Bagua in ufc

[Kumkuat]

How is wrestling and BJJ an internal art?

[count]

All arts are internal at high levels. Some more than others. In wrestling, your whole body is the weapon as opposed to boxing, where you are just hitting hard with your hands. Not to say there are not internal aspects of boxing (there are!). Wrestling and BJJ use the same feeling energy you should be learning in tai chi chuan! You have to feel where your opponents energy is going and redirect it to your advantage. That's internal! Wrestling is an art where you use your opponents momentum to get maximum power. Think about the requirements to grappling and throwing. Proper alignment, timing, sensitivity, speed, positioning will overcome brute force. That's internal! Maybe the conditioning and training isn't as internally focused as tai chi chuan but the results and the fighting philosophy are the same. Do you not think tai chi chuan or baguazhang are internal? Baguazhang is about 75 percent (approximation) wrestling and grappling! I think the problem is most people have the misconception that internal arts mean soft when in reality they are the hardest hitting most brutal fighting styles.

Back to the topic. Forget about the UFC and their silly show. I would love to see an olympic boxer fight an olympic wrestler. I would rather see a black belt in aikido fight the equivalent in baguazhang. Give me copoiera against savat any day. Sambo vs shuai chaio. Kali vs Arnis. Bando against Muay Thai. Judo against Karate. I prefer arts that are more complete than ones that are overly simplified and specialized in one area. I prefer competitions that are tests of skill rather than ones that are attempts to make money or prove dominance over world markets. The ufc is not about martial arts at all. It is about entertainment. Want proof? Here is a letter from the promoters when some REAL martial artist tried to get in.




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[razakdigital]

After reading the post I see that most people agree the it is fear that people have of losing. This fear keeps us from fighting in tournaments. Now is this fear the fear of lack of confidence? Is it because of our sifu's not teaching us how to control our fear? What is it? I mean Pa kua is a deadly art and because of our understanding of it's nature we should be "fearless". I myself when in tournaments - I am learning how to control that fear. Me personally - my fear has not been my competitor but more of me losing ... because when fighting if you are not focus you might feel like you are doing a show for everyone. (in some cases you are)... Even I'm learning internals from great teachers and friends - I don't follow everything...just because someone says this works I question it to see if it's true... so I use my brian over my eyes


I thank everyone for their opinion on this topic...you guys know me by now - I love to bring topics that will cause issues to be addressed.