Tai Chi plus MMA

[Xue Sheng]

I was talking to a long time Tai Chi person recently and we were talking about Tai Chi and additional cross training. He told me he was training with some MMA people, not for the grappling or the other aspects of MMA but for how to defend against grappling using Tai Chi. He and the people he trained with were learning quite a lot, and he was getting much better at what he called anti-grappling and the others in the MMA class were improving their grappling skills too.

I just wanted to share that.

XS

EDIT:
And please, I do not want this to degenerate into a "my style" is better than "your style" post.

I posted this as an example that we can all improve our Martial Arts ability if we see weaknesses and it can sometimes comes from surprising combinations. Additionally I am not saying that it is necessary to do this either. Basically we all do better if we just work together like Martial Artists use to in the old days (Damn I sound old).

 

[Rook]

Matt Stone, who used to post here frequently but unfortunately seems to have been banned used to discuss this frequently. Sometimes training with people outside your art allows you to notice or refine movements within your own art. I have found this to be true with judo people working on throws from within my kata and to a far more limited extent with fellow students who take BJJ finding movements that they find similar in the kata as well.

Often, it is productive to meet with "specialists" to see how they use motions and see if it helps your understanding of refining what you do.

 

[pete]

I was talking to a long time Tai Chi person recently and we were talking about Tai Chi and additional cross training. He told me he was training with some MMA people, not for the grappling or the other aspects of MMA but for how to defend against grappling using Tai Chi. He and the people he trained with were learning quite a lot, and he was getting much better at what he called anti-grappling and the others in the MMA class were improving their grappling skills too.

I just wanted to share that.

XS

EDIT:
And please, I do not want this to degenerate into a "my style" is better than "your style" post.

I posted this as an example that we can all improve our Martial Arts ability if we see weaknesses and it can sometimes comes from surprising combinations. Additionally I am not saying that it is necessary to do this either. Basically we all do better if we just work together like Martial Artists use to in the old days (Damn I sound old).

no need to walk on eggshells my old friend. their are styles that are better than others, practitioners that are better than others, and the key is when the practitioner is fortunate enough to find the style the allows him to fulfill his potential.

so, how would one know without doing, or at least without snooping around? i like to call it cross-referencing. work with martial artists of other styles and skill levels to see how your art and your skill level stack up. then use what you learn to tighten it up, borrow from what you learn to enhance, and learn the weaknesses within other styles and practitioners that you can exploit.

my style is better than your style is a legitimate discussion that need not degenerate, as long as the discussion is maintained with relevant specifics and not based on generalities and historical legends.

 

[Loaded Luke]

Matt Stone, who used to post here frequently but unfortunately seems to have been banned used to discuss this frequently. Sometimes training with people outside your art allows you to notice or refine movements within your own art. I have found this to be true with judo people working on throws from within my kata and to a far more limited extent with fellow students who take BJJ finding movements that they find similar in the kata as well.

Often, it is productive to meet with "specialists" to see how they use motions and see if it helps your understanding of refining what you do.

Same here. Ive sparred with Judo guys and some of them are so technical. Training with people who have done different MA's is a good thing cos you appreciate their style more. Even with Wing Chun guys, some of them have really good speed with their hands.

 

[Xue Sheng]

no need to walk on eggshells my old friend.

I don’t do egg shells :uhyeah:

And I am not against a reasonable discussion about style differences at all. Most unfortunately on MT in the past it always ends up “my style is better” “no it’s not”, “yes it is”, repeat 10,000 times and you get the picture. That is what I would like to avoid.

And I do believe that there are certain aspects of some styles that deal with certain situations better than other styles, but I am still not convinced this makes any style better than any other style. Form personal experience I would say there are aspects of Xingyi that deal with certain aspects of self defense better than Tai Chi and some aspects of Tai Chi deal with certain situations better than Xingyi and certain things Sanda deals with better but that does not make one better than the other.

But I am off topic. All I really am trying to say is that any MA can learn form any other MA but that does not mean any MA is superior nor does it mean one should cross train if they arte happy in their art.

Tai Chi is a very good martial art if trained properly but it has no grappling and it may be if you want to know how to handle grapplers you should go train with them. Grappling deals with people fighting back and using a lot of strength not those that stick adhere and follow so it may be to their advantage to train with a Tai Chi person.

I am not against cross training, but if you are happy in your chosen art then I also do not believe cross training should be an issue either.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Sometimes training with people outside your art allows you to notice or refine movements within your own art.

Agreed

Same here. Ive sparred with Judo guys and some of them are so technical. Training with people who have done different MA's is a good thing cos you appreciate their style more. Even with Wing Chun guys, some of them have really good speed with their hands.

Many years ago I was at a CMA school that was populated by people from other Martial Arts and the Sifu allowed us on Saturday afternoons to spar using our art. I got to spar people from Kenpo, Aikido, Southern Mantis, Judo, Karate, TKD. Etc. and it was absolutely amazing how much you could learn in an afternoon.

 

[pete]

Many years ago I was at a CMA school that was populated by people from other Martial Arts and the Sifu allowed us on Saturday afternoons to spar using our art. I got to spar people from Kenpo, Aikido, Southern Mantis, Judo, Karate, TKD. Etc. and it was absolutely amazing how much you could learn in an afternoon.

this is what i do now, in fact yesterday, only my teacher wants me to remain in bagua mode, since that is the style he is teaching me. it is difficult sometimes not to rely on other styles that i've done longer and fought with more often.

 

[Xue Sheng]

this is what i do now, in fact yesterday, only my teacher wants me to remain in bagua mode, since that is the style he is teaching me. it is difficult sometimes not to rely on other styles that i've done longer and fought with more often.

For many of my years training with my Yang Style Sifu he pretty much wanted me to do the same thing, stay within Yang style, so I did, I left my first CMA Sifu and studied strictly with my Yang Style Sifu for a few years. It was only towards the end after he began to change that I returned briefly to Xingyi and started Qinna Gedou (police/military Sanda).