Tai Chi is basic wrestling 

This transmits more actual tai chi than 90% of most tai chi videos out there. And this actually works!

Some time in the mid 90s I discovered Shuai Chiao. It was a revelation. Suddenly, all the fantastical and dubious movements I was learning in forms became practical grappling skills. Completely changed my point of view on traditional arts and made me see the real value in them.

Just reinforces my theory that it isn'tvtechnique that's lacking in TMA, it's training and sparring. Great video, Ramsey.

I always thought debates over modern martial arts vs traditional martial arts seemed quite simplistic. Ramsey Dewey, as showed on the video, always has some interesting points to make on the subject.

I love this kind of content from your channel. There are very few martial arts channels analyzing the movements from "traditional" martial arts in a realistic way. I've done Karate for a little over ten years and learned quite a lot from your videos about Karate "chops" that has inspired me to learn grappling (BJJ) to see what I can apply to Kata. Thank you Ramsey keep up the great work.

After 15 years of internal martial arts I started BJJ a few years ago. There are certainly direct martial applications of tai chi moves as you demonstrate here. I’d say the training time to be effective with them is quite lengthy compared to say Muay Thai or BJJ and there are maybe a handful of people left in the world who really know martial tai chi. That said, the internalized body motions, silk reeling strength, etc… are almost like “superpowers” when combined with more direct forms of combat training. Moreover the type of speed, movement capabilities, and strength you develop are of a type that is much more sustainable past your 20s/30s than conventional conditioning such as heavy weight training. People laugh at the speed with which forms are practiced but moving precisely and correctly at a slow speed builds much more strength and control than using momentum to rush through and cognitively it somehow allows you to slow perceived time and see your opponent in slow motion during an applied scenario. Thanks for the cool content.

Yes, most strange forms of Taichi and most Chinese TMA is actually shadow grappling, and the grappling application of the forms was kept as a secret and only taught to only a few close "apprentices" while forms were taught to the general students. And you have to earn your master's appreciation to become "apprentices" to have access to the secret. The "secret" has no value today but while there is no internet, knowing how to grapple probably makes a huge difference in terms of whether you can win or not.

Wow I literally just learned snake creeps down last month and wondered about its application and you did it perfectly thanks Ramsey

You have always been a breath of fresh air on the internet. Unlike lots of MA youtuber or, worse, keyboard warriors, your take on traditional martial arts is always 200% spot on. Unlike the simplistic dismissal of a style, your explanation is as articulate and informative as someone who has devoted his life to studying fighting. Striking, grappling and even weaponry... Your videos are always a wealth of knowledge. Thank you for all you do.

I had this insight when the owner of my old Judo school pointed out to me what was essentially a shoulder crunch to a straight arm lock from standing from their kata system. I didn't look much further into it then but I did learn to appreciate it more.

Jourdan casting spells in the background

I used to a go to a Chen Taijiquan class. Mostly, elderly people came for gentle exercise, but the people who wanted to learn what it's FOR got to stay after the class and we did stuff like this :D Once the flowery terms got to reduced to concepts of direction of force, it made loads more sense. There are a good few forms with multiple purposes, too - just a few tweaks and they're adaptable. I do remember some things that worked as strikes, but even then there was an amount of dragging people into the strikes! It's been a decade or so... Makes me wish I could go back!

Love the video. I teach tai chi here in the states and there are some boxing and kicking elements in tai chi but you’re right that most of it is wrestling. You can you apply the principal of tai chi to striking arts. Before I started tai chi I used to teach tae Kwon do and karate and one of the best ways my Sifu related the teachings back to me was telling me that Mike Tyson was the best tai chi player he ever saw. This never made sense to me right away but years down the road I was able to comprehend and digest that information. When I watch Tyson fight now I’m able to see the principles he implements when fighting are the same we were trying to achieve when practicing the form or fighting ourselves. It made me really rethink and retrain some of practice that I personally do. I personally incorporate more boxing into my own practice using the technique from our form.

I love it! It is nice to see an application where the guy teaching it is not just dialing it in.

YES! I once studied with a classical tai chi guy who had also won some full contact competitions in Asia. He could be really fast when he wanted to be, and would enter really aggressively, and once in close, that's where Tai Chi really shines, because so much if it is about attacking the opponent's balance. And all those low, kungfu-looking stances work really well in close. If you check out one of those short Tai Chi forms like the 24 or 42 form, you'll probably get a kick out of it.

Being someone that practices combat Tai Chi, I can and do verify everything Ramsey said is spot on. Tai Chi is basically the Chinese version of college wrestling, especially the dropping of your weight when grabbing.

George Foreman said he was surprised that he does Tai Chi in his Boxing style like this😂 I've studied him and his trainers Sandy Saddler and Archie Moore who also applied these principles in Boxing, and so I used them heavily in my own sparring with great success😂 I also shadowbox/wrestle the Boxing clinch heavily and find that so far I am always the more comfortable person there in sparring, but I also cross train Sumo with my Brother and that has also helped tremendously lol

I do not care about the naysayers. This video is fantastic. I never looked at Tai Chi in this way before. It looks like alot of fun when you put the forms into practice!

I think this a simple explanation about simple principles. As in the Kung Fu Panda Movie, "the secret is that there in no secret". Taichi fighting is wrestling, no magic required.

Most popular Tai Chi forms are clearly full of punches and kicks.

Appreciate the break-down and insight. A practioner I met once, of Ba Gua Zhang, Taiji Quan, and grappling arts said to think of Taiji as wrestling.

Good confirmation! Since I've had some BJJ/NMA training, it's helping me to better interpret my kungfu and tai chi. The arm drag is holding ball. Wish I could jump in and demo Battle oh th Precious Chickens. It's an undertook, controlling the upper arm w a neck tie to the inside. You crank the arm back dragging the head down. We had a seminar at SBG for law enforcement and was taught this as one of the take downs. I'm taking a break. But when I get back, I realize I need to learn more about wrestling. Not only is it some of the most primitive. It is also the most fundamental to our training . Tai chi, on the other hand, is a product of mastery. People who train for 80 years end up looking like that!

Great Video, Ramsey! Tai Chi has a lot of grappling, but few Instructors teach, practice or even realize what the form movements are for! Like any Martial Art, you have to spar, and pressure test the techniques to make them practical.

whoa I'm amazed how you have similar thoughts with mine. a newbie who went to the gym I work at last Dec30 asked if stuff like aikido, capoeira, and taichi would be good for fighting... I basically expounded on how I think their concepts, movements, and techniques work best when used or done to wrestle. a ton of people just get stuck with having their minds revolving around striking, small joint manipulation, and all those hubbub and forget about just overall body control and mechanics

Tai chi also have striking, standing jiu jitsu, and various weapons. Not just basic wrestling

I will be adding taijiquan to my own personal style from now on ... never would've thought I'd live to see this day yet here we are

Tai Chi Chuan as is is definitely mostly grappling. The history behind it is fascinating. The story I read is that there was a guy who was a famous martial artist who was known to have the best martial art in the land. Then the emperor (I can’t remember which dynasty/period it was) wanted to learn it so he had this guy teach him. However, the Tai Chi he practiced had many difficult and athletic movements, like any other martial art in the East at the time, like jumping stuff and all that, especially like what one would expect any high-level practitioner of other Wu Tang art to be able to do. So, he had to simplify it, otherwise it would be off with his head because the emperor wouldn’t be able to learn it quickly enough. Soon enough, it either became popular or was made law/standardized that everyone in China started doing it. So the simple forms we see most people doing today are really just the basics, and usually grappling in any martial art is crucial and is, therefore, part of the basics. I’ve seen more advanced forms of Tai Chi and it is much more dynamic and fascinating than we’re all used to seeing, but like many other high-flying and dynamic traditional arts, looks like mostly fancy striking that may be powerful, but probably impractical, except maybe for developing athleticism.

You are absolutely correct about Tai Qi. Another thing it focuses on (at least what I learned was breathing. I had 5 forms of qigong I learned (earth air fire water, and a form that included switching between all 4) In qigong I just learned the breathing. The Tai chi I learned is where the forms came from and they were all wrestling techniques with a focus on using the correct breathing techniques for the correct wrestling technique. For example, catching a kick to the chest we world use earth breathing, the leg throw would use fire. There are striking techniques in the Tai qi I learned, mostly in the fire forms. But it was not a focus.

Thanks for sharing form application and creating a bridge to common misconceptions of martial content and demonstrating context.

Thank you Ramsey! I finally understand, what it was that I trained for a few years, a long time ago. I was allways confused of, how my coach could throw me around with no effort at all, with these "magical" energies of his...

Oh this video is fantastic Ramsey, so many times westerners have woefully misinterpreted traditional styles this way, they think the slow movements and the katas do nothing but like you point out you are doing the equivalent of shadow boxing and it's also helping to develop muscle memory they also don't know individual styles have their own ways of developing power in the techniques. One of the reasons the standards can be garbage in dojos that practice traditional martial arts is sadly the instructors haven't learned any of this and are just making it up as they go along which then leads to an overall drop in the standards as I'm sure a lot of us who practice traditional know. It would be really great if you took a look at Shotokan katas because I think these kinds of videos will really help MMA people especially understand what's going on.

damn, I dunno how you did it, but somehow this video changed everything for me ... I guess I should like and subscribe now, the least I can do, you can't even begin to imagine how much of an impact this had on me

Very interesting. You've applied Tai Chi to Grappling. I personally view the katas applied to Striking. They also help with Footwork, Blocking, Parrying, and more. I guess Tai Chi is a Hybrid Martial Art that's very versatile. I've considered some of the Grappling applications naturally, but these Techniques make so much since similar to much of Aikido and Wing Chun.

I get these challenges every week. I always have the same response. I accept your offer, and I'll see you at the next tournament. They never show.

2:05 That is so a waterbending move.💧🌊🌊

The is for taking time to explore this topic and be open to different styles. People are so often quick to judge without any knowledge or depth on the topic.

That front teep catch and ankle hook sweep thingy was what Gabriel Varga shared during his trip with the hard2hurt gym. Interesting to see it again.

Single whip is a punch but backwards. Brush knee is a palm strike. Cloud hands is very deep in its application, and the move is very difficult to do properly.

Nice video with some good content. I have been a martial artist for 35 years and a tai chi player for about 25 of those years. I agree it is mostly useful for upright grappling with the addition of very close-range striking power using chest, shoulders, hips, and elbows that very few people get to a level that they can pull off. It is very structure oriented, and underneath the mysticism are solid biomechancis. There are strikes, but I think it shines the best at a certain range of grappling. I believe the striking misconception came from people not understanding the Supreme ultimate boxing method did not mean what they thought it meant, but was rather a boxing method based off of the Chinese Supreme Ultimate philosophical belief of taiji being the differentiation of the void state giving birth to Ying and yang. It is martial art that tries to associate itself with and emulate that state. It does not mean the Supreme ultimate boxing method in the way we would naturally think of those words in the English language. I have trained with many great martial artists and there are quite a few who can apply tai chi practically, but almost all have to use some other martial art or skill with their tai chi to make it work. I have only met one true master who could actually practically apply tai chi by itself as an effective martial art. I am lucky enough to have him as my primary teacher now. It is a wonderful art that will make everything else you do better, but I would never recommend it as a first choice for someone who just wants to get good at fighting within a reasonable amount of time.

Jordan slaying it in the background without a knife... What wonders amaze!

Interesting the deeper and more sophisticated striking arts get like karate, capoeira, Kung fu, fencing, even boxing and kick boxing end up in how to grapple.

Taiji has done wonders for my health. Super lovely and peaceful way to train. That’s all I’m looking for anyway. 💙☯️🙏

Love these type of videos showcasing the true meaning behind forms ! Keep up the good work !

The Chen is my favorite internal combat art. If you, if you just really know how to use and apply it's techniques and power, you'll be one bad mofo. It's never let me down!!! Great video brother.

I'm looking forward to learn these awesome grappling skills, I'm coming from shotokan karate to learn taichi I enjoy them both

As a 40 plus years taichi chuan practitioner and former amateur kickboxer,you are right!!

Ramsey I suffer from insomnia and your voice and wisdom helps me sleep at night. Can't believe people call your voice fake. They are jealous as am I. Anyways on to the ⁉️! question! How does one who had a lightweight (155) ideal fight weight but has to fight at 145, walks around at 180-170 and cuts several pounds over.months and only 8 pounds of water weight to make weight deal with the fact that these 145s are still substantially bigger than me and I have decent muscle/ body composition but yet small hands and feet, general bone size in general get over this? I feel like I have to train way fn harder and there is no ideal weight class.for me! I am 5'8, in an awkward positions for height because I feel I am stuck between the size of 130s and 140s and 145 is the lowest I can go if I do everything right. Also 135s and below are generally fast as F ! THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME MASTER

I remember the video when he described the little old man kicking his ass but I don’t think he mentioned he did through wrestling; it makes more sense now

So right on!👍🏼👍🏼🙏🙏🙏🦉

I already knew about this since I've been a practitionners of traditionnal martial art and currently of muay thay but the way you put it into perspectives make it even more interesting. I would love to find some legit sources about tai chi (or other traditionnal martial arts) and their real world applications.

Fantastic! Really great explanation of actual practical applications that exist in Tai Chi forms.

I love that Tai Chi is rediscovered time and time again, sure it's seen as just movements these days but a deeper look shows the Martial applications are many

another good video. Great to see you've recovered from covid

Omg TaiChi was speedbag training all along! *dramatic sound effect*

All "soft" styles are grappling based. Jiu-jitsu means soft art for those who don't know. Just like how boxers do shadow boxing, tai chi forms are shadow wresteling.

Taiji is stand up grappling and controlling but as in all complete martials art it has kicking and striking as well.. It's a no brainer

Wow..... what an eye opener. You’re right. 🥰🥰🥰

Thank you for your video, very informative. Sadly, no Tai Chi going in my compound these days due to COVID19.

This is so cool - I had no idea how in-depth Tai-Chi is - fascinating

At 3:44 its a double trap, one of 4 main door openings in chinese kung fu. It´s a contact building / bridging tehcnique. (So like you explained it in the video)

Love the video, the presentation is awesome.

There is a lot more striking in the Chen style than in Yang, but even then, it's a ton of standing grappling. My students are often surprised when they learn that they're learning to fight. It takes a long time to develop the body mechanics, to develop relaxed power, and there are faster ways to learn to fight. Much faster. The difference is that, at 54, I'm a better fighter than I was at 30, and at 30 I was better than I was at 18.

I watched some Zhaobao Taiji (one of, if not the oldest branches of Taiji along with Chen family) applications from an older practitioner named Wang Qingsheng and his students about a year ago and many of the movements have directly translated into my BJJ training, especially in no-gi where I try to spend more time in grappling and trapping range. Zhaobao Taiji has this concept called "San He Yi (三合一, Three Into One)" which means that the movements in the forms translates to how you use it in tuishou and then directly into combat. Of course you have to consider that real combat is much, much more chaotic and spontaneous than in tuishou, but knowing how to use the specific movement and how to control both your opponents' position and your own helps greatly.

LETS WRESTLE KID LETS WRESTLE LETS WRESTLE LETS WRESTLE

Excellent presentation linking tai chi forms with practical applications. Thanks for your content. -Matt’s dad Dan

This and close range striking, yeah. The internal stuff is really good once you understand it.

I think most martial arts that have forms or kata are wrestling or grappling that people don't realize it's there. Unless it's specifically sports like boxing and Muay Thai (I know they don't have forms but just for the purpose of argument, combinations).

In BJJ, you can find numerous concepts borrowed from traditional martial arts. Turning the toes in, straightening the curve of the spine by tucking the hips, tucking the chin, keeping tall posture, etc.

Some of the big wide shapes are probably ways to escape/break clinches.

Good to see you healthy again,Ramsey.

Great video. Something to add as a long term Taiji practitioner, the style you e seen might be 90% grappling, but there are lots of different styles of Taiji. The style I do it more striking based, maybe 70/30. Meaning the forms and traditional training methods. Obviously one could focus more on one area then it would seem Taijiquan or a more one thing than another.

Good explanation of the these techniques. My two cents is that I feel like this should have been an obvious answer from reading tai chi manuscripts. This seems especially evident when they start mentioning following and sticking power, or moving slow when your opponent is moving fast. The yin and yang are important when your opponent attempts to overcommit or does not support a portion of themselves. You are mostly attacking the other individuals balance while maintaining yours.

Awesome video as always Coach! If you’re interested, I would love to hear your thoughts on the grappling match between Gordon Ryan and world strongman athlete Hafthor Bjornson. Is this one of those situations where skill trumps strength? Thank you again for your videos, you are awesome!

thanks for showing this! practical demonstrations of tai chi are a thing I didn't know I wanted until now!

Great video. was a bit quiet tho.

I was always taught that Taiji Quan is very much a style of stand up grappling. There are punches and kicks but the grappling is very often at the forefront.

Sympathique presentation de techniques de lutte dans le taichi. Bon travail et bon esprit. Bravo.

100% I started in Ba Gua which is very similar. Virtually no one knows that Ba Gua and Tai Chi are almost all wrestling. I've applied similar techniques as you've shown here in my pro fighters, even into the UFC level.

Actually you dont necessarily need to understand *all* moves in a taichi form (however its probably cool to have all those answers) Its pretty awesome if you can just understand the biomechanics behind your moves, hence you can become organised, stabile, strong end effective during combat. Which would be.. kind of the goal of taichi. To improve your skills as a fighter, in combat.

This is well timed, as i'm looking into Tai Chi therapy, and Yang Style Tai Chi, as well as books on Combat applications of Tai Chi once I get more into those first two things.

Fascinating! Great video!

Thank you for teaching us!

"......Yes, yes we do" that was great

Thank you, @Ramsey Dewey ! I wish I was rich - if I was, I'd have sponsored your trip to America to, ahem, meet that master :) . Alas, can't afford to do so... but thank you for keeping an open mind ;) ! I've been saying that Tai Chi is wrestling for years now, after learning some folk wrestling and being surprised by the similarities with kung-fu (gong fu) moves. Then I found an old Shuai Jiao book which confirmed my suspicions. And then I moved to BJJ, in order to do more grappling.

I had a friend once who was big into Tai Chi, and he went so far as to travel to the birthplace the Chen family village in China to study for several weeks. He said he was shocked to see the way they did their push hands exercises looked so much like Greco-Roman wrestling.

Hi mr. ramsay, my name is rafsan, iam a 15 y old student from Bangladesh (a small country right besides india).i was wondering if you could make a series of videos of setups for striking +grappling for mma?? Plzzz

Good point.

Have you ever seen any Push Hands tournaments where chin-na is allowed? I think that would be very interesting.

I love this wisdom. Thank you!

It's the same with kata, it's essentially stand up grappling.

These techniques are effective and are in accord with tai chi principles, however there is more to tai chi than wrestling techniques represented in form. As well as striking, kicking and grappling we also have several two person drills and freestyle 'pushing hands' that develop the principles of ting jin, hua jin and fa jin - 'listening' and detection of intent, diversion redirection and control, discharging.

I strongly believe anyone who wants to learn CMA properly should first learn Shuai Jiao. It's basically the sports version of Taichi. They should teach it in high-school or junior high. Whichever Chinese martial art people go into afterwards Shuai Jiao would make them better martial artists and have a better understanding of their art in its true form. You can't expect the average traditional martial artist to take up Sanda, but Shuai Jiao is a good gateway sport.

Taijiquan or Taichichuan ( "Tai-Chi" doesn't mean anything other than a philosophical concept) it's a peculiar martial art when in combat. It indeed mixes: grappling, trapping and while doing it striking movements with both legs and arms. This happens all at once rather than one by one as you can see in MMA today. You may want to have a look at my videos for more clarifications.

"Yes, yes we do" :) :) :) Good video Ramsey - I like your interpretation of those moves, they are definitely valid. However I do think that Tai Chi incorporates pretty much all the techniques that most any martial art does i.e. Locks, Throws, Punches, Strikes, Trips, Kicks, Weapons, and etc, etc... Of course not having a time machine, (and not speaking whatever dialect of Chinese was spoken then) I can't go back and ask whoever the creator(s) of the art were, 'Hey guys, what's this move for' - so whatever interpretations people can apply is fine by me - of course there will be some applications that wouldn't work 'On The Street' but again, that's the same for every martial art. So as you always say "Get out there and train" :)

Perfectly valid basic applications for Tai Chi forms but I think it's impossible to understand the art unless you train with someone who's very good at it, and train it regularly, without training other styles, for an extended period like 6 months to a year. It's a very subtle and powerful art but so easy to misunderstand. Until I met someone who had trained with a lineage holder for many years I had no real idea of what it was. I imposed all the other styles I had learned on it as everyone does until they encounter the real thing. True Tai Chi changes you. It changes your whole approach and understanding of martial arts. It changes your nervous system, your fascia, your muscles and your understanding of power. But it's pointless to say any of this really, you have to encounter it. My advice is to go and see someone genuine and very high level, like Master Ding in Limehouse, London, for one example I can be certain of, before you make your decisions on what it is.

Snake, mantis, tiger, and dragon all have elements of grappling with correct interpretations, perhaps you could look into them as well as most traditional arts have grappling hidden in it.

Good information and helpful for me when I train with little space.

Thanks, this is very valuable.

So, here's a thing relating traditional kung fu to MMA which I was thinking about recently, and guess this might be as good a place as any to ask you about it, even though it's not taijiquan-related. In a lot of traditional kung fu styles like Hung Gar or Choy Li Fut (especially Choy Li Fut,) there are a bunch of wide sweeping arm movements which are used to strike opponents with hammerfists, ridgehands, forearm blows, etc. And you see a lot of knockouts with things like wide overhand punches in MMA. But these moves are mostly drawn from boxing, whose ruleset limits fighters to striking, not just with the hands, but with the front part of the knuckles. On the other hand, there are a lot of elite competitive boxers and muay thai fighters out there, whereas, as much as their syllabi might contain useful techniques, there are very few practitioners of arts like Choy Li Fut, Hung Gar, Northern Shaolin, etc. who aspire to be successful competitive fighters, let alone having the pool of training partners to achieve that. Since MMA doesn't have any sort of rule against striking with forearms, backhands, hammerfists, etc. I was wondering if it might benefit from the infusion of techniques from arts which use these sorts of powerful circular hand techniques, which were developed in a context where there weren't such restrictive limitations on what body parts you could strike with. Do you think MMA fighters might benefit from cross-training in these kung fu styles?

This is cool, do you think Karate is similarly just a kind of basic kickboxing?