The Genius Of Tai Chi

reply to post by TheSpanishArcher


I understand what your saying. From a less practiced eye you will see a lot of seemingly useless movement. But one can easily with enough knowledge go movement to movement in the basic tai chi forms and explain or at least see the applications and concepts.

For instance the seemingly useless movement of part wild horses mane. It looks grace full, pretty...sure. But it also looks lame and uncombative to most. But thats because the viewer fails to see whats right in front of them because of their lack of knowledge in the basic martial concepts and principles. That movement can be seen in several different martial arts and it looks different depending on the flavor of said martial art, but the results are the same and so are the principles.

To me I see that useless move as a parry and flank to the outside shoulder of the opponent as they strike. The rear hand catches the incoming strike. Think of a wrestlers "pitchers catch" arm grab. or imagine yourself flinching and bringing both hands up in front of you as you step forward at an angle to dodge a punch. the rear hand catches the strike. but at this point you've stepped in to the opponents space with a deep horse stance. the front hand will appear to be doing a scissoring like motion where it dips below and in front of the rear hand that's caught the punch. But whats really going one is that you are using your lead shoulder or bicep to "bump" and dislocate said opponents punching arm.

He can try and strike back with his free arm or some other stunt but its too late. you've taken his base. he has no structure left to hold his balance his lead arm is destroyed and he's already on his way to the ground because your lead arm that did the bump unfurls and presses against the opponents upper body or face and locks the spine back. the rear hand that caught the incoming strike hooks the arm back "the stroking the mane" part and pries it against the third point of contact your chest acting like a fulcrum. both locking the arm and wrenching it further while maintaining pressure on the locked spine. from there simple pop hip out ward a way from dude and hes slammed to the ground with a broken arm, a embarrassing attempt at assault and a cracked contused skull. or you ca forgo the hip pop and simply fold your lead arm that was acting like a lever to drop the guy in the previous scenario into vertical elbow spike into the upper chest creating a closer tighter fulcrum to levy pressure on and for added measure drop into deeper hoarse stance to bomb them with your body weight ad gravity when you buck your knees to slap int that deep hoarse stance thus amplifying the downward force on the guy, and hemorrhaging his vertebrae.

All that in a seemingly useless wussie movement. It helps to know what you're looking at before you make judgements as to what you're actually looking at.

reply to post by BASSPLYR


All that makes sense but I'm not your typical guy. I've never been in a fight my whole life, over forty years, and probably couldn't defend myself against a unarmed four year old girl. To me it just looks like funny movements pushing around air.

I'll admit, I'm pretty lame. Couldn't even be normal and get into a fight, even once, so arts like this are completely foreign to me.

TheSubversiveOne
reply to post by Itisnowagain

 

Some people go to a psychotherapist and get their heads fixed but unless body work is used, the body tensions will put the issues back into the mind again.
When the body cannot relax neither will the mind.

But a head is a part of the body is it not?

If we live in the thinking world and lose contact with the body - we lose touch with reality.

TheSpanishArcher
reply to post by BASSPLYR

 

All that makes sense but I'm not your typical guy. I've never been in a fight my whole life, over forty years, and probably couldn't defend myself against a unarmed four year old girl. To me it just looks like funny movements pushing around air.

I'll admit, I'm pretty lame. Couldn't even be normal and get into a fight, even once, so arts like this are completely foreign to me.

Forget about fighting,

learning to focus and transfer energy can be used in a battle or physical conflict,

however, martial arts, any form is not or should not be about fighting but about connecting with oneself and finding that balance that holds everything in order.


No if you are a person who see's fighting as a non option then martial arts are actually very suited for you.

Tai Chi?

More like Tyche.

Tyche (English /ˈtaɪki/; from Greek: Τύχη,[1] meaning "luck"; Roman equivalent: Fortuna) was the presiding tutelary deity that governed the fortune and prosperity of a city, its destiny. She is the daughter of Aphrodite and Zeus or Hermes.
Increasingly during the Hellenistic period, cities venerated their own specific iconic version of Tyche, wearing a mural crown (a crown like the walls of the city).
The Greek historian Polybius believed that when no cause can be discovered to events such as floods, droughts, frosts or even in politics, then the cause of these events may be fairly attributed to Tyche.[2]

Tyche is the explanation we have for when we have no explanation.

Tyche? What is this Dike ?

In ancient Greek culture, Dikē (Greek: Δίκη, English translation: "justice") was the spirit of moral order and fair judgement based on immemorial custom, in the sense of socially enforced norms and conventional rules. According to Hesiod (Theogony, l. 901), she was fathered by Zeus upon his second consort, Themis.

Hehehe, Ok I'll stop.

reply to post by muzzleflash

Tyche is the explanation we have for when we have no explanation.

Funny you post this Muzzle,

Tai Chi can help one find an explanation for themselves when none is to be found from others.

enough philosophizing for me, I'm of to search for aliens specifically reptilians in the UFO forum

reply to post by TheSpanishArcher


Managing to never get in a fight in your entire life is not lame it's a blessing and a example if good character to some degree. Nothing wrong about never having gotten into a fight. From your circumstances I can appreciate your perspective on this matter.

Everyone thinks that once you've finished a fight you feel good about yourselves. Not true. After an altercation I spend time in deep reflection as to how I screwed up enough to even get in a fight with somebody. I mean everybody else managed to make it trough the day with out getting into a fight with said individual how come I couldn't. Where did I fail. That's what's really going through my mind. That and flashbacks where you remember unwanted details. Oh yeah and lots of uncontrollable shaking and ice cold sweat trickling down the small of your back you secretly hope nobody sees. Once I crawled up into a ball and hyperventilated afterwards. The experience of really fighting is awful and I can see why you would smartly choose to avoid all of that in your life. Even animals avoid fighting if they can.

I can completely respect your stance in the subject.

reply to post by BASSPLYR


I like that analogy.

There's something elegant about a practice that can both: a) relax your body b) serve as a source of defense c) has an artistic quality about it.

It's hard to know exactly what type of thinking went into the development of these practices. The ancient Chinese had a very holistic understanding which embraced disparate modes of thinking: getting in touch with the body, which in effect reduces stress and improves social connections, and acts as a deadly martial art.

It's an important insight that I think will always have a place in the lives of human beings.

reply to post by Aleister

As for psychotherapy, so long as they rely on looking at and moaning about memories while not working the underlying chemical responses enough for someone to get a handle on them, they are just spinning 50 minute gold for themselves for the decades that the person will come in and moan about their lives, or try to find some answers when that particular field isn't providing right now.

It's true. While it's important to process memories, the main vehicle for change is via regulating the body states i.e. body sensations.

Were so often caught up in the substance of our thinking that we don't even pay attention or notice the subtle shifts which occur in our bodies. Manage those shifts, and you can mindfully direct your experience towards expansive and positive emotional states.

reply to post by Astrocyte

Are you talking about Tai Chi forms or Chi Kung excercise? Both are done slowly. The health aspects you describe are derived from the chi kung excercises which enable the bodies energy to flow. Excellent for relieving aches and pains.

Tai chi is practised slowly because, as my Tai Chi friend once put it:

It takes practise do things correctly any idiot can speed it up!

It's done slowly to get it right, trust me when you get it right and do it fast as in combat speed it's no different from Kung Fu (very closely related). Using one hand to lock a wrist and bring someone to their knees is quite satisfying......although I have never needed to use it for real, despite frequenting some "basic" Glasgow bars.

I love the sword forms, very impressive when the double sword form is done with real blades. I only ever did one of the single blade sword forms and my friend (teacher) explained the reason behind every move......quite gruesome !!! Needless to say you HAVE to practise these slowly.

reply to post by yorkshirelad


Spot on. Absolutely spot on.

reply to post by yorkshirelad


Spot on. Absolutely spot on.

I think tia chee and also yoga are things that should be practiced by people especially when you get a bit older and you're body can't take the heavy pounding of weights and running. Like it really is refreshing to try both of those. I tried some yoga and found it kind fun.

My sensei used to say: to avoid a fight is to win a fight

reply to post by kneejo


Your teacher was right. For every fight you get into it costs you something... Always... You will never get into a physical fight where it didn't cost you something. Breaking contact is ALWAYS the best option.

People romanticize martial arts and fighting. But let's get real there is nothing to romantic about it. Either you engaged needlessly or were smart and defused the situation and walked away. Rarely is a fight not an outcome of ones personal failure to the situation.

Remember direct hostile contact will always cost you something you'd rather unhindered sight not have given up.

reply to post by BASSPLYR


Couldn't agree more.

People romanticize martial arts and fighting. But let's get real there is nothing to romantic about it. Either you engaged needlessly or were smart and defused the situation and walked away. Rarely is a fight not an outcome of ones personal failure to the situation.

You can almost put this in a neuro-evolutionary context.

Neuroscientists sometimes speak of the "triune brain", in reference to the 3 different processing systems that make up the human brain.

Each system corresponds to an earlier period of human evolution. There is the reptilian brain, the palemammalian brain, and the neomamammalian brain.

The reptilian brain is the brain stem, it is mostly parasympathetic (metabolically conservative) and regulates body processes automatically.

The PaleoMammalian brain is the so-called "limbic" system; it is the seat of where our emotions occur. It is mostly sympathetic, enabling social abilities. Drives, excitement, fear, curiosity, anxiety, play, etc are fundamentally processed in this part of the brain.

The NeoMammalian brain are the prefrontal cortex areas of the human brain, enabling cognitions like self awareness, the ability to focus and direct attention, to plan, to analyze, and many more complicated abilities that are uniquely human.

Logically speaking, you should always consult your most evolved ability: it's there to help us avoid wasting valuable metabolic energy on pointless fights.

So, if the opportunity presents itself to avoid a fight, you should act as you recommended: diffuse the situation by speaking to the person, or simply walk away. Only when negotiation and getting away is impossible, should you fight.

reply to post by Astrocyte


You sir are 100%. Correct. We should always resort to our higher self when making logical decisions. The reptilian cortex is usefull but not always when it comes to fighting. I've found it to often be counter usefull. Makes the body freeze up, over react, fumble.

One of the real secrets to internal martial arts is learning to control the reptilian complex do that you can think clearly, with less panic and still retain some of your better motor functions. All of which go out the window even you are scared. The jet lee hero types in movies who could always block the punch and counter perfectly were based on people who could actually do this once upon a time. They got that ability by controlling their sympathetic nervousexststem and not letting it get in the way of their mind and body. That's what makes one a master. That's the true internal martial arts. But the only way to get there is to expose yourself little by little to the stresses of combat until the body is well trained to remain calm-"er" under duress. Sparring and repetition develops this. Meditation helps to. Mindfulness even practicing the movements etc... Help to develop this.

So you are 100% right. The true art in martial arts is learning to control the reptilian complex and its over reactions. Of course there are times where fight if flight help but not as Often as one would think.

If you can find a logical reason to not fight then listen to and follow the logic. Because the truth is fighting takes its toll. Physically it will cause you something... Always. Even if you're super man snd get out without a scratch believe me you didn't escape the pain it will come mentally later . Fighting always costs you something, that in hindsight you almost always wish it didn't

Tai Chi changed my sex life. That is all.

reply to post by RadarOReilly


Is that you in the picture? Its important that i know this.

reply to post by Astrocyte


Yeah I was wondering the same thing. Hey Raydar if you're the chick in that picture... And you do tai chi then I recommend we meet up to train... Extensive grappling ... On the ground .

If that's not you then ... Do you know if she does tai chi? And might wanna like teach me some stuff.