About your martial tools
Tai Chi Chuan is also a very soft (yin) fighting system.
It’s the great and deadly martial art that it's said to be.
But it takes many years before Tai Chi Chuan is feasible on a practical martial level.
Hand techniques to strike the accupoints.
Why laughing is good for you.
When applied to the martial arts the goal of Tai Chi Chuan is
to strike particular points in a specific way.
102 year old Master Tang
Taoist theories were easily applied to the martial
arts in tune with the natural order of things,
but completely different from other fighting techniques.
Thus Tai Chi Chuan became the most powerful martial art ever invented.
If one cannot utilize Tai Chi principles on a martial demonstrable level,
then he (she*) is not very advanced
and should not be teaching Tai Chi Chuan.
Cheng Man ch' ing.
Argue for your limitations and, sure they are yours.
In Tai Chi Chuan theory is practice, and practice is theory.
Don't argue for your limitations, show your practice.
There is a gap between Tai Chi theory and Tai Chi practice.
Few people realize the martial foundation of Tai Chi Chuan.
Fewer people are studying it as a "complete martial art".
Tai Chi Chuan is the great and complete martial art that it's said to be.
Yin and Yang are mutually controlling each other,
this is a basic mechanism in nature.
The ancient observations of the Taoists have practical applications
in our own quest for physical and mental wellness.
We’ll try to study Tai Chi Chuan as a complete and a serious martial art.
Tai Chi Chuan is much more than relaxation,
more than 'feelings' or 'good vibrations'.
Woman and man, you manage the facts and the energy.
No Barbie Tai Chi, no dress up games and scooby doo,
including the range of dolls with their clothes.
If belts become more important than the learning process than there is a problem with the
martial arts school philosophy or the teacher. If bullying becomes more important than harmony
and complementarity, than there is a very serious problem with the teacher. In that case he
needs some help, go to another teacher. We all know that man and woman are not equal, but I am
a deep believer in equal rights for male and female students. A no, It isn't that easy to think
of MMA (mixed martial arts). In our school we like to play the mixed version of the art. There
seems to be a good mix of male/female students in our school, we have found a (48% females / 52%
males) balance in motivation, making martial arts appealing to both genders.
Thinking that both, male and female work it out is a good idea. Man and women do not need to
train differently to see results, the basic point is that both male and female students would
have the same practice: the same practice with a different view in a different light. It all
comes down to the different way men and women see the world, how they feel and think. Harmony
should be the password.
Man and women
live in the same world, so why do they see it so differently ?
Why men and women do look at the same things in a different light ?
Just this :
Women need a reason to practice a martial art,
men just need a place.
"Ah women, they make highs (yang) higher (more yang, less yin)
and lows (yin) more frequent (more yin, less yang)".
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
After thousands of years of male dominance
we now stand at the beginning of the feminine era.
Not all men and women feel this way, but certainly most of them do. I've reached the age where
competence is a turn-on, so I can't imagine life without yin-yang interaction. Can you imagine
Yang without Yin ? Can you imagine a world without women ? Can you imagine a martial arts class
without women ? Are there a lot of women in your class ? Well than, go to another school, women
just need a balance, and not too much of the same.
Most women are not interested in learning martial arts and therefore three things are necessary.
One thing is : women need a reason to practice a martial art (men need a place). Second : let
women (yin) think they are having it their own way (the yin way). And the other is to let them
have it. A martial arts class is not to gain skills to fight the bully, it's for the confidence in
our own way, a reasonable level of confidence in our own abilities. Women need a reason to
practice martial applications and confidence is a tool they can use in their everyday life.
Without a humble but reasonable confidence in our own power-tools we cannot be succesful or happy.
Other people's opinion do not have to become your reality.
Free fighting
You don’t manage your opponent; you manage the facts and the energy.
Free fighting.
Free fighting means not searching for something or something else but sinking.
Work with your shoulder blades using hips and waist.
Your waist works for you.
Do that.
Pushes and open hand strikes are more common than punches.
Kicks: usually to the legs and the torso.
Fingers, wrists, palms, elbows, shoulders, back,
hips and knees are used to strike.
There is also a repertoire of acupressure points and many different punches
and strikes to the eyes, throat, heart and the groin... The 'real stuff'.
Open, loose, relaxed and free.
Even under pressure.
Make what is real look unreal.
Make what is unreal appear real.
Attack where he is unprepared.
Appear where you are not expected.
Sun Tzu
Appear where you are not expected.
Pachui:
Small and large sansau.
As Erle said, "a sitting duck attitude (a student in workshop conditions) will not help you if you do not know to react
reflexively. How to move the body naturally, how to gain what is called 'Fa-Jing-Power' so that you will able to strike
with great power over a very short distance. And that's where fighting happens, in your face. You simply do not have the
time to pull your fist back to your hip and line up your body for a perfect Washi-geri. Fighting happens in an instant and
your sub-conscious brain must be ready to react often even before the attacker has moved". The small and large sansau
teaches this area.
Small san sau
Sitting duck attitude.
If the attack is weak it trains nothing.
walter.marsoul@telenet.be
Official certificated WTBA instructor
Official certificated WTBA chief instructor for Belgium
Small san sau
Footwork is pretty straight forward.
Students learn to use angles of attack and defence in actual combat.
Students learn to strike acupuncture points.
Don't limit yourself to boxing punches. Work Taiji hand techniques,
every move we make could be a fa jin strike to an acupuncture point.
Chin Na Tai Chi Chuan: holds, locks and pressure point attacks.
'Chin' means tool. 'Na' means hold and lock.
For every attack there is a counter attack.
For every counterattack there is a counterattack.
Chin Na Tai Chi Chuan
Locks and holds.
This technique is very gentle by traditional Tai Chi standards
yet what I am doing here is very brutal.
Every move you make in the form is indicative of very dangerous strikes.
As Erle said : "No matter how insignificant the move, it means something".
Tiny turnings of both hands can make a world of a difference.
In Tai Chi Chuan we need to have both Yin and Yang in our hands and feet. When one hand is Yin,
the other is Yang, when one foot is Yin the other is Yang. A Yin hand (rest) creates a Yang hand
(activity), a Yang hand creates a Yin hand. A Yin foot (rest) creates a Yang foot (activity), a
Yang foot creates a Yin foot. Both hands and feet are interdependent, there is a constant
relationship and interaction.
Rolling, attaching or sensing hands:
Make your opponent feel that when he looks upward, you are much taller.
When he looks downward, you are much lower.
When he moves forward he should feel that he cannot reach you.
When he retreats, he should feel that he has nowhere to escape to.
Left-right and right-left routines.
We don't need automatism, we need routines.
The issue you mentioned about automatism is that we don't need them.
Self defense implies acting, and acting implies decision.
We don't need automatism,
we need routines, subroutines and interrupt routines.
Pang - Hingh routines.
You need routines
A martial technique becomes a routine.
A routine becomes a 'no-technique free martial application'.
Suddenly you did it ....and it worked.
When we attempt to throw a punch,
we have to bring back the arm and tense muscles
in order to drive the arm forward again.
The forward motion picks up speed as it comes toward the target.
By contrast, a real Tai Chi punch is 'a motionless drive'.
It is not necessary to draw back the arm at all.
Physical power is visible, internal power is invisible.
The same motionless drive applies to any Tai Chi motion,
be it strike, chop, back fist, kick, jab, shoulder strike...
The exact target can be easily located with this method.
Martial form with the short stick.
The stick is one of the most practical weapons, in our school we use this type of Filipino
stick as a primary training aid. The relation between weapon forms and empty hand forms is
very interesting. There are different strikes based upon angles which are done with weapons
or empty hands. Finally our arm is a stick, your two arms are basically two sticks (nunchaku's
are two connected short sticks or "two connected arms").
Empty hand forms refer to the absence of weapons (sticks), they are derived from the movements
with the weapons and are thought within the framework of weapons techniques. The principles are
exactly the same, but training empty hand forms is safer, weapons they magnifies the errors in
your movements and that's a good thing. As in Wing Chun, arms are basically two sticks
(Wing Chun sticky hands). Look at your empty hands as sticks, sharp or pointy things, heavy
(hammer fist) things. We can do weapon forms without the weapon, or, we can do empty hand
forms with weapons. Therefore we get the best benefits from practicing "empty mind Tai Chi Chuan",
we must be able to focus on the martial applications while practicing the empty hand form,
and we must be able to focus on the form while practicing weapon forms. As in Tai Chi Chuan, in
all weapon forms 'the hook' is very important, it gives you the ability to control your attacker.
Martial Forms.
The form can tone your body. After years then -using the wisdom of the body-, your body
must be able to run with the concept of your form, and adapt it in any number of brand
new ways and situations.
When your body finds a lot of different manifestations of the same move, but in different
venues your body will be able to adapt itself, just as your body responds to memories of the
past it will respond to any (dangerous) situation. It will respond the same way, every
time to any event (routines) and begin to make the necessary changes.
Since the movements and concepts are essentially the same, stress levels will start to
decrease, reducing stress and boosting energy. The question is how do you view the weapon in
your hand, is it something you think about when using it, or is it an extension of your
energy ? In Tai Chi Chuan a weapon is always an extension of energy. Most important, your
Tai Chi form should be an embodiment for spiritual practice that requires understanding
truth in all of its complexity, if one understands the form in this manner, one should be
able to hear about all ways and be more and more in accord with his own way.
Some people say there is a world of difference between training
Tai Chi for health and training it for self defence.
As far as I think about it now: this is not my opinion.
Healing and self defence are the same things.
Both acupuncturists and Chinese martial artists use the same acupoints
In this way combinations of acupoints can be stimulated simultaneously
according to traditional Chinese medicine.
Acupuncturists mostly use their different types of needles
in a deep vertical and clinically correct manner.
Moxibustion also incorporates the use of heating an acupoint stimulating
or regulating the correct energy flow.
The effects on the brain and organ functions are crucial.
But each action has an equal and an opposite.
This situation could be very dangerous.
So, in this particular case your defence should be a very brutal attack.
Martial application derived from Tai Chi posture 'Pick up the ball'.
Attacking 2 set up points and 4 dangerous areas on your opponents body 'at the same time'
using your bagua step and your violent fa jing movements.
(Red circles; 3 attacking areas)
Internal Chinese martial arts offer a variety of subtle skills to manipulate,
to block,to weaken, to change, to destroy or to interrupt the correct energy(chi) flow.
The effects on the brain and organ functions are crucial.
Which is incorrect.
But:
Everything has an equal and an opposite (Lao Tse).
Dead point striking is 'medical Tai Chi stuff’.
The practioner penetrates into acupoints on a very focused manner
to press his chi power into the meridians.
From the meridians chi power goes into the particular organs.
In a real fight the use and combination of acupoints
is not so easy to do as many beginners may think.
Dead point striking is very advanced medical / mental Tai Chi stuff.
Dead point striking is the highest level of Tai Chi Chuan,
It’s the real Tai Chi stuff for advanced and serious students.
But on this point you also need a real and a competent teacher.
Don’t try to do this on your own just for fun
or to impress your neighbours or the girl next door.
She was still impressed.
Tai chi chuan contains real physical ‘street fighting tools’.
Remember in Tai Chi Chuan, as in life, when you over- extend
you are setting yourself up for a fall.
Find your center, stay in your center..
Be prepared for a real confrontation.
An explosive Fa Jing is your greatest fighting tool.
Soft Fa Jing:
Powerful without using external power.
When you must choose between speed and explosivity,
choose explosivity.
When you must choose between speed and direction,
choose direction.
Speed and explosivity are two different things
Speed is a manifestation of an external power
Explosivity is a manifestation of an internal power.
When fighting one will neither have time to think, one can only react.
In Tai Chi the body follows the mind as a shadow.
The body reacts in the way it has been trained.
Your body reacts in the way it has been trained.
Is your body really trained for 'the right body-mind reaction'?
How relaxed, how athletic, how alert, how concentred,
how co-ordinated,
how 'song' are you?
Tai Chi fighting rules should be strictly observed:
°When over- reacting you are setting yourself up for a fall.
Don’t move quickly, move explosively.
°When defending move at the same speed as your opponent.
When attacking, attack first.
°Keep contact all times and do not double weight.
°Try 'to song', even under pressure.
°Less is more.
Tai Chi Classics: about your martial tools
Speed does not determine victory
Tai Chi Classics
The chi must be drummed and vibrated.
(Chang San-feng?)
The question is:
How to increase inner energy (= chi),
transform it into inner power (= jing)°
How to project your inner energy outward?
How?
°Jing is a high-frequency vibration controlled by the mind and integrated by mind/body
coordination into an ultra-fast wave-like unit. Or, (in the martial sense) into an
explosive unit (fa jing).
°There is also a difference between physical speed and mind speed on the other hand.
The 'high speed of the mind' can, for example treat a period made of millions of years as a mere moment.
About enemies
A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies.
(O. Wilde)
To combat may be glorious, and success perhaps may crown us, but to fly is safe.
(W. Cowper)
About courtesy
The habit of courtesy, when once acquired, is almost impossible to get rid of.
(R. Lynd)
Kind thoughts are rarer than either kind words or kind deeds.
(F. Faber)
Tzun Tzu. (Sun Tzu)
Sun Tzu (written by a Chinese general in the 6th century BC)
In 1980 I read a book, The Sun Tzu or 'The Art of War' by Sun Wu. So many books have I read on the subject of war and
fighting, but the Sun Tzu is the profoundest of them all. All military writers look upon Sun Wu as the father of their art.
There is a certain irony in the fate which decreeds that Sun Wu, China's most illustrious man of peace should be
contemporary with her greatest writer on war. Making war is an art. The Sun Tzu explains the essence, there is skill,
there is tactic and strategy.
Sun Wu : "For to win a hundred victories in a hundred battles is not the acme of skill, to subdue the ennemy without
fighting is the acme of skill. He who knows when he can fight and when he cannot will be victorious. Therefore be extremely
subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness thereby you can be
the director of the opponents's fate. All men can see tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out
of which victory is evolved. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat, but strategy without tactics is the
slowest route to victory.
The supreme art of fighting is to subdue the enemy without fighting, there has never been a protracted warform which a
country has benefited from. To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence,
the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights
and afterwords looks for victory. Victorious warriors win first and then go to war.
If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are certain to be in peril. So, pretend inferiority and encourage his
arrogance. If you are far from the enemy, make him believe you are near; if you are near, make them believe you are far.
Invincibility lies in the defence, the possibility of victory in the attack. The quality of decision is like the well-timed
swoop of the falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim. Hence that general is skilful in attack whose
opponents do not know what to defend, and he is skilful in defence whose opponent do not know what to attack. The good
fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the
enemy. The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
You have to believe in yourself. When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the enemy wishes
for a truce."
Sun Wu