Four Takedowns from Four Tai Chi Movements
Here is a short video showing and explaining some of the body mechanics to four takedowns in four different movements from Chen style Taijiquan.
I am fascinated at all the self-defense applications in movements that often appear slow and gentle. Taiji (Tai Chi) is practiced slowly to develop proper internal body mechanics. There is a method of developing skill that later involves push hands, then flowing with a partner in unscripted ways, and then incorporating joint locks, sweeps, takedowns, elbow and shoulder strikes and other fighting techniques.
The takedowns come from these four movements:
- Lazy About Tying the Coat
- Walking Obliquely
- Punch the Ground
- Single Whip
Enjoy this video. We shot in on Sunday and I edited it today. Let me know if you have questions.
What Does Being "Double-Weighted" Mean in Tai Chi?
Has a Taiji teacher ever explained to you what "double-weighted" means? It's bad to be double-weighted, but if you are looking for a definition of the term, you will find a lot of them out there. Most of them are wrong.
Some will tell you that you are double-weighted when your weight is distributed 50-50 between the legs.
Others will say something else.
The video below demonstrates what I learned about being double-weighted from Chen Xiaowang, Chen Xiaoxing and their students (my teachers).
Close-Up Self-Defense Using Tai Chi Energies and Methods: DVD
You are in a situation where you cannot escape a fight. Someone your size or larger lunges at you, grabs you in a clinch, and tries to take you to the ground.
Can you use your Tai Chi skills to take HIM to the ground instead?
I have been working on this since 2006, when I was practicing push hands with Chen Xiaoxing in my basement and he kept putting me on the ground -- over and over again -- and he did it so easily, I could not understand what he was doing until about the tenth time I found myself on my back.
He was breaking my structure and controlling my center.
The insights from that training have driven me for the past dozen years to explore how to use the "energies" of Tai Chi (Taiji) for close-up self-defense.
How do you use ward-off, roll back, press, push, split, pluck, bump, elbow, empty, advance, withdraw in a real fight? How do you use these methods of dealing with force to take your opponent to the ground without using muscular force or "wrestling?"
My new DVD answer...
A 4-Step Plan for Defending Yourself with Taijiquan
Use Tai Chi Pluck Energy for Real Self-Defense
There are many different "energies" in Tai Chi and the internal arts. Cai energy is also called "Pluck." It is a sudden pulling action that can take your opponent off-balance.
Pluck can be done in a subtle way in push hands but in real self-defense, when your life can be in danger, it is not subtle and not especially pretty -- but it is definitely effective and it can be used against all kinds of attacks.
Here is how to begin practicing this particular method of Tai Chi Pluck energy. Have a partner attack you without warning. Your first goal is to cover and block the attack. Instinctively, you should drop your weight and avoid the lifting of the body. This takes a lot of practice and presence of mind. In fact, it is a very good idea simply to react to an initial attack by practicing -- over and over -- the dropping and covering technique to protect yourself in the event of a surprise attack.
Despite what ...
A Hidden Neck Break in Hidden-Hand Punch
I am fascinated by the self-defense applications of Chen Taijiquan. There are no transitions, no "wind-ups" to self-defense techniques. Every action in a Tai Chi form is a fighting technique.
I recently published an ebook with 239 photos demonstrating and explaining more than 100 self-defense applications of the Chen 19 form (click here to find the ebook on Amazon). In 2008, I did a 3-DVD set demonstrating more than 400 fighting applications in Laojia Yilu. All of my DVDs go deeply into the self-defense applications of each form I do in Taiji, Xingyi or Bagua. In my view, the true intent of these movements is contained in the self-defense applications. There are people who disagree with me, but in my opinion you simply can't do the form well if you don't understand how it feels to use the movements against an attacker. That's what they were created to do.
The photos here show the first appearance of the movement "Hidden Hand Punch" in the Chen 19 form -- the short form created by ...
Press Energy and One of Its Meanings
When I first studied Tai Chi, I learned about Ward Off (Peng), Roll Back (Lu), Press (Gi, pronounced "jee"), and Push (An, pronounced "On").
We were told there are eight primary "energies" in Tai Chi.
On the rare times we did fighting applications, we thought of Press as a pressing outward type of movement, as in the top photo on the left.
But Press has a different quality. With this "energy," you crowd your opponent. One way this is done in Bagua and Taiji is to deflect incoming force and position yourself close enough to your opponent
that he is unable to defend. At this point, you are set up to do what you need to do.
In the middle photo, I am doing a movement from the Bagua Swimming Body form called "Black Dragon Slashes Its Tail." My partner has punched and I have moved in as the punch was deflected. I am now close enough to do a palm strike, a shoulder bump, a leg technique, and more.
In Taiji you can do this while pushing hands, too. During the double hand routines...
Martial Artists - Are You Making This Mistake with Your Body Mechanics?
Martial artists with any experience at all believe they're generating a lot of power with their movements. In my first kung-fu class as a student--way back in September, 1973--we stood and punched, snapping our hips with the punch to add power to the technique.
As I've studied and taught the internal arts, I had to learn body mechanics that are very different from the other kung-fu, taekwondo, and boxing instruction I had received in the past.
A little over a week ago, I held a workshop for all martial artists on the fighting applications of the Chen Tai Chi 38 form. Attendees included students and teachers from a wide variety of arts, from Shaolin and taekwondo to a Yang style teacher. There were white belt students and very high-ranking black belts.
And almost every one of them made one mistake. I knew they would, because everywhere I go--every martial artist I meet--makes this mistake.
Their movements are not connected from the ground through the body.
Here are some photos ...
Tai Chi Self-Defense Workshop was a Lot of Fun
At least 17 people showed up for my workshop yesterday at John Morrow's Academy in downtown Moline, Illinois. Martial artists from all styles were there -- TKD, karate, another tai chi instructor (Yang style), Shaolin students -- it was a great group of very nice people.
Two members of the online school drove in from Dixon, Illinois and another member, Wally, drove in from Chicago.
We went over fighting applications from the Chen 38 form. Each of the participants will receive a DVD -- Nancy videotaped it for the Chen 38 DVD that's due out in the next two weeks.
I knew I was going to enjoy showing internal body mechanics to a variety of martial artists. It was a blast showing them fighting applications from tai chi, and the relaxed power you can generate from the proper body mechanics.
One of the hallmarks of "external" styles is the twisting of the hips. Many martial artists twist their hips too much when they move, and they kink their posture and put themselves into vulnerable po...
Which is Better for Self-Defense -- Xingyi or Taiji?
Gary Liu asked this question:
"I have been learning Chen Taiji for just over 2 years. One of the things that frustrates me is the seemingly unrealistic techniques and chin-na that would be unrealistic for self-defence. Felt like a waste of time covering and learning them. I have always looked for simple techniques and doing them well for self-defence purposes.
After reading your post here about practicing the concepts behind them, things fall into perspective a lot more. Instead of a chore, chin-na becomes an opportunity to learn to send force into the opponent to control his body (as opposed to control of a local joint).
The Cannon Fist routine was a lot more direct and aligns more with what I am looking for (I have learned short yilu and erlu forms - now learning a long yilu form). Though looking at your Hsing-I instructions, I wonder if I should be giving Hsing-I a go due to more direct and simple movements.
If you have time, I would be very interested in hearing your view on Hs...
Author - Instructor
Ken Gullette
I have practiced martial arts since 1973 and began studying the internal arts in 1987. My goal is to cut years off your development time by coaching you in the real skills for high-quality Tai Chi, Xingyi, Bagua. To see more about my bio, click the "About Ken" link on the menu at the top of this page.
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