Why I'm Not Always Polite with Tai Chi Con Artists

 

The video above shows me (blue shirt) in a full-contact match in 1991 - the Toughman Contest. They went to towns around the country, set up a boxing ring, and invited all the "Tough Guys" in the area to come down and fight.

I was 38 years old and had studied martial arts for 18 years. I had been studying Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua for four years at this point. I had to test my skills.

My opponent was much younger, bigger, and stronger. But I had done a lot of sparring, mostly non-contact or very light contact point sparring. I had good strategy and was pretty accurate with my punches. Very often, his punch missed and mine didn't. 

Going up against a bigger guy wasn't unfamiliar. Growing up, I had fights with several bullies who were bigger. So I had a very good idea what a real fight was like.

When a grown man is coming at you, trying to hurt you, it puts everything you have studied into perspective. 

His motivation is to damage you. His fists are heavy and deliver painful blows.

It...

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