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[Extreme Martial Arts] Challenge Tai ChiAuthor: Jeffi Chao Hui Wu Time: 2025-7-30 Wednesday, 11:56 AM [Extreme Martial Arts] Challenge to Tai Chi
The phrase "Tai Chi cannot be used in real combat" has been heard for many years. Almost every so often, self-proclaimed "practical" fighters, boxers, and martial arts enthusiasts jump out to find a vague video or an elderly Tai Chi master to challenge, concluding with high frequency, fast pace, and explosive rhetoric: Tai Chi is useless, traditional techniques are obsolete. However, very few people genuinely respond to the question: Are these challenges fair? Are the rules equitable? Do the challengers truly understand the system and training path of the challengers? In most cases, the so-called challenge to Tai Chi is essentially a forced judgment of a completely different training system based on one's own framework.
In almost every case of "challenging Tai Chi," the initiators are invariably fighters with higher ranks, better physical fitness, and longer training periods. Not a single challenger is a beginner or a low-level competitor. This alone indicates that the essence of the challenge has always been an unequal contest of "strong against weak." If Tai Chi truly "cannot fight," why are these formidable competitors arranged to compete? If it is merely "a game," why not find a peer or a similarly weighted novice to practice with? In other words, the stronger the challenger, the more it ironically proves that Tai Chi is considered "threatening and worth challenging"; otherwise, there would be no need to deploy these high-level fighters. This is a phenomenon that has been overlooked yet reveals a significant structure: every challenge is, in fact, an acknowledgment of Tai Chi; the choice of challengers at such a high level only corroborates that Tai Chi has never been genuinely underestimated.
What if today it were not Tai Chi being challenged, but Tai Chi actively initiating the challenge rules? What would happen? If the challenge must unfold within the structure of Tai Chi, prohibiting explosive attacks, prohibiting high-speed charges, and prohibiting the use of modern combat rules, but instead completely following the training logic of Tai Chi's internal power, such as relaxation, sinking, silk reeling, harmonization, listening to energy, leading with intention, storing energy to release power, overcoming the big with the small, and countering with timing... then how many challengers could cross the most basic threshold of Tai Chi: standing still with eyes closed in a single-leg stance for ten minutes, without opening their eyes or swaying their bodies, maintaining relaxation and stability? This standing practice is not achievable through brute force but relies on highly controlled structural adjustments; if it were not part of the long-term training of seasoned masters, it would be nearly impossible for anyone to complete this basic exercise. This is not a performative single-leg "exertion," but rather a "physiological stability system" after fine-tuning the entire body.
When all "challenges" refuse to enter the realm of Tai Chi's rules, what is exposed is not Tai Chi's weaknesses, but the blind spots in modern combat cognition. Because challengers always judge Tai Chi based on their own rhythm and rules, it is akin to asking a marathon runner to compete with a sprinter in a hundred-meter race and then denying the practical value of marathon running based on that. The rhythm and principles of Tai Chi are indeed another "dimension," rather than the combat tempo that you and I take for granted.
What if today it were not Tai Chi being challenged, but Tai Chi actively setting the challenge rules? If the challenge must unfold within the structure of Tai Chi, prohibiting explosive strikes, prohibiting high-speed charges, and prohibiting the use of modern combat techniques, but instead following the complete training logic of Tai Chi's internal power, such as softness, stability, and unity of intention, then how many challengers could last a minute without exposing a flaw? And who could meet one of Tai Chi's "most basic entry thresholds": standing with eyes closed in a single-leg stance for at least ten minutes, with legs not touching the ground, maintaining relaxation and stability, sinking energy to the dantian, and concentrating the mind? Please note, this is not a high-difficulty action, but the foundation of Tai Chi, part of the daily practice of many seasoned masters, and a comprehensive test of engaging the entire nervous, muscular, and balance systems. This is the true touchstone that can reflect the phrase "exerting effort."
I have repeatedly verified this in my training records. For example, in "Standing on One Leg with Eyes Closed for 10 Minutes," I documented the entire process of standing on one leg with eyes closed for over ten minutes without any assistance, with my body relaxed and energy sinking into my feet. In "Single Leg Standing for 23 Minutes," I stood on grass in cold weather wearing thin clothing, maintaining my eyes closed for over 23 minutes in an undisturbed shadow, with my feet completely still, breathing naturally and evenly, and my body slightly warm and buoyant, truly entering a state of fusion perception at the level of neural control structure and fascial energy. "Structural Single Leg Standing for 40 Minutes" further reveals the deep value of the traditional action "single leg standing" in modern neural regulation and core muscle group coordination. This is not a trivial skill, nor is it a performance; it is a stability test of advanced biological structure—an area that non-Tai Chi practitioners cannot approach.
The issue has never been with Tai Chi, but with the manner of the challenge. Those who challenge Tai Chi have never stood at the threshold of Tai Chi; they use explosive power and the advantages of youth and weight to confront a system that has long practiced slow techniques, primarily focusing on relaxation. A hundred-meter sprinter mocks a yoga practitioner for not being able to run; a boxer claims that a person practicing standing meditation does not fight back. The absurdity of such challenges immediately becomes apparent when shifted to another domain. Yet in the martial arts realm, it is easily replicated, selectively edited, and rhythmically hyped, misleading the public's judgment of martial arts, people, and time. Different schools within the same lineage have different core training focuses, and different systems have different combat dimensions. Tai Chi, in particular, is a discipline that elevates "combat" to the realms of "structural balance" and "energy control," where its so-called "real combat" is not merely a contest of grappling techniques but a deeper engagement of energy dynamics and the path of stability.
I am not defending Tai Chi. Indeed, many people practice only the empty forms. Faux routines, or even treating it as a park fitness dance, certainly cannot fight. But this is not a problem with Tai Chi; it is a problem with the practitioners. Similarly, a strong and robust boxer who does not train diligently and relies solely on throwing punches will also lack any combat effectiveness. Ultimately, there is only one conclusion—regardless of the martial arts school, even within the same lineage, whether one can fight depends on individual practice, not on the superiority of any "school." Even within the same lineage, whether one has practiced stances, has energy, has internal power, and has trained for ten, twenty, or thirty years is a crucial part of the final conclusion. It does not pursue a single decisive blow, nor does it seek to be undefeated for a lifetime; it does not aim to harm others, but it allows you to stand firm in the face of wind and rain. This is a way of fighting, and it is also a higher way of living.
Many people may question—"Is it fair to set challenges based on Tai Chi's rules?" To that, I counter: In all the ways that have challenged Tai Chi today, which one has been fair to Tai Chi? From training duration, age, weight, technique selection, to ring setup, judging standards, and competition venues, which aspect has truly been designed for Tai Chi? Even the so-called "no-rules fighting" still inherently favors the explosive system's natural advantages, never considering the energy recovery and structural rhythm of Tai Chi's internal power system. To put it bluntly, this kind of challenge itself has long concealed structural unfairness towards Tai Chi. All current methods of challenging Tai Chi are like a monkey using a stone to evaluate a symphony, limited to the mistranslation of the linguistic system, and cannot even discuss true "victory or defeat."
Today’s combat systems cannot provide any case of a 90-year-old competitor challenging a peer Tai Chi master. This is not a matter of individual capability, but rather the essential differences in structural systems and purposes. Combat is about "quick victory at the cost of life," while Tai Chi is about "prolonging life and nurturing health."
Therefore, when all the world's combat systems cannot maintain combat capability at an advanced age, while Tai Chi can still prove "standing firm, flowing freely, and generating power at ninety," who exactly cannot fight?
I have repeatedly clarified that the true practical combat of Tai Chi does not lie in the collision of fists and feet, but in the victory of structure. What is structure? It is standing firm, being immovable, being relaxed yet not collapsing, being heavy yet not stagnant, integrating internal energy and external force, having the ability to sense before the opponent moves, and to neutralize before the opponent strikes. This is the true way of confrontation in Tai Chi: not winning through attacking power, but winning through an "invincible" system.
All challenges essentially boil down to: as long as you use my rules, you will be invincible! If you cannot accept the rule system of Tai Chi, are unwilling to enter the structural logic of Tai Chi, and refuse to complete the most basic training tests under the same conditions, then the challenge is merely empty talk. Those who truly challenge Tai Chi, please first stand with your eyes closed for ten minutes before speaking.
The true confrontation in Tai Chi is never about 'knocking someone down,' but rather 'no one can knock me down.' Before your moves are even executed, I have already caused you to lose your balance—this is the true victory of Tai Chi.
Those who truly challenge Tai Chi, please first stand with your eyes closed for ten minutes before speaking. Source: http://www.australianwinner.com/AuWinner/viewtopic.php?t=697080 |
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