Tai Chi as largely taught is a form of exercise. The roots of Tai Chi are fighting, Tai Chi Chuan translates roughly to supreme ultimate fist. It is a martial art, and the strength required for it is hidden. Muai Thai was developed from the same principles as Tai Chi. Muai Thai is known as the art of the 8 limbs, there are 8 energies in tai chi, each energy is associated with specific parts of the body.
There are a lot of common practices in both traditional western boxing and tai chi, for example the feet in both styles have a stance that imagines a line going between the feet. In boxing you don't want to have the knees over the toes, and same in tai chi. In boxing the stance is 50% rear foot 40% front foot, and 10% in your waist, and it's the same in tai chi. The main difference between western boxing and tai chi is that there's no straight punches in tai chi, it's all backfists or hooks. In Muay Thai, there are no straight punches either, if you notice all the high level guys like Tawanchai, or Rodtang only punch with hooks. The jab is closer to a Stockton slap popularized by Nate Diaz.
The tai chi technique, brush knee, is the proper mechanics for throwing crosses, or rear hooks. In tai chi the rear foot powers the front hand, in boxing, you hit harder with the lead hand if its powered by the rear foot. To throw a superman punch you have to synchronize the left foot and right hand, and tai chi does nothing but teach you that synchronization.
I have been practicing tai chi for 25 years, that foundation has allowed me to learn other martial arts very quickly. If you box, or kickbox, or do muay thai, or wrestling, or jew-jitsu, supplementing that with practical methods will make you a better martial artist.
The beauty of it, is it is so simple yet so profound. Tai chi is all about the silk reeling. Most teachers show you exaggerated forms of it, a lot of boxers do it unconsciously when they shuffle their hands. Most boxers shuffle their hands to hide their weight shifts, in tai chi the silk reeling is done to shift weight by stretching and using leverage.
[ + ] Her0n
[ - ] Her0n 1 point 2.6 yearsSep 19, 2022 06:58:06 ago (+1/-0)
I thought it wasn't a practical martial art at all and it was just a way to get grandma moving
[ + ] usedoilanalysis
[ - ] usedoilanalysis [op] 0 points 2.6 yearsSep 19, 2022 10:56:12 ago (+0/-0)*
There are a lot of common practices in both traditional western boxing and tai chi, for example the feet in both styles have a stance that imagines a line going between the feet. In boxing you don't want to have the knees over the toes, and same in tai chi. In boxing the stance is 50% rear foot 40% front foot, and 10% in your waist, and it's the same in tai chi. The main difference between western boxing and tai chi is that there's no straight punches in tai chi, it's all backfists or hooks. In Muay Thai, there are no straight punches either, if you notice all the high level guys like Tawanchai, or Rodtang only punch with hooks. The jab is closer to a Stockton slap popularized by Nate Diaz.
The tai chi technique, brush knee, is the proper mechanics for throwing crosses, or rear hooks. In tai chi the rear foot powers the front hand, in boxing, you hit harder with the lead hand if its powered by the rear foot. To throw a superman punch you have to synchronize the left foot and right hand, and tai chi does nothing but teach you that synchronization.
I have been practicing tai chi for 25 years, that foundation has allowed me to learn other martial arts very quickly. If you box, or kickbox, or do muay thai, or wrestling, or jew-jitsu, supplementing that with practical methods will make you a better martial artist.
The beauty of it, is it is so simple yet so profound. Tai chi is all about the silk reeling. Most teachers show you exaggerated forms of it, a lot of boxers do it unconsciously when they shuffle their hands. Most boxers shuffle their hands to hide their weight shifts, in tai chi the silk reeling is done to shift weight by stretching and using leverage.