Martial arts for seniors - the magic of safe, mid-range methods

[@nickhbt]

Such beautiful teaching. As skills grow the transition from "sticking" hands to "hitting" hands is no transition at all.

[@taichipandabat6153]

Can you explain this more, i am highly interested in this comment

[@yeshuabenjoestar933]

ty sifu sinclair, i've been incorporating push hands for some of my students who can only do a limited number of randori (sparring) rounds (and for myself, when I need to cool down)

[@mcronrn]

Great stuff!! Thank you!! 🙏🙏

[@matt_iles]

Beautiful

[@matthewmagda4971]

What motivates someone that's 76 to learn something as complex as Tai Chi Push Hands?

[@bobmorgan8748]

Good question. I'm a 65 year old ex-boxer. Your body changes with age. If I use what I know I'll end up damaging my wrists, elbows and just about any other joint that I'd use. Having a martial art that would completely diffuse a situation without injuring yourself would be good. I'd be interested in looking into this.

[@mcronrn]

Maybe the guy will answer… 🙏🙏

[@tranquil_dude]

Conceptually it's not complex. the "difficult" part is letting go of previously ingrained habits, such as the urge to either tense up or back away when facing an oppressive external force. The defining goal of Taiji practice is to be able to let go of those extremes, and react to the offensive force with the right balance of fluidity and stability, just enough to neutralize the disturbance (and destabilize the opponent, if you need to). (in Daoist philosophy, the word Taiji refers to that state which contains the potential for both Yin & Yang, i.e. soft & hard, heavy & light, etc. ... apparent dichotomies unified.) Like both the video and bobmorgan8748's remark has indirectly pointed out, when you apply Taiji successfully, your counter-attack looks relatively non-violent, because the violent forces (including those within your own body) have been neutralized. Of course, there's also nothing stopping you from first using Taiji principles to gain a subtle advantage over the opponent, ... and then punch/kick/throw/joint-lock-ing the hell out of him/her. That's where all "complex" kungfu moves come in. ;) (and this is also how most "younger" martial artists are inclined to fight)

[@chrisken8902]

True, true ....

[@JeffSelby]

Like your work ,but why doesn't this work against an mma fighter ? There are alot of systems that look like push hands and work inside boxing range is there something you do that makes that successful successful?successful?

[@IanSinclairTaiChi]

I teach MMA folks. They seem to find it useful.