Former UFC fighter turns to the internal arts – video linked

[raisedspirit]

Former UFC fighter NickOsipczak has made the switch to studying the internal martial artsfull-time.


Here is a video of himpractising tai chi 24 form after 2 years of study

and here is a highlightof his MMA fights

 

[Xue Sheng]

I've talked with a few MMA people who study Taiji and Qigong, basically they will train anything that they feel will help them win a match. I have also talked to a (traditional Yang style) Taiji guy who went and trained MMA and he was having a blast. He was learning a lot as were the MMA guys he trained with. He was not use to dealing with such great amounts of force coming at him and the MMA guys were having a real problem with his rooting and relaxation

 

[Tony Dismukes]

1) You don't need to make duplicate posts in each possible section of the forum - just one will do.
2) The Tai Chi video looks pretty good for someone who has only been practicing 2 years. Of course I would expect a former pro fighter to be more diligent about practicing than the average student, which would explain that.
3) Are you Nick? I see your screen name matches the name of Nick's website. If you are Nick, then welcome to Martial Talk! Why not hang out and share some of your experiences rather than issuing a press release about yourself and talking about yourself in the third person?

 

[Xue Sheng]

1) 2) The Tai Chi video looks pretty good for someone who has only been practicing 2 years. Of course I would expect a former pro fighter to be more diligent about practicing than the average student, which would explain that.

It is not bad but needs work

To list a couple of issues

He needs to focus on linking upper and lower and repulse monkey needs to be deeper, frankly I come form traditional Yang with a dash of traditional Chen and I think his stance is to high for the entire form....and remember...relax, breath, relax the back, relax the neck, straighten the neck...just relax. But understand that relaxing in Taiji does not mean limp
.

As to a former pro-fighter being more diligent about practicing than the average student. That is likely true but being a pro fighter may actually make learning taijiquan harder than the average student due to the former training which was heavy on using force and strength. I have seen Karate and TKD guys work for years to get the stiffness and added strength out of their forms and it can take years and some are never able to do it. He appears to have gotten some of it out of his form but not all, things are too stiff and to disconnected at this point and it is only the Beijing 24 form

Taiji is much much more than knowing roughly what the posture is supposed to look and moving slow and it can take a while to figure that all.

Liang Shouyu's 24 form is rather good, even though his base art is Shuaijiao, but then he has been working on it for many years. This video is short but you can see what I am talking about in the short clips of Liang Shouyu by comparison

 

[Tony Dismukes]

It is not bad but needs work

I did say pretty good for someone who has only been practicing 2 years. That's just based on my observation of how quickly average students progress in different arts over the years. If most of the students with only 2 years practice at your school look that good, then you might have an above-average school. Obviously I'd expect much more from a master who has spent most of his life training in the art.

As to a former pro-fighter being more diligent about practicing than the average student. That is likely true but being a pro fighter may actually make learning taijiquan harder than the average student due to the former training which was heavy on using force and strength

Actually, good MMA technique isn't primarily based on using strength. Some individual fighters do rely on their physical attributes more than on superior technique, but the foundations of good MMA technique are timing, distancing, angling, sensitivity, and leverage, none of which should be problematic for Tai Chi practice. I could see a wrestling-based MMA fighter having a harder time making the adjustment, because wrestling has a very different training mindset. On the other hand, a more BJJ-based fighter could probably make the transition much easier.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I did say pretty good for someone who has only been practicing 2 years. That's just based on my observation of how quickly average students progress in different arts over the years. If most of the students with only 2 years practice at your school look that good, then you might have an above-average school. Obviously I'd expect much more from a master who has spent most of his life training in the art.

I did not mean to imply you were saying otherwise, I was posting more as an addition to what you had said, sorry for not being clear

Actually, good MMA technique isn't primarily based on using strength. Some individual fighters do rely on their physical attributes more than on superior technique, but the foundations of good MMA technique are timing, distancing, angling, sensitivity, and leverage, none of which should be problematic for Tai Chi practice. I could see a wrestling-based MMA fighter having a harder time making the adjustment, because wrestling has a very different training mindset. On the other hand, a more BJJ-based fighter could probably make the transition much easier.

timing, distancing, angling, sensitivity, and leverage... Sensitivity, timing yes but based on that sensitivity. Distancing would be more of stick and sticky again sensitivity, Angling is highly dependent on what the opponent does as is leverage and again that is sensitivity. Taiji is not looking for an advantage or an opening to attack as much as it is waiting for the opponent to take them to one. Taiji, unlike Pro fighting is not all that aggressive. It is not dependent on muscular strength as much as pro fighting it is more concerned with Sandao and Yi, Qi, Li. Basically it is

Sandao
Shen (Spirit – which is Mind to the Chinese and has nothig to do with Spirituality) you must unify your Shen with the movement. Second you must make your Yi (thought, intension) an important part of every move and third is Shi (posture, position) it must be correct and comfortable.

Yi Qi Li is also not as magical as many like to make it but it is Mind move the energy which moves the muscles and it all stays rather relaxed

Now I am not saying that a good MMA fighter is not capable of this but I think they tend to use a lot more muscular force than would be thought necessary in Taiji, but not being an MMA fighter I could be wrong. I can only go by what the guy I knew that was taiji was saying when he went to train MMA. He was not use to the large amount of force that was coming at him and the MMA guys were having a real problem with his relaxation and root. I have worked with MAist of other styles and the majority have the same problem with me, I’m to damn relaxed...

 

[oaktree]

Looks good for 2 years. I have seen people who have
Been doing 24 step for a lot longer and their form is worse.

As a chen guy I think he is to high up and I think in tuishou
His root would not be strong. That is another reason in chen
We go low it trains our legs and balance then being so high up.
I am sure when he trains more on those little internal principles
He will look better. I can tell he put a lot of practice into it.