT
I've never taken much stock of "fights" between different styles of kung fu, or sport fighting varieties. The whole thing is ridiculous and unrealistic.
MMA, boxing and wrestling etc are all fighting under rules. Their exponents are trained to fight re those rules and that's exactly what they will do.
If Tai Chi means anything as a bona fide martial art, and not simply a wonderful health system, then that "Tai Chi master" needed his head read (he got it pummeled anyway) for ever getting into that situation.
He has in my opinion degraded his training and art to the level of common brawling, and there are those who will take that as blanket definitive proof that MMA is better for street fighting or unarmed combat than Tai Chi, with all the connotations of internal power being "mystical hocus pocus" etc etc.
The original martial arts were for putting an antagonist away for good, if necessary. That meant a poke in the eye or the throat, a boot in the nuts that would render the opponent either dead or disabled from fighting any further. That's the sort of thing special military forces learn.
And every martial art was formulated with the particular purpose to overcome the circumstances of their need in the first place. Wing Chun was for lighter women nuns to defend themselves against stronger male bandits etc. It's also ideal for narrow alleyways and backroom passages where close-quarter techniques are required. The vigorous hand-hardening and direct thrusts of karate was the "empty-hand" defence against armed soldiers, able to penetrate bamboo armour and take out an opponent with one or two hits.
In this laughable performance, the "master" was off-balance after the first hit, and how he ever thought he was going to "tap away" punches from his hands held high like he does with his students who are pulling their punches anyway, is beyond me. I hope he went back and apologized to his students after making a fool of himself after this lot, and the taps he got from the MMA brought him to his senses.
There have been accomplished Tai Chi masters such as William Chen who entered contests in Taiwan which were full-contact as normal procedure and Tai Chi exponents were among the winners like any other style. They were common in places like Taiwan before they were known in the West and Robert Smith was one such writer and martial artist himself who has written much about Chinese boxing and internal and external styles.
A mate of mine learned off a Tai Chi master (white) who had been trained by Chinese since his childhood here in Auckland. He watched his master besting trained SAS special forces personnel at their own game, not permanently hurting them because of the high level of his skill.
Smith writes of Tai Chi elder students able to take multiple punches without any sign of discomfort.
A workmate from years ago wanted to learn Tai Chi as a full martial art but spent three months intensive sparring (no pulling of punches) in a boxing gym so he could learn how to fight under duress and semi-consciousness before leaving and taking on Tai Chi.
Perhaps our "master" in the video would have done better had he employed the same strategy.
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macky
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Post by macky on Sept 4, 2018 9:06:33 GMT
Someone "charging" from more than arms distance, I assume? Doesn't shit usually go down at much closer quarters? It was some video with Mikhail Ryabko, couldn't find the video where the guy was further than arms reach but thinking it was more psychological than some invisible force. Here's a different one than the one I was thinking about...
Another workmate who was into internal training taught me a technique where firstly one tries to resist your straight arm at your side being bent in the elbow. Your wrist is grasped and the elbow is pushed against, finally caving by the use of stronger leverage against muscular force.
Then one straightens his/her elbow in a relaxed manner and visualizes a white line of light from the shoulder going down the arm and out of a relaxed pointed finger into the ground. The whole arm remains relaxed. I tried it and the other could not bend my arm, rather I was nearly toppled sideways instead (which wouldn't happen if I was braced, but there you are.)
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Bob50
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Do what you can do, listen to your body, feel your body, drive your body.
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Post by Bob50 on Sept 4, 2018 16:28:42 GMT
Macky, I agree that others can feel the fingers, firearms, and whole body filled with strong Qi (Chi) like iron. Quick transition between the lightness and heaviness is one of the basic Tai Chi skill. There are some physiological mechanisms for that. However, I cannot believe in pushing or pulling without any contacts with regular opponents/partners. On the other hand, I can believe that for such demonstrations, some teachers can choose super-sensitive persons.
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macky
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Post by macky on Sept 4, 2018 19:40:53 GMT
You're right Bob. The whole thing's open to so many variables it's hard to get any sense of consistency of skill set (such as unbalancing someone by pulling and pushing against their energy field as I did with my wife, would it have worked with anyone at all ?) and since it's mind directed, how much is the mind diverted by other minds watching ? etc etc
I remember reading somewhere way back that a Tai Chi master's ( a real one) arm is like an iron rod (bone) inside cotton wrapping, or something similar.
Just doing a Baduanjin set for several months in a relaxed (as possible) manner, with Mind on dantien and the movements thereof, brought a softness of muscles to the touch, but I could instantly harden them rock solid without strain i.e. the breathing remained quiet and steady.
It's the same chi kung protocol, Mind, Energy, then Form in that order. The Forms being either exercise movements or still holds, or combat moves particular to a style.
At least that's the way I see it. Others more experienced may have a better view.
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denis
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Post by denis on Dec 6, 2021 14:35:21 GMT
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Post by stormshadow on Dec 6, 2021 16:17:34 GMT
Thanks Denis. That is an excellent exercise. Never saw it before.
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Post by mr potatohead on Dec 6, 2021 19:46:27 GMT
Pete Wagner always said, "If you're not twisting, you're not exercising."
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macky
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Post by macky on Dec 10, 2021 0:11:18 GMT
Here's another advocate of the utterly simple exercise/chi kung Ping Shuai Swinging Arms, by an ex-Israeli navy seal. Obviously as Bob et al would know, the exercise itself is beneficial just from the relaxed repetitive simple movements, but the Mind concentrating quietly on the Lower Dantian area (lower belly) makes it a bona fide Chi kung practice.
DON'T use weights in the hands. It's a chi kung not a conventional exercise. It is the deliberate stimulation of the chi/bio-energy through the arm movements and then back into the organs of the body that is the targeted benefit, not how much strength one can develop in the muscles through the use of weights.
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