Is Tai Chi dying?

Was the combat swimming any better? The butterfly must be pretty effective against multiple opponents.

I assume youā€™re joking, but that shit is real! Next time you get drop-kicked by some chick in yoga pants, donā€™t say you havenā€™t been warned. :sunglasses:

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I would say western alternatives are way better. I have a friend who does functional training for all people, and they look amazing after a few weeks.

I donā€™t doubt it, but I doubt it has the same overall benefits as yoga, such as flexibility, detox, spiritual growth and mental calmness and nonreactivity. I bet it does for strength, balance and cardio though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXIuDLH1_1k

Taichi pushing hands (guy with fro) v.s. BBJ. The rule is no ground fighting, so it limits both to just use throws and grappling (full body grappling, push out of ring for 1 point, 2 points for any throw).

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Which makes it useless in a real fight. Along with akaido.

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It can be very useful in a fight against someone who doesnā€™t know BJJ or wrestling moves.

I have no experience in fighting other than in the school yards. But when I conceptualize it, I imagine ground fight is only useful when you are in a one on one situation, or that you have superior numbers behind you.

Outside of those situations, being in a ground fight subjects you to be open for attacks with very little option of retreat.

So I can imagine why some fighting styles try not to be down in the first place, not because they are not realistic, but rather because they are trying to keep it real.

A guy with zero experience who brawls with no regards for himself will kill a tai chi master.

Thatā€™s a pretty blanket statementā€¦the outcome would depend on a lot of different factors.

Or when someone takes you down. It takes some training to block off take downs from people who have zero experience.

I personally donā€™t ever take someone down because of the reasons you say and plus I have zero ground training.

How people fight is not like in the movies or even like in mma. Itā€™s fast random swings that charge at you. Beginners and intermediate boxers often lose to people with zero boxing experience because people who fight with no experience just brawl in the ring. Unless you are great at controlling distance and pace, which takes years.

Very true. Which is why skills like sensing and redirecting power that are taught in tai chi can be useful. This doesnā€™t mean that what you pick up in laid back pushing hands is going to be useful in a real fight. But when incorporated into realistic sparring and combined with other techniques (tai chi certainly isnā€™t a total fighting system) these skills can definitely give you an edge. Of course, nothing is going to protect you from a perfectly timed sucker punch.

Tai chi does too much blocking. They donā€™t work. Ever. Do you ever see MMA fighters try to block and catch and redirect strikes? Unless you have a boxing glove to parry punches and slip with and absorb the impact. Knowing how to move and control distance is going to save you in a fight. Trying to redirect peopleā€™s attacks will get you killed.

Are there concepts and ideas in tai chi that can help. Sure. But idk why you would learn it as self defense when there are so much better options. For exercise, itā€™s good for elderly for sure.

Getting this topic back on track (rather than debating the merits of tai chi as a martial art), Iā€™m sad to say that traditional Chinese martial arts as a whole are dying in Taiwan.

When I was younger, I was massively into martial arts, and stories about legendary 20th Chinese masters fleeing from China to Taiwan was one of the things that drew me to the island. Sadly, practitioners from that era are either very old or dead and very few younger people are picking it up. Those younger people who are interested in martial arts are more drawn to Western mixed martial arts, just like they are here in the West. A number of serious practitioners of traditional Chinese martial artist in Taiwan have told me that itā€™s actually the Westerners who are keeping them alive.

With regards to tai chi specifically, the stereotypical ā€œbreathing exerciseā€ variety you see in the park is very much alive and well, both in the East and West, among the types of people who practice yoga and meditation. Thereā€™s nothing wrong with that per se, but that is just one side of tai chi. But, as far as being a deadly martial artā€¦ Yes, tai chi in Taiwan is dying, along with traditional Chinese martial arts as a whole.

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I think youā€™re too stuck on the standard moves. I would never use tai chi blocks like they appear in the forms. Wing chun blocks maybe. And the tai chi techniques Iā€™m talking about are incorporated into distance control. Of course you never want to block the full force of a punch.

Taiwan is good at Taekwondo which is a real Martial Art, tai chi is just bullshit.

Taekwondo is kind of a bullshit martial art too, but definitely good for toughening up your body.

Well thereā€™s just so many things I think will get you killed if you tried haha. Imo, 10% of tai chi may be useful incorporated into fighting maybe, but 90% will get you killed. So unless you are a person who understands which 10% works and spars often. Itā€™s not going to help you and possibly even hurt your chances.

I wouldnā€™t want to give an exact percentage, but yes, I totally agree with this. This is also true about most martial arts.