the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

Hello! Originally I wanted to have a "cool post count" of 108, or something like that (something associated with Tai Chi) but that does not seem possible here. Therefore I am editing this post to point out that users here cannot delete their own posts. I do not understand why users have the ability to edit their posts but not to delete their posts.

After reading your post i'm kinda struggling with what your looking for in a response. I kinda just enjoyed reading your stories...was that it.

Also, I noticed this phrase so much "I once went to a..."

Kinda makes me want to say it too;

I once went to a = local World Tai Chi Day Gathering (here in Southeastern, CT) and after all the customary forms and introductions there was allot of pushing hands matches and people just having fun throwing eachother around.

I faced off with one of the demonstrating teachers... He's was a big guy around 6'-2" and he was easily throwing big guys around. I noticed he had skill and I couldn't wait to touch hands with him. I had just moved to the east coast from the SF bay area and I was used to living in a competitive Taiji atmosphere. Come to find out this guy was an Open heavy weight champion in Taiwan for push hands. But I didn't know that at the time. When I meet someone new, I tend to follow an old adage:

" Don't try to win, just do what is correct and let the win happen by itself."

We started with fixed step and I quickly displaced him a few times so I could tell his ego was itching him and then out of the blue...he jabbs his fingers straight into my throat. I grabbed them and bent his fingers back to peel his hand away and said, "So it's OK if I do that to you right " (He made a quick smile at me) Then it escalated to free and open moving methods. It escalated further and I ended up on top of him in a mounted position basically ground and pound hitting him...albeit I wasn't hitting too hard. Just enough to let him know I owned him at that moment. When people jumped in to stop it...it was already too late. He apologized for starting it and we've been on cordial terms ever since.

But the point is initially, if I had tried to score and take him on aggressively in the beginning he would have picked up on that and duffed me like I saw him do to a bunch of other people. Meaning if you're smart (and sometime patient) you can get even good people to make mistakes.

That's my take on how I solved one problem.

Cherish what you have, whether you have much or just little. Find possibilities instead of problems.

I thought the path was an inch wide and a mile deep

Subitai wrote:I ended up on top of him in a mounted position basically ground and pound hitting him...

All Taiji PH events that I had in my life, it all turned into wrestling. The moment that I drag my opponent's arm and run in circle, the PH end and the wrestling start. It's very difficult to prevent a Taiji PH from turning into a wrestling game. It's also very difficult to prevent a Taiji PH from turning into a boxing game too. IMO, that is the problem. In the real world, there is no such thing as "push".

This is the meaning of "it is easy to learn but difficult to correct". Learning things the right way first is extremely important because old habits die hard; and once you travel down the path too long it becomes more difficult to do what you need to do, which is walk all the way back, and then turn down the correct path.

If this is the case for a person, it just means they don't know how to learn and/or train effectively. Habits only form where awareness is absent.

I once went to a tai chi class somewhere and I did push hands with the people there. This consisted of them standing there and me trying to push them, and no response or action from them; just a "brick wall". When I was encouraged to lean into them and press harder into their center, they would grab me and uproot me.

If some one can "brick wall" you, it just means that your own abilities are not significant enough to elicit a response. In this case (maybe years ago), the problem was the student, not the school.

johnwang wrote:

Subitai wrote:I ended up on top of him in a mounted position basically ground and pound hitting him...

All Taiji PH events that I had in my life, it all turned into wrestling. The moment that I drag my opponent's arm and run in circle, the PH end and the wrestling start. It's very difficult to prevent a Taiji PH from turning into a wrestling game. It's also very difficult to prevent a Taiji PH from turning into a boxing game too. IMO, that is the problem. In the real world, there is no such thing as "push".

There's a video somebody put up in another thread of a bar fight where one guy pushes the other into the wall to ground and stun him, then starts kicking him in the head.

Sometimes, push is useful

oragami_itto wrote:Sometimes, push is useful

Push is the opposite of the clinch. When you push your opponent away, your opponent will be outside of your striking range (or clinching range). You should keep your friend close but your enemy closer.

When a fish swims toward an octopus, that octopus won't push that fish away.

johnwang wrote:

oragami_itto wrote:Sometimes, push is useful

Push is the opposite of the clinch. When you push your opponent away, your opponent will be outside of your striking range (or clinching range). You should keep your friend close but your enemy closer.

When a fish swims toward an octopus, that octopus won't push that fish away.

Unless you can push their head into a wall or post or table or some concrete or linoleum or the bartop or traffic or down some stairs or into the water.

oragami_itto wrote:

johnwang wrote:

oragami_itto wrote:Sometimes, push is useful

Push is the opposite of the clinch. When you push your opponent away, your opponent will be outside of your striking range (or clinching range). You should keep your friend close but your enemy closer.

When a fish swims toward an octopus, that octopus won't push that fish away.

Unless you can push their head into a wall or post or table or some concrete or linoleum or the bartop or traffic or down some stairs or into the water.

. . . or push them to take their balance, use their rebound of balance to use their weight against them (4 oz moves 1,000 lbs.) for effortless and more defensively responsible throw/attack.

You know, while reading your post i realised that what has been verbaly communicated to me by my teachers would add up to less than the amount of words in your post. And i am thankful for it...

Never made a meme before. It was easy: