My grandmother was starting to feel a bit stiff and started doing Tai Chi in her early 70s. She's now 95 yers old and she still attends class 3 times a week. She also walks to her classes there and back, and socialises with most of the other students. I'm absolutely convinced that her health, fluidity of movements, and halted physical decrepitude is largely down to the practice of Tai Chi.

Finally SOMEONE SAID IT!I learned Hung Gar Kung Fu and Tai Chi as one of my first serious arts and frankly couldnt really make heads or tails of it. I have now been learning Muay Thai and wrestling for the past two years and EVERYTHING from those arts started to click. Tai Chi has so much potential, lost be hind shit teachers and mysticism. Taichi is a great art to learn as a secondary or tertiary art and i think people really need to let go of it being trash.

Ramsey! Context is for "Kings," as this makes shadow boxing, shadow wrestling, etc. meaningful. Thank you for the lesson. Pure respect.

Ramsey, I would LOVE more breakdowns of specific tai chi movements as true fighting techniques. Please do more videos on this!

Hot take: even as it is taught now, Tai chi IS one of the best martial arts ever because it has been proven extremely effective. Effective against sedentarism that is. As sad as it is that the meaning and practical applications of the art have been misunderstood, it is a net positive that thousands of older people practice the forms because it keeps them active. And that's worth more than even the best trained punching technique for the vast majority of people.

As someone that taught traditional Tai Chi (Yang style) and Kung Fu (Choy Li Fut) for five years, I LOVE this video and I'm so happy someone is acknowledging that Tai Chi is a grappling style. I'd love to hear your thoughts on Choy Li Fut in a video, too.

It is INSANELY difficult to unbalance anyone significantly trained in Tai Chi. Their root is amazing.

Extremely well said! I started my martial art career doing tai chi chuan and my first teacher, the first lesson, has been very very honest. He went: "Traditionally Tai Chi was a secret discipline, taught to family members and to people who were already black belts (whatever it meant at that time) in an 'external martial art'. Nowadays...well...let's start the lesson". It took me two decades of martial arts with contact and your video where you grab the foot of the opponent and do the circular movement, to understand what my first teacher meant. Thanks!

I have to say, this was great, because I saw that previous video about the 80-year-old person, and that he was an expert grappler, and I think about that more and more as I get more grappling experience. And no joke, the other day one of the white belts straight-up said "sometimes it looks like you're doing kung fu", or something like that. Mind blown. Thanks for the great videos!

Cockroach kung fu would be pretty awesome. They're really hard to kill.

This is one of the things I appreciated about my Soo Bahk Do instructors. The Kyo Sa (head instructor) was a patrol officer in a violent area for ten-years and used his art in the real-world and the Sa Bom (Master instructor, dojang owner) was a US ranked fighter in the '80s. We learned the applications for everything as we were learning. For example, you know that thing that looks like you're two-hand punching (or throwing a hyoducken) someone with your rear hand over your head, punching to their face, and your lead hand punching their chest? Wrong application. It's a high block and an upper cut (or shovel jab), thrown at the same time. That block can be hard style like blocking a round kick in kickboxing or it can be soft style and redirect into a grab, while the strike disrupts their reaction for a moment... and maybe KO's them if you're fortunate. The important thing to remember is that, in practical application, you won't perform this the same way you do while it's in the hyung (kata). It has to be free-sparred and trained to work in practical application before you can use it. We can see this practical application in Muay Thai's long guard. The lead-hand blocks an incoming rear-hand from your opponent and you respond with a cross. You can clinch from that block or you can clear. Same same, different arts.

I taught taijiquan for years privately. People have serious misunderstandings about taijiquan. I told students if you want to fight in 6 mth go learn boxing or muay Thai but if you want to be able to defend yourself in your 80s ok, train with me. Students that had martial arts background grasp the combat aspect at beginner level first, however they focus on the form as shadow boxing (beginner level). Yes at beginner level there are grappling, striking ect contained in each posture but focusing on applications you won't get taiji and you will never be able to use "applications " under real chaotic combat. Each posture is to teach principles in power generation and is done internally, the posture shape helps you learn that principle and can then be tested for quality etc. Taijiquan is a set of combat/power generating principles, fighting with taijiquan will not look like a Donny Yen movie it will look like fighting. How do I know this? I lived as an inner door disciple with my sifu and Dai Sifu, and worked as a bouncer in Phuket bars (Southern Thailand). Taiji works, few understand it, fewer have the authentic transmission and even less can identify the authentic from hand waving slow steppers. I also recommend serious taijiquan boxing students after a couple of years start gently sparring with mma, muay Thai etc. increasing intensity over time as confidence builds. Here is the kicker - my first taijiquan sifu made me spar different styles every class and taught us a bit of boxing, judo, shaolin style boxing etc so we could deal with them better, most taijiquan schools don't so the combat tradition is broken. An authentic taijiquan master will have a verifiable lineage and high level of skill that will seem magical to those that don't understand (it's not magical, it's movement is just so refined it looks like that), learn the principles of taijiquan (supreme ultimate fist) then go to a mma gym to learn the principles of actual combat. Here is a test for you to find a "master" ( of which I am not ) - if he claims he is a taijiquan master offer him your forearm, if without an almost imperceptible touch take your centre and balance (it should feel like marbles under your feet) he won't be able to teach the combat aspects, if he can't can't "pop" or bounce you with a small movement he won't be able to teach authentic taijiquan. However remember this, any movement is good for you so whether it's authentic martial taijiquan or arm waving slow stepping tai chi in the park it is good for you. 99% will never be in a situations where they will need authentic taijiquan skill anyway. Respect from a retired single dad on the Thai/Laos border.

I’m with ya one what you said around the 9 minute mark about people thinking Tai Chi is something else besides grappling. I’ve had so many people look at me in shock when they ask me to teach them and they find out Tai Chi is only 2 things. Grappling and hard work. Lots and lots of hard work.

Taijiquan is a fantastic supplement to all those other arts you mention. Taiji teaches you how to make your waist strong and flexible.

If the author of the question sees this, I went through the same questioning as you and went through different kung fu and taiji and modern combat teachings including a few years of full-time training. Here are my two cents: Check out the video 'Introduciton to authentic Taiji' on the Tri-Essence Martial Arts channel. You will find there a down to earth introduction from someone who has actual fighting skill, has insight into chinese culture, and has met many masters of the internal martial arts and devoted most of his life to it. Additionally check out the channel Ziran Men: another of the internal Chinese martial arts (neijiaquan) which is the system I ended up training currently after extensive research. The good teachers are out there but really rare and hard to find, don't go for a preference of style go for a good teacher. Ask them to demonstrate, if they can't do much they won't guide you very far. You don't really have a reason to trust me on this, but don't reverse engineer the forms, don't learn forms on the internet, don't even do forms. Taiji is something else, it is specific mechanics and conditioning, not a set of moves.

6:12 "Tang lang" (螳螂) means Praying Mantis in Mandarin, "Zhang Lang" (蟑螂) means cockroach in Mandarin, just to clear up the confusion. Thanks for the vids coach, keep up the good work 💪🏼💪🏼💪🏼

I see taichi as a wrestling based art with some "dirty" close range strikes and some moves can make a lot of sense with a dagger. Today it has evolved as a physical and mental health art for people who are not able to do the harder ones.

My first introduction into martial arts was 7 years ago when I started learning tai chi from a friend who had studied it his whole life and had even spent some months at the Chen village in China. I’ve trained it ever since. Alongside it however, I devolved a deep passion for all martial arts and began practicing wing chun, Brazilian jiu jitsu, and baguazhang. In the begging, martial was vastly too complex for me to fathom in it’s entirety but I’ve come to learn that it is the absolute truth in life and that it applies in all contexts. That being said, Tai Chi has gifted me with not only its physical movements and flexibility, but if you take the time to dive into the true tradition of what Tai Chi is the wealth of information and perspective it has to offer is unparalleled in my eyes. It is the art of fighting without fighting and using the opponent to offset himself, not only physically but mentally and spiritually. A master is masterful regardless of his style, not because of what he knows, but how he knows it. There are many ways to plow a field but Tai Chi will teach you to plow it well, as efficiently as you can, with a smile on your face. And that is something I’ve carried through the door of every martial arts class I’ve had since. Thank you very much for your Videos Ramsey, blessings be with you, the people of China and the whole world. We are all one family. To anyone who actually read this, thank you sincerely and good luck on your journey. I would like nothing more for us all to hold hands at the top of the mountain.

This is a great perspective coach. No one regains Tai Chi's combat applications like you do. Let's hope combat-effective Tai Chi grappling becomes more popular over time. That's the best way to preserve its history P.s. Tanglang 螳螂 is mantis, zhanglang 蟑螂 is cockroach ;)

Taiji has just as much striking as it does grappling. Many more people focus on the grappling side, but there are still very good teachers out there who teach the striking.

Fun fact... one of BJJ Legend Marcelo Garcia's best students is Josh Waitzkin (former child prodigy in Chess), Josh is a fantastic Taiji Push Hands champion, as well as being a phenomenal BJJ player. His style is "William C.C. Chen" style. Jan Lucanus is a Taiji student of Josh and has a youtube channel where he shows fantastic takedown defense and control using his Taiji vs BJJ and Judo/MMA competitors.

Great video! I've always said that Tai Chi is the most practical martial art I've ever studied. It is definitely applicable to combat imo, but also so applicable to every day life in teaching your body to move through space and exert force efficiently and safely for your body. As most of us don't fight daily, that is much more useful for pushing things, lifting things, opening and closing things, etc. As far as teachers, I believe William C.C. Chen is still alive and teaching in NYC. I did not study from him directly but some of his students and it was an awesome experience.

I know a tai chi instructor who is also a yoga instructor, he took up BJJ and got his purple belt really quickly (from a uk based adcc competitor), it wasn't just the flexibility but also like you mentioned before in another video movement unlocking those movements had been hardwired into his brain/body so from standing he was working on speed and detail.

Fascinating! Thanks Ramsey!

I did taiji after learning karate and MMA and your right, it's good to reverse engineer.

I'm a Tai Chi Chuan practitioner, and phisiotherapist using Tai Chi with my patients. I agree with you Ramsey! In order to practice sparring I train with friends at a bare knuckle boxing gym for stiking and Judo and Ju Jutsu practitioners for grappling. To this day I can't think of a Tai Chi practitioner with whom I'd spar to mantain my (waning) fighting skills. When it comes to health it's EVEN WORSE!!! I actualy treated patients with Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, and neurological as well as orthopedic conditions, so I do know how to usee Tai Chi for health; I do not tell my patients I teach them Tai Chi! I just get them to do movements they are familiar, using the principles and leg stances of tai chi. most of famous "masters" i hear quoting papers found on pub med are basically using them for marketing their prodct. Very few can provide a living proof of someone recovering from a condition! I'd add to your advice to question any claims and ask for tangible proof!

Always enlightening. Thank you sir.

The sparring session in the background speaks volumes to your skill knowledge. Please keep doing what you’re doing and sharing these videos.

I'm not great at fighting by any stretch of the imagination--not against a real fighter, anyway (I'd get absolutely crushed by a real fighter). Most bullies aren't real fighters, so they usually just back down when I stand my ground and show I'm willing to defend myself. But I've loved Taijiquan ever since I got interested in martial arts as a kid, even though it didn't make a lot of sense to me as a combat art the way it was being taught (other than improving my balance and coordination). It wasn't until I learned a few grappling techniques when I was older that some of the Taijiquan forms made more sense to me. I had a couple of "Oh, that's how it's supposed to work," moments. I love that you've done a few videos on the topic--it feels a bit like vindication. Lol!

I like how Ramsey shows his true respect for Tai chi because he knows from experience what it really is for, there is combat with proper breathing (the "Chi" part). He's explained so much and respects those who enjoying the forms because now he can play with them to see how they can be applied in combat. Hope to see Ramsey talk about Bajiquan, the eight extremities fist and known as the art of the bodyguard.

Always, a, pleasure to listen to your views Ramsey. I hope, things, improve for you there, in Shang Hai too Don't be safe, be free

Great video!

My uncle has been doing various martial arts since the early 70s. Started off in Karate he’s a black belt. Did Wushu for awhile. But he has been doing Tai Chi for 40 years. He says it is by far its the best style he has learned. My uncle would go all over the states to exhibition and competitions. But he did always tell me you better learn how to fight on the ground though. When he would train me we would just wear sweat pants and a tee shirt. He showed me things he thought were useful out of all the styles he learned. But we would always do Tai chi exercises and kata. Then we would lightly spare what he showed me. I was 11when I stated and he was in his late 30s. Even now he is in way better shape than most 20 year olds and he’s in his late 60s.

Thanks for the fair comments on the sad state of Taijiquan as it is commonly practised nowadays and how the art actually has lots to offer to close combat. Sharing my thoughts as a Taijiquan practitioner, started from back before I did Judo and Kudo MMA, and also as a native Chinese speaker who reads the classic texts. There are 3 components to Taijiquan: (1) The forms, techniques and movements which people usually see as what they believe is Taijiquan. As Ramsey said, lots of valuable reference materials for grappling (unbalancing, throws, standing joint locks, etc.) as well as striking and footwork. They really came to life for me after I trained in Judo and later Korindo Aikido. (2) The biomechanical principles and methodology. Most people, even amongst Taijiquan practitioners, don't know much about this and in many cases frankly got it wrong. For example, the popular modern teaching of constantly relaxing is not found in the old Taijiquan classic texts. No, it has to do with using connective tissues to get the joints into specific alignments and rotations, kinetic linking, breathing in specific ways and often holding in air and compress it with the diaphragm and other muscles to manipulate intra-abdominal pressure, manipulating other fluid pressure in the torso and limbs and basically utilising the body as a hydraulic drive system. (3) The strategic, tactical and philosophical aspect. At its core is the concept of taiji, which in classical Chinese philosophy means unity or "oneness". (Yes, the characters separately mean "grand extreme" - well, what is bigger than the ultimate oneness that we call the universe?) Taijiquan's combative approach is based on integrating opposing things, not separating the whole into yin and yang. The main one is enabling and controlling the interaction between force/momentum/velocity in three dimensions and the dimensionless pressure in the body. Taijiquan in its purest form does not like evading or parrying an incoming attack. Instead it prefers to intercept it and thereby "merging with" its force and repelling it, not with an opposing force but with fluid pressure, hence with the efficiency you'd expect from a hydraulic drive system.

Catching kicks is badass :D when it works, it always looks so cool!

Ramsey I found your channel not too long ago but I've watched a good amount of your videos. You always talk about interesting things

As someone who trained for years in a traditional kung fu school (mostly Yang style Tai Chi and Northern Praying Mantis) I can say that I agree pretty much 100% with what you've said. There were some people in our school who could actually use Tai Chi for fighting but all of them, no exception whatsoever, had had a lot of experience in combat sports such as MMA, boxing, wrestling, etc. Most of the other students (myself included) were pretty unathletic and would, without a doubt, get destroyed in anything close to a real fight. And this was not a McDojo but a traditional school with a qualified teacher. Thing is, most people who decide to pick up Tai Chi these days are not interested in fighting but instead they do it for health, longevity, spiritual reasons, etc. And while the mysticism of Tai Chi might be a delusion, the health&longevity aspect can be real - our Sifu was already in his late 60s but could still do full splits and head kicks, was strong as hell, and in great shape overall.

Great video. Thank you! I teach Chen taiji in USA. It always seemed weird to me that forms are generally taught without applications. At the foundation of taiji are the six harmonies which includes intention leading your energy. How can a student learn a movement in a form with out applications so they have intention when they practice? Some teachers believe applications should not be taught until students are proficient in form. I disagree. How can a student become proficient in form if they have no intention behind it?

You changed my view of fighters, thank you. Your the only one I follow. Not because of your fighting ability, but rather because of your authenticity and work ethic. Thank you for your example.

Hello everyone, I'd like to say I really appreciate your videos they have brought me joy and calm through these tough times and also push me to keep working on stuff even when I have set backs. The other thing is after watching this video and going to the gym I think I had one of those lightbulb moments. I was shadow boxing between sets and was nearing the end when I tried incorporating the punch kata from taekwondo from a jab and my cross felt more crisp, faster, and a bit more powerful and then it hit me that I think you had a video on this, gabriel varga had one, sylvie von Douglass of the muai thai library, and a few others talk about not just throwing the punch out but the retraction is also important and I tried to remember that and practice it but it never hit me at to other reasons why other that defense until watching this video and trying it with a new thought process. Thank you again, your videos are much appreciated. Sorry for the long comment I was just kungfu panda excited after getting my light bulb moment lol.

I followed a similar path. I spent many years studying hard fighting. After about 15 years, I stated in on Tai-Chi. There was little by way of 'technique' in it that was applicable to the combatives I had previously used (at least not where I trained), but there were some very subtle 'principles' which I got to practice and focus on. It was after many years of such Tai-Chi that I unfortunately found myself in a few situations in which I had to apply my martial arts. Interestingly, each time it was the time I had spent in Tai-Chi that did the job. It was the principles I had 'mastered' in Tai-Chi that swayed the day.

I would love to see Coach Ramsey one day do HEMA. I think he would absolutely dominate everyone! Love from a fellow MMA, HEMA and medieval enthusiast, cheers!

Ramsey, Matt’s (long!) lifetime martial artist dad here. Still study including on YT to refine my art and to adapt it to getting older. Yours is one of just a small handful of channels that are always useful and always interesting. If you haven’t discovered Chadi check out his amazing historical martial arts videos collection. I knew a direct student of Professor Cheng and I have experienced how powerful and subtle true tai chi is. All the best to you. Praying for you and the dicey situation where you are. Just for a laugh, you are probably the Stephon Marbury (“Starbury”) of martial arts.

Thanks for the tips.

The way I practice my Tai Chi is that I don't think of it as practicing a "technique", it's practicing a movement. Techniques can be used at the wrong time, but movements are different. When do you use that movement? You use it when you do it, movement usually doesn't require a lot of planning. It's easy to get distracted with technique and doing them "right" or proper. But an actual fight is so mobile and chaotic, you can only REALLY practice moving in that mobile/chaotic environment. So when you move in that way, you've practiced moving in that way from Tai Chi, so your movement is efficient and you're not mentally noting that your technique is terribly wrong. That is what Martial Arts is about. Being Artistic in your Martial movements. Any movement you make, as a martial artist, is part of your art. Tai Chi helps me see every movement as a technique as opposed to "Footwork is required for Positioning which is required for proper Technique". It's challenging to even try to describe the perspective in which Tai Chi has it's most value. If you were to ask me "should I learn Tai Chi so I can fight", my answer would be "heck no". However, if I knew you practiced fighting or any martial art, I would likely recommend learning Tai Chi. It is a supplement that quickly takes its place as the implement as soon as the practitioner realizes it. I hope that makes sense. Thanks for your content Ramsey, I learn a lot from you.

Taiji doesn't really mean "the highest form of combat" at all. The "Taiji" of Taijiquan is a reference to the cosmological principle of an absolute state where space and time expand to their maximum extent as opposed to the "Wuji", or void, that precedes it. The state of Taiji ultimately collapses to relativity and infinite change (yin-yang [light-dark, up-down, left-right] and wuxing [five element rotations]) respectively, creating the reality as we experience it. Taijiquan is only named after this principle. This is also a technical description of Taijiquan, since it teaches one to expand their posture "internally" to the six direction, extending the spine simultaneously up and down and opening and stretching the joints of the limbs. This kind of body has no weak angles and can be dictated and guided by the movement of one's center of gravity, ie. dantian. That's why standing post training and the _long_ solo form are so emphasized in the practice: you can only do postural adjustment via solo work.

I really liked the background of applications played in combat sport training and sparring. Showing you're more than your words. well played and well made.

Totally related, you have a great voice for this!

I do Kyokushin, judo and muay thai. Would love it if you made some videos on applying some of the kyokushin kata. While i feel that doing kata has helped me develop more control, snap and body sensitivity when it comes to striking, i often feel kind of confused as to what the purpose of some of the movements are.

Its in interesting discussion to be had about this. I use to do Tai Chi, Kung Fu and San Da. I turned 20 and had a sort of mid life crises concerning the fact I never did martial arts. I gravitated towards a Shaolin school because of the energy it gave. It was fun but eventually I injured myself and had to stop after oh give or take 2 years. It would take around 10 to get a black belt at that school so I wasnt high in rank so take what I say with a grain of salt. With 20/20 hindsight I wanted to believe in the art yet there was a lingering doubt in my heart about it. You would do things and not understand why or what for. Mcdojos are rampant in the tradition MA community. This doesnt help if you have issues with imposter syndrome as well. Later after I got better I became a hema fencer because I was envious of not doing martial arts and fencing with longswords sounded awesome. I felt sort of safe doing it because I wasnt doing advanced calisthenics and gymnastics because alot of those techniques would agitate my back injury. My favorite treatises were Italian, mainly Fiore. It was Fiore that made everything click, it was almost like a plateau breaker. The grappling in Fiore rhymes Heavily with Tai Chi. The legend on the Fiore map helped me find where tai chi was in the territory even though it was a different tradition, region and era. Tai Chi and other eastern martial arts are REAL! It is merely A victim of its own success and modern happenstance like many other TMA's. what I mean by victim is this: -Tai Chi was out shadowed by itself. Its health benefits washed out its martial culture. Really its the same with other TMA's. The health benefits are important but it cant be stressed enough how it accidentally watered down the arts. -TMA's in general dont understand this key rule of thumb. TMA's in the east had THREE branches which were all important and needed in their own way. Those branches being Martial, Religious and Theater. In the modern era they have been fused together in this messed up Frankenstein and instead of synergizing and complementing each other they are parasitic to each other. These three branches are important in their own way and must be respected in their own context. This does not occur and now the house is divided. You are not allowed to separate them in their own context now. Dont think im picking on China either. This can be argued about other traditions. Sumo is actually a perfect example because it also has a internal conflict of all three of these branches. A sumo Yokozuna has to be the martial artist, a religious avatar of shinto warding evil spirits with salt and stomps yet is also being a theater performer with their matches then being a host at charities for their stables. They wear many hats, have many responsibilities, cannot do all of them at once, thus they feel under appreciated and overworked. This rhymes heavily with their Chinese counterparts. -Their living traditions overshadowed their written traditions. This may surprise people but actually they have a large source of treatises as well. They just arent really represented. There are some channels that discuss it. two examples being The Scholar-General 墨將點兵 and ChineseLongsword. Perhaps there are more on non English speaking channels? It seems like its not really mentioned at all. Living traditions are important. But the written tradition is just as important in my opinion. -Politics have derailed their art. and example being Xu Xiaodong pointing out clear issues in his mma community but being accused of being a traitor and get blacklisted from everything. They fail to understand the three branches of eastern martial arts. Xu is absolutely correct in his concerns. If people mistake the other two branches for the martial tradition it will only make their countries MA weaker yet they believe he is attacking tradition. He is merely trying to maintain its balance. But it appears its a cultural taboo for him to speak out. I have no problem being the "loud American" the east seems to like to hire to negate that issue. -They need to lay back on other miscellaneous issues. An example being meat eating. It would be hard for a lot of martial artists to compete if they ate a meatless diet. Perhaps they were fine in previous eras but now its a large handicap. It also needs to be socially acceptable for a martial artist to lose. It seems like they disown you if you fail which shouldnt be the case. failure is a great friend and teacher. They need to revolve these issues if they want to survive and thrive. On paper it should be easy for practitioners to separate into these categories but certain religious or theater type masters probably dont want to lose the status of the martial type masters. If it was socially acceptable for martial types to simply beat them in matches the issue would resolve itself but this is perceived as an attack on their country and religion.

Thank you. I would love to see more videos like this

This is one of the more truly educational videos I've seen recently. I had no clue that there was so much to this art.

I read many years ago a quote by a Chinese Tai Chi Chuan master named Cheng Man Ching, ( traditional Yang style) who wrote he first studied Hsing I, then when he mastered this he studied Pa Kua, and finally Tai Chi Chuan. Because without the foundations of the others Tai Chi was beyond learning. I believe Tai Chi Chuan translates as Supreme Ultimate.

You were right to say Táng Láng(mantis), Zhāng Láng(cockroach) also has the Láng.

Yes, demonstrating what these forms do in a fight would be really informative.

Most of the Bodyguards and Escorts that served the Emperors Practiced Shuai Jiao, Bagua(Yin Fu), Xinyi and Tai Chi. It's great to see the research on the effectiveness of what's hidden in the form or failed to be properly taught.

I've had a heavily experienced Tai chi teacher. He's had a giant gut, invisible grappling powers and boy he controlled his striking since there was only one student as tall as him. That student could fight 3 guys at a time (gloves and all).

A long time judo man once told me that he wished he had done Tai Chi instead of judo, so he would be free of injuries in his old age. That is something to think about. Yes, martial arts are very interesting and people should not get impairments through them. Cheers.

Awesome video, funny too! Thanks

Wetting my pants for the HEMA name-drop! I'm a HEMAist and I've studied MMA for decades now, and I love when there's crossover and mutual respect between the two arts. Also, just wanted to say that I appreciate your passionate syncretism. I love the context you give to traditional Asian martial arts that illuminates why they are the stylized forms they are and the ways in which they tie into real combat arts. Clearly the folks who practiced these arts in the past didn't set out with the intention to make them bullshido, and it's awesome to deconstruct and recontextualize their intended original purpose. Love your channel, my friend. Cheers!

When comes to tai chi i recomend chanel of ian sinclair he knows how fight and also he knows tai chi to a high degree and he not only teaches meanings of a movement but he focuses more of fighting principles in those movements that are pretty realistic

Ian Sinclair has some good stuff on YT

It seems the founders of tai chi were also seasoned fighters or bladesmen with high fight IQs who fazed into tai chi, The use of most soft combat systems, BJJ being an exception, require a good fight IQ in order to understand how to realistically apply them with combat force and effectiveness.

Great video.

I've been doing taiji for a decade now. I can say that I really started understanding the form when I went to Sanda, Muay thai and wrestling. A lot of obscure movements made a lot more sense. And I believe now that you don't want to retro ingeneer the forms into fighting, but you actually want to learn techniques and sparr and then you'll find the meaning of the forms. And to have a global understanding of the form, you need to explore a lot of different techniques. Training mma, basically, will give substance to the taijiquan form. And a big secret is that the form becomes a like mind palace where you store and review your techniques. So for me each posture is like a folder with a bunch of different applications I learned in class. It also makes learning new techniques so much easier. I just have to refer the new technique to a posture that uses the same body mechanics.

Taijiquan practiononer of 24 years in Chen Man Ching style. Competitor and gold medalist in multiple competitions in form, fixed and moving push hands.. Taijiquan must be understood as the embodiment of the tao manifesting in a martial movement with the emphasis as an art. Taijiquan is not singularly a "grappling" technique - however, due to the philosophy it may be expressed as one when the concepts and philosophers are applied. Other than that, great video I enjoy your video. Cheers.

Dude great video man

Question: 1.Have you ever tried sparring two or more people at once? 2. If so, are there any unique strategies or concepts that you discovered to be effective? 3. Would you ever want to train with the express purpose of becoming better at fighting multiple attackers for a month or three?

Personally I think Taijiquan, specifically Chen Style Taijiquan, is a valid/practical fighting style. That being said, it is probably one of the more difficult styles to apply because of it's overall combat strategies

That was beautiful Ramsay. Thanks for giving Taiji a bit of love that was deserved.

Love your knowledge and perspective. Have you talked about systema before.?

YMAA (Yang Martial Arts Association) has schools in various countrys teaching Combat Tai Chi Chuan, and yes, is mostly a grappling art with a few punchs and kicks in the middle.

Very objective perspective from Ramsey. GJ.

This is so interesting to me, because I found your channel while researching for Tai Chi application. I'll throw a huge text wall here, but it's ok if you don't find this interesting. Now I'm not even a fighter and probably will never be, I'm an Aikido practitioner. But I've always been a thinker (I guess), I like to understand how things work and why they work. I only have 10 years of practice and a couple years ago I graduated Shodan which, as you know, it means I know the (basic) form. All this time I've only practiced Aikido for what it is, because I enjoy the logical thinking behind it and studying biomechanics, but since my graduation I've been getting tired of the same old practices. I noticed that even worse than putting aside pressure testing, most instructors are bound to the form. The practice is always about the movements included in the form with some variations and whatnot, but always the same form (and here I'm not criticizing my Sensei, which is quite good and I enjoy her teachings. She actually started in Kung Fu, although I don't know her style). Sometimes we even get to practice some variations that are hard to work even in a non pressure environment, mind you. So I started to question it. What's the deal here? Why we do this? Why this way? Are the techniques flawed? Are the teachings flawed? Then there was this day I was watching the Shang-Chi movie, where some peculiar martial arts movements were depicted and felt to me very reminiscent of the elder people's Tai Chi. And it got my attention not only due to the beautiful movements but also because I noticed a certain circular movement pattern and pushing of arms that would result in locks. I couldn't avoid to realize how similar that was from what I've been practicing all these years. Now I knew what I had to do and how to find back my interest for the art. So I started looking for information about Tai Chi application. Right at the beginning, I found this one channel of a guy who offers a lot of content related to Tai Chi and internal martial arts. There's a lot of "magician teachings" there, but there's this one video I found very interesting with Sifu Adam Hsu where he speaks about some practical use of Tai Chi and how, according to him, the true techniques are hidden in the form. The piece of information I found most interesting was that (from memory, so maybe not 100% accurate) "Chinese Kung FU is not about throwing fists, that's Kung Fu movie. Chinese Kung Fu don't let go of the arms, it's always keeping in contact". This made so much sense in my head. Looking into this, found a few more videos of Dr. Yang from YMAA about the same subject, which not only served to demonstrate how the arms are always in contact with the opponent but, to my surprise, I knew many of his movements from my own practices. Then suddenly I knew where those odd variations I've practiced came from and also the correct way to apply them, the correct movement to study. Moving on, I've been going deeper and deeper into Kung Fu, even if not a practitioner. I also consume lots of information regarding martial arts in general, from many content creators. Nowadays I'm studying Qin Na for the same reasons I initially looked into Tai Chi and my mind keep being blown away with all I've been learning. It's so great, such a good feeling. My point with all this is just to contrast with what Ramsey said about reverse engineering. It seems to me more and more that it's crucial for any martial artist, of any style or practice, to always have critical thinking and never limit themselves to a style. Always go deeper, always look around, always learn more. Anyway. I won't be sorry for my huge text wall because you teached not to be xD I'm grateful for your teachings. I love how I always come to your channel for the martial arts content and always leave with far more than it. Have a great day.

thank you Ramsey, I'm in the same situation as the asker. I have cerebral palsy, so I have no intention of been a fighter but I enjoy the mental activity of trying to figure out what the taichi forms mean. I've been trying to spar with taiji as grappling while also training other things because of your video about the master in the vinegar factory.

I think think u videos are great and offer so much 👍

I couldn’t agree more! I’m a Taekwondo 4th dan and instructor, but only started to understand some of the shapes in the forms and their grappling applications when I started learning BJJ. It shouldn’t even be too surprising, given that most of the WTF Taekwondo pioneers were also black belts kn Judo. Thank you for a wonderful explanation, Sir!

I've practiced martial arts for 23 years now and I never saw Taijiquan for what it is. I never gave it any credibility for being useful in a fight so I never trained in it much less really analyzed the movements. Once you said that about grappling a light bulb went off. If you were to practice clench fighting by yourself a lot of it looks like Taijiquan. That just blows my mind. I cant believe I never made the connection. Thanks for the video!

This video is great! my favorite part is all of the movement that happens behind the talking! I assume you are doing various forms and showing how it would be used in real fighting? Breakdowns of what is happening right there would be very very popular! Thanks so much for the content!

Yup, we all know and love this situation: --> [ kids rushing into the house from school, and screaming at the top of their little squeaky voices all together as a prelude to total and unstoppable chaos for the next quarter of an hour ] "Daddy, Daddy!! You got another 'F' from my homework at school !!" (and Mommy joins in): "Children, so you see what kind of man Mommy married" (and she sighs audibly) And you were opening the fridge to get a beer, but you freeze half way whilst opening the fridge because you realize ...[Hitchcock suspense high-pitched horror music]... THAT THERE IS NO BEER IN THE FRIDGE !!!

It is very refreshing to finally hear someone else say this!!!!…Great Job Brother!

Only just got to watch this, thank you so so much for answering!!! I never imagined it would be enough to make a video, I'm truly honored.

Ramsey, thank you so much for this video. I have been practicing Chinese Kung fu since very young age (I used to base in Hong Kong and my grandfather was a fighter, who practiced mostly mantis style and taijiquan, similar to the master you mentioned in the video) Since then I moved on to practice jiu-jitsu, Kali and a little bit of boxing. But deep down in my heart, Chinese Kung Fu had a special place. For quite a while I thought those are just for show and heartbroken on how people trashed it. However seeing this video, one day I will definitely go back to doing Chinese Kung Fu and make them "useful" as per say

Awesome!

You are amazing RD! I wish to make it one day to China and do some training with you. I have been practicing taijiquan for many years since 1996. I am not a master… I have met several great masters though who taught me lots of useful things in connection to the practice of taiji. I have never fought ‘taij way’ until I joined a combined martial arts club and realised how natural the grappling is for me and my likeness for it! It all makes complete sense to me and you are a great hint of the fine vinegar to my life-long mastering knowledge. Xie xie!

Great video, btw

So I was blessed to have studied under a tai chi instructor that was one of the original students of the Wu Tan academy from Taiwan. He would have us stand in posture for upwards to 20 minutes. Let me tell you if you are not used to that after about a minute and you are done. Having a black belt in judo I found that after just a month of this my grappling game was elevated x . Talk about rooted! So tai chi, if not practiced as a whole ie with weapons sparring and push hands ( resistance training) it ain't taichi. 🙏Thank you Dewey for all your passion for the truth within the martial community.

Being able to remember/recall is a double edged sword - remembering training and mis-comprehension many years prior allows current learning to make sense. Rhee Taekwondo is a variant of Taekwondo but the discussion of blocks are strikes and kata dissection gives new light on other styles and practices. Thank you for your dissemination on what a martial art is. Practicing fencing it introduced me to the art of swordplay - each weapon has a style because of its design - a foil is not an effective slashing weapon, a sabre however is - each weapon requires knowledge and practice to be effective. For 'us' to be effective we need knowledge and practice - in all manner of things.

You know your stuff & you speak good knowledge

What a wonderful video. I feel like this is a big piece of the puzzle of reclaiming traditional martial arts for combat.

The soft style moving meditation that is Tai Chi will add so much to any other sport you try. If nothing else it’s a nice way to warm up or cool down.

This was really interesting and informative, thanks. I don’t know where the person you were speaking with is located, but I think that William C.C. Chen’s taiji school in NY still puts the gloves on and spars, FWIW.

Ramsey, Big fan of your channel and I've watched your content for a couple years now, I consider your channel one of the more thoughtful, balanced and respectful out there on the topic of martial arts. And your rational consideration of traditional systems is welcome in the modern era and its somewhat strange relationship with the combat arts. Tai chi chuan, or taijiquan, remains elusive to those that have not studied it in any great depth and personally I consider it to be the most unique martial art, almost in it's own category in terms of not only the way it works but also in the way it is taught and practiced. Hopefully the following comments and opinions can provide something useful to the curious reader. It is entirely unnecessary to reverse engineer Tai chi moves. Instead, find a teacher who can teach you the complete meaning of the forms. Understand this will take years of your life, almost as if you set out to master all of Mozart on every instrument. More on that in a moment. But I would also like to claim that it is not possible to watch forms online and fully or correctly reverse engineer their meanings, or to come to an even rudimentary correct understanding of what Tai chi is and how it works. This is because you can not reverse engineer something if you do not understand how it works, and tai chi works differently than most things you've learned, no matter what you may have learned, but also because Tai chi is not really the study of forms, but it is the study of forces and principles. Moreover, the full study and practice of Tai chi includes much more than just forms. If you were to just learn forms but not the whole system, then show your progress to an actual tai chi master, the master would probably politely you that your forms aren't bad, but they aren't quite complete ('bu dao wei' in Chinese). Then the master will invite you to try and throw him, and will end up pushing you all over the place, knocking you to the ground, putting you in joint locks and generally treating you like a rag doll. It typically doesn't matter what martial arts background you have, if you haven't studied tai chi you don't have a chance of gaining control of these guys. None. I stand by that, having seen it over and over. Your form wasn't complete because for it to be complete you would have to get every force in every part of the body correct for every single move, without breaking flow, and while demonstrating that you know the intention of every move, and that the force vectors are all correct and your qi/breath are flowing in perfect coordination. It isn't just pulling moves; it's understanding forces, structures, energy, sensitivity, leverage, application and showing you know it through the practice. To understand Tai chi, you have to understand the eight forces, peng, lu, ji, an, cai, lie, zhou, kao, you have know what force is being applied for absolutely every single move you learn, no ambiguities no exceptions, and you have to be able to find, transform and apply those forces in actual grappling. You have to understand chan force and how it works and you have to have a real, functional, working understanding of what is meant by many of the terms that seem mystical or metaphoric to outsiders, such as qi, shen, yi, jin. Once you understand, these are no longer mystical metaphorical language, but actual workable concepts and functional language. There is no way to learn Tai chi without accepting and finally understanding these concepts. Tai chi studied under a competent teacher as a martial art will include warm up exercises, basic exercises, forms, more forms, weapons forms, applications and meanings and demonstrations of the effectiveness of every single aspect of every move, standing meditation exercises (qi gong), fixed push hand exercises, joint lock and submission training, and free form push hands which is basically full on standing grappling. No teacher who actually learned from a lineage teaches only forms. Traditionally all Tai chi masters were fighters and would accept challenges all the time. Like many things in the modern world, some things are changing, but there are, in point of fact, still many in tact lineages teaching the complete system. A similar phenomenon has happened with yoga, where traditionally what is meant is a complete and very rigorous spiritual training, but what mostly today means just asana or gymnastic exercise. A couple final points on Tai chi. Ramsey made the point that Tai chi has a little bit of everything in it. Yes, but moreso even than suggested. There are moves, even in the empty handed forms, that are derived from battlefield weapons use. We forget this today when talking about martial arts being practical and our standard is one on one barefoot timed cage fighting under a rule system; that's practical. This is different than standing fully armored on the battlefield holding a spear or a kuan dao. What is 'practical' depends on context and what you're trying to do. The reason Tai chi is special and the reason it can incorporate so many things you find in many other martial arts is that fundamentally it is not a study of moves and forms, but it is a study of principles and forces, and a study of the body and how it moves as such. Why you don't see people who have studied Tai chi in mma competitions has to do with politics, history, culture, and the generally non competitive spirit of the art, rather than its ineffectivness or supposed break from traditional lineage and martial focus. But also I think it's simply because mma is relatively young and we will see more Tai chi trained fighters in the future. Tai chi will make you better, make your life better, and improve any other martial art or set of athletic skills you may have. But only if it's actually Tai chi by principle, not only by form. And finally, please understand that any time you see no touch pushing or other magical qi woo woo nonsense, that is not Tai chi and the guy doing it is not a tai chi master, he's a fraud. There is no actual tai chi lineage that teaches that no touch qi force applications are real. As one tai chi master once told me: "If that were real, wouldn't every basketball and football player learn it? If you can learn it so can I, and if I can then so can you. So what's real is real and what isn't isn't." Stay grounded my friends.

Love to connect with you about Taiji Quan. Agree with most of what you say but not all. And there are some good guys around not many.

Thx for another taichi clip

Awesome video and analysis. I like the demos alongside the conversation. A lot of your arm drag techniques and transition actually look similar to high level various kung fu, wrestling, and Silat systems. I recognized some of your leg takedowns and arm takedowns both from wrestling and Silat. At a high level you can make anything work its just that MMA has found out how to make 'kung fu techniques' work in real life like adaptable trapping, counters, arm drills, takedowns, wrestling. Most people will get more out of training a practical system first that can do the techniques then learn a more traditional system secondary like you say. People with more sparring and varied martial arts experience can pick up techniques and make them work really quickly I have found.

Good informative video Ramsey, karate katas are the same originally of course training was a face to face fight, learning the katas was just a representation of this. Some people are teaching how the movements in katas work what they actually represent its very different from the multiple opponent block punch turn type movement most teach, Iain Abernethy Practical Bunkai is a good channel. The knowing how to fight is so important in applying any fighting art and sorely missed and ignored by so many.

Ramsey, My ontological (i.e., "Zen") teacher, Peter Ralston, was a student of Wong Chia Man (Wong Jack Man) and William CC Chen, among others, and was the first non-Asian to win the world full contact martial arts championship in China in 1978. He advised me, and others, that the primary reason that Taijiquan gained popularity was that "back in the day" it was a more effective way to kill. The result of the "Internal Training", back then, resulted in the ability to rupture internal organs. Apparently, back then, striking was the primary skill of the Art. Not trying to take any of the validity of what you're saying away, but just wanted to add this into the mix. Thank you for posting this.

We actually train tai chi with live sparring and grappling. Funnily enough our teacher is a black belt in Judo who then learned Kung fu and Tai Chi. So kind of seems like that is the way to go.

Hint for anyone looking for good TaiJiChuan instruction: ask/look to see if they offer Shuai Jiao. It shows that they have a practical grappling component.