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REAL COMBAT TAI CHI WINS
Author: Eric Press
There was a time, way back when ... when Karateka would laugh at the idea of learning Taiji for its fighting benefits. Even further back, the hard stylists would not even consider Taiji for anything! Then, slowly, some forwardthinking Karateka began to take up Taiji, but still only for its great health and relaxation benefits.
People like Sensei Kanazawa have been learning and teaching Taiji for many years, but still only using the internal arts as an adjunct to their Karate, to gain the great health and relaxation benefits. Noone seemed to want to look at the great fighting benefits that could be gained from the so-called' Supreme Ultimate Boxing' .
Why ... ?
The reason, of course, was that no-one ever taught or showed Taiji in its true light. The techniques and 'way' of fighting that most 'masters' showed were considered ludicrous to other 'real' Martial Artists. And rightly so - as what has been pushed forward as being representative ofTaiji in the past was a joke! He punches and I yield! Or, he punches and I use my internal energy to throw him away! Or, the old standard: I only use enough force to show him that I mean business and then he'll go away! Or, the most silly one - we take each posture and practise it for 30 years until it becomes natural!
Is it any wonder that Taiji has been the butt end of jokes as far as fighting is concerned? No-one ever showed the real Taiji fighting, the devastating 'Taiji Dim-Mak' or the real' internal' use, making use of the brutal Fa-Jing or explosive energy to put amazing power into these deadly DimMak strikes.
Now the tide is changing, with people like Australian Erie Montaigue, reportedly the only Westerner to have been given the degree of Master directly from China, coming out and teaching the real Taiji. His videos on the deadly Taiji DimMak have changed the ideas of many famous Karateka as to what Taiji is all about. And now, for the first time, ErIe Montaigue is being asked to give workshops to entire Karate groups. And not only on healing and relaxation benefits they want to know about the self-defence area. Some, at these workshops, are still a bit dubious as to the effectiveness of Taiji in fighting, so ErIe asks them to try it on!
They soon learn that Taiji has something that they want, after experiencing the Fa-Jing energy behind Dim-Mak strikes. "I don't ask them just to put their arm out for me to grab, or throw a slow punch," ErIe explains, "I al ways tell people to throw their best shot. This is the only way to show them how Taiji works ... it hurts more when they don't hold back."
But it needs a certain "forward-thinking" type of Karateka to even get past the first door of even looking at another Martial Art. People like the Norwegian leader of the Shotokan style, Steve Bloom, said that he had been practising Shotokan for 22 years and never had any reason to look at another Martial Art. However, now that he is "getting on a bit" he is looking for something to fill the gaps. Taiji fills those needs.
Sensei Tomiyama, European leader of Shito-Ryu, also is one of the new breed of Karateka who is looking at the roots of Karate to find out what was left out of the initial training. It takes a big Sensei, to actually be seen attending someone else's workshop. Sensei Tomiyama is not taking from Taiji what he wants and then adding it to his Karate. He and many of his chief instructors, like Kenny Johnson (5th dan, and a former six-times European Shitoryu Champion and one-time All Japan Shitoryu Kumite Champion) are learning Taiji from scratch as a fighting art. Sensei Tomiyama said that what he was taught is not unlike what Erie Montaigue is now teaching, and that Karate - at an advanced stage - does have that 'softer' aspect, giving more power and speed.
Sensei Tomiyama demonstrated his system's most advanced kata to the people attending Erie's recent European workshop and this kata resembled, in aspect, one of the explosive Taiji katas, with loose arms and a 'folded' body feel-not the stand-upright, stiff way of doing it that most Karateka adopt.
Controversial British Karateka, Steve Morris, once dubbed the 'Joe Lewis of European Martial Arts', because of his outspoken views and his forward-thinking ways of looking at all sty les and taking from them what he needs, is also studying the Erie Montaigue videos about Taiji Dim-Mak. Steve has been looking at DimMak and associated aspects for years, but now has it all in one set of instructional videos. It is forward thinkers like this that will help move Karate out of the doldrums that it has somehow come to over the years, mainly because of the purely sports aspects and wanting to win tournaments.
Kenny Johnson is a former six-times European Champion (Shitoryu/Shukokai) and holds 5th Dan in Shito-Ryu. He now slams the sports aspects of Karate, saying that it is doing damage to Real Karate and no-one is arguing, as Kenny is one of the larger, most effective Karateka who can prove what he says.
So why has this information about Taiji never been brought forward in the past? Some say it's because the Chinese do not want others to know about their art. Others say that most modem Taiji masters simply do not know. I tend to agree with this theory.
Erie Montaigue begins his seminars to Karateka with a little story about why this misinformation has gathered momentum. He tells of a conspiracy back in the early 1900's, when many of the great Taiji masters of that time came together to work out how to stop others from gaining their secrets. Basically, they said "enough is enough, we are no longer going to allow everyone to gain our family jewels".
So they devised a means whereby Taiji would become what it is today, only a shell of its former greatness, a totally physical exercise with no 'internal' left. They said they would use the 'classics' to teach this wrong information, showing that things like yielding and 'stick to and not letting go' were only physical, but all the while saying this was the internal way. So when we yield, we move the body (which is simply a physical movement), or when we 'stick to', we simply touch our hands onto the opponent and do not let him get away. They were not silly. They knew that we westerners and others of the non-Chinese ilk would take to this idea like the proverbial ducks to water, because physical things are easy to learn. But the whole thing backfired on them as everyone, including the Chinese, also adopted this idea and way of doing things. So much so, that the original 'real internal' way has almost been lost forever. But for people like Chang Yiu-chun, Erie Montaigue's main teacher and himself a student of the infamous Yang Shou-hou, we would never have known about the real fighting art of Taiji.
Erie Montaigue begins his seminars, also, by showing how the 'yielding' works in fighting. It is not just a physical movement, but an internal devastating Fa-Jing striking movement, a move that is so small that it looks like Erie has only attacked. But in effect he has, in a split second, 'sucked in' the oncoming attack and given it back.
One of Jim Uglow's students in London, after being struck, said that Montaigue didn't seem to move at all - and that all he felt was the end effect of pain, as if some kind of energy had attacked him. This is the Taiji 'thing' of using the other's energy against them. Erie also uses the Taiji technique of 'Roll Back' to demonstrate that this, also, is now only used as a physical movement that would never work in a real fight (by grabbing the oncoming arm and physically rolling back with it). The opponent just keeps on coming back and the fight continues. But when used internally, one sees that this movement has nothing at all to do with physically rolling back. It is, again, a very deadly Dim-Mak set -up shot, followed by a deadly 'liver 14' strike. When people see these techniques done as they should be done, they then know that Taiji is the 'supreme ultimate' and not just some misnamed shell of a Martial Art.
I travelled with Erie across Europe on his recent workshop tour which covered England, France and Norway, and asked him a few questions about his Martial Art.
Erle, you're 14,000 miles away from home, you walk into a Karate school where you know no-one and have to teach them about Taiji fighting. What does that feel like?
In the past I have always worked to Taiji schools, mainly our own in the WTBA. I always have a few others from other styles come along, but they are on my own territory; they are coming to me. People like Jim Uglow, who hosts the London workshops, has been with me for quite some time now and this school, in particular, is like walking in to meet a group of old friends. They're great lads, tough and quite straight-forward, but lovely people. These lads like to fight so when I ask them to attack, to prove a point or to show a technique, they really try to knock my head off! It's good, It brings one back to reality and shows that one must never be complacent about one's Martial Art. Slowly, though, we are geting more and more outsiders into the workshops, people who have been buying the videos or who have just heard about the workshops, like the rather controversial Frenchman, Francois Hairney. Francois has been buying my videos longer than anyone in Europe and now he is banned from attending the workshops of Chu King-hung, because of his no-bullshit approach to fighting Taiji. This is good as well, as it's spreading the good word about real Taiji.
It's the same with the French lot, and the Germans; five came from Germany to France. I know most of them, with George Saby hosting the Nantes workshops. But again I am seeing many new faces many from the Chu King-hung stable, wanting to learn something more than just form and Push Hands. Some of them still hide their faces when a camera is produced butldon'tmind that, as long as they are learning what they came to learn. In fact, one bright spark at the French seminar quoted that, "Erle Montaigue is like marijuana - you can only take him in the cupboard!"
Many of the people have been learning from the videos for years. Some of the main instructors of Chu King-hung have bought all my videos, but will not attend the workshops for fear of Chu finding out about it. This I object to, as people then believe it is someone else who is teaching them this wealth of knowledge. But I can't know who is buying my videos. The Karate people, however, are not like this. If they like something, they'll say that they are learning from it, or they will attend the seminars openly and even bring their students along, just to gain the knowledge.
So, to answer your question. Yes, it's a bit daunting walking into a whole school of Karateka trying to firstly prove your art on their turf and then trying to teach them, not really knowing any of them, bar the
fact that the teacher has been buying videos for some time. The Norway seminar hosted by Kenny Johnson, himself a former world champion, was even more daunting as I now know why the Vikings were so feared! At the end of a six -hour seminar my neck was sore from looking up! I'm usually of an average height at most seminars, but here I was a littley! In fact, some of the techniques, I had to modify on the spot as these guys were just so tall. The difference, I guess, is that these Karateka are so wanting to get this information, and they are just as enthusiastic about it as are all of our schools. I said to my No 1 student, Stuart Le Marseny, who travels with me and helps out with the teaching, that ifI had this kind of enthusiasm back home, I would be tempted to come out of retirement and teach a formal class each week. Or even move to Great Britain, where I would be closer to the people who really wanted the good oil.
As it is, I find it difficult to get a class of 12 instructors to my once-a-month free class in Australia! One lad, 4th Dan Gary Cox from Scotland, couldn't find out where my London workshop was, and so he travelled by train and plane for 18 hours just to attend a six-hour workshop in Norway. Now that's enthusiasm!
Yes, it is different teaching Karate schools, but I like their straight-on attitude. No bullshit and wanting no bullshit, they want to see that the system works in straight-out self-defence and if they get some of the other benefits from the healing and the meditation and the general good way of life, then great, I've done a good job. I did not find one person at the Karate seminar in Norway who I did not like - they were all just nice people and it gives one a good feeling that there is hope yet for the world at large.
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