“The Power of Chi” debunked - 3 Fake Tai Chi magic tricks exposed
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- Опубликовано: 27 авг 2024
- By popular demand, I watched the trailer for Adam Mizner’s documentary “The Power of Chi”. From the trailer alone, I immediately noticed several exploitations of illusionist tricks being passed off as legitimate martial arts, or rather as supernatural chi powers.
Additionally, one of Adam Mizner’s students called me out on the internet, challenging me to explain how Adam was able to push him around.
In this video, I expose the body mechanics behind three of these martial illusions to the point that a comolete beginnerscouod replicate them.
For those of you who don’t speak or write Mandarin, the word taichi has nothing to do with mystical chi energy. The confusion comes from the old Wade Giles romanization of the Mandarin Chinese language, where both the “CH”, the “Q”, and the “J” sound (as in taiji) were written with a “ch”. In the modern romanization, pinyin, it’s clear these are two separate words: ji 极 and qi 气.
Taiji means the highest and the lowest, the supreme and the ultimate, a sharp contrast. Taijiquan 太极拳refers to hand to hand combat. Taijijian 太极剑 refers to sword fighting. Qi 气 means air, breath, or gas… but the word has been co-opted in modern times, especially among western martial arts mystics to mean supernatural power.
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Ramsey Dewey is a retired pro fighter, combat sports coach, referee, and fight commentator… and occasional musician based in Shanghai, China.
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Thanks to my channel sponsor:
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This video features original music by Ramsey Dewey
Follow me on Instagram at: / ramseydewey
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I fought professionally in Mixed Martial arts, Sanda, Muay Thai, K1 and American kickboxing from 2004-2011 when I was forced to retire due to a broken skull and being blinded in one eye. I hold a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Black belts in multiple traditional martial arts, including Taekwondo and kyokushin karate. I also train in catch wrestling, sambo, taijiquan, judo, and boxing.
I currently coach at the Animal MMA gym, the Extreme Fight Lab, and the Mordor Fight Club, all in Shanghai, China. 
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I would like to see Ramsey Dewey really test Adam Mizner and truly prove whether Adam Mizner's chi is fake or not fake. Common please do it.
He will never do this, because Ramsey is the talker, not walker. We should at least proof it by experience it directly... Real , Fake, Magic, Biomechanics, smelly fahrt`s or what ever.
It’s not fake. He should know this if he lives in China. Doesn’t really mean people who can move you with a high level of connection, qi flow etc are the deadliest people ever, though the implication must be that they can be very proficient in key and surprising ways too. Nor that there aren’t lots of people faking it. It gives a glimpse of something which shows one particular type of potential, which we can ask open ended questions about and not fall into obsessive, simple binary, which is low IQ. High IQ people accept many remarkable things but keep a solid tab on how to incorporate new understandings over time, knowing it won’t erase everything we currently do, it will be an amalgamation, growth, fun, enlightenment, all the good stuff.
that guy is just the worst, he's harming the real art
Can't have people Kamehamehaing people in *da streetz*
Man that's some nonsense! Far as I'm concerned, someone stepped up to me and the streets it's Kamehameha all day! I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6. 😄
Or can’t we?
Wait, does that mean I can't fire blue energy beams at my balding monkey-alien arch rival with a name that refers to vegetables and anger issues?!
That sucks.
Since kamehamehaing people rarely ever wins fights, let alone kill anyone, I'd say kamehamehaing people in the streets would be perfectly fine most of the time.
@@Chagorthebarbarian concentrated beams or finger lasers tend to have the more destructive force capable of one shotting the enemy but my theory is you have to use negative chi or be pure evil 😮
In the first example, I think the stance of the guy in the middle is also important (especially to trick the strongman himself). The strongman's force is going *through* his shoulder and core *straight down* the unbroken chain of his leg, whereas the chi master's force is going *parallel* to his body and moving his broken knee joint.
Yep
As a Magician, Mentalist and Martial Artist, I applaud you for this debunking content.
👏😊
I am too. I think they compliment each other
The book fight like a physicist has an entire chapter dedicated to debunking these myths. Great read
Trick number 2:
You are missing something important. The skill of rooting. Minzer has decades of training, so he has the ability to maintain his sketal alignment to keep the force pushing into the ground.
The "Bigger guy" does not know how to do this. So he is easily moved.
This used to happen to me when I first started diving into the internal arts. Now, however, the SAME guy who used to be able to launch me accross the room, cant budge me a single inch, now that I have the rooting skills.
The other thing, is the guy pushing was "Stiff arming" as he pushed Minzer. if he just relaxed, and let his arms bend a little when Minzer tried to push into him, nothing would happen.
The bigger guy has a tremendous root. It’s just not able to stand up to the smaller guy’s tricks.
You do not understand Peng energy in Taiji. He will pull before pushing you so that you can not relax. But I agreed that you have some taiji knowledge. Always not that taiji is not "dead rooting"
Hi Ramsey! I'm a big fan of your channel. I have to say, I'm a bit disappointed by this one.
I think your demonstrations are different then those on the video.
In the first performance, the power of chi video shows that it's not the middle sized guy that is pushed away, it's the big guy at the end - basically showing that the small lady using superior posture and pushing diagonally up (not related to the point of pushing IMHO), can transfer power through the middle guy and unbalance the big guy.
In the second performance, Adam Mizner doesn't push his body mass around like in your version, and his hands are not in the same advantageous position than in your video, and the big guy's hands are actually touching Adam's arms in shoulder-wide position, so arms are not widely open - although elbows are pointing outward. So it's definitely possible to exert power forward in this position for the large person.
In the last clip Adam Mizner doesn't bring the partner's hands down and into the stomach like you do in your explanation - he basically propels his partner backwards without too much visible effort and moving his partners hands/arms on the vertical plane.
Again I love your channel, you can do better then that!
Unpopular but honest comment:
There's still a glaring difference between how Adam Mizner does it and how you do it.
as he's pointed out at 3:09, he doesn't need to (overtly) adapt and change around his opponent's force.
The adapting (and throwing back of the opponent) happens in the same posture that he made contact,
and *that*'s what his demonstrations are meant to show.
In contrast, when you or your students try to replicate the effects, you have to shift/struggle after contact to find the "right" approach.
Perhaps you know some tricks that work, but you don't have the underlying *kungfu* to make them work in the manner that Mizner has shown. And the kungfu is what Mizner is trying to pass down.
I'm all for making martial arts teaching more scientific, but it's better to actually understand what you're trying to "debunk" before going to "debunk" it.
From His About Page:
Adam Mizner practices and embodies the internal arts of Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan), Nei Gong and meditation, he teaches Yang Style Taijiquan in the tradition of Huang Sheng Shyan and Yang Shao Hou.
I'm all for making martial arts teaching scientific, but it's better to actually understand what you're trying to "debunk" before going to debunk it. Specifically, Ramsey is explaining that _nothing_ being shown was in any way magical... just knowing basic body mechanics and convincing your students to get into a "fight" in which they are placed in the worst position where their body mechanics are being used against them.
@@aralornwolf3140 "nothing being shown was in any way magical"
... that's basically beating a strawman, because Adam Mizner (or masters like him) have never attributed to any "magical" element to what he does.
The main reason I can think of for how this strawman arises is that the term Qi (气）(or more often Romanised as Chi) is often used in teaching TaiJi. Lay passerbies might hear this and go "oh, a magical force!".
but for practitioners, this term actually has a clear working definition.
e.g. what I've learned is: If a part of your body feels comfortably 1) more spacious, 2) warming up, 3) tingly ... then energy is being activated and processed in that part of the body in a highly efficient way (as per TaiJi ideals).
As a practitioner, it doesn't matter what you think that "energy" is made up of. Heat, electromagnetism, etc etc.
What's important is, a physiological change is happening, and this is what helps you to build up some of those subtle abilities, along with being generally beneficial to health.
Qi just happens to be the Chinese word used to conveniently summarise the quality that enables the above process. No part of the process requires a belief in "magic".
Unfortunately, in the rush to denounce Qi as "magical thinking" and explain away the abilities of a TaiJi master like Adam Mizner,
the "debunkers" tend to hastily impose their own understanding of "body mechanics" and "fighting tactics" on the process,
which hinders practitioners and the audience from discussing the *actual* scientific explanation of how those abilities are built up.
Which is unfortunately what Ramsey is doing through this video. :|
I believe his intentions are good, but that doesn't mean he's correct.
@@tranquil_dude ,
Again, you're missing the point. You also missed the correction... you talked about Adam Knizer's *kungfu* when he doesn't practice or teach it. That mistake on your part shows your "debunking" argument to be flawed.
Now, you said "I'm all for making martial arts teaching more scientific" and yet, you include magical thinking in your reply to me:
but for practitioners, this term actually has a clear working definition.
e.g. what I've learned is: If a part of your body feels comfortably 1) more spacious, 2) warming up, 3) tingly ... then energy is being activated and processed in that part of the body in a highly efficient way (as per TaiJi ideals).
As a practitioner, it doesn't matter what you think that "energy" is made up of. Heat, electromagnetism, etc etc.
What's important is, a physiological change is happening, and this is what helps you to build up some of those subtle abilities, along with being generally beneficial to health.
Response: A doctor who specializes in human biochemical reaction to exercise/physical exertion would be able to explain everything without the mysticism/magic brought up by people who knew squat about human biology.
However, you also ignored what I said "convincing your [Adam's] students to get into a "fight" in which they are placed in the worst position where their body mechanics are being used against them." You didn't provide a rebuttal to this... that Adam is deceiving his "students" to believe in the 'Power' of Tai Chi.
In the clip you're defending... the person clearly said "... loads up all of his force on me and I just release -- push all your force -- he puts all his force and very slowly it comes back to him -- push -- I can receive his force on a straight line. I don't need to adapt and change around his force just because he has more force than me." He doesn't explain to his students that the reason this works is his student (or assistant?) is fighting in a disadvantageous stance. However, competent people, who have the intent to harm the person they are fighting, would recognize they are in a disadvantageous stance and would attempt to correct it. _This_ is why Ramsey's reenactment doesn't match... he and the lad he's with _know_ it's a disadvantageous stance and instinctively use their training to negate their disadvantage. Hence the "struggle" you're complain about, lol. "You don't know the *kungfu* get better!" Is a pretty silly position to take when you understand what's happening, lol.
However, this isn't the only time he was deceptive in the video... his "I can push people with just my fingers" Ramsey just calls it out as a pure lie. "I'm so good with Tai Chi I have the *ability* [reference to your comment] to push people with my fingers".
You think Ramsey doesn't know what he's talking about... did you check his resume? Or, are you some Tai Chi Superiority "Advocate" who believe that Tai Chi grants people "Special Abilities" as per your repeated insinuations. Nothing in Tai Chi is special. _Nothing._ Thus people who practice other martial arts, who have the understanding of the body mechanics, are able to comment on the ways these con artists, like Adam, use to deceive people into becoming their students.
@@aralornwolf3140 In its original sense, "kungfu" (功夫）means time and effort devoted to developing something impressive (or an impressive skill developed through time and effort). For example, training to do tight-rope walking, or parkour, would also be considered kungfu in china.
And if, through time and effort, you successfully develop the ability to throw someone with very subtle movement (so subtle that onlookers struggle to explain the "body mechanics" behind the feat), that's definitely a kungfu, regardless of which "martial technique" you're trying to make subtle. This kind of kungfu (training to produce maximal effect with minimal overt movement) is very important to the aim of Tai Chi.
And that's the meaning of the word kungfu that I was using.
Since traditionally, kungfu was often used in the context of martial arts, it became a euphemism for martial arts in china. After the word got imported into English, it became misunderstood to mean "a certain style of Chinese martial art".
Hence the semantic mess we're in.
Anyways, you're right, in that no martial artist is "special".
That *also* includes the fact that every martial artist can be quite fallible, especially when it comes to his understanding of something that he hasn't actually studied.
In Ramsay's case, he's gotten some basic things about Tai Chi wrong in previous videos ...
e.g. he claimed that the name "Tai Chi" stands for "the ultimate form of close combat" (which ironically raises everyone's expectations of what Tai Chi is supposed to achieve, making it sound more "special" than it needs to be) when it's actually just referring to the philosophy that the art is based on, like the "Aiki" in Aikido.
So once again, I don't doubt Ramsay's good intentions for doing a "debunking" video like this, or his general knowledge of body mechanics and fighting tactics,
but the problem is his lack of understanding in the very subject (i.e. Tai Chi) he's trying to do a "debunking" on in the first place.
(Actually, to be clear, the documentary he's trying to "debunk", isn't exactly about Tai Chi. It's about what the title says: The Power of Chi. And it just so happens that in Adam Mizner's case, this power was developed as part of his Tai Chi practice. Hence if you look closely, Mizner doesn't use any recognizable "Tai Chi moves" in the documentary, because he's not there to demonstrate the effectiveness of Tai Chi itself as a martial art. So, in fact, he's the one who was forgoing any "advantageous stance" in those demos.)
I mean, I could throw your question back at you:
Do you think the athletes and fighters featured in The Power of Chi didn't know what they were doing?
These guys, who include big name MMA fighters like Lyoto Machida, having experienced Adam Mizner's demos first-hand, are explicitly surprised and impressed by what's going on,
and yet you feel you can simply explain it all away with something like "the opponent was fighting in a disadvantageous stance" after watching the clips?
Isn't that an arrogant stance to take?
(yeah, there's a pun there, haha)
@@tranquil_dude ,
Your entire stance is predicated on 2 things:
1. Ramsey not doing something _exactly_ like Kinzer did in a single clip.
2. Ignoring the rest of the video which demonstrates Ramsey's competence when it comes to evaluating the effectiveness of Kinzer's *kungfu* in a fight against an opponent.
Worse, you're contradicting yourself. This newest statement of yours:
"Actually, to be clear, the documentary he's trying to "debunk", isn't exactly about Tai Chi. It's about what the title says: The Power of Chi. And it just so happens that in Adam Mizner's case, this power was developed as part of his Tai Chi practice. Hence if you look closely, Mizner doesn't use any recognizable "Tai Chi moves" in the documentary, because he's not there to demonstrate the effectiveness of Tai Chi itself as a martial art. So, in fact, he's the one who was forgoing any "advantageous stance" in those demos."
Contradicts this statement of yours:
These guys, who include big name MMA fighters like Lyoto Machida, having experienced Adam Mizner's demos first-hand, are explicitly surprised and impressed by what's going on, and yet you feel you can simply explain it all away with something like "the opponent was fighting in a disadvantageous stance" after watching the clips?
You can't say "he's just teaching people *kung fu* not actual fighting while also pointing to the MMA fighters, rofl. So what is Kinzer doing, teaching his students *kungfu* that actually _works_ in a fight or is he teaching them *kungfu* that only works in a controlled environment?
So far, your entire rebuttal to any of my points is definition of words and etymology... it's nice, but I'm not your linguistics professor. I am just interested in "will this work in a fight"? So far, all you've done is say "nope! Ramsey is correct!" because that's the _only_ interpretation I can have with your insistent dodging of my rebuttals with your hyper focus on "definitions".
P.s. There are plenty of Tai Chi practitioners commenting in this channel about how upset they are with Adam Kinzer's fraud... perhaps your time is better spent arguing with them about Ramsey's qualifications for pointing out Kinzer's dishonesty.
You never know, basic body mechanics is magic🎉🎆 to specific people, Coach!
As a long time Tai Chi man, those charlatans really grind my gears.
Great video Ramsey, well done. 👍
As a 20 plus year Tai Chi practitioner and teacher, thank you for making this.
It's such a shame - Tai Chi Chuan is such a great and multifaceted art without all the lies and pretense.
Absolutely! I had the pleasure of first learning taijiquan from Master Yu Dao Shui in Jiangsu province, China back in 2009. He was an incredible martial artist, a great athlete, and a phenomenal grappler even at an advanced age- and the most incredible part was that everything he did was real, and learnable. No magic, no nonsense, just consistent hard work and real results.
@@RamseyDewey I do Yang style or Yang Family tai chi and its also real and learnable and has some cool weapons
@@RamseyDewey As an old life long practitioner of hung gar and other kung fu systems, old yang style tai chi, judo, jujitsu, karate, aikido, catch-as-catch-can wrestling, boxing, modern fence, historical Spanish, Italian, German and English swordsmanship, quarterstaff, and empty hand combat,... and being a clinical counsellor working mostly in forensics and psychosocial assessments, I have observed that each country's martial art is a product of and reveals the general psychology of the people who developed and practiced it. And this tends to be true for the nation's individual martial art as well as for the way the way it has generally waged war. The English martial arts are beautiful in their simplicity, economical of time and energy, very good defensively but not so good at attacking; the German martial arts are good at attacking but not so good at defending; the Italian martial arts are very showy and not very economical; the Japanese martial arts are very conformist, straight forward, what you see is what you get; the Chinese martial arts have some very good stuff hidden among a lot of nonsense, and are rife with cultish compliance, deceit, trickery, camouflage, falsity, and insincerity.
@@RamseyDewey You might be amused to find out that one of Adam Mizner's fans (I guess that's the right word...) followed me to my page from this comment to proselytize me into believing his demonstrations were genuine. It was very amusing.
@@matthewmele764 After their multiple efforts to gaslight me, I am not surprised at all!
I attended a workshop by T'ai Chi Master William CC Chen many years ago. William explained techniques in terms of body mechanics rather than mysterious chi force. He offered to do push hands with me during practice. I was reasonably skilled at push hands and was interested in learning something from him. After half a minute I found that not only could I not push him (I didn't expect to), but he didn't push me either. He didn't have to. I inexplicably kept throwing myself back. I literally could not help myself. I could not figure out how he was triggering that reaction in me. I closed my eyes to see if he was doing some kind of feint or body movement causing me to _reflexively_ jump back. It didn't make a difference. I couldn't consciously see or feel him doing anything to signal me jump back, but he could make me jump back whenever he wanted me to. I asked him, "What are you doing to cause me to do that?" He just smiled. I've done push hands with quite a few accomplished T'ai Chi practitioners, but I've never experienced that with anyone else before or since.
Are you saying he was magical?
@@DeanS946 No, not at all. I am saying he did something very subtle to trigger me to reflexively throw myself back. Just because I don't know what it was doesn't mean I claim it to be magic.
@LightsOnMultiMediaMindArts sounds like you just psyched yourself out bro
@@chrisortiz8077 That's what I would have said too if I hadn't been there. If it hadn't happened to me personally.
@@chrisortiz8077he is not, I also experimented that with very high level fighters in Traditional Chinese martials arts. and no mma guys gave me this feeling
Something I realized after hearing Brian Shaw saying that he had no idea what was happening. Dynamic resistance in combat sports is a tricky thing to get a "feel" of if you don't have training in it. You can be a trained athlete in any other sport but unless you clock in hours of training and actually feel this kind of resistance for long enough, you wouldn't realize what's really happening. That last trick especially won't work on mma or muay thai fighters because that is a very common technique for hand control (minus the index finger sticking out because there's no one to deceive).
It doesn 't work on bjj either because they instinctively soften.
Hello Ramsey (or as I like to refer to you, in jest, but truer words were never said in jest kind of way - "The Patron Sage of Taijiquan"), I'm sure you are very good at whatever it is that you do. However in this video, it is pretty clear that:
1. You have a very poor understanding of internal/integrated movement modalities and therefore reach very crude and incorrect conclusions about how things really work.
2. Based on your "analysis" of (1) you setup strawmen scenarios with your minions to supposedly replicate the same phenomenon as you are "analyzing", which are unfortunately far from the conditions demonstrated in the material you critique.
3. Armed with (1) and (2) you clearly clunk and fudge your way to something that to your unskilled in the internal eyes, look kind of sort of the same, but to those who are trained, it looks really really bad, no offense.
So as the "big guy" at 2:55 I will make the same offer I made to Mario Napoli. If we happen to be in the same place at the same time any time in the future, I will present to you the same conditions I presented Adam and you can show the whole world via video how you replicate what Adam did using your own method and you will have my respect.
All the very best to you mate!
I'd really love to see it. As much as I think I understand why people like Mizner aren't interested in proving anything to anyone, I think it would foster a good discussion to have a meeting like that on video.
Ah, so you are the smack talking, foulmouthed, rude individual who tagged me on Facebook. Clean up your act and your language and maybe I’ll teach you how to fight for real if we ever meet in person.
@@RamseyDewey sorry sir, I have no interest in fighting. You are setting up straw men again. I didn't offer to fight you. I'm sure you are good at what you do and have titles to prove it and all that. Until you started offering your Taijiquan expertise publicly on RUclips I didn't even know who you were 🤪
All I was offering was as the person Adam is launching at 2:55 which you are incorrectly assessing and claiming to have you and your assistants replicate, if we were to ever be in the same place at the same time, I would offer the same kind of power I'm applying on Adam, which you can then neutralize and launch me, exactly like Adam did. Nothing more, nothing less. If you are able to do that, I would accept whatever your view is regarding what you did and you have my respect. This is not an offer for you to fight me in any way. I hope I've made that clear.
Again, let's not setuo straw men here. I didn't offer to fight you. And thank you for the offer to teach me how to fight. I'm sure you have a lot to teach but sport fighting or fighting of any nature that you are expert at is not my thing. I appreciate the offer though.
I'm sorry, I don't see how I'm foul mouthing you either. I have clearly stated my assessment (which is of course subjective) of your knowledge and skill in internal technology such as Taijiquan based on your spoken words, movement shown and ridiculous conclusions. In which world is it "foul mouthed" to point out your lack of knowledge or skill in the internal as I see it? Is it somehow blasphemous to disagree with you now? Last time I checked, you weren't the Messiah mate 🤪
Anyway best of luck with your training, teaching and exploration into Taijiquan. Thank you for taking the time to respond. Cheers!
@@bewholeyoga No one offered to fight you. I offered to teach you how to fight. Read.
@@RamseyDewey appreciate the offer 🙏🙏🙏 Are you primarily based in Shanghai or do you travel, part of the year?
This is phenomenal. It also makes me really happy that you know who Chris Ramsey is. I have learned a lot over the years about misdirection and "framing" (in both senses) from the two Ramseys, him and you. Thanks once again for this great content. On a side note, I really wish more people knew the grappling origins of a lot of moves in the forms of traditional martial arts.
Really great video!
Great to see someone actually explaining that taiji is all about body mechanics. In my opinion, the most sophisticated mechanical alignments of any martial art, with the form specially based around that. Push hands is great for practicing and the forms give some idea of how to apply the mechanics during sparring.
Yes that's true, internal systems do use body mechanics. Aquiring the skill, knowledge and feel that will give the ability to control an opponent takes years of dedicated practice and training with a knowledgeable teacher. Once experienced it does seem like magic but its not fake, it's knowledge and great skill.
Exactly.
Same happens with Aikido, it is just grappling lol
Yes, you are amazing. It like fake but not. Mizner 's skill is just 6.5/10. Taiji means peng energy
A few things you missed. The first video, the woman was also in a deeper stance pushing with her whole body and the big guy was using mostly just arms. The second video the big guy was clearly a stooge based on how he jumped back. You are right though, this is a lot like stage magic. Same with all those brick breaking vids: It takes some skill but once you learn the trick you can train to be able to do it in a few weeks, not the decades those videos claim.
Yep
There used to be this common trick in trade fairs in one of the cities where I lived as a kid (a small town in India), where they'd challenge you to touch your toes without bending your knees. But here's the catch - you had to pay to accept the challenge, with a promise of getting back 10 times as much, AND that you had to do it with your back and hips against a wall. Inevitably, everyone who tried, failed, because the moment they'd reach down to touch their toes, their hips would hit the wall, bumping them forward and making them fall.
This idea of internal energy might have something to do with the movement of the fascial chains within the body. Some recent studies suggest that the fascia can move by itself under certain circumstances. The internal training maybe a method of replicating these circumstances and controlling the movement of fascia.
This seems really interesting, do you know of any trustworthy links to learn more about it?
@@ListlessPirate me too
@@ListlessPirate
here's NIH
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31001134/
Dr. Schleip has a number of papers/research on the subject starting nearly 20 years ago
You might be interested in the podcast I did on this subject with fascia expert and taiji practitioner Chong Xie. He’s on of the trainers of Zhang Weili.
ruclips.net/video/UXlPgXq8DIo/видео.html
@@RamseyDewey u r the man brother👍👍
This was actually a relaxing video to watch, the mood and music was great. Training in general is fun, and watching this was very entertaining👌
That’s not really a fake magic trick so much as it is applying body mechanics that are real in a demonstration format or a practice format. You can try to actually put those body mechanics into play separately but it won’t look like the demo
Think of how pummeling in an actual fight rarely is several seconds of smoothly transitioning back and forth. That’s not because pummeling is a fake magic trick, it’s because pummeling is essentially a sensitivity drill.
Tai chi is almost ENTIRELY sensitivity drills when you get down into things that seem like magic or mysticism
Great video! Even if this stuff did work the way chi masters claim it does, you still need to fight to get into those positions in the first place. No ones going to stand still and let you do this.
But yes, it's all position and body mechanics, zero chi
Very true!
I like to think of chi as being position, mechanics, and coordination. Chi is the difference between using a tool roughly and using the same tool efficiently, it’s not a magic power. This applies to chi for fighting as well as chi for health. Personally, I can’t do it, I haven’t put in the necessary work. However, I bet for a lot of people, the idea of a magic power is easier to digest than learning something about anatomy and physics.
@@RamseyDewey So your conspiracy theory is that these UFC pros with way higher MMA reputation than you sold out? And Werdum was faking when trying to get Adam in a lock and also faking pain when Adam gave him a little short jin? Why wouldn't your video title be "why are the top UFC champions such suckers?"
@@jamesm5192 "UFC Pros with way higher MMA reputation" being a pro fighter doesn't mean you're more legitimate or should be taken seriously. Look at Bob Sapp for example. Tell me with a straight face he actually gets TKO'd after taking a light punch to the body and then talk about pro MMA fighters not selling out for extra cash.
@@rohitchaoji Either Werdum has a better MMA reputation than Ramsey or he does not. I didn't say being pro automatically means better reputation. See what Rogan says about Werdum: ruclips.net/video/a5rpP2qIRI0/видео.html
Personally when I watched some parts of the power of chi documentary, I never thought about it being magic power, but more about biomechanics, and to me it just proves that sometimes, technique beats strength... I don't know who believes that it is magic, but to me the use of the word chi is just a way to talk about some concepts. Per example, I saw the term "alive" used to describe a sword in a Ono-Ha Itto-ryu technique. The sword was never supposed to be "alive", it is just a way to speak about concepts that was used before our "modern" biomechanics and physics terminology.
well said, is there anytime in Adam's videos that he said he using tai chi magic??? i wouldn't put Adam in this category because he is no fake, he just shows that using the principles of tai chi chuan can work on some of these "professional fighters"
It's talking about how the weapon is to be an extension of your body, you should be able to pass the force through the weapon as well. But yes actually none of that specific documentary is fake. Plenty of them out there of course. But they really are legit. And yes especially "homer Simpson" lmao .
Number 3:
On this one, I think you are wrong on how its being done.
Again, Minzer has tremendous rooting and full body skills (like any good Tai Chi guy). The person hes demonstrating on doesnt. Minzer is taking advantage of the fact that he can root, and the other person cant.
Next, he has really good listening skills (like any good Tai Chi player, or grappler has). He is feeling the misalignment and imbalances in the opponents structure. Then hes pushing INTO those to take the balance. Once hes got that broke, sure..of course he can move him with his fingers.
I have had this demo done on me when I was first learning, and was powerless to stop from being launched across the room. But then I learned the skills myself, and the same guy cant budge me an inch today.
Its very similar to taking a jacked gym rat, and have him trying to resist a takedown from a much leaner college wrestler. The gym rat goes down super easy every time, no matter how big and strong he is, because hes just got no wrestling skills.
So, I think you are on the right track with your thinking, but you are not looking deep enough.
The guy's (first clip) legs position also helps a lot. His left knee was bent while his right leg was straight, so when she pushes on him, his left leg isn't resisting the woman's forces. When Shaw pushes on the man, he has to fight the straight right leg. So with the lower center of mass, the bent left leg, and having a leverage point, she can win vs the strong man..
This was fun! BTW, some of those more amazing "chi" demos are literally hypnosis. If you create an expectation of something inexplicable, it opens the other person's subconscious to the possibility, and even stronger if you're an authority figure. It's called "pre-framing". So when you see a guru's students flying off, or shaking, or rolling on the ground, it's the power of suggestion. I'm a hypnotist, and if I'm doing a public demo, I'll rattle off my professional certifications and what they can expect, and it makes me the authority figure and "pre-frames" their experience.
You probably have experienced the power of authority when working with beginners who are so psyched they'd do whatever you tell them in the ring, or the way a feint creates expectation in an opponent.
Bit of an off the wall question, but how 'real' is something like stage hypnosis if you don't mind me asking? Any time I've ever looked it up, I get results from It's complete BS to "I was hypnotised and it really worked and I had zero control". I always thought it to be something like alcohol where they just less inhibited.
Also I'm under the impression that clinical hypnosis is a real tool that can help people and is completely different to stage hypnosis. Sorry for the ramble lmao
@@Adoxyss I think that's a great question. That is really interesting. Lol, so I have a buddy that does mma, and looking at this guy, you'd never think he was flexible. The way he walks, and just looks says rickety and tight. Long story short, he was invited to a yoga class. Once there and ready, he noticed he was the only man there. So the instructor actually approached him in his little back corner and asked him some questions about whether he had done Yoga before. He was honest and said no. So she told him basically that if he felt too much pressure or was having difficulty, that he could sit out, or even leave anytime he wanted to lol. Just absolutely no hope in him. He made it through the class just fine, but he said it is a real thing to have the instructor cast doubt on you like that. It was all in good safety intentions, but going in with doubt is a challenge in itself.
I'm actually more of a therapeutic hypnotist. I like to help folks solve problems, but I occasionally do public demos. The thing with stage hypnosis is that the people who volunteer are more likely to want to be on stage and act out. The hypnosis is real, and if you've ever seen a live show, at the beginning, some volunteers who don't respond well to are weeded out. So the ones left on stage are already highly responsive, and there's that group energy that encourages them together. But they never really lose control, even if it feels like it. If the hypnotist gives a suggestion they don't like, they'll usually not respond or even pop out of trance. You can see that on some RUclips videos when they get a suggestion for "imagine getting high" or "imagine having sex" or something like that. There's often one person who just doesn't respond or even gets up and walks off. But you can't really force someone to go against their will.
I can push guys around with two fingers without using fists but agree it's body mechanics. The specific trick can be used in push hands.
There is something to it. Fransis Fong and Ajarn Chia have demonstrated something in my presence. I still think it is psychological after I was tossed from behind. It felt like lightning through my spinal cord.
I have done it myself and still can't explain it. Hypnosis?
When there is an earth quake, a shock wave travels through the bed rock, that can be felt miles and miles from the epicenter of the quake. You felt that.
Many techniques are preceded by a jostling "Dislodging" technique first. The physical shock of that can feel like you were hit by lightning.
Do a search on "earth quake shock wave". Lots of stuff on that for the geology buffs.
Ha ha, as a martial artist, I would think you have the integrity and honor to be honest!
You are not even depicting the same scenarios.
1. When the lady pushed, her objective was to move the big guy, not the middle guy. I think what you showed was about how to move the middle guy is pushed out of line, then you have no contact to, in order to move the big guy at the end. Hence your showing and entirely different scenario, perhaps you misunderstood the purpose of the demo?
2. You are talking about advantage of having the outer versus the inner grip position. But in the demo was neither of these. Adam, the one being pushed had his forearm across his lower chest, parallel to his body. The 'pusher' had both his hands on that forearm, so that he could apply full pressure. Again your scenario was totally irrelevant.
3. Pushing with the fingers.
Yes, when you do push hard enough, the finger will collapse, and the knuckles will slip off, leading just the fingers in contact. I'm sure the big is smart enough to do that. Like you say the finger is not strong enough to move the big guy, let him? Right?
Secondly, the big guy did not collapse his fists, to bring it close to his chest, or lower it down to his belly, in the scenario that you demonstrated. Again, this is totally irrelevant and misleading.
Of course you are free to interpret what you see, based on your experience, knowledge; or lack there off. Perhaps it was not your intention to mislead.
But others, with more experience and knowledge will see faults, this affecting your credibility.
In your haste to expose the fakes, wouldn't that make you look like a fake?
the first time i’m adding one of your vids to my “science” playlist instead of the usual “martial arts” list 😆
This is because up to this date, you never encountered a real Qi fighter. I was fortunate to meet two.
I know you are honest and I wish you encounter a true master someday.
I met a legitimate master of taijiquan back in 2009. That’s why the fakes are so obvious to me.
Qi mean breath or air, by the way.
@@RamseyDewey For a lack of a better word. In modern times, they gave it a name subtle bio energy. These are just names for the phenomenon.
@@RamseyDewey Master Nishiyama knew it, but he never disclosed it openly. I met him many years back, and he made demonstrations very few practitioners examined carefully. Then I met two Chinese masters, one was Muslim having the original knowledge. They both demonstrated much more power than expected from one of their physique. To date, I couldn't release bursts of power like any of these three did. But I know it is doable.
1) She has her rear leg at a 45° angle, while the big guy is standing upright like he doesn't expect to have to resist.
2) The big guy is leaned forward at the waist and doesn't appear like he's ever pushed against anything in his life.
3) This one also had the advantage of having high ground and a slope.
I’m late to this party. Very succinct exposure of this stuff. To be fair, there are legit Taiji people who have a dirty boxing/wrestling tie up type of style.
One thing to add to this discussion…I 100% agree that these demos are stage magic tricks, but I say there are 2 distinctions that follow. One is absolute charlatans who are deluding students with these displays. The other one, however, are people who believe these things to be genuine themselves, who delude both themselves and their students.
Magic is science and method yet discovered.
Not to mention that Brian Shaw is a nice guy and didn't want to turn the dude into an accordion! LOL
Great video Ramsey. From the time I first learned martial arts it's always been about body mechanics. That's why I like judo, jujitsu, and chin na. Thank you for debunking this phony martial arts. I hate to see anyone study phony practitioners and think that they're going to be able to defend themselves in a real fight. Another great video on the realism of martial arts!
Your "debunk" of Adam's finger push actually made Adam more convincing 😆
Watching a dude pushing another man down a hill convinced you he’s a wizard? You are incredibly gullible.
@@RamseyDewey Perhaps I am
I don't think that's just any big guy. That looks like Brian Shaw, a several time winner of the World's Strongest Man competition.
You might notice how I specifically mentioned his name in this video.
You didn't watch the video? Ramsey just mentioned him.
As a 13 yearlong taijiquan player salute to you for this. Taijiquan is much better when it is based in reality.
Push Adam Mizner and I’ll be impressed.
Yeah really hard to push... Now, how come he never spar those athletes he paid to look like fools?
I bet they would all ragdoll him with ease.
But we'll never know, Mizner doesn't fight, never fought and doesn't train fighters... Which makes him irrelevant in the martial arts world.
I've challenged him years ago and he blocked my email. Adam is a charlatan.
Als those pushes are things we train as well in Wing Chun, it's just not anything mystical, as you said, it's proper body mechanics and controlled posture. If you stand correctly, forward pressure on your arms gets directed into the ground, as long as you're capable of standing up straight you'll be more difficult to move, there is nothing internal going on, it's just architecture.
Although there is a lot of fake tai chi and a lot of fake chi demonstrations on the internet, chi is still real and there are legitimate tai chi masters who can use this internal energy for combat. Actually Mizner one of your targets has real chi ability which makes me question your motivation and your knowledge. You have cherry picked some actual charlatans and put them alongside someone who is legitimate. I sort of get it - you are an MMA guy so in your mind there is only basic body mechanics. You have never trained in an internal system so you don't understand what real chi feels like.
Nah, you just proved that you both have magical chi powers! ✨️ 😀😃
Lmao
Hahahaha! Oh no!
These 'magic tricks' are great teaching tools! That first one was fun and really helped me understand the importance of using the elbow as a fulcrum.
Back in my karate days an instructor had us do a two-man exercise where we would take turns pushing each other back, to practice leg drive in the front stance. Fair enough. I, a skinny black belt, was matched against a yellow belt at least 30kg heavier and visibly much stronger than I was then. He would put his hands against my shoulders and failed to even budge me. I put my hands lower, hip height or so and easily propelled him across the room in two or three shoves. He failed completely to see the "magic" trick until I explained it to him.
I think we’re missing a very important point that tai chi teaches. tai chi might not teach you about punching, but it teaches you about how to throw a punch. I think the main importance of tai chi is it teaches the practitioner about body, weight, balance, and mechanics. Knowing that leads to a good fighter.
it's very obvious, you never met someone who can master qi. Pointing out charlatans, yea, could be a full time job. But that doesn't say or prove that qi is not real.
Qi is breath, not magic. Wizards are not real.
I am surprised a strong man who does alot of pushing and pulling of heavy objects.... didn't understand that.
It’s not surprising to me. The human body doesn’t move like a balanced barbell, a static weight, an atlas stone, or any other object a strong man moves. The human skeleton is over 200 interconnected pieces held together with networks of strings (tendons) and cables (muscles). Moving people around is much more like puppeteering a marionette than moving a rock. When you know which strings to pull, you know how to make the puppet move.
I also love how the guy in the middle is also basically lunging towards the big guy. Which means that his centre of gravity is already shifted away from the woman, making him much easier to push from that direction, while the bent leg would put the job of resisting the push from that direction entirely on his muscles, instead of creating a frame. While the exact opposite is true in the other direction. In fact, at one point the middle guy lifts his left leg off the ground and it looks like he's actively pushing against the big guy. So it looks like even with all the positioning advantages, the middle guy still had to "help" in order to maintain the illusion. xD
Yep! Exactly.
Always go with the good stuff...gear or online content. You rule coach Ramsey. Lots of luv
Hahahaha you couldn’t even come close to doing what adam was doing and you’re claiming to debunk it. Sad.
Even Adam couldn't reproduce it: ruclips.net/video/4eqJUy2usgM/видео.html
Honestly such a great video Mr. Dewey. It always suprises me just how many charlatans there are out there claiming to be martial artists and also how obsesive their followers are.
Are you currently debunking the contestants (including Lyoto Machida and Fabricio Werdum) as money scammers? You're really going to expose something when we see a video of you where Adam Mizner can't apply his skills. Until then, you can feed the crowd of haters freshly prepared food, but it won't mean anything. Because everything you're commenting on, you've only seen it on video, not live, and you don't have any first-hand experience with such things. By the way, the fact that you studied Taiji Quan does not make you an expert on the subject, because it is obvious that your studies were at a level where your body did not change internally. That's why you don't understand how it happens and you're looking for the explanations that any other person would be looking for. This of course won't stop Mizner from getting better at what he does and more people discovering him (there's no such thing as bad publicity, whether you spit on him or praise him, you're promoting him), it'll just further close the minds of many people about the hidden capabilities of their own body. If that's your goal, you're doing well so far. But remember that anyone who comments on things they don't understand is worthy of pity, according to Miyamoto Musashi. I look forward to a live video with you and Adam someday. Until then, you can comment, but you know that these are just your thoughts on the subject, and not real personal experience. Nice day. :)
That is second dumbest question I’ve heard today. Are the volunteers from the audience at a magic show who pick a card during a card trick money scammers?
Ah yes, the solid logic of studying taijiquan doesn’t give you expertise in taijiquan because magic. Wow.
@@RamseyDewey The word "magic" is used by people who do not understand how it works. There is no magic, there is a different way the body works. This is exactly why I think you have no idea how Taiji Quan really works in depth. Unfortunately, it is also apparently full of people who think they have been doing Taiji Quan for many years, and at the same time, they also have no idea of the possibilities of the art they practice. I could make a detailed comment on each of your "evidences", but I don't think there is any point because I am convinced that you have a preconceived opinion and are not looking for the truth. Here's the "hands on the inside" example - there are tons of Adam videos where his hand is on the outside (even just one) and the result is the same. Or "pushing with an fist, not a finger". This is even funnier - no one is pushing with a finger or an fist, but there is a release of the hydro-dynamic level of the body (which goes along the fascia) in a given direction. There is no pushing, no support needed after a moment. That's exactly what I'm trying to tell you - that you're commenting on things you don't understand. Your other videos with comments about MMA, about Ju-jutsu - I have nothing to say about them, you are obviously an expert there. You are not for Taiji Quan. And you yourself know that until you meet Mizner live, everything is just speculation. Here, you can also comment on this video if you want - even though it's through the lens of Wing Chun, the guy is talking about the same things. And he's also friends with Mizner. :) ruclips.net/video/XkKlJMIjw4I/видео.html
Right. He can't call out those with higher status in the MMA community than him without the risk of losing money / status / subscribers. He already knows most of his audience will agree with him that something outside of their collective experience should not be considered to exist - so limiting the critique to the internalists with skill is a no-brainer.
@@jamesm5192 This is the fourth dumbest comment I've read today. Welcome to the channel. I say whatever I want here and there's nothing you can do about it.
Why was Fabricio Werdum playing along?
He got paid to do it on TV.
Hard style is about training mind muscle connection (flex). Soft style is about training mind fascia connection (stretch). The trick is to be able to stretch the entire body out. Like a guitar wire that is extended, it can vibrate, allowing force to transfer more effectively throughout the body. You are able to stand and flex any muscle at will because your brain is used to sending signals to the muscles. Having signals to the fascia is very unnatural and must be trained. This is the whole premise of Tai Chi. Once you built a strong enough signal connection, you can stand and stretch at will without moving much. The chi, is when the body feels like it's radiating heat. It feels like your whole body is breathing. That's when your fascia is stretched out enough and you mind fascia connection is strong enough that it allows you to feel your whole body breathe/feels like you're expanding like a balloon
Adam is on a level I don't understand yet. (Could be fake)
Ps. Tai Chi stretching is different than normal stretching. Tai Chi stretching has a mind component in it and is actively building signals from the brain to the fascia. Normal stretching is just using your muscles to move past a certain angle to mainly stretch around the joints.
Mind body connection (yi)
Stretching fascia while muscle is relaxed (steel wrapped in cotton)
Full body breathing (chi)
Stretched facia + full body breathing (peng)
I totally understand if you don't believe in internal arts. 90 percent of the people who practice Tai Chi in parks just wave their arms around, which does nothing. The ones who do understand get their ass kicked because the ring arts are so much more advanced in strategy. The rest is filled with scammers.
@RamseyDewey The video description says that you now train in Taijiquan?
I have been training in taijiquan since 2009
Dude this stuff is so dangerous, we Can’t even show how it works.
Trust us you don’t wanna know.
When I read the title card I wanted to know where is power of chi debunked parts 1 and 2
I might have to watch the whole movie to see how many more tricks there are to debunk!
@@sardo1 $$$ because it’s impractically expensive spend thousands and thousands of dollars and ridiculous quantities of time to travel around the world to make a RUclips video that will make $5 in ad revenue when I can make that same video in 20 minutes at home for zero cost.
Did you want to finance that venture or something?
Ramsey, In my knowledgeable opinion, you have a little bit of this correct. Yes misdirection is used as in magic and in all combat arts and sports. And yes, former UFC heavyweight champion Fabriicio Werdum is semi cooperative in that he is not trying to take down or strike Adam Mizner. He is just standing there, trying to keep his balance. It is just a demo. Your duplication is both very poor and your explanation wrong. Misner does not push Werdum with his fist, he pulls him with his fingers, or rather he pulls Werdum's "qi" out of his base of support so the 4 time world champion of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu must move of fall down. He is led into a very off balanced position without feeling it until it's to late. I know because I am able to do this trick and many others, "Qi" manipulation is highly useful in combat sports as well as self defense provided you have many other complementary skills. No I do not have as much ability as Adam Mizner with this skill, but I am in the same ball park or at least the parking lot, and you are not. ,I base my assessment of your ability with this skill on your demo and explanation. You do not understand enough to make it work and your body is mostly closed to the flow of "qi"
Do you really think the old tai ji master, who handled you so easily was simply doing what you do only better. I can all but guaranty he had a some ability' with "qi" or whatever you want to call it.. Keep doing what you are doing and you will improve little if at all. Then you will go into decline and when you are old, you will have almost nothing. Find some real methods to develop martial "qi" and you have a chance to be even better than that old man that you rightly respect. But watch out, there plenty of fakes out there. Most real teachers will agree to some friendly testing at least with some of there better students. Good luck
1. Master Yu Dao Shui knew how to fight. He didn’t do magic tricks or a push hands demo- we sparred for real, full contact. The man could wrestle at a high level. He could slip punches really well. His throws and joints locks were excellent. Anyone comparing themselves to Adam Mizner is not only not in the same ballpark as Master Yu, they’re not even in the same universe. No one who prattles on about qi powers knows how to fight.
2. I am old you idiot! Respect your elders kid.
3. I am not convinced that you know what mean when you say qi. Out of hundreds of attempts to say what they mean in English, not a single person has been able to articulate what they mean when they say this. （I’m sure it doesn’t help that there are literally hundreds of Chinese characters that make that sound, and almost nobody in even knows which one their referring to) Are you talking about demonic possession? Jinn? Divine intervention? An act of God? The spirit entity inside a body? A convoluted way of describing body mechanics? An adrenaline spike? Electricity? Hypnosis? The power of suggestion? Seriously, what do you believe qi means?
@@RamseyDewey
1. Even though you have called me an idiot, I respect the fact that you have answered my comment and also respect that you have competed in full contact sport fighting. You are right that many who prattle about "qi" cannot fight and cannot even do "real" "qi: tricks. But, every knows all generalizations are false. William C C Chen fought full contact, when he was young, He teaches push hands and free fighting in a boxing format. He has had several students fight full contact, some with great success. He does not prattle about "qi:" but believes in it use in fighting. Ditto Peter Ralston, Max Chen (William's Son) and Novell G Bell. And there are many others. There are others who are not sport fighters but serve as law enforcement officers and have had to internal skills in true no rules fighting.
2. I will be 68 years old in 6 weeks so show some respect and do not call me an idiot. Please attack my arguments with evidence instead.
3. What I mean by using "qi" in taijiquan is really an aspect of training. If ones mind is on the "qi" in an actual fight it will cause clumsiness and stagnation. One will not be fast, but will be stuck fast, or at least stagnant and off balance relative to what is possible. However, during the complete retraining of body mechanics, attention on the qi is unavoidable because in this case "qi" means where awareness meets the body and ones attention must be on the body for many aspects of nei gong training.
Thanks for your response. I might write more later.
@@sardo1 气起其起七期奇齐骑器妻启漆旗企欺䒻僛䃆淒毄岓藄隑㑫䥛㞿磩䯥㝛焏盵忔䥢䭶䅩㯦簱㟚砌㠌䅩郪豈甈踦旂慼鳍鮨祈契乞綦䄎衹踦湇
Alright my very passive aggressive friend, every one of the Chinese characters printed above is spelled “qi”, as well as about 300 other characters as well. 气 Means air, breath, or gas. This is 100% true. It is silly to think otherwise.
Now here’s a question for you since I’m not convinced you even know what you mean when you say qi: which of the words listed above (or any of the other 300 Chinese words romanized as “qi” means what you think it means? If you can at least answer that question, maybe we can move forward in a real discussion.
@@RamseyDewey Here’s a link to video that offers evidence that subtle push hands skills have value as one aspect of fighting:ruclips.net/video/2y_2RyTkiQI/видео.html
If you do not see any evidence in the video, I will be happy explain in another post.
In my opinion, push hands skills are neither sufficient nor necessary in order to be competent at self defense or combat sports. However, having these subtle skills (along with other skills) is one way to attain fighting ability and maintain it into very old age.
Also, in the first video, she is assuming literally the most advantageous stance for exerting force, while he is literally leaning backward with his feet together... that's called physics.
Not a fan of Mizner but his demos require some skills to reproduce. What made Michael Jordan or Mike Tyson great? Not magic powers because they are human. Not just physics and mechanics because then anybody can be Mike Tyson just by following his recipes. The real answer is natural talent, good coaching, hard work, and some luck. If some want to call that chi the word is valid because it has many meanings (breath, air, vitality, life energy, gas, spirit, vigor, mind/body unification, etc.) in many contexts.
Bob I don't know Adam Mizner but I had a look at some of his videos and I am not sure he is actually claiming that he is harnessing some supernatural power. Maybe his presentation is theatrical but anyone who has seriously studied internal martial arts knows that chi is energy and as you say the aim is the efficient use of this and body mechanics. Mizner maybe a very exponent of this . I have to say Ramsey's attempt at replicating these "tricks" was less than impressive!!
@@nigeldavies6112 the word chi is so ambiguous and open-ended that it causes more confusion than clarity. You can find videos of martial artists like Jesse Enkamp, Jwing-Ming Yang and Chen Man Ching talk about chi, and they are all describing different concepts with overlaps.
The original video would have been less controversial if the title was Power of Taichi. But that title is just not as appealing. Having the word chi appeals to an audience who thinks they can become like Neo in the Matrix, and at the same time repels another audience segment turned off by the bullshido connotations.
Even Mizner isn't able to reproduce the skills: ruclips.net/video/4eqJUy2usgM/видео.html
Inside tie gives you power over your opponent? You mean Chi power has been used in the Olympics and in MMA this whole time???? 🤯🤯🤯
The same body movements and mechanics is used in every art form it's just that ti chi or families in china capitalized off others ignorance and rebranded it another name.
Chi power or Hei is just an ancient attempt to describe the benefits of breath control often trained while maintaining body alignment/posture and training muscle memory, relaxation, tension, and sequencing muscle contractions. In traditional martial arts these exercises often include core strengthening and visualization meditation. There is nothing magical about it. It’s an attempt to explain what we know today as scientific principles that enhance training. Ancient Chinese cultures lacked the ability to explain this so it was short cut into calling it HeiGung /Qigung. Not all traditions see it as magic. Many Wing Chun schools have a very practical approach to these principles.
But can you fool your opponent by pulling a rabbit out of their ass?
I didn't know exactly where to leave this so I made due with this video. I was reading The Book of The Five Rings and came across a passage that seemed to heavily reflect your opinions on martial technique training (not against a resisting opponent).
"My heart has been inclined to the Way of Strategy from my youth onwards. I have devoted myself to training my hand, tempering my body, and attaining the many spiritual attitudes of sword fencing. If we watch men of other schools discussing theory, and concentrating on techniques with the hands, even though they seem skillful to watch, they have not the slightest true spirit.
Of course, men who study in this way think they are training the body and spirit, but it is an obstacle to the true Way, and its bad influence remains for ever. Thus the true Way of Strategy is becoming decadent and dying out."
Though the source is Japanese rather than Chinese, I am struck with how Musashi diagnosed a problem in martial arts in its infancy by utilizing wisdom. A point of wisdom that you reached and helped me to reach as well, but on the other temporal side of the problem.
I would love it if you came and trained with us sometime. I just finished a month-long intensive with Adam. the man’s skill level is beyond comprehension.
It would be great to see, because then you would be making a video to debunk this one 😅
It seems that, even when you are actively faking it, you are still unable to produce similar results with your admittedly, compliant training partners.
After training in several martial arts, including 15 years of tai chi, I figured I was pretty good.
The experience of training with Adam is absolutely humbling!
There is a wise saying when it comes to the internal arts. Just because you can’t do it does not mean that it’s fake.
Adam is a charlatan. I've challenged him years ago and he blocked my email.
@@lionsden4563 well, that proves it! I suppose it’s his duty to accept every challenge from every random stranger, who reaches out to challenge or insult him on the Internet.
@@LucidEnergyArts,
He's a charlatan. You know that.
can you recommend someone in the UK?
@@CuttingEdgeSystema there are HME instructors in the UK. Check them out.
Thats ...still hard to believe, that it might as well be some kinda magic/crazy martial art, so basically tai chi is super focused exploitation of body mechanics/leverage. It doesn't make it any less amazing. The average person probably wouldnt be able to move brian shaw even with this knowledge. Reminds me of how judoka are basically impossible for the average person to throw off balance because of their training
Of course the average person can do these tricks! Here, I’ll teach you how in just one minute: ruclips.net/video/VhS_OQL8F1o/видео.html
Guess you've never been touched once by Adam Mizner ...
That sounded so creepy and gross I do not have words for it. 🤮
Thank God you know so much about martial-arts. Where have you been all our lives?
This is hard to take seriously from a man who believes in magic golden plates and magic underwear. Leave mormonisim, and I will respect you.
That is the third stupidest thing (and the second most offensive) I’ve read all day (and that’s saying a lot).
The ancient record of the Nephite people written on plates of gold is not magic. It was never purported to be magic. Your straw man is dumb and you should feel bad for using it.
Temple garments have never purported to be magical. That second straw man of yours is silly, and you should feel silly.
That's just offensive. Temple garments have
never purported to be magical. People who hate The Church of Jesus Christ keep repeating this though.
The purpose of wearing temple garments is a physical reminder of covenants to keep the commandments as recorded in the holy
scriptures, to obey the law of chastity: meaning
no sexual relations outside of marriage and
complete marital fidelity, and to obey the law of
sacrifice- meaning being willing to give
everything for the kingdom of God.
I don’t give a single damn about your “respect”. It means nothing to me. I fear God and none else. Leave your wicked ways. Repent of your sins, and turn to Jesus Christ, the fount of your salvation. You might not realize it now, but that’s the most important thing you’ve heard today.
The word chi is also the word for breath. Breathing is a body mechanic. Therefore, chi is just body mechanics and not magic. That being said, the functions of the human body is pretty magical 🤔
气 Specifically means breath, air, or gas… not magic supernatural energy.
@@RamseyDewey in many ways it is Super Natural because breathing is both Super and natural for us to do 😂
@@RamseyDewey yes, 气 means air, but it also means energy, including the supernatural kind. You have to study the etymology of the word 气.
In traditional Chinese, energy (especially in the body) is written as 氣, pronounced exactly the same as Qi, and comprised of 2 separate words joined together. 气which means air, and 米(mi) which means rice. The ancient Chinese knew that energy Qi came from respiration, i.e. metabolism of food with help of air.
In modern times, China have simplified Chinese words to reduce the number of strokes used to write Chinese words, especially the complicated ones. So 氣 was simplified to 气. Chinese and those who study Chinese will know that Qi 气can mean energy, according to the context used.
Hope this enlightens
@@kandenk 很高兴你在这里向住在中国的人解释中文。
@@RamseyDewey the other lesser known Chinese word for energy Qi is 炁
Do you mean that all that ki stuff is fake and i can't shoot kamehamehas from my hands? that's sad...
Awh man, I was really hoping that was not Brian shaw but.. here we are
And it seems one of his strong man friend was making fun of the master chi powers ☺
Tai chi actually starts you off with leg drive at the beginner level and you work up to gradually only using one leg for power and then eventually the goal is none. Bagua zhang starts you right off with disallowing you to root power from the legs and to start learning internal force. You probably already have your mind made up and wont listen to any of this, but if someone is open minded seek out someone with real skill that isn't faking it and go feel it for yourself. Dont take anyone's word for it.
I have trained with a legitimate master of taijiquan. The man could fight. I have trained with legitimate practitioners of bagua zhang and xinyi- who could also fight. One thing they all had in common is they didn’t fall on the crutch of using meaningless jargon like “internal power” to describe what they were doing. They actually knew how to teach.
@@RamseyDewey internal power is anything but meaningless its the foundation of any internal "martial" art
Cool. Now explain it in terms a small child can understand without using jargon.
Look youre gonna be rude so I am not gonna spend a whole lot of time on this, but I get it. It's too unbelievable and the truth is claims about inner power is far majority either frauds or people who don't know as much as they believe they do. There are a very rare few people out there, if you manage to find them and they accept you, that have kept a very ancient and unbelievable thing alive. Adam isn't even the among the most knowledgeable of what's out there. Inner power is just the beginning of the study. That's all I have to say on this.
No one was rude to you.
Chi energy is no substitute against a punch in the face.
try me
An illusionist might say they don't do tricks, even that is insulting to them. They create illusion and that illusion depends on the "Technique". Disillusionment even works when you're trying to prove that something is "fake." Have you ever heard of "bias" in science? Mizner is annoying in many ways, but he has very good technique. Maybe you can talk to Lyoto Machida and ask him about his experience or any of the guys in the video. There are many problems with tai chi teachers in general, and one must understand that this "magical tai chi is part of the culture" (Song Shuming, 1910-1920). On the other hand, remember that when you talk about MMA, even Rickson Gracie says that MMA Brazilian jiujitsu practitioners are "Amateurs", you are part of this (your channel). What is the truth? You show your truth, and that's okey, but maybe you can be wrong.
Thanks for exposing, chi power.
I feel its kind of a sales ploy to get people interested in learning, Taiji.
The way my Teacher explained chi is, it's intent. If one isn't wholeheartedly committed with mind and body to their defense or attack, they most likely will fail in their defensive or offensive strategy to win the fight.
Ones whole body must work in unison from the ground up through their whole body with intent (mind) to execute their defense and attack effectively.
One of the things I appreciate about Taiji, which you pointed out is, leverage and understanding body mechanics, which, I feel, a skilled Taiji practitioner has a proficient understanding of, as they use their entire body, coupled with intent to execute their moves.
It's a shame that Taiji teachers pretend its some mystical power.
So, thanks again for explaining it has to do with physics and an understanding of proper body mechanics, rather than some mystical chi power.🙏
I expected some interesting debunking, but all I saw were demonstrations that looked unconvincing and completely different from those that it supposedly was recreating. I'm open to any explanation or point of view, but either none of the debunkers I saw up til now are able to perform these mind tricks well enough, or their understanding of it is also wrong or limited. Why don't you try your take of it on Brian Shaw or someone who else who participated? Another problem could be that your demonstrations don't work because your opponents as well as yourself do not believe any of it. Therefore, the mind is not cooperating and it looks silly and ironically enough fake. Even better would be to meet up with Adam and film the outcome. If psychology and positions are the only key, Adam will not be able to make it work on you. I'm still waiting for such footage.
ruclips.net/video/VhS_OQL8F1o/видео.htmlsi=7tvm96myDd-CxDH8
Go give Brian Shaw and ring, and get him to fly out to my gym in China. I’m sure he’ll be down for that. Why not indeed.
Ramsey, do you have any thoughts on sumo? I kind of thought of you when a popular rikishi (Enho) had an orbital fracture that partially blinded him in January's tournament because you had a similar injury (although while I'm not sure of the details of his medical situation, I do know that he has regained enough sight in that eye that he is currently in the March tournament and one of his matches was the most interesting of the juryo division so far).
While I find sumo to be an interesting sport, it often seems like they don't give people enough time to recover from injuries.
Your "get out there and train" in every video was part of why I had decided that as soon as I my employment situation made a gym membership viable, I would try BJJ again after doing it for a few months in 2014. Six months later, I just had my first competition. I took home a bronze medal (there were a total of three people in that division). I don't expect it to be my last competition.
Sumo is cool. I don’t practice it. I’ve just seen it.
It's not magic, its body mechanics and sensing your opponent movements.
Doing gods work hell yeah brotha
I hope people realise how important clips like this are. Nicely done Ramsey. 👍
They might be "tricks" and they may be explained with BS chinese classic woo talk but if they work and you can use them in combat they are not tricks they are techniques.
I dont by into the language but i have trained, touched hands and spent a lot of time with Adam and i can tell you for a fact the 1 thing that you have absolutely no knowledge of nor have any way of knowing until you meet snd touch.
THE DUDE CAN FIGHT.
He has some of the fadtest hands and hardest hits i have ever experienced, infact he has 1 strike i fear more than anyone elses i have felt...but you dont have to believe me, go to Phuket and talk with some of the muay thai and mma fighters there that spared with him.
You can call out the man for classical language woo BS but until you touch hands with the man everything said about his fighting ability is made up BS.
I havent seen him for over a decade but i have great respect for his martial skill BECAUSE I HAVE FELT IT.
My favorite is sending no touch chi to 1 person in a row,that can make the whole row move
Oh yeah! That one is a classic.
When the Power of Chi came out, I was hoping it wouldn't gain any traction. But if Ramsey Dewey is making a video about it, then I guess that means it has reached a lot of people already.
I'm not a fan of the "broad stroke" Tai Chi bashing - real Tai Chi is entirely about body mechanics, and is passed to students that way by those who are not fake teachers. I learned what I know of Tai Chi from people who taught it pretty much exactly the way it is being "debunked" in this video. How to use body mechanics, general physics, the nature of reflexes, etc etc. Learned THAT way, Tai Chi is not fake and is honestly the most effective martial art I have learned in these past three decades. The trick, as with all martial arts, is to find good teachers. Not charlatans. Bash charlatans all you like - I am right there with you for that. Aikido has them in spades too. As does Kung Fu, Karate, and even western Boxing. Call them all out, freely. But to say Tai Chi is fake is to say it has no real teachers. And I know better.
Did you not even watch the first ten seconds of this video? No, I did not say taiji is fake. Pay attention man!
@@RamseyDewey I did pay attention. Mainly I was addressing the clickbait title. I see them too often on martial arts channels. I respect that you showed how body mechanics are the secret to what sometimes looks like magical BS, as your very first example. I didn't much like the video title.
@@adcyuumi That is NOT clickbait. This video is literally an expose debunking the film “The Power of Chi”. This video is literally an expose on fakers using the tricks of illusionists to convince the public that they are tai chi experts. There is nothing clickbait about that title. You got exactly what was promised.
@@sardo1 The trailer alone is full of obvious fakery. Why would I pay to watch the whole thing?
At 5:05 he was not using his "one fingers"... He was literally grabbing the guy's wrists....
I nearly spat out my lunch when I saw that flowery Tai chi guy push over fabricio werdum
Great video, thank you for making and sharing - and I think the performers that really ham it up need debunking.
However, chi / ki energy has really only really been mystified by the west. In its original context, it was simply a model used to train without needing to break down movements into cerebral body mechanics. Was there historically a distinction that states the energy was not “real”? No. It was not necessary. It was something to feel and develop as you train. Anything more is quite literally overthinking.
We don’t have a word like this in the west, which is why I think we ascribe magic to it, but we walk, talk, run, breathe, drive, dance and fight with chi nonetheless.
It is just body mechanics, but after practice it’s being able to deploy those mechanics without the body and mind conflicting and resisting itself.
If it works, is it magic?
Chi/Qi/气 in Chinese means breath or air.
They are meditating on your downfall now
You know they are they are gonna get the chen and yang family after them.
Who believes that the participants in the Tai Chi movie are so easily fooled like what Dewey says, would be really surprising. Especially because these are no pushovers. But okay, then my 2nd problem with this explaination is that the internal workings are explained by Dewey in an external way. This is something you would expect from practitioners that only train external styles. 3rd, The way Dewey demonstrates, though with humor, does not look as convincing as how Mizner does it, not even close. It actually looks more rigged than Mizners demonstrations. Maybe instead of making movies to ridicule the real skilled masters, just try to understand it first before you compare internal with external, or apples and pears. Do like the entrainment, I'll give you that 😉
Explain to me as if I were a small child what “internal” means to you. I’m not convinced that you even know what you mean.
@@RamseyDewey you can look at it this way. You have muscle strength. Martial arts technique. And a 3rd ingredient which is intention. This last one is the key component for leading the chi. Chi which is the energy that can be used as shown in the video.
@@Doobie386 Chi/Qi/气 means breath and air, not magic energy. What was shown in the video was an exploitation of simple body mechanics (that anyone with an elementary understanding of kinesthesiology will immediate pick up on) used as illusion to dupe the ignorant.
Now what do you really mean by "internal martial arts"? I have never once met anyone who could answer that question without talking in circles, appealing to jargon made up of Chinese words they don't understand, or admitting to demonic possession or other supernatural phenomena.
@@RamseyDewey it's no easy subject. the translation won't help you much. We first have to agree that chi exists. So let me ask you first, do you believe chi to exist? And 2nd, have you ever been explained the basics of how TCM works? It'll help our discussion moving forward
@@Doobie386 What exactly do you think qi is? 我呼吸空气 , or in pinyin Wo huxi kong qi. Meaning “I breath air.”
Now pick a language and start using it right. Say what you mean, and stop making an appeal to made up meanings for existing Chinese words that mean other things! If you can’t even say it in English, Chinese, Spanish, or whatever languages you know, that’s a problem.
Qi is air and breath. It’s not the force from Star Wars.
Now what exactly are talking about? Demonic powers? Unexplainable supernatural abilities? Divine intervention? The spirits and intelligences that combined with the bodies of living things make up the soul? What man!
And even IF Adam Mizner was so skilled he could actualy move someone with one finger....I don't care as long as I don't see him applying this principle effectively in a fight or at bare minimum in SPARRING !
Anyone can knock someone out by soccerkicking them in the face. It's just very hard to get someone in that position if they fight back.
Exactly!
also, in what situation would a one finger push be better than just decent wrestling? even if you could do it, it would be just to flex on somebody who you have no real business fighting.
@@gabrielandradeferraz386 you could argue that if he can control someone that way with one finger, he could do so much more with proper wrestling... But... I'm sure he can't wrestle his way out of a wet paper bag.
@@Jenjak but then again, you dont need to argue about how good you are at wrestling... if you are good at it, you can just wrestle.
@@gabrielandradeferraz386 I agree. I was just playing devil's advocate for a minute...
Taiji all about coordination which is balance.
It's crazy, even for a non expert, it's easy to see that the effects produced between what Adam does and this demonstration are different... Everything is different, the positions and the effects. I don't know you but you seem to be an expert in your field, and I think you have the eyes to see it (but maybe not the honesty unfortunately?).
I appreciate what you're doing here in debunking demonstration performance as magic, but some of the bio-mechanical inconsistencies work against the point you're trying to make. In the first example, Fiona is using both of her hands 0:59 to create a wedge on the Brachialis. This is a functionally stronger position than the Taichi practitioner @0:34.
With the second example, @2:59 we can see the larger man has his hand pushing against Mizner's forearm, with Mizner in a relatively bad position with his arm bent at a 45 degree angle. This is why in your example @ 3:43 both of your forms collapse in on each other; you are demonstrating a version of this technique using the forearms exclusively that favors the biomechanical manipulation of the other persons body.
In scientific inquiry, its essential to maintain strict adherence to form, so that we do not compel observer bias one way or the other. I independently research these "internal" systems, and have no definitive opinion on the matter of Chi either way. Somethings are obviously fake, and some things I do not understand. That's as close to truth as I can get, regardless of others ignorance in wanting there to be a hard Yes or No.
I don't want to tell you how to kill someone but I don't practice it any more. I like this small circle Taiji/Bagua style I developed for health and self defense. I used to practice Silat and Escrima.
I'd like to thank Dan and Bruce for being highly influential for so many. I wouldn't have been nearly as creative without their teachings!
That's a comment I left on a Danial Inosanto interview on RUclips.
Came for a good laugh and ended up actually learning some good body mechanics to use
Your first demonstration looks a bit pointless, since your guy in the middle (didn't quite catch his name, sry) didn't keep his arms at his sides.
In the original video the centre guy seems to be actually making himself stiff, holding his right arm rigid for the woman to push against, and your demonstration would have been more convincing and clearer had your guy done the same.
Your explanation that it is all about leverages is great, though.
It's all pointless from the beginning.
I tell you,
If they fought the little woman and the guy between would get dismantled by the strongman even if they both knew the deadliest techniques in the world.
All we learn from "the power of Chi" is that Brian Shaw is a nice lad who likes his easy paycheck.
@@Jenjak I guess so?
Maybe pointless is not the right word there but the rest of my comment should clarify what I mean.
My only gripe---in your intro when you mentioned the "real Tai Chi," that clip of the sword fighting was just about as fake as the magic tricks in the rest of the video. There is real Tai Chi sword work out there, too.
Fake? It’s a man doing a form. He’s not pretending to do anything other than a form. That’s not what fake means.
Ramsey, I have read about a lot of people that practice Tai chi and Qi-gong that say they fell the Chi though their body when training.I have read about people that channeled their Chi in a wrong way and destroyed their internal organs.Are those people suffering from mass- psychosis and feel something that does not exist?Maybe.If you are mentally ill or have psychosis a lot of instructors will not give you permission to let you at their courses because you can make your mental condition worse.I agree with you when it comes to the power of breathing related to MA.But why don-t you try this thing:when you breath during a tehnique ,imagine the energy coming from your Hara and through the hand or foot that you are using for striking.This is the way a lot of people practice TMA and Tai Chi.And they say it works.The procedure is rather very simple,in fact.Those that apply this procedure say that their kicks are faster and stronger.A lot of people deny the existence of the Chi energy just because they are afraid of being made weirdos or crazy.
Qi means breath or air. When you breathe, you should feel qi in your body.
@@RamseyDewey quantum physics says that, at a primal level ,everything that exists in the Universe ,including your body ,is energy that vibrates at a certain frequency.Solidity is an illusion ,then.From here you can draw your conclusions.