My name is Ian Sinclair. I have been studying martial arts since 1979. • I am the worst student of some of the world's greatest masters. • I teach tai chi in Orillia, Ontario, Canada, (just north of Toronto) and around the world. • I also offer pre-recorded online lessons, and live online lessons via Skype etc.
To schedule a lesson or to organize a seminar, visit www.SinclairMartialArts.com For online lessons, go to RelaxHarder.com
You can support this channel by purchasing instructional videos at RelaxHarder.com.
Best lessons on RU-vid. Well demonstrated. I like your use of Taoism in your English phrases. As in “ relax harder “. To me it makes total sense. But yes you must be able to break free from fixed definitions. As in movement you must be able to break free from habit and poor neural loops.
Is it physically possible to punch with 4 knuckles? If you put your fist against a wall, you can either make the top 2 knuckles or 3 knuckles flush...?
Sifu Ian - is there also some fascia manipulation going on here? There's a type of pressure that's not too hard but when applied can control and move someone easily?
Tuishou course with Ian Sinclair great skills, subtle and deep work, lots of humor, very human, surrounded by friends who are dear to me, a great day, lots of laughter and joy, working seriously without taking yourself seriously, what else Thank you Ian for that ans see you in june 2025
Lots of beautiful 😻 silk reeling. And I saw single whip, brush knee, and maybe a bear 🐻 from five animals. Because of all the beautiful silk was expecting chen style.Unfortunately, no cat tai chi; even though the Dao is strong in this one.
Salut Ian Sinclair, Vous parlez très bien français, la prochaine fois, lorsque vous enseignerez le Tai Chi, j'espère que vous utiliserez le français pour enseigner... Je vous aime beaucoup...
But the time of the hand is faster than the time of the step or the time of the body. If I do an outer winding through stepping, I will be slower than the repost done by the hand in real time. Please clarify.
Thanks to Sifu Ian we now have a new English translation for Tai chi: Grand Ultimate Newtonian Mechanics. Or Tai Chi Chuan: Grand Ultimate Fist From Newtonian Mechanics.
I used to play with the family doggo like this :o I'd hold a toy in my hand and he'd lunge at it, and I'd absorb or redirect his forward energy. He loved it, it used to drive him crazy but I'd let him have the toy and some fusses before he got fed up. Interesting :)
It is one way to keep the hand out of the way. :) However, in my mind, I could be projecting the “secret sword” to the left and above my head. In a European duel, I might be holding a lantern behind me. But seriously, it is not part of this lesson. I could admit to being lazy. Alternatively, I could claim to be at one with the DAO. But then someone would surely say, “It’s not a dao, it’s a jian.”
finished watching the first 6 of 10 of what is Tai chi...and in 6 it made me think. i plan to conduct an experiment. i will utilize a Muse Brain Wave head band and simply stand and relax in place while wearing it for its feed back to what is going on. In the body aware exercises of the Muse the feed back are chimes, if i move or lean out of balance it rings. So far ive becoming aware of both my limbs and area of knotted contractions that will take time to release. i will do this for the next 30 days to see what the outcome is...and will try to report back if i can find this presentation again. Very intriguing ideas. wishing you and yours the very best.
"They didn't understand Newtonian mechanics, angular momentum, ...and didn't understand the mechanics involved, so they said ' I just use my qi' ". I love your videos, Ian. ^_^ I would maybe just be careful here. Understanding force vectors and such can be a useful concept. I study/teach physics, and I use these concepts also in my training, but it's not everything. People also like to say things like, "qi is 'just' the connection in the connective tissue/fascia" etc. Yes, the concept of fascial stretching and so on is a useful training model/reference point, and a necessary part of training. But the Chinese also knew about 'force vectors, fascia, etc'. If it was "just " that, they would have said so. When people say, ....oh qi is 'just' this, or 'just ' that,.. they just might end up missing some things IMO. Hope to meet you sometime. I'm in New England so not too far I suppose.
Thanks. Your point is a good one. My aim is not to dumb down tai chi theory but to encourage system-two thinking about it. I suppose I meant to say “They just said, ‘I used my qi.’” Qi itself is far from simple, which is why invoking it is so unproductive. It’s like saying “I used energy.” “Qi” has too many meanings to be useful. Energy is not adequately defined, even now. The 18th and 19th century martial artists we revere were typically illiterate, and they used terms that were useful to them but difficult to impossible for us to interpret. We have to find our own words to explain what we are feeling and doing. If we can’t, then we are not really learning. More people can quote Einstein than actually understand General Relativity.
i recall Bruce Lee in the early days. he was built like a lion ready for action. he tried to explain things to a wider audience. but the audience was not yet ready. Structure? Energy? Center Line Uh? what's he talking bout? today it is a different story. i am seeing martial arts undergoing an evolution. much of the so call mystical parts of martial arts are being explained with simple easy to understand ideas. RU-vid and others has spread this new revival of ideas across the world. I hope it takes off and we see everybody take advantage of these new insights. In a world in which there is an element of savagery on the streets, these techniques could save many lives. or am i fooling myself?
After all my years in Qigong and Taiji you are the first I have come across that goes deeply into the root of raal understanding of Qigong and Taiji and how it should work. Thank you, thank you. I will be watching all your videos to reeducate my knowledge of these life long arts that I have come to love over the past five decades. My past masters never got into the depth of this because they wanted me to first learn techniques which I got hooked on and never went beyond this type of education. As the saying goes your never to old to learn new things and you have just proven that to me.
To quote the Taiji Classics : “four ounces deflect one thousand pounds”. The weight and build of the players counts for less when the correct technique is applied. Bear in mind that the aim of the drill is to uproot and avoid being uprooted using a little effort as possible. It's a friendly game to practice principles. I've done this drill with quite a few people and it's a very subtle practice listening to the opponents moves, finding their centre line and exploiting it.. or dissolving/neutralizing a push
Well said. Although in all fairness I cannot completely disregard the weight difference. It does make it easier for me to use less effort. But... I have students who teach other martial arts and come up against the same comments. "It's because you are so big/strong/fast/flexible etc." One of my students is a jiujitsu teacher who used to be a strongman competitor. His students will sometimes comment on how strong he feels. He has to explain to them that "That's not it. It's not my strength that is making you feel that way." And when I was repeatedly defeated, easily, by a 75-year-old woman half my size, when I was 25 and in peak condition, I discovered what this really meant.
@@IanSinclairTaiChi I will reserve judgment based on these replies. If you get an opportunity to record the same type of practice with somebody twice your size with the same results, or if the younger gentleman neutralized larger opponents, I think it will go a long way in preventing any audience confusion and earn a lot more admirers and potential new enthusiasts. Just a thought. Cheers.
There are some on my channel, and elsewhere. The weight and strength difference has to be countered by difference in skill and experience. Most people who train enough to be in demonstration videos have skill, too.
You are definitely not week. I was not using strength against you. I have done the same thing to some of the strongest people I know. One of my students weighs 180 kg. Another is a former competitive strongman. Some are sumo wrestlers or football players.
Looks like your coming close (20 miles) to where I live, bought your instructional on Vimeo years ago, I’ve got to admit I might be saving Tai Chi for when I am older, more focused on BJJ and kickboxing at the moment.
Indeed, I do. It was my pleasure to meet you and your friends. I was just recently talking to my host about how you improved in the little time that we played. Perhaps we will meet again. I’m in Antwerp until May 14.
Since you were so genuine, I would like to give you a few tips. One is that when you push, there is a way to focus your effort in the direction that you want the opponent to go, without increasing pressure, and without adding effort in directions that you do not want to go. There is such a thing as a pure push, which allows you to push without effort, and without the opponent being able to feel which way you are pushing until they have already started to be moved.
