Quote Originally Posted by Peaceful Orchid View Post
Why do you think you are unable to apply that principle/technique when you are in your grappling competitions?
I've actually been really successful at applying principles in competition (I've never been very into techniques). It's just really subtle in grappling competitions.

For example, my experience with tai chi allows me to more easily "feel" a weakness in a persons balance and attack that weakness using a traditional (BJJ/Judo) throw/take down. If I were to use JUST tai chi in a grappling competition it would involve me constantly throwing a person off of me and... that's not the goal of a grappling competition.

I was (and still am) very fond of an open guard in grappling/BJJ tournaments so... I could pretty much just sit down and be happy. Tai chi isn't all that useful in that situation. BUT...

I used to be a bouncer at a local night club and got to use tai chi to subdue an opponent. This was my first "real life" use of tai chi. What made it really cool/interesting is that the other guys at the night club all do MMA/boxing/kickboxing.

What happened was someone was being rowdy (happens a lot). He got too rowdy and the two guys downstairs were about to beat on him. One of the managers asked me to run downstairs and cool things out (I was the "cool" guy). RIGHT when I got to the bottom of the stairs things heated up, one guy was on his back choking him, the other guy was punching him in the face. They threw him in the street and that's when I stepped in.

When he got up, I told him not to go back over there. He starts to push past me and... it's was push hands time! I basically just neutralized all his attempts to get by (he shoved, threw some punches and even did a really weak one handed choke attempt). He basically wore himself out and I walked with him down the block.

What I learned was cool about tai chi (vs the "hard" martial arts) is that you can cool a guy out like that, not hurt yourself and not hurt him. When someone starts getting wild like that, the only recourse the other bouncers have are punches, kicks and throws.

---

All that being said I have 2 more things.

1. I actually want to start sparring "using tai chi" and see where it goes. For fun/experimenting. In tournament/MMA situations I don't think tai chi alone is very useful BUT I think it can be the edge that makes a person a much more formidable opponent.

2. I think a lot of the "foundational" tai chi stuff is present in a lot of martial arts (judo, bjj, muay thai grappling, etc.) and isn't particularly special. What I think IS special is what can potentially be reached when SOLELY focusing on the principles of tai chi (relaxation, balance, center, proportion, coordination, etc.)

...

I write a lot. lol