Real Tai Chi Is TERRIFYING

Then there comes into this neck. And now let me show you what it looks like in the form. Exact same moves I just did. That's Dr. Mark Ching, a world-famous Tai Chi expert who believes that these moves were never intended to be a health practice. There's that first arm break. There's the drag. Here's a nut shot. It seems everyone are wrong about Tai Chi. Including me. So I thought Tai Chi was for old people in parks. Any of the traditional martial arts have physical practices, right? That lend to a healthier body. We're training posture. We're training alignment. We're training coordination. But the origins of the system are much more rough and tumble. These were martial arts that came from people that were palace guards. People who were bodyguards and such. So their martial arts had to be very effective and very no-nonsense. For example, you almost always see them do this. It looks like that kind of zombie-ish move. You're doing the Tai Chi zombie. And like, what are you going to do? Zombie after somebody? If you're grabbing my wrist. So that's the initial up and down. So as you're here, like whether it's on my biceps. Yeah. Even if it's like a lapel grab. Right. And then here, I don't even need to continue grabbing this wrist. No. I have two for the price of one. I could throw you over the leg or I could just break right here. Then there comes into this next part from here. There's the hit. And so these are all different applications. And now let me show you what it looks like in the form. This we already did. Yeah. This we already did. From here, I just shifted and turned. Came back. Ward off. Roll out. Pull back. And this pull back was the neck crank into the technique. Do Tai Chi practitioners know that this is what they're actually practicing? The beauty of Tai Chi is it's sort of like a knife, right? You can have a knife and you can use it for cooking. Or you can have a knife and use it as a self-defense tool. Tai Chi is taught mostly, is marketed mostly as health exercise. It's outstanding, truly zero impact exercise, right? Because like you're not having to stomp down or anything like that. Every step should be executed in such a way where as you put your foot down, you are in perfect balance on your standing leg. That does great things for your joints. Yeah. And certainly a lot for soft tissue health. And also perhaps mental health. Certainly. Anxiety. Yeah. And if you think about what anxiety can be as far as an explanation, an inability to control the dimmer switch of your mind. So it feels like it's always on that kind of full brightness. Like I can't tone down. I can't chill out. I can't relax. I can't feel calm or feel good. Yeah. So the beauty of Tai Chi is it gives you a chance to explore such slow movement. Exactly. Right? Like even our kicks. To be able to kick in such a way where like you're really taking your time kicking slowly and staying loose in a way that doesn't require momentum is a little bit different. But the thing is that like if we lull ourselves into thinking like, oh look, I can work slow and now I can fight. Yeah. If you haven't tested it, no. So one needs to actually practice the application of these movements. Absolutely. And just like, you know, in boxing, if we're doing jab cross and hitting pads, right? Similarly, we have to be able to do the same thing on a live opponent or a live target. Can we look at the practical application of that kick you did and the hand formation? It looked kind of interesting. Okay. So like oftentimes people see this and they're like, why are you putting two hands out there like that? Let's say you're attacking me however you want to attack. Okay. Right. So I'm going to intercept like this, right? Yeah. From here, I'm going to push this around. Yeah. Come back around, hit again. Yeah. Kick there. That was the second kick. Yes. Okay. What if the guy's like already on top of me and he's like already choking me or whatever. Hugging me like, oh, how do you kick from here? You don't. No. Yeah. You know, you don't. You do something else. You counter grapple. You throw. You do something. You sweep. Yes. But like every tool has its proper contextual application. So like I'm going to use a longer weapon at longer range. So whether here, but then. Let me break that down frame by frame. So like. Oh, that's a joint lock. Pulling across. Arm drag. Hitting up. Yeah. So there's, I have an option for cranking this, right? Yeah. And then I have a groin shot here. And so as I'm moving. One. There's that first arm break. There's the drag. Here's another arm crank. Here's a nut shot. All these different movements and opportunistic strikes or cranks, joint cranks. Yes. That are hidden within the form. Let's keep going. Absolutely. Other applications. I'm loving this. Very cool. One that I'm particularly fond of is one that's called strike tiger. Stripe. Strike. Strike tiger. Yeah. The ending posture looks like this. All right. And so like. Oh, you're powerful. Yeah, you're like. Okay. So that looks cool. It looks like very, like something you would see even in kata, right? Japanese kata. Exactly. Yeah. There are a lot of these motions in karate. If we rewind a little bit and look at what precedes that. We have a movement that's like just a basic front kick. Bring the feet together. It looks almost like a hula move from here, right? Step. Pull. Across. And then that strike tiger bit right here, right? So if I could have you over here on this side. And you're to come at me with whatever. I like that. That you always want me to just do whatever. Because the thing is that to me. If everything I do works only under a very, very narrow set of circumstances. Then like, okay. Then my level of ability is limited. Super limited. If I can capitalize on whatever you do. And guide you into the thing that I want to do. Then that's a different level of understanding. Exactly. Yeah. Okay. So. So I'm coming at you. Bam! Right? Right. I'm going to hit. Grab. There's a joint control here. Yeah. And I'm going to be gentle on the shoulder. So I'm engulfing you this way. So that's. This is strike tiger. Yeah. So what if I would grab you. And attack you. So this is. Yeah. Hand strumming the lute in Taiji. So like if you were to grab and attack. Yeah. I would duck out. And then twist the wrist. So that now I'm biasing your elbow downward. Right? Yep. And then hug upwards. Yeah, exactly. And so from here. Then I can brace you against my own body. Now arguably people are going to say. Oh but I could claw you. And grab you. And do all these other things. You could. But then I have your elbow. So then like. If I decided to do like. Hip forward and snap that. Then that game is over. And then from there. Then it comes right into another hit. So in the form it'll look like this. A brush knee. And hands play the pipa. And then into another brush knee. What about if I kick you? How would you defend? Let's say a roundhouse. The same direction, right? So. They do this in Thai boxing actually. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So I mean if you want to know like. Does it work in the ring? Yeah. I mean Thai boxers do it. So like I'm not doing this. No. I'm not standing my ground. And trying to eat this, right? Exactly. No. So I'm doing like. Catching the kick from here, right? Yeah. And then coming back with the same thing. The other side. So what I'm doing is. Once I catch. I then want to reject. So coming from the catch. I'm going to push this down. And let's say the hands come at the same time, right? Oh, you mean I would punch you? I mean if I'm holding here, right? What would you do? Right, I'll go back. Or I would try to pull it out. Right, right, right. So it's like. Boom. Yeah. Right. Then I can go into another. Any of the other techniques. Depending on where your landmarks are. So what I did there was. What's called. Part wild horse's mane. Which isn't in the form. Directly after. The strike tiger. But. You can mix and match it. Another thing that. I see a lot in Tai Chi is. Push hands. Yes. If I'm pushing towards you. And you just yield. Let this let. Let redirect my force. Because I'm going to push towards the center of your chest. You're going to let it glide off to the side. And then you're going to return to sender, right? And I'm going to do the same thing. And this is one platform. In which we're doing it. Because we're in open stance. We can also go closed stance. We can also switch and do the other side. So like. If we're here. Right. And you start to punch, right? And I'm first intercept. And then redirect. Yes. This is not that different from. Yeah. Right. Exactly. But again. I'm also training myself. So as let's say you punch, right? Yeah. I'm deflecting. But then I'm training myself. That I need to return to sender. It's not like. Oh, I defended myself. Okay. Great. Awesome. Yeah. You got to return to sender right away. And that's a high level fighting concept. That's hidden inside. Yes. Of the push hands. Yes. But similarly too. It teaches me that like. Let's say I'm successfully deflecting this. But then I start going back along the same line. Yeah. But if there's resistance. I don't want to fight force with force. I want to just find something else. So like create a moment of unbalance. Yes. To either attack some other way. Or open up a different opportunity. What about elbows and knees? You strike with those as well. As you're attacking. I'm going to deflect. But then I'm going to try and melt into that opening. Like the opening right under here. And just drop in. Yeah. Turning my face away. So that I don't have to deal with the incoming blow. Right. And hit here. Right. Then I'm going to spin out to create space. So in the form it'll look like this. Here. Elbow back. And then I'm going to step out. And then that. Okay. And knee strikes. Ah, knee strikes. So one of the things like. Let's say you're doing a double choke. Or something like that. Or like even a lapel grab. Like grab my gi or whatever. Right. I can also pull you down from here at the same time. As I pull you down. I'm going to leverage your knee up. I'm sorry. Your chin up. As your chin goes up. Your groin goes forward. Yep. This is a wonderful thing for me. If I want to be kneeing you in the groin. Right. Yeah. The beauty of this two-pronged attack is. If I knee your groin. Your face comes forward. Yeah. If I hyperextend your neck. Your groin comes forward. Yeah. Perfect combo. Right. Yeah. So the idea in the form is. It looks like this. So when you see movements like this. Yeah. That's the idea. If I did a karate kata slowly. It will be almost like tai chi. So think about this. Actually I remember reading an article. About the late Kanazawa sensei. Okay. Kanazawa Hirokazu sensei. Yeah. Saying that like. I believe it was him. Who studied tai chi. At the urging of one of his seniors. And he said that it made his karate even better. Because he actually started relaxing more. Yeah. And I thought wow. That's really cool. Because this guy is like. An incredible fighter in his day. Yeah. And so I keep thinking like. In karate. If you were to do the movements slowly. Try to relax. And do them in like. With proper alignment. But minimum like tension. And like angst. So if we were to like. Take our time and like. Right. Yeah exactly. Right. Yeah. I mean it would make sense that. You still be able to reap the benefits of. A tai chi-ish kind of thing. Exactly. But again. Can you dial it all the way down? Can you go even slower? The slower we go. The more demand we place on our stabilizing muscles. Yeah. So for those of your audience. Who are physical therapists. And strength coaches. They totally get that. And it's more time under load. Yeah. So if you think about it right. Like if. What's the longest kata? Traditional Japanese kata that you know. How long would it take? In minutes? Yeah minutes. Maybe three or four. Okay. So the yang style large frame long form. One rep through at moderate speed. Moderate speed. Is about 30 minutes. What? One rep. So that's insane. Right. It's a totally different paradigm shift. So when you're working the legs that much. When you're working the stance that much. You're developing an incredible amount of endurance there. Try to train your movement in such a way. Where you are your own slow-mo replay. Okay. Because you want to be able to develop that kind of postural control. And also have that time to be able to audit yourself. So in other words. Like if I'm moving fast. Like whatever. Like doing whatever movements I want to do. How much time do I have to perceive error in my movement? Not a lot. No. But if I have a lot of time. Where like I can just. Oh yeah. I can straighten up a little bit more. Oh yeah. I can relax my shoulders a little bit more. Oh I can extend a little bit straight. Whatever right. Yeah. We have time for those kinds of audits. And as we have time for those kinds of audits. Then we can improve. Yeah. But if we're going too fast. Again covering up our mistakes with speed. Yeah. We don't have that chance to improve. No exactly. I can see how this is useful. Even for people who do modern combat sports. Let's say somebody does MMA. Just working their jab slowly. Instead of always doing it fast. Just these basic things. And in some gyms. That's how they warm up. Like they'll actually warm up. Just nice and easy. Relaxed. So it's like they're grooving pain-free movement. Yeah. Nice biomechanics. And if you think about it. What's the difference between shadow boxing and kata? There's none. Yeah. Really there's none. The only difference is maybe one has a preset sequence. Yeah. And another is a little bit more freestyle. But ideally no matter what. You should be working with the intent of. Okay. I have to react to something. Even if it's imaginary. And at the same time too. I want to practice good biomechanics. And good presence of mind. And then that would translate as well. To a real fighting situation. Can. Can translate. So what we don't train. What we don't test. What we don't stimulate. To come out. Under challenge. We don't know. So in theory. We have these attributes. But whether or not you can call on those attributes. Under the duress of combat. That remains to be seen. Like let's say I was. I'm working a throw right. Like just like a basic hip throw right. If I have. If the only way I can do it. Is to come in here. And just do that hip throw super fast. And have to do it with that kind of violence. And speed. And whatever right. Versus like okay here. Here. Oh here. Yeah. It's a different thing. Like when you have the chance to feel. And move slowly. Yes. And then there's less threat. And less chance for injury as well. So your training partners like you better as well. Yeah. And they also learn more as well. True. You can throw me quickly. A hundred times. But when you did that slowly right now. I also observed your movements. And understood how it impacted me. So we're both learning more. Certainly. That to me is the idea behind martial arts. You should create a situation where everybody wins. Yeah. Right. At least in training. So that when someone can't win. We're able to go that way too. All right. Well thank you so much. This was a true pleasure and honor. And I hope all of you enjoyed that.