Seriously, Taiji itself IS an entire MMA system! Locks, throws, punches, kicks, elbows, knees, you name it, Taiji has it! The only real problem is that there aren't enough teachers around who can teach the fighting aspects of it well enough!

WOAH! Non choreographed tai chi sparring! I've been looking for this stuff everywhere!

A word to all the "real" martial artists out there. This video was done before MMA came to the forefront of martial arts in the US. The tournament had a clear set of rules limiting the actions of the participants for safety and insurance reasons. The tournament here was unique and still is unique in the US, Asia we can't say. Tournament tai chi is different from "street" combat tai chi chuan just as tournament MMA is different from street MMA. Please show some respect when commenting.

Wow, look at 2:26, how confidently and calmly he dodges that kick with a slight movement of his head. Amazing!

One of my tai chi teachers many years ago..Mr. Kristoff Clark...His teachings convinced me to make tai chi a part of my life...it was a great choice for me.

We were at a Push Hands competition around the same time where the takedowns were based on the victor remaining on two feet and staying within a small boundary. Not a big area like here. Moving techniques out of the training hall and into a chaotic situation is difficult without extensive practice. Especially when your opponent is very familiar with the style you are using. It doesn't look good to the observer. This is where MMA is sometimes able to give us really interesting fights.

All martial arts have wrestling skills. The need to hold back your techniques in a friendly fight limits execution of many techniques unique to a style.

@cikicrocus There are aspects of Tai Chi that really require the user to understand movement in a non-forceful way that for many people is easier to realize when the body is past the height of physical power. One advanced student of kung-fu once said, half-jokingly, that it's when the body gets tired of using force that one can finally understand some of the movements in these systems.

Im currently taking a class on tai chi in my college. All I can say is that its really hard and it takes a lot of effort and practice. There is a lot of balance, concentration and the understanding of your center. I give these guys props XD They're my heroes T-T...XD

Considering that Tai Chi Fighting tournaments are very, very rare in this country, the Tai Chi techniques on display here are decent. If tai chi fighting ever becomes a regular tournament offering you'll see an improvement in clear Tai Chi techniques.

Tai Chi Chuan uses push hands as the start of sparring. Several tai chi schools we had the chance to meet had real sparring as a part of the program. A few in New York City were (and still are) Leung Shum's Wu Style Tai Chi Chuan, Guang Yi Ren's Chen Style classes and William C.C. Chen's Yang Style. C.C. Chen and his adult children have a real reputation for fight training. Also C.K. Chu's Yang Style.

@Aheyne here is a quote from a student of 23 years in training "the worst beatings i have received in my life have been from 70 year old masters" strength does not equate to power and youth does not equate to strength

Finally Real Sparring From Tai Chi Loved Video Thanks @MartialArchiveTv

The first fighter interviewed is a gifted practitioner and fighter who has both rootedness and flow. If you watch the lady, who is quite graceful, you will notice she tends to look at her hands which is a mistake. The black gentleman is a good defender but i did not see him do much good striking. This is a great video thank you for posting it.

The lot of those who commented that this isn't Taiji don't know how to read a book beyond it's cover..

thank you that was very enjoyable

Very nice. Decent explanations on the theory of Taiji I saw some good applications of Tai Chi basics during the sparring.

Not to downplay what they’re doing, but it’s very interesting to see sparring when both opponents have a raw untrained kind of style. It’s interesting seeing how people deal with kicks when they’re not trained to catch or block them from an orthodox kickboxing or karate stance. And the takedowns were solid for not having extensive grappling training. Really good stuff!

veeeery interesting. It looked like the second fellow, the black fellow, was using explosive, quick movements - but he was doing VERY LITTLE and using the moment of his enemy. interesting comments on the Akido btw.

OMG, thats so crazy. I stumbled on to this video and i actually know Sam Masich's dad. Haha, what a crazy coincedence.

cool, i didn't know jamie foxx knew kung fu

very nice thanks

Cool takedown

Awesome!!! They got skill man!!!

A lot of wisdom here.

This is a technique where you allow your opponent to advance towards you but you sneak in a kick which uses your opponents forward momentum to heighten the effectiveness. This can really work with the right timing and placement especially if the kick is kept to the midsection or lower.

One aspect of it is moving so you are flowing with your opponent so he can't hit you. With no resistance there can be no impact. Another important part is being aware of your opponents instability so that you can with a tiny force have them falling and struggling to regain stability. The reason for the slow practice is to cultivate stability by seeing where you hesitate and lurch. It is also important to relax so you can be sensitive to your opponents movements.

Always nice to see a video of Sam. Very decent person. That said, he's not using taijiquan during the sparring session, and I'm pretty sure if you asked Sam he would tell you it was some kick boxing combined with Shuaijiao.

That's a bold statement. We wouldn't be inclined to bet on such a match nor want to see a 70 year old take a hard blow. Take ten or fifteen years off of the elder and you might have something there.

@Aheyne I must correct you. I know an old man (over 60 years old) who could whipe the floors with 2 30-year-old LaoShi (instructors) in Wudang Kung Fu.

Beautiful takedown at 1:35. I don't much personal experience with Tai Chi but I always had a hunch a lot of its principles could be applied to MMA. I'm going to have to look more into this.

@LuqmanNaq No neck techniques, no spine techniques, no back of the head techniques. There are a number of styles that don't worked in a regulated UFC match. UFC is not the end all of self-defense, it' s a sport. Just like you wouldn't expect a basketball champ to do great in football, many styles don't work in the UFC. Whether Tai Chi would defeat MMA in a real fight is up to the combatants.

A problem with alot of martial arts is you do forms and for a long time you don't get shown the application.

@Niccomawf If people in this country kept this style of tournament up every year, you would see that. But after 22 years this is what we have.

Tai Chi is a concept, once understood, it is more how you do things and not so much what you do.

In response to the comment on soft martial arts such as wing-chun and tai chi many people do not understand that the soft movements are a cover-up for some real bone snapping self-defense real life applications. One reason for the Tai Chi soft style is to improve ones inner chi and or dicipline of flow-movement. For instance parting the horses mane. This one movement when applied in a real life situation will break the opponents rib cage upon impact. Bro. Michael L Ellis

I've sparred with boxers and muay thai boxers and usually have no trouble. No trouble with other Chinese styled martial artists as well. It really isn't the style, but the person. Also, it is crucial to find a teacher who can train you in realistic fight situations.. I'm mostly self-taught, after taking a 9-year break from martial arts.. but I've discovered so much more than from my past teacher.

Pretty cool except whenever they get into close quarters/grapple situation, they seem to turn their back to their enemy quite a bit. If this was a no rules fight instead of a tournament that would be a really bad idea......

i understand the rooting thing.....but want to know if there are any jumping techniques

Tai Chi at wortk. I love it.

Taichi is pure martial art. It's practising with very slow movement because the secret of taichi is train to 100% focusing your whole body weight in very small spot in only one foot. And always only in one foot during the movement. Thus must be using very slowly movement. After month / year of this training, the body will adapt to absorp punch power and move or shift very fast. The body ( leg ) will became powerful spring.

I remember owning this VHS it had a kickboxing match of Peter Manfredo (my old kickboxing teacher) student Won for a illegal strike from the other opponent..

Thank you for admitting it.

I miss you guys. I'd trade your programming for "the Learning Channel" any day.

Nice. You can see at 1:58 that the tai chi guy didn't waste any movements

I agree if you follow the classics these guys arent using taiji. People always focus on the moving meditation and "how slow it is" and nobody takes taiji that seriously as a martial art unless you study internal arts. Believe me taiji is the most violent and explosive art in my opinion but of coarse i am biased. but having said that i respect all arts equally and good job to these fellows for promoting the art:)

@ryanWeap So Tai Chi is good for stand up and ground fighting?

Chinese martial arts is more than just self defence it is a way of life. You can see from this tube that it most definetly would suffer unnecessarily if it were introduced to competitions such as UFC MMA which is the ultimate choreography of all time where fighters are matched and then train to defeat that particular individual by exploiting known weaknesses in a well known environment. I can see the delineation of self defence and sport even though anyone training MMA will still have an edge in a real life situation.

Do they still do tai chi tournaments like this???

Actually the argument about MMA vs Traditional Martial Arts is one of the hot topics on the web, and sadly there are tons who don't know about how competent is karate alone... I do a mixed style of karate and jiujitsu and I have to say that a great karate fighter can manage without ground or throw techniques, but.. They have to be experienced against em and much more.. There isn't a best martial arts and mixed martial arts isn't the best either.. How good the fighters are is what matters, -.-

In Tai Chi Quan's fighting system is it point sparring or do they follow karate's rules?

How well do you hold against boxers? Im not trying to be fresh im curious

Very interesting!

I concur Sir!

Some of the best fighters we've seen have been out of the ring. A couple of the most effective fighters had little or no formal training and what they did to their opponents was not pretty. All they had was the unwavering mindset to quickly demolish their opponent and sustain as little damage to themselves as possible. Could they loose? Sure, but they had the psychological advantage that transcends technique.

@LuqmanNaq Believe us, we are not making excuses. The UFC went to show that a lot of styles suffer from too much "civillization". But that said the early UFC was controlled in ways that negate any claims that the stylists that participated in any way represented the best of their art. UFC is jiu-jitsu extended. To expect someone to come in and really gouge eyes, rip nostrils, break fingers is asking a lot. If the UFC let that happen it wouldn't be here now.

I'll have to admit, I was hoping to see more specific tai chi techniques in the tournament as opposed to general principles used with a mix of other styles.

how OLD IS THIS VIDEO!??!?!

I hope this prospers. To my (limited) knowledge, Tai Chi was meant to be for combat. It should be more than just "exercise" to keep away infirmity.

some good parts i guess a lot of mind force and trying to remain balanced is preety difficult. i can see the aura around kristoff clark, but true an experience boxer also has aura (focus calm timing experience)

"Tai Chi Chuan trains those shallow goals out of you. " Well said

So, what is the central idea behind Tai Chi that separates it from other styles? It seems like even within the realm of Tai Chi, there's different aspects or emphases. I'm afraid I really don't know much about Tai Chi at all.

@MartialArchiveTv on the other hand, this kind of fighting is more complete than the karate rules, it seems it has some sort of sanda rules or something like that. You dont see that 1:37 kind of takedown everywhere. To be a soft martial art we got to give it credit.

haha this is 1988, and this guy is doing perfectly timed takedowns, strikes and kicks, even a so-called "ground and pound", albeit watered down...its obvious that taiji can be used for fighting by a skilled practitioner, which this person Sam Masich obviously is. quite intense, if you remember, again, that this is 1988. i imagine he has gotten much better since.

@Xytos I completely agree!!

@cikicrocus And who said that they were? This was an amateur tournament.

It's cool to see what Sam Masich has got...or had? I've got his vids...there GREAT!! He's a GREAT teacher.

The fighters seem to lack or forgot to apply Sticking and/or Listening energy. The use of these basic Tai Chi skills would allow the fighters to apply basic techniques such as Wardoff or Rollback, etc. On takedowns, both opponents are unbalanced and both opponents fall. To display Tai Chi skills on the takedowns one opponent should be both balanced and on two feet at end of application. I do thank the fighters for their attempt at displaying their skills in a free form arena for all to see.

Awesome, I gave 5 stars.

@Clown7916 If I am not mistaken ... Taijiquan originated from the techniques that kept the Chen Taiji founder alive on the battle field for something like 40 yrs. 40 yrs on the battlefield ... :)) Any combination of techniques that keeps you alive for 40 yrs has to have something to it ... just saying. ;))

Great takedown

there is no age to be a master it doesn't matter what age you are it depends on your movement and flow age is not a factor understanding is the factor only thos who practise constantly will achieve

Holy Kathmandu Batman! That was UFC before the UFC.

Well-said brother!

thats an awesome takedown at 1:39

@rockleex We don't entirely agree but the demented psychology of a punk or bully reduces their empathy for fellow humans which will give them a fighting advantage over many rational fighters. It doesn't mean they'll win always or even half the time. The best rational fighters are able to detach themselves from the psychological attack of their opponent and neutralize them in whatever way works best.

@cikicrocus Yeah, I can see why it would be hard to master, because whats makes a good fighter, is how he applies the techniques that he learned, and hopefully mastered. Some people just practice katas (forms) and believe they are good just by either flashy or strong movement. But on how you apply it with your natural movements, the person himself makes that art effective by his own understanding and his own use.

i cant find real tai chi fights in youtube -_-

@MartialArchiveTv You are aware that in the early days of the UFC and Vale Tudo all those things were allowed yet the traditionalists never prevailed? It was the guys who had a style suprising similar to the fighters of today who were the consistent victors? If you don't beleive me watch some early Vale Tudo.

tai chia kung fu,karate , TKD all are good and all will look the same in a fight period and no matter what,after all we just hv 2 limbs each,we can just move a certain way.

cuz martial art is not about feeding ur ego tryin to prove sumthing in competition its about self defense n using ur skills to help others

@cikicrocus You do realise that all of these tai chi practitioners have never tried to apply their techniques to fighting, and this is their first time and they did very good

I'm also interested in the answer to this question.

My teacher Patrick Watson was uncanny in his ability to see the slightest imbalance in an opponent. You could feel totally grounded and solidly planted and he would touch you somewhere with a fingertip with a couple of ounces of pressure and you would be staggering across the room. Nothing magical, he was just seeing where your instabilities were located and exploiting them with the minimum amount of energy.

your body has to be super flexible for this

@jamiesan7A Using UFC rules? Wouldn't work.

@lucidmist I know this is pretty late. but if you look at others who do tai chi for exercise, just record it and speed it up. Apply a body to the movements in the spaces of hands. They used to train in tai chi because someone would arrest the chinese (like americans) during wars early on in history. It is just slow movements of how to kill a man, just not to the naked eye.

this isnt how u apply it but their sparring is pushing hands. it one of the most practical martail arts i nteh world the russians spetznas use a style similar to it in knife fighting

not gonna lie gloves make a TON of difference.

Tai Chi Chuan has external fighting aspects. The more the internal you are or that you apply Yin, the more you achieve what the Tai Chi Masters did. Just because you punch, kick, throw, or anything else that uses more muscular force or strength doesn't turn it into just plain Kung Fu. It's just more Yang than Yin, true. But when a person finds more Yin than Yang, and can still balance those two as one, that's when they ARE Tai Chi Chuan, and not just doing Tai Chi Chuan.

@MartialArchiveTv Why not?

but they do... I mean granted they do both sprinting and jogging, but the slow aspect is never removed. but besides, those two are less comparable, Tai chi (or any martial art) has a much higher level of dexterity than running. more dexterity mean you need to take it slower.

@MartialArchiveTv that might not be the case age is not something that should be looked upon to determine strength for if someone trains there spirit, body and mind throughout there lifetime they tend to be strong very strong much stronger than most 20 year olds

2:45 i see wing chun chain punches over there!

Now if only the Learning Channel would trade us some money.........

tai chi chua nand aikido are two apples from the same tree as we are two different being from the same earth

quite unexpected

@cikicrocus martial arts, and fitness in general, has gone up in caliber since 1988. just sayin.

Sounds like Shuji Maruyama Sensei, founder of Kokkikai Aikido!

@MartialArchiveTv I guess it really all depends. However, once people beginhitting the 70+ mark, it's highly unlikely they'll be able to take any strong blow or move as quickly as someone younger. And I agree about the psychological state of mind,. I know plenty of people who remain badasses until the day they die. And punks or bullies, as a whole, are better than the vast majority of martial artists at what they do.