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Close quarters
combat
Tai chi combat is not about fighting. It
is a response to assault. You do not instigate. You respond. If the
assailant wants to get close enough to hit you, they need to move in.
Initially, they can strike with their feet and legs. If they come closer,
the hands, knees and elbows can be used. Finally, if they come in very
close, they can headbutt, shoulder or grapple with you.
Minimalist
Close quarters combat is not easy. Small movements are necessary. Composure
is essential. Someone is right inside your personal space, and they are not
there to cuddle you.
Grappling skills are vital
Escaping from locks, holds and grapples is a necessary skill. You must also
be capable of making space and delivering a powerful strike at close range.
Neglecting grappling is stupid. It assumes that your opponent is going to
assault you in a method that suits your requirements. How absurd. You must
be ready for all kinds of attack, armed and unarmed.
To rejoice even in a
harmless game means that you delight in someone's defeat.
(John Lash)
Judo?
Judo, ju jitsu, aikido and wrestling are all grappling arts. They specialise
in locks, throws, holds and floor work. Our tai chi class approaches
grappling from a very different perspective.
We do not teach any locks and holds whatsoever. We do offer throws and
'falls' but these are very different to the external arts listed above.
External
External grappling arts involve extended confrontation. We have no interest
in a prolonged engagement. The aim is swift incapacitation, not committed
grappling.
Striking is preferable to grappling but not always appropriate. Grappling
offers an opportunity to finish the attacker without striking. Evade.
Incapacitate. Escape.
Three types of grappling
Grappling or wrestling is generally seen to constitute vigorous attempts to
throw, lock or hold the other person. It is a form of fighting that is
extremely tiring. The internal equivalent is somewhat different.
Three avenues of skill are necessary:
Sensitivity exercises
Sensitivity exercises
Sensitivity exercises teach the student how
to connect, follow and neutralise the attacker e.g.
monkey paws.
You must be fluid, mobile and
adaptive.
The aim is to work in response to the ongoing actions of your partner.
Shuai jiao
Shuai jiao is concerned with floor work, throws, evading attacks and take
downs. The applications are spontaneous and must emerge with the flow of
events. There is an external version of shuai jiao.
It is often treated as a competition sport and the body is employed
differently.
Floor work
An assault may take you to the floor. Your priority needs to be getting back
on your feet quickly. Brawling on the ground makes you an easy target for
people to 'stick the boot in'.
Aiming to apply a lock/hold yourself is naive. It assumes only one opponent.
What about his mates? Immobilising your assailant also immobilises you.
Dying ground
The 'dying ground' is when you must act decisively and calmly in order to
escape an unpleasant situation. Although the training in class will still be
playful and fun, the pressure will be on.
With limited options and the need to act, what will you do? Your mettle is
tested when you are backed into a corner, overwhelmed and in desperate need
of inspiration.
Expand your repertoire
What happens when more than one person attacks you at the same time? Can
you cope with multiple opponents? What will you do if two people restrain
you whilst a third punches you?
What if there is a knife held to your
throat? Can you escape when you are on your face, your back, your knees, in
a confined space?
Combat needs to be honest and realistic. Modern
urban violence will not be a gentlemanly affair. Assailants are cowards.
They are opportunists.
They will aim to overwhelm you and then take advantage of your
vulnerability.
Escapes
It is important to become competent at escapes first of all. If all goes
wrong you may be restrained. Can you get the attacker off? Do not use
strength against strength. That is not tai chi.
You need to be smarter.
Technique based mentality
Do not use techniques. Techniques assume an unchanging condition. Combat is
never constant, never fixed. You cannot predict what your attacker will do
next. You cannot afford to make assumptions.
A step-by-step plan will not work against an earnest adversary. You must
flow. Improvise, change, adapt. Be alert. Present. Sensitive. You must
listen to what is happening.
There are countless options, choices, possibilities. Open your mind and
employ them.
As in all good Zen stories,
the only understanding that matters is your own.
(Robert Allen)
Pre-emptive
If you can avoid being held, do so. There is no advantage in being
restrained. Do not cooperate.
There are two kinds of pre-emptive work in our grappling
syllabus:
Early
Late
Early
If you can employ 'interrupting jing' and catch the attacker during an early
stage of their attack, then there may be no grappling at all.
The attack is treated like a punch, and dealt with in the same way. We call
this 'countering'.
Late
A last minute evasion takes far
more nerve and skill. You must let the attacker commit. You must wait until
the last possible moment before responding.
This makes it very difficult for the attacker to change their mind. We call
this yielding/chin na, yielding/shuai jiao or yielding/countering relative
to the type of skill being employed.
Catching the attacker before they can successfully apply their grapple means
that you do not have to contend with their strength. You use timing and
yielding to take the initiative.
Lengthy encounters
A lot of time can be wasted wrestling. Both parties may become tired and
clumsy. Sifu Waller advocates an immediate response to a grapple. Do not
mess around.
Do not 'play their game' or do it their way. Get out of the situation
quickly.
Caught up?
If 'caught up', distraction is best. It divides the attention and will
create an opening for you to exploit. This is part of 'see the left, see the
right' from the 13 methods.
Ultimately, you can strike/seize/press almost anywhere and cause pain.
Different angles offer different targets but the entire body is alarmingly
vulnerable to pain.
Tensing-up the muscles only serves to lock the joints and brings the nerves
closer to the surface.
Applause
Having escaped/evaded the attacker, do not stand there waiting for applause.
Incapacitate the assailant efficiently and
leave. Messing about will only increase the likelihood of further
confrontation.
Do only what is necessary and depart without fanfare.
Speed
Abrupt, jerky, fast movement alerts the nervous system and tenses your
muscles. Seek to be smooth, soft, calm and comfortable. Do not rush or
dither.
Take decisive action, but work at easy, normal-seeming movement. A
hurried person has no control, no composure. Use
your sensitivity. Be cunning.
4 ounces of pressure, root, yielding and calm are
essential. Avoid aggression at all costs.
Chin na
Grappling can be countered using chin na, but chin na is a skill in its own
right. Tai chi students learn how to 'misplace the bones' first of all.
Misplacing the bones enables greater incapacitation of the attacker's body.
It causes pain and limits mobility. The time-commitment is also reduced.
Page created
18 April 1995
Last updated
16 June 2023
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