BE the Shoulin!

Soooo much lineage in martial arts. In most cases it is an imitation of Chinese Martial Arts lineage ("my teacher's teacher's teacher trained under Bruce Lee") or tracing the arts roots back to its Chinese Martial Arts lineage ("Karate originally meant Chinese hand and is probably based on Crane Kung Fu.") And in Chinese Martial Arts, 90% of the time the goal is to do one thing and one thing only: to demonstrate how that style of Martial Arts was derived at the Shoulin Temple.

(This can lead to extremely severe errors in deciding how to train. For example many people decide to train in Wing Chun to try to be like Bruce Lee, tracing Lee's lineage back to Wing Chun master Yip Man. The problem is Bruce Lee hated Wing Chun, the vast majority of his criticisms of Traditional Martial Arts (TMA) were based on his own experiences in Wing Chun. He had much nicer things to say about other TMA like Choy Li Fut. If you want to be like Bruce Lee, the one thing you would never want to do is Wing Chun.)

BUT what was so great about the Shoulin Temple? It was that so many different people went there from around China to seek asylum, and so many of those were mercenaries and soldiers, and because they had time on their hands to refine their arts, evolve their arts, and to spar it out. In other words who did the Shoulin trace their lineages to? They traced their lineage to themselves for being an awesome fight club.

It really is not your lineage that matters. It is the community of people you train with. All around the world right now the martial arts masters of tomorrow are being created in MMA clubs and other serious martial communities full of people willing to spar and improve their hands on ability. Your sparring partners and you coaching each other, that is being your generation's version of The Shoulin Temple.

But didn't the Shoulin have extraordinary powers? Lots of fight club type schools experiment with Yoga and TMA type training. Many of them cross train in weapon martial arts, and some of them even spar with weapons. Compared to TMA schools that don't do this, they have extraordinary powers.

The Summit BJJ club was originally founded as a sort of co-op, and still has the most affordable BJJ training in the area. When they started, the most advanced student they had was a purple belt. When I started the most advanced student was a single brown belt and a few purple belts. I was there when the first student was awarded his black belt and a few of the other members of the club got their brown belts. Now the club has multiple black belts. WHY did their skill improve so much? Because they got together and trained four times a week for several years, and because they had the type of community they needed to pull that off.

At Tres Espadas our contempt for lineage is a core part of our club's ethos. Tres Espadas was founded by rogue students who broke away from Doc Fai Wong's kung fu system because we decided that we didn't share the same vision. They wanted fitness, they wanted to make people better. The first thing they taught was a solid front kick. We wanted to "feed Christians to lions" in the ancient Roman gladiatorial arenas. The first thing our club members would know is how to knife fight. Over the years we have accumulated a lot more hands on actionable Weapon Martial Arts knowledge through sparring than we would have ever learned studying the endless number of weapon forms in Doc Fai Wong's system.

Don't wait for a master to come along and grant you martial arts abilities. Find or found a like minded community willing to train and spar in order to pursue the abilities you seek! 

What is Chi?

Here I will generally describe what people think "chi" (aka "ki" aka "qi") is, then what I think it is, and then my experience with its limitations as far as martial arts is concerned. In general there are three main explanations of chi: Religious, Alternative Medicine, and Practical.

1.Religious is "chi as life force":

• When someone says "chi is the life force in every living thing" that means almost the same thing as the "soul" of any living thing, and is one baby step away from talking about the afterlife or animism.
• The Founder of Aikido had a view of Chi that was very similar to the "holy spirit" in some forms of Christianity, "I felt the universe suddenly quake, and that a golden spirit sprang up from the ground, veiled my body... my body became light. I was... clearly aware of the mind of God, the creator of the universe. At that moment I was enlightened: the source of [the martial way] is God's love ..." I have had similar experiences through participation in religion (as lots of other people have,) but I can't say they made me a better fighter. 
• "No touch" martial arts techniques called "Chi" could be the result of intentional or unintentional psychophysical contitioning from poor martial arts instruction. See my post on Psychic Martial Arts.
• When you encounter someone with cult like devotion to chi, you are talking to someone who views chi from a religious perspective.

2. Alternative medicine is where chi theory overlaps with kundalini theory in yoga: 

• Supposedly there is some kind of energy in the body which you can train to enhance your physical performance. 
• Some describe this as a some type of bioelectic power running through your nervous system, like an electric eel. 
• In the very worst cases people think they can use chi to resist martial arts attacks or light stuff on fire with their bare hands. 
• I first saw this documented in the series "Ring of Fire: An Indonesian Oddesy" (1988), in Part 3: "East of Krakatoa".

3. Practical is seeing chi as something all people have and most athletes develop without necessarily using he word "chi" for it: 

• Tai Chi intentionally focuses on good posture and physical balance. Doing Tai Chi standing mediation makes you focus on how your spine is aligned with gravity and can be painful if you do not. Forms force you to practice good blance in a similar way, and even have moves that require you to practice balancing on one leg. Stationary push hands is litterally a balance drill with resistance. Moving step push hands is focused sparring concentrating on maintaining and disrupting balance. IT IS NO SUPRISE THEN THAT THE PEER REVIEWED LITERATURE RECOMMENDS TAI CHI TRAINING FOR INJURY PREVENTION (specifically because of posture control and falling prevention) IN OLDER ADLUTS: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1724328/pdf/v035p00148.pdf If we consider how much perfect posture can improve the maximum weight of a squat or deadlift, a combination of good posture and balance could explain the phenomenon the internal martial arts call "chi."
• When I discussed chi with BJJ  black belt (a purple belt at the time) and Wu Tai Chi lineage master Dmitri Gak, he thought that it chi was simply developing all the small connective muscles between the major muscle groups, especially stabilizer muscles. 
• The literal translation of "chi" is "air" or "breath" so that any time in athletics when we consciously focus on our breathing, that could be seen as "chi." When I hear BJJ black belts talk about developing a superior sense of balance by way of focusing on their breathing, I am hearing a practical view of "chi." 
• Some traditional martial arts see chi as "mental focus," or visualizing in your mind what you want your body to do, and/or bringing your mind and body together as one in the moment to be able to react without hesitation. The same concepts exist in western sports psychology.
• Some see chi as that secret sauce, the combination of body structure, adrenaline, and emergency stores of chemicals pumping into muscles and the nervous system that allow people to do extraordinary things in emergencies.
• Others see chi as type of sensitivity that can be trained by being aware of how your body feels, and by trying to "feel" the intentions of the opponent when you are in contact with them.

None of these practical views on chi excuse the participant from training to learn martial arts technique and sparring, but they do suggest that sparring itself could be a chi-enhancing exercise. These practical views of chi are compatible with each other. I have done Tai Chi standing meditation, the ultimate chi-building exercise, for 30 minutes every day since 2004. I find I am much less likely to get injured the rest of the day after doing it than before doing it. I have also noticed people doing this kind of training continuing to train in full contact martial arts later in life than their peers - and I myself am an example of that, as I did my first full contact martial arts in the late 80's (though I have not trained continuously that entire time.)

In the case of stationary push hands (a blance resistance drill) competition, people who do standing meditation are generally a lot better at stationary push hands than people who don't do standing mediation. I saw this play out at a Tiger Balm Internationals in the early 2000's, and after the push hands competition it was clear that the people who were better at it had about as much experience doing those drills as everyone else, but they also did their standing mediation daily. This is what stationary push hands drill competition looks like:

However, stationary push hands drills-with-resistance should not be confused with push-hands sparring, which is basically no-gi Chinese wrestling, not entirely unlike Sumo, where the objectives are to throw your opponent on the ground or out of the ring:

In 2006 I managed to get myself invited to an in-house push hands tournament for the Wudang Dan Pai, an older form of Tai Chi that is historically parallel to Chen style. WDP teachers train students to fight in Chinese Kickboxing and push hands sparring. I had done the kick boxing side of Tai Chi before, but I hadn't seen the no-gi Chinese wrestling push hands before. The first guy I went up against had a very similar back ground to me, had done some Tai Chi and some kickboxing. I used a lot of "parting the horses mane" type of trips, and beat him by a comfortable margin, 10 to 7. But the second trash talking wrestler had a significant weight advantage on me, had a wider range of grappling experience than me at the time, and had more experience in this type of push hands. I was brutally slammed on the ground several times, and by the end was just keeping my balance to prevent that from happening, which made it easier for him to push me out of the ring... second worst beating of my life, 0 to 10. He was finally beat in the final bout by someone who weighed slightly less than him but had a lot more reach.

In full contact weapon fighting I have found that relaxing before the sparring makes the whole experience a lot less exhausting and more enjoyable. HOWEVER one time I took this too far, and did standing mediation, yang forms, and deep stretching right before taking on a very-worthy opponent. THIS "CHI TRAINING" IS HOW THE NAGINATA KNOCK OUT HAPPENED:

It can feel nice to get your chi flowing. Your mind relaxes so that you can appreciate life, smell the roses and listen to the birds chirp. HOWEVER I am telling you THAT is the LAST thing you want to do in combat. You WANT your adrenaline going, you NEED your mind to suddenly become hyper vigilant... it's NOT SUPPOSED TO BE COMFORTABLE, IT'S A FIGHT!

However Chi training helped me learn to fight as it improved my mental focus and sense of balance. I have used PRACTICAL Chi training to help myself and others to be better at fighting. Though I am generally skeptical of the above religous and alternative medicine views of what chi is, I generally agree with the practical theories of what chi is.

Tai Chi Movement

In Tai Chi, there are 13 main types of movement called the Eight Gates and Five Steps. This is a type of categorization that is used to analyze moves in a fight. Here I will explain what they are and how they apply to combat sports. Tai Chi is more focused on clinching than other ranges of fighting, so these movement styles are usually presented from that perspective.

The Eight Gates are elements of martial arts techniques:

1. "Ward Off" is posture, especially keeping the opponent at the right distance from your body for what you want to do. It is also "having a good fighting stance." Keeping your hands up is good "Ward Off" in boxing. One example from grappling is "framing" when you are on the bottom and you are trying to avoid someone getting decent side control on you.
2. "Press" is staying on the opponent - the same concept as "being sticky" - keeping in contact with the opponent so they can't get out of range. In MMA this could be grabbing someone in a Thai clinch to avoid their kicks. In boxing it could be continuously jabbing to judge distance and keep pressure on the opponent.
3. "Yield" is getting out of the way. When someone pushes at you too hard, you can unbalance them by moving or turning in such a way that they miss most or all of your body. In boxing this could be bobbing and weaving. In grappling if someone is completely overpowering you in the clinch, and you realize you will soon be thrown, and you manage instead to pull guard for a more neutral potion on the ground, this would be another example of yielding movement. In the clinch, if you briefly turn away from your opponent in order to get a Russian tie arm bar, this is actually be categorized as a "roll back", an arm bar as a result of a yield.
4. "Push" is an attack that accelerates AFTER contact is made with the opponent. In boxing simply shoving the other boxer would be a push. In grappling, going from guard to a "hip bump" to get into full mount is an example of a pushing attack.
5. "Pluck" is to unbalance an opponent by pulling on them. In Muay Thai if you pull someone with an over hook or under hook in order to sweep them, this is an example of plucking. In grappling most ankle picks are examples of plucks.
6. "Strike" (or "Elbow") is opposite of Push, it is an attack that fully accelerates before it makes contact with the opponent. Most punches, kicks, knees, elbows etc. are strikes. In grappling striking movement is usually forbidden, but in MMA raining down elbows in mount would be an excellent example of strike.
7. "Bump" (or "Shoulder") is an attack that begins to accelerate before it makes contact with the target, but tries to keep going at the same speed after it makes contact with the target. In Tai Chi this is a shoulder check, not entirely unlike what you see in some team sports like American Football. In kick boxing a "push kick" intended to knock the opponent back is a good example of a bump. Using a Judo-type foot sweep in grappling, which is moving quickly before it makes contact with the targets leg, and is supposed to keep on moving after it makes contact, is another example of bump movement.
8. "Split" is moving the opponent's body into two different directions, like blocking the back of their leg with your knee, and then pushing them over your knee... or standing arm bars. In Muay Thai a clinch sweep that aims to make the target's upper body go in a different direction than their lower body could be considered splitting. Virtually all arm bars in submission grappling would be considered splitting in Tai Chi. A "snap double" take down where your head goes forward into their abdomen while your hands pull on the back of their knees is another example of splitting.

The Five Steps are working for position:

1. "Rooting" is being able to resist moving when someone is trying to move you, for example when someone tries to shove you and then nothing happens and you hold your ground with your feet not moving significantly, this is rooting. Keeping your knees bent in boxing so that you don't get knocked around easily by the force of oncoming punches is good rooting. In grappling, if you have a low mount, and you put your feet in the prayer position to make it difficult for the opponent to throw you off of them, this is an example of rooting.
2. "Forward step" is moving towards your opponent just like in boxing. In grappling this could be transitioning from a low mount to a high mount.
3. "Backwards step" is moving away from your opponent, as footwork would normally allow in stand up fighting. On the ground, a back door escape from mount would be an example of backwards step.
4. "Left step" is moving to your left around the opponent, as footwork normally allows in stand up fighting. On the ground, going from side control with your right side closer to your opponent's head to full mount would be an example of step left step.
5. "Right step" is moving to your right around the opponent, as footwork normally allows in stand up fighting. On the ground, going from side control with your left side closer to your opponent's head to full mount would be an example of step right step.

Tai Chi is usually cross trained (with other Kung Fu styles,) and I think part of why is because Tai Chi by way of this above theory begs the analysis of other styles. And as you have guessed by now I think the best way for Tai Chi people to learn more about this kind of movement is to cross train in kick boxing or MMA.

Sparring First

Sparring is the most important aspect of any martial art. Every martial arts training session should include a significant amount of sparring. When this does not happen, it's time to start cutting out some of that other stuff that is cutting into sparring time. What should be cut out to make sparring time: calisthenics, drills, warm ups, weight lifting, cardio, forms, kata? That depends on what works for your style, you have to prioritize, and sparring must have top priority.

But this is really about katas and forms isn't it, don't you have Bruce Lee style chip on your shoulder about forms? Not at all, unless kata/forms attempt to substitute for sparring. If I had to draw the line somewhere, I would say that students should be sparring before they finish learning their first kata or form, because they can't truly understand the moves in the form without sparring. If you are getting into a second kata or form and still no sparring, then you are dangerously close to practicing performance arts instead of martial arts.

And I am a critic of Bruce Lee, as a former Choy Lay Fut practitioner I have no end of bad things to say about that disgruntled Wing Chun student... but the value of Bruce Lee's ideas can only be manifested in the same way other martial arts ideas can be manifested, and that is through sparring:

But the really big problem I have had with Bruce Lee is his advocating of leading in with his strong side, and doing lots of back fists like in kumite point fighting... I feel like he was influenced by that element in his day, and more importantly his "Art of Jeet Kune Do" was used to justify that nonsense almost destroying the martial arts scene in the USA.

BUT Bruce Lee didn't advocate kumite point fighting, he advocated serious sparring, MMA to be specific. To be real sparring (and not fencing) sparring must be:

1. Free sparring - not stop and go, not talking about good hits, no judges calling points, no interruptions except for safety reasons, no preset attacks, no preset defenses.
2. Contact - you must be doing real attacks, and those attacks must make contact. I am not saying it should be 100% force or 100% speed, but it does have to be real.
3. Safe - the purpose of sparring is to train, so that if you accidentally injure your opponent so they can't spar anymore, you have impaired your own training. In sparring you need to keep your opponent safe, opposite of a fight.

Real sparring is then "safe contact sparring." But your martial arts moves are too deadly to spar with? One of the best martial arts when it comes to dedicated sparring time in every class is BJJ, and there are NO more dangerous moves than limb destruction and deadly chokes, which is exactly the attacks they focus on training in. 

But what about eye gouging? The basic Shoulin straight attack to the face is a palm strike combined with an eye rake, called a Tiger Claw. The style that incorporates this perhaps the most is Hun Gar, and they are known for their brawling and sparring. Here they are doing focused sparring with Tiger Claws:

Even the deadly Ninja can spar:

Deadly weapons? Spar:

Traditional weapon martial arts without any sparring tradition like Archery? Spar:

But what if you are doing McDojo karate fighting or no sparring at all, isn't it best for the ideologically impaired to simply never spar at all? If these two can spar, so can you:

As rare as serious Tai Chi may be, even serious Tai Chi people spar:

I once attended a BJJ club were some of the senior members went rock climbing together, and considered it relevant BJJ conditioning. They even named their club after the practice, but they didn't make people climb a rock climbing wall in BJJ class. You would have had to attend the club for a while before getting invited to go rock climbing with them. Sparring for all students came a long time before this club's signature conditioning technique. Consider that before asking students to learn two katas before doing any contact free sparring - is your club there to teach conditioning, or is it there to teach martial arts?