Video clip of tai chi ‘streetfight’

[zzj]

Background (based on what I read in the comments):

The person who posted the video said that the tai chi user was an old man from his neighborhood who was known as a tai chi practitioner.

The incident involved the younger man’s scooter almost knocking into the old man, and instead of apologizing, he called the old man the equivalent of ‘stupid f*cker’, which led to the subsequent *** whooping.

This happened in Vietnam apparently.

 

[CrazedChris]

Hope he learned his lesson.

 

[JowGaWolf]

1st thing that came to my mind was stance training. lol worst root ever

 

[Zeny]

1st thing that came to my mind was stance training. lol worst root ever

How does stance training help root?

 

[mograph]

How does stance training help root?

In my experience, if you learn to sink while doing it, it will teach you what sinking feels like when static.
Then you gradually apply more movement as you test your root and recall those static sinking sensations and apply them to the new context of movement. Occasionally, you go back to static rooting to recall the sensations.

But you have to actually do it (with a good teacher) to learn these sensations. They're subtle and incremental, and can't be learned in a video or a few sentences on the internet.

 

[zzj]

1st thing that came to my mind was stance training. lol worst root ever

The younger man doesn’t seem to have any martial arts background at all, it’s not surprising that he has no root at all, just attempts at flailing.

 

[Zeny]

In my experience, if you learn to sink while doing it, it will teach you what sinking feels like when static.
Then you gradually apply more movement as you test your root and recall those static sinking sensations and apply them to the new context of movement. Occasionally, you go back to static rooting to recall the sensations.

But you have to actually do it (with a good teacher) to learn these sensations. They're subtle and incremental, and can't be learned in a video or a few sentences on the internet.

Is it possible to practise this sinking feeling by merely standing upright or walking? What advantages do stance training have over standing or walking in this context?

 

[JowGaWolf]

How does stance training help root?

Stance training, when done properly will help you develop more stable footing. It will keep you from falling everywhere. Stance training should consist of static stances and transitional stances. It shold be trained solo and we a partner who is trying to knock you over. One should pay attention to the weight distribution, balance, in the feet and in the legs.

 

[JowGaWolf]

How does stance training help root?

People often just stand without paying attention to all that is going on when doing stance training.

You would be wasting time if all you are doing is just standing without paying attention to what's happening to your body. There is always movement even when standing still.

 

[Zeny]

Stance training, when done properly will help you develop more stable footing. It will keep you from falling everywhere. Stance training should consist of static stances and transitional stances. It shold be trained solo and we a partner who is trying to knock you over. One should pay attention to the weight distribution, balance, in the feet and in the legs.

Can you give an example of static stance and transitional stance?

 

[mograph]

There is always movement even when standing still.

Yep. If we look deeply enough into our muscles, tendons and so on, we will find this movement. It can be very tiny. But this refined sense of internal (physical) perception is a benefit of stance training, yes?

 

[mograph]

Is it possible to practise this sinking feeling by merely standing upright or walking?

No, not if you haven't done serious standing, long enough to get sore muscles. If you don't get sore muscles, you don't try to discover new ways of sensing and aligning your structure, because you have no reason to do so.

What advantages do stance training have over standing or walking in this context?

If you do stance training, you have a chance to develop a root, which you would then attempt to apply when standing or walking.
You are training your body and mind to develop new habits and learn new paradigms. To do this, you need to ingrain new habits until you make breakthroughs, then you need to repeat.

I studied psychology, so I'm not just parroting old-school masters.

 

[Zeny]

What happens after I could redistribute my weight equally throughout my body, and sink that weight while static and moving? What else can I do to improve my root?

 

[JowGaWolf]

What happens after I could redistribute my weight equally throughout my body, and sink that weight while static and moving?

In a martial arts sense, you can then use it to attack and defend (long story of exactly how). In terms of everyday life, you're footing will be more secure and you'll be able to recover better when you stumble. If you play an active sport that has a lot of footwork then it will help you with that as well.

It's same with sinking weight. I've used in both martial arts and in every day life. Just today I was pushing a heavy cart so I sunk my weight, and utilized some of my kung fu breathing concepts to help get the cart rolling. Did I have to? nope. But it made it easier for me when I did. In martial arts, I can sink enough of my weight into my backfist that it will either make your knees give or cause you bend awkward from the sinking of my weight. In fight applications I can use that same backfist and sinking to break a person's collar bone (clavical). Or I can sink the backfist into someone's face and break facial bone. All of this would be impossible to do with out me knowing how to sink my weight.

When you get really good with sinking your weight, you will become difficult to move.

 

[JowGaWolf]

What happens after I could redistribute my weight equally throughout my body, and sink that weight while static and moving? What else can I do to improve my root?

Sorry to others who keep having to watch this video lol. Example's of sinking weight in martial arts

The kick at 0:15 you can see me sink my weight to prevent my opponent from lifting it. You can literally see how the leg pulls him down. :028 I sink my wight again, 0:34 my opponent sinks his weight which actually caused me to injure my back. The last video I sink my weight again and take my opponent's root. Take note of how much my feet don't move in comparison to all of the action that was going on.

 

[jobo]

Background (based on what I read in the comments):

The person who posted the video said that the tai chi user was an old man from his neighborhood who was known as a tai chi practitioner.

The incident involved the younger man’s scooter almost knocking into the old man, and instead of apologizing, he called the old man the equivalent of ‘stupid f*cker’, which led to the subsequent *** whooping.

This happened in Vietnam apparently.

How old is the old man?, He mightily be 45 in which case it's less impressive than if he was 85

 

[ChenAn]

I like soccer like kick Call whatever you want but 45 is not an old man, and the fight on the video is not taiji


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[zzj]

How old is the old man?, He mightily be 45 in which case it's less impressive than if he was 85

In the comments it was said that he fought in the Vietnam war, which would place him in his 60’s at the minimum.

 

[jobo]

In the comments it was said that he fought in the Vietnam war, which would place him in his 60’s at the minimum.

They had a lot of child soldiers in that war,

 

[zzj]

I like soccer like kick Call whatever you want but 45 is not an old man, and the fight on the video is not taiji


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I would have to disagree with you there.

If the person who posted the video is to be believed, the old man IS a Taiji practitioner.

In the clip i can see ‘falling into emptiness’, deflection/redirection and even an effortless push that sent the man flying back. The soccer kick on the other hand was just the cherry on top, that has nothing to do with Taiji training.

Unless you can show me a better example of how a person with Taiji training would react in a real world altercation, I would stand by this video’s claim that it shows some real Taiji principles in action.