Friday, May 2, 2008

Combat Tai Chi Chuan



Here is a clip that the guys over at Tim Cartmell's discussion board were enjoying, and it's so good I had to slide it on over to Dojo Rat also.
This shows how Tai Chi Chuan postures and Chinese wrestling are perfectly incorporated into Taiji Push-Hands. The expert is Hawkings Cheung. Novice Taiji players may not realize it, but 70-80% of Taiji techniques are grappling. This includes joint-locking and takedowns.
For those who are interested, Tim Cartmell - author of "Effortless Combat Throws" and other books, will be in Seattle May 17-18 for seminars on Bagua, Tai Chi Chuan applications, and ground grappling.
Contact Jake Burroughs at three_harmonies@hotmail.com
at

5 comments:

  1. Sean C. LedigMay 2, 2008 at 1:32:00 PM PDT

    Great video!

    It shows taijiquan is a valid martial art. And as a wing chun practitioner, I was pleasantly surprised to see it was Hawkins Cheung who was doing that great push hands.

    ReplyDelete
  2. ScottMay 2, 2008 at 7:55:00 PM PDT

    The way I learned taijiquan, every movement can be used as a throw, as a strike, or as a joint lock/brake.

    That guy took a lot of falls, I bet he's still feeling it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dave ChesserMay 2, 2008 at 8:57:00 PM PDT

    I wouldn't call that clip push hands. It's a demo of taiji shuaijiao.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Patrick ParkerMay 2, 2008 at 9:08:00 PM PDT

    cool vid. looks familiar - like a hybrid combo of aiki randori and judo randori.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Dojo RatMay 3, 2008 at 8:11:00 AM PDT

    Dave;
    You're right, it's basicly Chinese wrestling but I like how they ingage in the push-hands pattern to start, and continue to return to it. Now, if they threw a few hitting techniques in it would really round things out!

    ReplyDelete