Tai Chi principles for ground grappling

[alopda1]

contact reflexes are very real skills that enable you to skillfully control any opponent standing or on the ground.Using brute force will severly get you into trouble trying to deal with someone like this.

[InfiniteAnathesis]

LOL, at all the Internet black belts commenting on this video. For one Thing I don't think that the instructor is trying to prove or show that these techniques are the end all techniques to beat BJJ but instead he is just trying to show his students how Taichi principles can flow into other ranges of combat. I personally think that training this way then adding real resistance can teach you how to better flow into submissions.

[PessimiStick]

These techniques are a great "How to" for getting your fuck smashed.

[sliptwixt]

This is RIDICULOUS 

[crystalnrich]

I would love to go to this school and kick the instructors ass... just for being stupid.

[superegis]

A BJJ blue belt would destroy this guy

[elpistola420]

i am now dumber after watching this crap. i want to fight this guy just to show you how impractical this shit is. anyone with decent kickboxing skill and some bjj skill will mop the floor with this clown

[mtheshaper]

I'm not really one to talk trash, but I would smash this guy in a roll. SMASH HIM!!!

[virginiabjj]

wtf is this?! this will get you killed LOL. crap

[brill01394]

our white belts would smash this guy.. I'd fight this guy while I had both a bad case of the flu and diarrhea..

[TheHalfGuard]

lol

[spikelee2u]

if u want to get raped in the street do exactly what he saids!! #bitchnedrdyshit , how he dares to compare this shit with jiu jitsu!! no argument about it!! one thing is gi jiu jitsu and other thing is submission combat jiu jitsu! fat ass!

[BooyaCJK007]

has this dude even rolled with anyone of skill? really this kinda crap is why traditional martial arts gets a bad reputation. and another thing.... remember the day when martial artist were in fighting condition? the main thing that bonds all martial arts/combat sports/self defense is conditioning. not "magic". tia chi man... do me a favor and watch what your teaching... if you have any faith in it go to your local judo/bjj and try to just try and not get tapped.

[jiujitsuclub818]

This is only good for jacking me off .... Make me "sticky" hahahah

[chairmanwho]

I come from a JKD base, so I am all for advancing yourself by trying to improve your training by learning new techniques. However, what this guy is doing is absolutely reckless. His bio says that he also learned some judo when he's younger. So I wouldn't say he's completely ignorant. However, a little knowledge can be a very dangerous thing as seen here. It's especially so when you are teaching it to other people without fully understanding what you are teaching.

[jarniej]

Wasn't this on Failblog?

[fightingbilly914then]

sigh, more nonsense.

i'm not going to say anything unduly insulting(although it is certainly justified because the teacher is cynically misleading people) but only offer a simple suggestion: enter any local grappling/bjj competition(they tend to be divided by experience and age, so even a white belt one would be fine) and test your abilities. An even more modest suggestion: go to a local BJJ school/open mat and see how you fare in sparring against a range of different people.

[mild7p]

This stuff looks impressive (to ppl who don't know better)... but only because your student is cooperating with you. And judging by the way you scissor swept him (at 2:11), he has no concept of base either as that was a very poor sweep by any grappler's standards.

Just the facts. I think Tai Chi is great, but stop being so insecure and cross train in real grappling (with a resisting partner). This stuff you teach is gonna get your students raped and split open against a real grappler.

[miracleboy1]

This crapp will get you hurt realliy quickly! Why is it that so many instructors feal so insecure that thay can't admit that there art does not have real answers for a particular problem other than to avoid it? Tai chi is not good for ground fighting. If you find yourself on the ground and you are a Tai chi person you are screwed. Your art derives power from rooting. when you can't root you have to go with something else.

[SkemeKOS]

the whole idea of the bottom guy in bjj grabbing ithe top guy down is to break the top guys posture to prevent him from passing the guard or punching.

this guy didnt even have a closed guard AND he didnt break the guys posture LOL

instead he was busy being a retard and trying to "stick" to him LOL

He is just asking for his opponent to pass his guard and mount him.

This video makes me feel sick.

[GuitarDestroyer77777]

this is a really bad demonstration but tai chi has ground fighting techniques, you see guys i dont need your bjj/mma in order to be able to defend myself on the ground!

[ketamineman]

when are you coming to america so i can challenge you?

[Alos21]

now, that is what I call Gay-Jitsu !!!

[speedgliding]

You lost me at "im sticking... *runs out door*

A BJJ white belt would embarrass you.  What nonsense.

[pouryia1996]

this is the worst kind of martial arts i have ever seen.

[myee8]

Wow, what a load of rubbish...

[sublime8510]

Any decent blue belt would destroy this guy.

[piaten]

While I read Masich has a good reputation, I don't think you'd get a good ground game just by mimicking these moves/exercises, unless you already understand internal power. The best utub-vid i've seen on this topic, was by a guy called Anthony Ho, which was real impressive. (And no, I don't know the man, and am in no way affiliated with him.)

[GungFu4Life]

This drill may be ok for learning to feel where someone is at that range but come on. in a fight you are in a kill or be killed situation. I hope you have a plan B.

[DonakRV]

Cool ideas -whatever the criticism it's nice to see people in the taichi world adapting and responding to what's happening in the MA world rather than follow tradition for tradition's sake. Thanks for sharing.

[Anglostani]

amazing ive never seen push hands on the ground.

[monkfg]

Not bad as a exercise to develop more sensitivity in these ranges, but you won't get around sparring.

[grigorian18]

he would find out the hard way. wow

what a bad mix of tai chi principle

[calebmc473]

Well this proves it. Tai Chi is for queers.

[unjedi007]

This guy is some beatnik who fooled some upper middleclass people into thinking they can defend themselves with this bull! I am upset and I feel sorry for those people!

[mizdierbeatz]

the guy is grappling with sox on. how gay is that?

[seaFoodSifu]

This wouldn't work. I trained in this type of fighting for a long time. This guy is a joke who can do it in demonstrations in slow-mo to show his "hits", but neither would work in a real ground assault.

Stick to Brazilian JIu-Jitsu, this is useless and worthless. He's just fooling himself like no other.

[unjedi007]

Ur right he is a joke!! Taiji has effective groundfighting, but this aint it!! He brings shame to taiji

[wespozo]

Could you give a pointer as to find some info on the ground stuff, or maybe a vid?

[xinvokex]

if ur gonna try anything ground related you SHOULD be usin push hands to set up trips and other takedowns then stomp em out or sumthin... cuz in real life no one is gonna be doin push hands on the ground they're gonna be droppin punches and elbows or goin for a submission

[xinvokex]

you are smoking crack if you think this bullshit would stop my jiu jitsu, wrestling, and ground and pound. if u try to wave ur arms around like that with an MMA fighter i hope enjoy gettin armbarred, kimura'd and eating elbows. keep that shit on the feet where u actually have a chance of walking away from a fight.

[czitek1]

interesting film. good luck. the best way to chack it is just try.

[paolo27th]

I`m no homophobe but I found this vid rather disturbing...

[misfits2012]

what you can do standing up you can do on the ground,

high level mma's are using these taichi prinpcles in their ground game.

[aikighost]

As sombody who has sutdied internal arts and Submission Wrestling/BJJ I have to say this is terrible. It will bnot work and is of no value for ground fighting.

It took me many years to realise that there is NO SHORTCUT around hard sparring.

If you dont spar you cant fight. End of story.

[Siberianhusky89]

I'm glad to have watched this. I was concerned to how Tai Chi would be effective towards something like BJJ, though, I did not doubt it could stop BJJ, I just wished to see, with my own eyes, that it has some capability. I trust Tai Chi as a martial arts that I hope to benefit from one day overall and to improve myself. I believe all martial arts can be efficient, it's dependent on who's using the art that matters.

[WarriorBoy]

Sam Masich is a really respectable Taiji martial artist but this is absurd! Taiji is a standing grappling style and meant for the clinch and mid-range.

Working in those mediums, it's a very effective style, but again, this is ridiculous, and disappointing coming from someone who actually has skill.

[piaten]

@WarriorBoy Tai Chi certainly is NOT a grappling style! Tai Chi is about building health and as fast and efficiently as possible to KNOCK your opponent OUT! All these forms, standing and PH drills are just a means to that end, not the goal itself!

[Interrogater]

eh im not sure if this would work. learning both style would help tho. haha. if you can't beat them on the ground, then join them... tai chi jiu jitsu

[allentate]

Very interesting. It's always good to work every bit of knowledge as much as possible. That being said, your partner is not a grappler...obviously. I simply don't see this working against a grappler with different and more focused goals that your sparring partner.

It might be effective against an untrained aggressor though.

[PadLockum]

lol..this is serious? Please please come to our school and try the "sticky grappling" and see how far you get.

[nvcn86]

out of pure curiosity, have you ever sparred with a real grappler?

[jeremyd2003]

Wow, next will we learn the tripple death unicorn lock!

[LardInATubeSock]

Hey guys, I don't mean to offend you. I think there is some value from what you are showing to tie up arms.. But this will not work, for the most part, against a resisting partner. Where is your school? How about I come down and we videotape you and me grappling? Your goal will be to use your techniques from tai-chi and my goal will be to use what I normally use. Strictly friendly. If you win I'll take and pay fr private lessons from you for a month. If I win, you pay for my airfare and motel.

[xlinfamousdlx]

Wow... this is complete ass... the instructor has a gut... who grapples like this? A white belt with 3 months of experience would smoke this guy.

[samuraihandicapat]

Mwaahahahahahahah!!! USA have anough idiots to join this class!!!!!!Such a pitty....mwaahahahahahahah

[samuraihandicapat]

Mwaahahahah!!!!

Is good, USA have anough idiots to join this class!!!!!!!!mwaahahahahahahah suck a pitty...

[natrick123]

This fat guy doesn't even have the opponent in a closed guard so why would he keep trying to stick his hands in his face, from this position his opponent would go to a side control and then either mount or just roll the opponents elbow over and strike away. By the way I have studied chen tai ji for about eight years now only a few tai chi practitioners in the world have true rooting.

[dildq]

ahahhahaha

this is 100% crap

a bjj blue belt would choke the fat clown in this video until his face was blue too...

[JSAJunkie]

Nice crappling demo. Let's see him try that on even a BJJ white belt and get demolished.

[Rasepreme]

tai chi power is developed from the root, I think that a taichi practitioner should focus on maintaining a standing position wether it be high or low and developing a strong root vs trying to develop a ground grappling game.

If you want to participate in martial sport than you would do better to learn a style designed for ground fighting vs trying to convert a strong stand up system to a ground system. If you can develop a flexible hip rotation it will become hard for you to be taken down.

[imbrd]

amen- alot of external MA claim they have 'strong' postures, but as strong as they may be, alot of their postures are stiff+rigid since they cant open their kua properly nd cant generate wholebody power since their waist+hip are tense rather than relaxed

[aprendetaichi]

And what happens if something take place and you fall down the ground... Say -- sorry, my style is for standing positions, can we return to a standing position again? Of course taichi is designed for standing fight but you should be ready just in case, and as you can see, you have tools in taichi drills that you can use in the ground.

[piaten]

@aprendetaichi Yeah, Taiji people sometimes get taken down, and should have a plan B! Sam seems to have some skill, but I don't know what to make of this vid. I would label this a sensitivity exercise, and certainly not self defense training! In self defense you never wanna grapple. Get out immediately, and knock the guy RIGHT OUT! Grappling with a grappler for any prolonged amount of time means putting your life and health on stake unnecessarily -That is MADNESS!

[Daggerfall40]

Completely agree. I couldn't have said better myself.

[monkfg]

Groundfighting would need it's own practice, but one shut try this with the same principles as standing Tai Chi. Maybe something good comes out, maybe not.

[Capoeirista81]

First, one needs to understand that most of the Taiji out there is bad, because most people practice for "health" without doing anything martial with it, OR they don't do the martial stuff correctly. Taiji is very strong against grappling, because it is mostly a grappling art. Chen style uses lots of joint locks, Yang style uses a lot of throws. Push hands trains you to stick to your opponent's center through contact with the arms. So supplementing Taiji into any grappling art is great.

[pardalboarder]

Im a wushu practitioner from brazil, also train tai chi every day but i think this master dont have any argument to compare "this" with brazilian jiu jitsu self defense.the oponent is doin nothing..they see mma on tv and think that his style is better, just like in old days.he is depreciating his own art.i agree, this looks like crap.

[JuJuGatame]

this is absolute crap lol

none of that would work on a resisting opponent

[fighter275]

An aggressively resistant opponent is the easiest to deal with in a relaxed manner.  High level BJJ, wrestlers, or even tai chi players understand this.

[strokerman01]

There's a large difference between "resisting" and "aggressively resisting". The person in this video is basically just going along with what the instructor is doing.

[MystXIIIHeartnet]

I agree with Fighter275.

[Jari2007]

saddest thing i've ever seen.

[probablypete]

I guarantee that any one that has only been grappling for a month could submit any of these guys.

[cheshirepat30]

Is there any video of this being used against wrestlers, BJJers, or Judoka?

[HamburgerJung82]

Of course not. Not many people show themselves getting their ass kicked ;)

[billysue2]

or against someone offering an ounce of resistance.Absolutely ridiculous .

[LeviathanAngel]

This is a nice approach to grappling.

I'm pretty sure most people you would encounter in the streets dont really know how to do groundfighting well - not saying you will never find one.

This is a good way to teach yourself to remain calm and do what you have to do to keep out of harm- doing YOUR OWN MARTIAL ART, not taking from others

[monkfg]

I think we will never ever see a real fight of someone who only practices Tai Chi, because soemone like that doesn't get into fights too often.

[taijiman7777]

To all arm chair MMA/BJJ "experts" out there!

This will save you some embarrassment. Demos like this show a particular skill, & exercises to develop it. Here it is a skill used by expert grapplers of all styles, including some of your own BJJ & MMA heroes. If you hear a musician playing scales you would seem very stupid if you said, "That music sucks, mine is more effective"

Better to keep your mouth shut & seem a fool than to open it & remove all doubt.

[decebal01]

guys guys. i train for many years judo and bjj. this guy is not showing techniques. he is showing principles. principles of being smooth. remember, arte suave? that is what bjj and judo is about. it is interessting that all comments saying "this is shit" come from "wannabe-tough-guys" or weekend warriors. or better living-room-ufc-fans.

[Johnl1800]

You're on drugs if you think that this garbage has any application in the real world against anyone who even remotely resists or has any type of real grappling training at all. If people enjoy training Tai Chi that's great but accept it for what it is and don't try to delude yourself into thinking that it's something it isn't (a ground fighting art).

[MKGWest]

You are an idiot like everyone says.

Do you throw a baseball at a 4 year old as fast as you can or do you go slow to develope his skills first. After all those slow pitches to the 4 year old have no application in the real world of Major League Baseball.

[eighttripalm3]

no disrespect but u obviously don't know anything about tai chi chaun!! First of all it is not an art that specializes in a type of combat per se!!!(grappling striking throwing etc.) Its about principles which u can use for any type of fighting!!!

[albertomarchetti78]

Man! Royce Gracie fought in 1994 to get rid of stupid Martial Arts like this one, and people still pay for this stuff!!! Wake up!!! its all BS!

[electrorock]

I have a Polish training partner at RGA NY who uses these techniques, his simply known as mooHAR and he managed 2 break 3 of my toes by "sticking" his heal 2 my foot, AMAZING!!!!!

[bajovato]

Jiujitsu is part of the same family of the receptive/defensive internal styles. When you get a chance check out Shuai Jiao-Chinese Wrsetling-which predates Juijitsu and was the original grappling art before it spread to Japan and became juijitsu. You'll recognize alot of the movements. Tai Chi orginated from Shaui Jiao as well.

[sonofthedestroyer]

I find it hilarious that so many people actually think that BJJ is a form of self defense! Hahahahaha! BJJ is effective in tournaments but on the street? Suicide!!!!!!!!

[Kymus]

BJJ has some effect in the real world, but it is primarily for 1 on 1 fights, which is why it does well in tournaments. See the article on Shuai Jiao vs BJJ in Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine. VERY good read.

[billysue2]

bjj basics will be effective if you hit the deck,you dont take it down voluntarily against more than 1.What works in the gym with full contact will still work on the street bar weapons,multiple attackers.Ive done some things outside just as practiced but always finished with strikes as opposed to subs.Bjj is part of good self defense.

[rokafela]

just type in "Marcelo Garcia Training", and compare this "sparing" session from the end with a sparring session from a gym where one of the worlds best trains and you will see how effective these tehnique's would really be. for that matter, take a look @ any BJJ or grapling clip and it will again be very clear that "push hands" is nothing but a load of crap that will get you killed in a real situation

[sonofthedestroyer]

Do you really think using bullshit BJJ on the street will work? There is a 95% chance you will get killed if there are weapons and more than one opponent involved!

[bajovato]

The arm/hand rotations in push hands are designed to break grabs and attempts at wrist locks. However just like ANY (and I repeat-ANY) martial art, it has it's limitations. For example I've seen Ground fighters who are like a fish out of water with Sprawler-BRawlers. It all depends on how you use it in combination with the rest of your arsenal.

[rokafela]

i cant belive people still belive this no resistance showing stuff. take a look @ the "sparing" session in the end of the video, and compare it with a real sparing session in a school where one of the best ground grapllers in the world trains

[bajovato]

Jiujitsu is part of the same family of the receptive/defensive internal styles. When you get a chance check out Shuai Jiao-Chinese Wrsetling-which predates Juijitsu and was the original grappling art before it spread to Japan and became juijitsu. You'll recognize alot of the movements. Tai Chi orginated from Shaui Jiao as well.

[Kymus]

do you seriously not understand what a training drill is? How long have you been practicing???

[billysue2]

When you try to integrate this into either grappling or ground and pound youll find it less useful than tried and tested bjj .A drill is only useful if it improves your fighting.Training 23 years,grappling for 10 yrs.Only bought a computer 1 year ago.

[jmossie]

hahahahah.. it takes two for that to work. a fight is one on one. i hope some of you arent deluding yourselves into thinking you can use this for protection

[EpicurusThirteen]

Wow, just wow. This is what happens when you develop a theory without testing it against reality now and then.

For instance, if these techniques look good to you, then the next step is to try to apply them against a skilled grappler. I will venture to make a prediction of the outcome of such a test:

ARMBAR!

[wisemojo]

good GOD that's hilarious! I'm a BJJ blue belt, and I'd tap that dude six ways to sunday if he tried most of that shit. a real grappling expert would rip his limbs off.

[sonofthedestroyer]

A real grappling expert will get carved like a turkey (with weapons) if he was stupid enough to challenge real criminal gangs on the street.

[decebal01]

the same to you bro. you are one of this grappling haters. if you do not want to be a weekendwarrior, write down what i tell you and keep it in mind: you have to train all aspects groundfighting, throwing, punching, kicking, and also cutting and striking weapons. only then you will start to see the principles behind the techniques: the principles of fighting, which my friend, you have none.

[billysue2]

anyone would, nothing to do with grapplers.Thats apretty stupid argument.

[AkiraSumida]

this is an INSTRUCTIONAL video, these are all just APPLICATIONS to ground fighting. if those of you who complain about the instructor not going against a real grappler with this application, you should humble yourselves and walk the path before you can speak on it so rashly.

to the complainers: learn taiqi first, THEN make your rash judgements

to the poster, great job. awesome applications to situations.

[Kymus]

unfortunately, the "Martial Artists" that post on You-Tube are the keyboard warrior types that have little if any experience in martial arts. You know the saying, the smallest dog yaps the loudest.

[bajovato]

Great stuff! This guy IS for real! I own a video that I ordered from him. His applications are realistic and he teaches you to be creative with movement applications--that there is more than one way to apply the applications of the tai chi form movements. I highly recommend any of his videos.

[atm142]

I say about 5% of that is useful. If you disagree, make a vid against a skilled grappler and shut me up. Another note: Poking eyes are not as easy as the three stooges make it look. Nor is ball grabbing and throat jabbing while your face is getting pounded. Invest in grappling lessons and you'll see the light.

[Kymus]

anything is easy if you train for it properly. In my sparring, I find plenty of opportunities to grab someone's throat.

[bananahamster]

Guilty of crappling. Please wake up and be honest with yourselves.

[PizDoffBullshido]

Amen.

[fighter275]

Any high level practitioner in all fighting arts do this by default. If you don't understand or you proclaim it not to work, just wait 20 years. If you're still training then, you may have come to some realizations. This guy is there.

[ophuchew]

This 'IS' it. Expert technique. Overcoming hard with soft. I wish everyone that declared Taiji's ground fighting limitations(some even within the Taiji community) could/would see this clip.

[PaulGappyNorris]

One of the funniest clips I've seen on youtube. Almost as funny as the MARK MILLER clips.

[ophuchew]

Excellent, outstanding more proof of expert technique. The sticking thing can also be found in Wing Chun. Note: All the negative reviewers are trying to say is "x or blank style in better than x or blank style." And all they really mean when they say that is "I practice x or blank style." Sad

[cloud0123]

This wouldn't work...although I see where you are going with some of the basic taiji concepts. Trust me, many BJJ guys DO apply similar things. Haven't you seen plenty of MMA fighters slip punches by leading them to the ground next to to their head? Or stick to opponents legs or body to know when to shift position etc?

[SOEdigital]

Anyone who thinks this shite would work has obviously never been in a ground fight.

[Kagemusha08]

I'm not even bashing BJJ because I'm a huge MMA fan and I sub-grapple for fun, but there are much simpler, more applicable methods of dispatching a guy on the street than going for an omoplata, no matter what the Gracies claim.

As for the video, pretty laughable; the student is enjoying it WAY too much. I know that certain forms of Tai Chi are legit fighting arts, but this really isn't that effective.

[Kagemusha08]

To the BJJ whitebelt saying this wouldn't work on the street: you do realize that ground fighting as a whole really isn't a great idea on the street where the guys buddies are waiting to kick your head off. Not to mention the fact that since there are no rules all one has to do is grab your balls when you get mount, gouge your eyes, poke your throat etc.

[gzeuskraiste]

If ground fighting doesn't work then why are these guys training in it? Sure, there are situations where you don't want to go to the ground, but you may not have a choice. If you end up there, you may as well know what to do. This video is _not_ what to do.

[gzeuskraiste]

Oh, and by the way, have you every tried any of these mount defences against someone who can grapple?  Go ahead, and be prepared to say hello to an armbar, or a figure 4.

[colemcm]

I train in Tai Chi and have to say that the ideas presented here are really poor. I have to agree with many of the posters here that this kind of thing would not work against a skilled grappler. It's cool that he's trying to adapt Tai Chi principles to ground-work, it is something that needs to be addressed in Tai Chi, but this is not the way to do it.

He also needs to work on his push hands. Not to impressive.

[TheOneNo20]

Just wouldn't work.I'm a Karateka so I know my stenths, - I need to get a knockout I the opening seconds of the fight.Thats my stenth.I do not belive Tai Chi was ever ment for ground fighting.After all, if your good enough a fiight only lasts about 3 seconds.Just check out Pimp Vs Karate on this hear YouToube thingy.

[CPK13]

Why do so many people assume that everything done in training should be The Ultimate Combat Solution? Isn't it possible that there are different ranges of resistance to explore and train? I have no idea who anyone in the video is, but who is claiming that this technique or approach as presented would be suitable against an aggressive attack? Give yourself a break and let people do what they want to do!

[jsampras3]

Yuck, i can't watch any more. I'm a BJJ white and it's laughable. Your guard defense seems to work really well when the guy laughs like a girl and tries to poke you in the face. This would happen on the street? If you want to learn groundfighting just learn wrestling or BJJ.

[taijiman7777]

You said it yourself. You are a white belt.

[elnyka]

Some of the concepts are valid, but what I see is a complete lack of resistance. Furthermore, I don't need you to have a grip for me to grip you. Gripping will nullify many of the things being done here.

I will suggest you submit a video where you demonstrate this against a competent grappler putting pressure on you (grappler can be gi/no gi bjjer, judoka, samboist/shuai jow/wrestler).

[taijiman7777]

This demo was done at an Aikido school. I expect that there were some competent grapplers there. The instructor himself has considerable grappling experience.

Against a skilled opponent, resistance is futile.

[fighter275]

I can see this working in a general sense for real fighting/brawling. Probably not so much for a sport art like BJJ or any of the MMA. Who's ever seen a closed guard in a street fight anyways?

[Chizilds]

My God... not only is this a bunch of crap.... but the fact that he leaves his guard open the entire time is laughable... I would like to see the swim technique while elbows are being dropped.

[bananahamster]

That sticky hands stuff might be good when you get mounted. It will happen frequently too if you keep training like that.

[WorldWarCheese]

Remember kiddies, without some resistance it's just dry humping.

[yeahimsosexy]

what makes you think they're going to just let you do that?

When I see this work against a BJJ purple belt I'll be satisfied.

[miltownkid]

Did this dude make this up himself? You can use the Taichi principals on the ground, but I've seen it as a stand alone "system."

[alphaj9]

Better close that guard or you are open for an ankle lock or knee bar

[Abusivemelon]

What happens when someone grabs hold of him and refuses to play patty cake?

[cjurakpt]

I don't think that the smug implication of "look at this superior approach that tai chi has just because it's tai chi" would go over too big with an audience of actual MMA / BJJ / judo / shuai jow / wrestlers; it also helps to have a non-compliant opponent who actually knows how to grapple and has experience in pressure testing what they do, as opposed to someone who already agrees with you...

[taijiman7777]

From my experience, advanced "MMA / BJJ/ judo/ shuaijiao/ wrestlers" are quite open to this kind of work. Many are already doing it. What this demo presents is the notion that taiji has a unique way of training a particular type of skill that many advanced martial artists find valuable. The instructor himself has a considerable judo and shuai jiao background.

[Aiolosz]

yes, the IDEA is good, not the way how is he doing it.

I forgot to say that before.

[cloud0123]

This does not work with anyone trained in groundfighting... And this is coming from a Taiji practicioner. What he is doing (sticking, following), is something done by high level BJJ guys anyways.

[WorldWarCheese]

Or low-level Judokas. We don't learn a form of "push-hands" it's just common sense: If he wants a grip, don't let him get it. And the concept of not meeting force with force is hardly reserved for Taiji.

[groundimpound]

I use this too in BJJ with success at higher levels - although it's NOT a technique but a general system or dare I say feeling applied to all techniques.

[kungfuhola]

I too have seen Sam elsewhere and can vouch for the fact that he is true a Martial Arts warrior - one of the best in the mid generation. Having said that, this vid is a bit confusing or out of context. Perhaps the original poster should change title to "Tai Chi players practice on ground" or "4 Hands on ground". Doesn't appear to be appropriate for beginner or mediocre judo, jujitsu, wrestling techniques.

[circusbearonball]

I like Sam but any white belt where I train would have passed his lazy open guard in 3 seconds. Either that or ankle locked him into oblivion.

[keithlogan365]

BS to the highest degree. Complete and utter nonsense. The people in this videos are not only reprehensible and ignorant but are a disgrace to all martial artists everywhere. Learn real CMA, learn real BJJ, then try it. Its apparent within the first couple seconds that the "teacher" in this video is not even remotely competent at groundfighting and apparently is less than knowledgable about CMA as well.

[taijiman7777]

You are obviously not a martial artist.

[Juan0003]

The techniques may work against somebody trying to pin your shoulders down, but what about someone trying to pound you or lock you? I feel that you are left very open using that. Also, the partner is very compliant and not agressive enough to cause any danger... My 2 cents

J

[Aiolosz]

I'm using this idea, and it's working. Yes againts BJJ.

[PizDoffBullshido]

Would you care to provide proof of this?

[cyrijlbullshido]

No...no it doesn't