Alan Armstrong

TC generates it's power from using the entire body and using yin yang principle's. Example, as the attacking arm moves forward the other arm pulls back generating more power. Leverage is another factor when using TC techniques. Also flowing energy throughout the body focuses that energy in to techniques. Internal martial arts such as Tai Chi is not intended to be understood by popular culture. Tai Chi practioners develop strong legs and this is where alot of power can be generated in to there techniques.

Dragon Ying style Kung Fu is an internal style, Conceptualized from the mythical Chinese Dragon. Styles vary but what holds true is the more one practices martial arts the more a person's attributes become more Dragon like. This is the wisdom of the Dragon shining through that comes with age and practice. Using less energy and gaining more power. Using less punches and exchanging them for grabs instead. Having better 360 degree spatial awareness compared to the peripheral and tunnel vision effect of many fighters. Chi Kung practice ties in perfectly with the Dragon style. Concealing hardness in softness. Developing strength and power in natural movements. Incorporating all styles of MA without discernable characteristics. As the mythical dragon dwells in the ocean and in the clouds there is a large amount of water and air logic wisdom to draw from. The practice of slapping water for instance and the type of strength gained from swimming. The boxer Mohammed Ali, floated like a butter fly and stings like a bee, because he practiced in a swimming pool as well as a gym of course. The late great Bruce Lee also known as the dragon. He could fly with his techniques because of practicing on a trampoline with weights. Doing things the difficult way brings about some incredible results. Mix your MA training with the professional sprinter's training schedule and see what comes of it. What is your opinion on the dragon?

To defend from multiple punches stay out of range. If they are taller than you then double up on your footwork. A strategy used by "experts" is to cover up move straight in and start using your elbows (from the inside) as lethal weapons towards the attacker's face.

It takes as long as it takes to use what you have learned for self defense. You may feel like it's not happening quick enough but like all things it takes time. You are rewiring your MA muscles to your brain, neuromuscular connections or something like that. So you can move think and react like a martial artist. Coordinating your 600 muscles, more or less to work in unison. So one day in the future you will walk along the street with confidence, the confidence earned from daily martial art practice.

Intent of both attacker and defender is at question not the belt. Misuse of martial art skills will get you in trouble. Using martial art skills to defuse a dangerous situation is the correct manner or mind set to employ. Over reacting to confrontations will get a person in trouble because now the defender has become the attacker. If your intent is not to hurt another person and simultaneously not to be hurt either this is the stance to have. Otherwise you might not have a leg to stand on.

Who would you prefer teaching you self defense a person that has been there done it and got the T Shirt or from someone with alot of second hand knowledge? Many students don't question they just assume. Many teachers teach students to conform to lose to them. Many MA complain that they feel defenseless on the street. They never learned that some MA are a sport and others are not. Self defence taught by sport martial artists is dangerous for the student. It really does give them a false sense of security. Many street fights start and end with a single punch. Street fighter types like to be intimidating to others this doesn't make them good fighters; it just makes them good at physicking people out. Martial artists need more than one teacher in one style these days, personal experience is also a good teacher. Oh yes the question! It is not realistically possible to have street fights to practice every self-defense situation. Theory and practice is all we have to get on with when push comes to shove, lets hope we were paying serious attention to the teacher.

The topic of self defense and training for it is a very tricky subject to pin down. The variables are too immense. A person could dedicate and specialize in it and it still wouldn't be 100% effective. I believe avoidance of sticky situation's and ones own attitude can go far in averting danger but physical training for it, if you cannot run, build big muscles and practice moving fast to avoid punches and kicks. Every SD situation will be different your reactions however can be improved opone to make the best of it. Minimizing risk factors. Improvisational weapon skills can play a factor also. Being cunning using misdirection or misinformation in your escape. We have built in survival skills, if we are willing to use them that is another question.

Too true! I'm still 20 years on suffering from a neck injury obtained through negligence on my part in a dojo. Not paying enough attention at the time. I prefer real fights also. It's all give and take with nothing in between.

Did you know they were both born in the same year 75 yearss ago. Chuck and Bruce were already MMA before the term was invented. That is why traditional MA were always surprised by them. Be all you can be. Open your mind. Be in the now. Use what works. It has taken many martial art generations to catch up to them. I think we may have just arrived!

Hi again Hansenator. Another suggestion is looking into the style of Yi Chuan. Let me know here what you think of it. It is one of those styles of Kung Fu that is not easily grasped but in time with practice could be what you have been looking for.

To be a movie star and UFC champion also a Karate champion and so on is asking a bit too much of people. They have all contributed to MA in there own special way. They did what they trained for. It could have a reverse effect trying to be all things to everyone. I believe them to be the best of there time and now it is for others to shine. Imho Chuck and Bruce are too good for the Octagon. They were examples that go way beyond the stereotype of just being a human weapon they are examples of great human beings also.

Training for self defense purposes, I would suggest first learning which type of fighter category you would belong to. There are three basic styles and like the game rock, paper and scissors one style is better at defeating another style. The ROCK is the heavy hitter best at defeating the inside fighter SCISSORS. PAPER is the outside fighter better equipped to beat the heavy hitter ROCK. You can also be an ADAPTABLE fighter changing strategy from all three. Or base your style incorporating two styles at the same time. Such as an inside heavy hitter. Or an outside heavy hitter. Also can train to be a quick inside/outside fighter. Personally I'm the adaptable type; it is the most challenging one to be. If you are already a heavy hitter ROCK, then I would suggest incorporating the inside SISSORS strategy with ROCK! Because most people with fighting experience take the PAPER outside stance, presumably they started the fight.

Chaos MA is conceptually reality based that makes sense to me. I'm sure in the future it will make more sense to the MA world in general. This chaos concept goes back to the days before Katas and Styles, a time when the color of your belt had the same significance as the color of your shoes. (no insult intended). Move martiartally and make training as realist as possible. This doesn't work for the guy that cannot afford to get hurt that needs to go to work the next day. Pay the bills and feed the kids; this MA guy needs stability not chaos. I'm saying keep an open mind but not so open that your brains fall out. Warm and fuzzy dojos and kwons are places to teach that chaos can be predictably controlled with practice. If so practice on a concrete floor without mats and punch bags without the nice filling inside. Get head butted in the face a few times and kicked in the groins from behind then the concepts of chaos starts to make a little more sense.

Regarding Chi Kung practice are you doing enough? Are you doing it right? Need tips or advice on Chi Kung? Are you sure what Chi Kung is? Is Chi Kung important to your style of Martial Art? I welcome all questions regarding Chi Kung training and exercising. How well has Chi Kung improved your style health or wellbeing? l hope you will participate in this Chi Kung thread. As a martial artist and wanting to participate for all of one's life on this path then Chi Kung is a must for you. The earlier you learn what Chi Kung is the better prepared you will be for the rest of your life. Chi Kung is yours for the taking; what are you waiting for? Also Isometric exercise, pandiculation practice, proprioceptive awareness, dynamic tension, resistance training, plyometric after burn methods, callisthenics, all of these are for you to know learn and master as a martial artist. Chi Kung will also be there to help you when all else you have tried has failed. Please take full responsibility for what you learn and practice here. Extreme Chi Kung can be very dangerous; always consult your doctor on your physical activities. All advice given here is for historical and reference purposes only. Practice at your own risk. Practice responsibly.

Just wanted to add it is not the style that makes fa Jin work better or more than another style because all styles use it. Some differently than others. Example when blocking you may twist to the left, you have compressed your left side also which makes it primed and ready to throw a left hock punch. Compressing and releasing in all your movements either blocking, ducking, or punching will give all your moves power. This is what makes it an art if you do it properly.

I've created my own style of moving but not a form to be duplicated. I'm sure what works for me doesn't work for the other guy. I no longer belong to a school because I don't conform to forms that do not work for me. I don't plan on creating my own form the same way I don't plan on creating a new tea making ceremony. I just make a tea without thinking about it. As I have made a cup of tea trillions of times before. A style of moving is far more advanced than creating one's own new form. All the animal movements that have been incorporated in MA also use that animal's fighting virtue. Robots can be programmed to move in a set pattern but it is the way people move that can make the form come alive.

Katas are made to practice and pass it on? We know katas are good for practicing good form but good form doesn't win fights. Mixed MA don't look pretty but can be highly effective in a cofrontatation. Forms don't allow for differences in : terrain, weather conditions, cramped spaces, fighting in water, martial artists from other styles. No fight situation is ever the same so why train in such a way as if they are? Free flowing not flowery MA movements should be encouraged, which could add an important aspect to the MA unpredictable aspects which win fights. Forms I believe are best learned up to a point and should be exchanged for free flowing movements eventually. If not the form will confine the individual spirit of the Martial Artist. I don't see much free flowing going on in the martial arts world, art is about creativity not conformity. Such as thinking on your feet! Not much bobbing or weaving in forms or don't they count?

Love this video clip. External force vs Internal force. In reality this video is about balance or how to unbalance another person. This demonstration is the first thing that I teach a new student. There is nothing Int or Ext about this video. The way I teach this concept is to simply tell the other person to stay balanced while facing each other. I put two fingers lightly touching the other persons shoulders at each side and lightly rock that person. No muscle is required in this practice. I sense the direction they are leaning and slightly move them in the exact direction. Everyone is amazed at this. What is more amazing is the way to not let them be able to to it to you. The trick is to sink your weight and move with the direction they are moving in. It is baffling at first but with practice you will wonder how on earth I never new this years ago. I learned this more than twenty years ago from my Tai Chi Master.

There is alot of information lost in forms. Also there is no allowances for strategic movements. Example if your opponent is: taller, stronger, skinner, slower, experienced, angry, the list goes on infinitely. Forms have there place like a foundation to build upon but imho shouldn't be any substitute for one on one sparring no matter how well the form is done. Creating one's own kata or form is not realistic in a practical way but combining a weapon in to a kata is. Actually combining lets say Samurai with TKD could be spectacular! I combined using two nunchaku with TkD in a kata demonstration at a MA tournament.

Hung Gar Kung Fu is an honest style that practices self control. With low strong stances there is less movements but the blows are very powerful very much like traditional Karate. They use all of the traditional Southern Chinese weapons. Hung Gar uses internal and external force. They use the 5 animals also: Snake, Dragon, Tiger, Crane and Leopard. Also the five elements: metal, earth, wood, water and fire. I can explain more about this concept later if interested. Hung Gar uses the term "Hard as Iron soft as thread, this is the way there techniques are used with Yin Yang principles. It would not be surprising that a Hung Gar MA school would incorporate Muay Tai. It would only enhance and compliment Hung Gar. Many Kung Fu people have fell victim to Muay Tai fighters; keep your friends close and your enemies even closer.

There must come to point where practicing kata forms should be exchanged for free flowing spontaneity. Just like a dancer feels the music a martial artist feels the inner glow. Can you move freely as martial artist? Is creativity and spontaneity important to martial art movements? Or is techniques and applications done in a systematic order the way martial arts should be. Then how were different styles developed if not for the inspired free flowing thinking and moving martial artist. Street fighter's are free flowing using mostly their past experience for reference. Would be interesting to see a street fighter kata?

Hi Speedkills. The answer you are looking for is "Bone Power" What is bone power you may ask? People that practice Tai Chi don't usually concern themselves with bone power there main concern is to cultivate chi. However combining Tai Chi movements with dynamic tension is another story. Tai Chi is based on the "top secret" idea of moving like a cat. While Bone Power is based on the mythical Dragon. Imagine practicing Tai Chi in a manner very differently than the usual way; imagine doing it in a dynamic tension style not moving like a cat but now a dragon. Then Combine the cat and dragon then you will have a force to be reckoned with. Please don't tell anyone it's a secret!

I liked the video but just have a few concerns with the soft overcoming hard idea. The big rooted man being attacked by a small man attacking tough forarms. I don't see any softness but I do see a larg rooted stillness overcoming a small moving collision. Much the same way as a small car crashes in to a tree. I would like to see if the principle described works just as well if the roles were reversed with the smaller man blocking against the larger man. I believe the outcome would be the same. I see it as hard vs hard and the smaller hard loosing to the bigger hard. Or the bigger rock crushing the smaller rock. Or in other words if the smaller man hit the bigger man's forarms and the bigger man did the same thing both travelling at half the same speed the result would still be the same with the smaller man being hurt. This is from my internal MA point of view interpretation only and nothing concerning Wing Chun fighting techniques or theories.

Gungfu not forgotten by me. MA in the 70's sure was tuff. The black belts were super good back then. I felt like a punching bag at times and humiliated constantly. For me having survived those times has instilled in me something that will last forever; respect. These teachers were forged in steel or something like it. Also intelligent not dumb brute types at all. Looking in retrospect they the teachers were borderling abusive. Lost count on the amout of bloody noses endured. I think they thought that if it doesn't kill you it will make you stronger. This was the real Gungfu spirit in your face!

Maybe Kung Fu is not under-represented. Maybe why look for a fight in or out of a ring or octagen. Kung Fu is about learned skills and not about hurting others. In Kung Fu it is the last resort to hurt another and not the first. Many that practice KF also believe in karma. KF is about harmony and not rivalry. About 60 million Chinese practice some type of Kung Fu I'm sure just out of the shear number that there are a few ultimate's out there, that wouldn't waste there time in competitions.