To the uninitiated, the slow, relaxed, and fluid movements in the Tai Chi look like they wouldn’t be very useful in a combat situation. Even some practitioners of the art believe that this kind of movement is practiced for health benefits and not for real self defense. However, this type of movement has very real and practical applications for physical conflicts.
Tai Chi strategy is different from the average strategies of most martial arts. In other martial arts styles, practitioners build up as much physical force as they can through rigorous training methods. Tai Chi trains its artists deliver as much damage using as little force as possible.
The way that Tai Chi practitioners move helps them deliver deadly blows without using the extreme force of other martial arts styles. In fact, in Tai Chi, using a lot of muscle force can actually detract from practitioner’s ability to deliver deadly blows. The key to this art’s power lies in the ability of practitioners to transfer their entire weight through a strike. Even though it doesn’t use a lot of muscle force, this kind of strike can be deadly because it transfers a lot of energy. A well-trained light touch can be very powerful. Practitioners can shatter bones, including major leg and arm bones, rupture internal organs, or even defibrillate or stop the heart. the key to achieving these kinds of strikes is the relaxed and fluid way that Tai Chi participants practice their art. In fact, using a lot of muscle force can actually make it harder for practitioners to deliver the kinds of strikes.
This aspect of its strategy makes Tai Chi a practical self defense martial art for the elderly. In other styles, participants in their forties or fifties are considered past their prime, whereas Tai Chi practitioners can continue to train and develop their art well into their eighties and nineties. Many people who have been involved in the martial arts for a long time have heard stories or seen demonstrations where a little old man throws around people who are much larger and stronger than they are. The energy transfer that these movements train for is what enables these small, elderly artists to throw their opponents across the room.
Beyond focusing strikes in order to do serious damage, the relaxed and fluid movements help students on the defensive side as well. Tai Chi practitioners attempt to blend with the movements of their opponents in order to make themselves less vulnerable. If you have some serious muscle mass and you hit a brick or wooden wall, you might be able to do some damage. However, if you hit a shower curtain, you are probably not going to hurt it much. No matter how hard you hit it, the curtain will move with your punch making it very difficult for you to do any kind of damage. Hitting it harder will only make you more frustrated.
The slow, relaxed, fluid motions of this martial art do have health benefits. However, they have real combat applications as well.
