Taijiquan Combat Training, Applications & Fight Tactics

As a Taijiquan practitioner I sincerely try to present & represent it as a practical art. I'm aware of some of it's shortfalls, although displaying it as a comprehensive combat viable set of skills & principles. Collectively there's a lot of disregard for the practice as being impractical, archaic or not functional. My posts are attempts to show, whether through correlations of other arts or compare & contrast available possibilities of usage in hopes of enlightening conversations & exchanges. Here I'm showing concepts of the opening of the Sun Style Taijiquan...let's discuss:

Sun Style Taijiquan: Opening the Form Application Concept Working on some Sun Style Taijiquan form & application concepts.

Alan Wycherley (Practical T'ai Chi Chuan) & Mike Graves (Longfei Taijiquan Association)
Our first virtual meeting on the In Defense of the Traditional Martial Arts YouTube channel:

In Defence of the Traditional Martial Arts is live

What's A Push Got To Do Wit' It?:

Being a Taijiquan practitioner and coming from a competitive pushing hands/tui shou background, I have an affinity for, well, pushes. In regards to self-defense, as well as competitively. I find great value in them.

*** Circa 1998-99, out with friends in a nightclub in Harrogate, England & hanging in a raised area where the DJ was playing; a friend of mine [about a 12-inch step up from the dance floor]. Another patron, a fairly big dude, about half a foot taller than me, 200+ lbs [me, about 160, at the time] started giving grief to my friend and few others in our collective. He became more aggressive with threats of immediate violence - standing a few steps back from the step-up! I stepped down, preceding to give him a quick, powerful doubled-handed push to the chest; it lifted him off his feet about step, causing him to land & stumble back quickly, hitting his back on a wall, dropping slightly. He stood up straightening himself up,,giving me about a 3 second stare, then cut left down the stairs, not to be seen the rest of the night --- not sure if it was embarrassment, thought of escalation or just shock of getting shoved like that by a little guy - either way, a strong message was sent! ***

Pushes don't replace punches in regards of impact in the amount of damage, in most cases. Yet there is value & shouldn't be discounted as useless or insignificant. That's my perspective; let's discuss!

Taijiquan: What's A Push Got To Do Wit' It? Being a Taijiquan practitioner and coming from a competitive pushing hands/tui shou background, I have an affinity for, well, pushes. In regards to self-defe...

As a Taijiquan (T'ai Chi Chuan) practitioner with pro and amateur 'in ring' experience, as well as some actual self-defense scenarios, I like to develop and explore a variety of applications & concepts of defense and offense in a practical sense. Although pushes are presented here, they can just as easily be converted to strikes - entries, angles & footwork are all pertinent!

Taijiquan Dynamic Applications: Entries, Angles & Footwork As a Taijiquan (T'ai Chi Chuan) practitioner with pro and amateur 'in ring' experience, I like to develop and explore a variety of applications & concepts of...

As a martial art, Taijiquan (T'ai Chi Chuan) has many practical applications - one of my favorite aspects are takedowns & throws! I'm fairly good at those...

Taijiquan (T'ai Chi Chuan) Takedowns As a martial art, Taijiquan (T'ai Chi Chuan) has practical applications - one of my favorite aspects are takedowns & throws!

This is my interpretation & implementation of Taijiquan Tui Shou (Pushing Hands) concepts in sparring; some highlighted clips where they are applied!

Taijiquan - Tui Shou Concepts in Light Sparring This is my interpretation & implementation of Taijiquan Tui Shou (Pushing Hands) concepts in sparring; some highlighted clips where they are applied!