3 moves combo

[johnwang]

Hi JW,
How's it going?
Your combo question makes me think back to the seminar I once took with you where you showed us "tai chi fishing". This involved two "feints", a backfist one which is blocked, followed by pulling the blocking arm, to set up a leg sweep (splitting?) takedown. But you can probably explain it better than me (or you might have a video?).
And a general question for the board, do such entries really count as combos, or do the components of a combo have to be all offensive, and not used as tricks?

I try to replace my 3 miles running by walking with kicks/punches. Yesterday I did 4 mile walking with 2,000 punches and 100 kicks. I felt great about it (I consider it as one of my resting days).

Here is an example to show why combo (set up) is needed.

If you can pull your opponent's back arm and sweep his leading arm at the same time, you can take your opponent down effortless. To find a chance to sweep your opponent's leading leg is easy. To find a chance to pull his back arm is difficult (because your opponent's back arm is blocked by his leading arm and far away from you).

You can wait for that opportunity to happen (such as to wait for your opponent to throw a cross). but it may never happen, or it may happen so fast that you won't be able to take advantage on it. So you try to create opportunity to make that happen.

What Brendan did was just a simple Taiji "double pulling". You pull

- your opponent's leading arm to your right, when your opponent counter with a back arm,
- you pull his back arm to your left.

[dragonprawn]

Thanks John,

Great to hear you are still tree kicking down the road. As you know I live in NYC and if I had the same routine as you they would lock me up.
That video and your previous one are similar to what you called going fishing, but not quite the same.

[johnwang]

That video and your previous one are similar to what you called going fishing, but not quite the same.

Brendan skips the face punch and uses a 3 moves combo:

1. Right hand on opponent's leading arm.
2. Left hand on his back arm wrist.
3. Right hand on his waist.

to replace a 4 move combo.

1. Left hand on opponent's leading arm.
2. Right hand punch on his face (this force him to block with his back arm).
3. Left hand on his back arm wrist.
4. Right hand on his back arm elbow.

IMO, it's good to be able to reduce 4 moves into 3 moves. But without a face punch, the back arm wrist grab can be difficult.

You have to throw a punch to force your opponent to block it, you can then grab-pull his blocking arm (give first, take later).

[marvin8]

Yes. You train individual postures/movements to master them.

The idea of applications is not to program specific responses to specific attacks. It's just to have an idea of something to do with the movement until you start understanding the energies at play. Then you can discard them, or not, as you like. I know some people here go both ways. Techniques can be useful.

But it's really just evolving the ideas of the 8 Gates and 5 steps. Just different ways to express them. The more you play with them the more combinations you find. Stringing them together on a sequence has many benefits, but the one I feel is most relevant here is training the flow of the three inner harmonies. I believe this is the essence of the neurological effects of taijiquan.

Today, Ian put out this video which may be relevant to the thread, "Introduction to Tai chi, Episode 16: The 13 Postures:"

Ian Sinclair
Dec 17, 2021

To support this work, please donate or visit http://SinclairInternalArts.com

Did you wonder what I was up to during the last month? Well, I've written and recorded this video 4 times, and spent a few days editing it. It is not perfect. But here it is.

It is often said that real martial skill in tai chi depends on an understanding of the 13 postures. But there is so much confusion about what the term "13 postures" even means, that most teachers are better off not talking about them. In fact, most don't deal with them in depth. This may be either because the teachers don't think they are important, or because they don't think the students will understand.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDLo3ZK5Zj8

[marvin8]

What Brendan did was just a simple Taiji "double pulling". You pull

- your opponent's leading arm to your right, when your opponent counter with a back arm,
- you pull his back arm to your left.

Regarding Brendan's demo (feeder static w/arm extended, while Brendan steps), what are your thoughts on the problems posted earlier in the thread?

Normal fighting distance, moving lead hand, stepping/maintaining distance, weight shifts:

... Speaking directly to the point of the thread, I believe there is a certain risk in drilling combos. You see it in fights all the time. The combo begins, the opponent changes, the combo continues because it's been so deeply ingrained in muscle memory.

... Rokas fails to grab Jesse, because Jesse is able to yield by pushing off his front foot.

I don't know that, because the subject of "initial stage" was brought up and discussed. In this thread and previous one, the student lands his front foot. After that, a six move combo starts:

I can't see your combat hypothesis, "left hook, right hook to counter jab/cross" in your "testing videos." Again, can you provide any testing video showing the OP "A throws jab/cross. B uses double hooks to counter it?"

When I can do

- left hook,
- right hook,
- left arm wrap,
- right head lock,
- left leg step in,
- right leg cut,



to respond to my opponent's jab and cross with speed. I feel I was still in my 30.

[origami_itto]

Yes. You train individual postures/movements to master them.

The idea of applications is not to program specific responses to specific attacks. It's just to have an idea of something to do with the movement until you start understanding the energies at play. Then you can discard them, or not, as you like. I know some people here go both ways. Techniques can be useful.

But it's really just evolving the ideas of the 8 Gates and 5 steps. Just different ways to express them. The more you play with them the more combinations you find. Stringing them together on a sequence has many benefits, but the one I feel is most relevant here is training the flow of the three inner harmonies. I believe this is the essence of the neurological effects of taijiquan.

Today, Ian put out this video which may be relevant to the thread, "Introduction to Tai chi, Episode 16: The 13 Postures:"

Ian Sinclair
Dec 17, 2021

To support this work, please donate or visit http://SinclairInternalArts.com

Did you wonder what I was up to during the last month? Well, I've written and recorded this video 4 times, and spent a few days editing it. It is not perfect. But here it is.

It is often said that real martial skill in tai chi depends on an understanding of the 13 postures. But there is so much confusion about what the term "13 postures" even means, that most teachers are better off not talking about them. In fact, most don't deal with them in depth. This may be either because the teachers don't think they are important, or because they don't think the students will understand.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDLo3ZK5Zj8

I agree 100%. The the 13 postures only really have meaning within the context of working with another person. It takes four hands to study taijiquan. Hence application ideas to approach meaning in solo practice. Then testing and experimentation in push hands that then further informs solo work. Then recognizing the feelings in the body that translate into force generated in various ways. Then forgetting the application ideas and teasing out the forces directly.