Has anyone ever studied Tai Chi?

[Brandon Mccaghren]

I'm talking old lady in the park kind of Tai Chi.

I know Josh Waitzken (Marcelo Garcia Black Belt) is a big advocate. I've been playing around with the concepts and doing a lot of reading from some of their teachers lately, but have never taken a formal class.

Anybody care to share their experiences?

[Aiden]

I recommend reading up on anything by Tim Cartmell. He is a BJJ Black Belt under Cleber Luciano and Master of Chinese internal martial arts. He has also mastered the Chinese language and has translated several Chinese martial arts books. He is on facebook and will answer questions if you have them. He is one of the most knowledgeable and technical instructors I have ever met.

[NelsonLucca]

It's good for old ladys in the park. Depending on what you're trying to achieve, you're better off with yoga in the park.

[Will Richison]

I dont know anything about tai chi, but Yoga I know for sure helps.

[Oldmanymir]

I did tai chi for ten years, slow forms, fast forms, push hands - it was a completely different experience from Jiu Jitsu for me - as a movement and mindfulness exercise, tai chi is great, with really nice stretches, balance work, breath work, and an intention of flow. I can see it being translatable in that sense.

[Brandon Mccaghren]

I did tai chi for ten years, slow forms, fast forms, push hands - it was a completely different experience from Jiu Jitsu for me - as a movement and mindfulness exercise, tai chi is great, with really nice stretches, balance work, breath work, and an intention of flow. I can see it being translatable in that sense.

I think there's some real value there, at least philosophically. I'm intrigued by it right now.

What would you say we're some of your big takeaways from 10years of study?

[Brandon Mccaghren]

I recommend reading up on anything by Tim Cartmell. He is a BJJ Black Belt under Cleber Luciano and Master of Chinese internal martial arts. He has also mastered the Chinese language and has translated several Chinese martial arts books. He is on facebook and will answer questions if you have them. He is one of the most knowledgeable and technical instructors I have ever met.

Excellent response. That's exactly the kind of dude I'd like to sit down and ask questions of. Thank you!

[brianspinaltap]

Excellent response. That's exactly the kind of dude I'd like to sit down and ask questions of. Thank you!

Yep - Tim is probably the most widely experienced person you could get advice from on BJJ and Tai Chi.

I started tai chi before BJJ and continue to practice the slow form in the morning because it just makes me feel good. It's hard to say what crosses over exactly with BJJ, but it's really a collection of fringe benefits:

1: It's excellent physical therapy from the constant ache I get the day after training (especially shoulders).

2: I rarely get injured either, and I think that's related.

3: I find it easier to relax and apply new moves in class thanks to tai chi. Moving slow you come to be more aware of how your body moves, and your Proprioception improves dramatically.

4: It's very good conditioning for the legs, since you are constantly moving in a low stance with knees bent. (Doing the form is really like doing an extended squat over 15 minutes) People have always remarked on how strong my legs are in BJJ when to me it doesn't feel like I'm using much effort. You'll build legs like Marcelo's!

5: Co-ordinating breathing and movement. In general in Tai Chi you exhale on outwards movements and inhale on inwards ones, so you train your body to do this automatically - so when you exert effort on a clinch you find yourself breathing in and when you exert effort on a bridging hip escape you breathe out naturally.

Let's the honest, the martial applications of tai chi forms are a little whacky so don't get hung up on them. It's like a whacky style of Kung fu if you look at it that way. Think of it more as a type of conditioning.

I do the yang style. Now if you really want to do down the 'internal' rabbit hole I'd suggest finding a good Chen style teacher, since that aspect seems to have preserved better in that style. If you really want to dive deep into the 'internal' bit, without the tai chi form and all that entails, then seek out the 6H Facebook group for good quality info and exercises about 'internal' movement without any of the Qi magic stuff. 6H means six harmony.

Good luck - happy to answer questions. It's always amazed me why so few people have picked up on how good tai chi can be for BJJ.

[Anthony Peck]

Years ago before I moved to Melbourne we had a long time Tai Chi black belt come and do a few classes with him, we did some takedown/wrestling sparring with him and it was almost impossible to get him seriously off balance, his base was incredible. We had a couple of guys with good wrestling and judo backgrounds there, too and they didn't have much success.

[Oldmanymir]

I think there's some real value there, at least philosophically. I'm intrigued by it right now.

What would you say we're some of your big takeaways from 10years of study?

My biggest takeaway was a sense of the ground in a noncerebral sense, meaning trying to create structure and support in my body without thinking and tensing too much. That and the idea of movement as it relates to proper transfer of weight, meaning I'd shift my weight off of the foot that needed to move in a fashion that would still provide support and structure for the rest of my body.

I think it also really challenged me to truly relax while still being strong in my structure, something I'd say I never truly mastered but sometimes got a sense of. The yo yo effect of trying without trying too much was a huge stretch for my western mind. I liked tai chi a lot.