Yup. It’s a shame most “traditional” martial artists have no idea of any of this. I started Shotokan Karate 20 years ago, but only in the last year or two have I realized all of these principles are encoded into our Kata but I just never knew to look for them. Now that my eyes have been opened, I see them all the time whether I’m looking at Kata, other styles forms, or just boxing, MMA, Judo, etc.
@@31soham1 Not that it really matters but only 1st Dan. I was prepping for 2nd but never tested because Life happened and I left the JKA and stopped formal training. I’ve been ramping my training back up but having to train solo because there’s nothing in my area and I’m no longer interested in being part of an official Shotokan, or any other style’s organization.
This the problem with traditional martial arts. It's lost its true intention over the years, some people teaching it don't even know what they teaching.
@@mr.q337 I wouldn’t say lost so much as forgotten. But fortunately there’s a growing movement to rediscover and revitalize traditional styles. Patrick McCarthy and Iain Abernathy are particularly prominent in Karate and I expect this movement will become more mainstream in a decade or so
As a taijiquan practitioner and a longtime sub, thank you for this video! Many instructors will teach the traditional 'taichi stance' but will still advise on using the Western short guard (?) Instead of the long guard used by Linji here. Very interesting to see it in practice! Also, i think most people only go as far as fixed step push hands drills, so the footwork is never properly learned. Then, due to the self selection bias of taichi students (typically not a testosterone heavy group), there's rarely free pushing or sparring practice going around, which means the footwork in the form is never learned dynamically and remains useless. Thank you Ramsay for showing TCMA some love, since there's a lot of really interesting concepts in there. 🙏
I've been practicing some "internal" exercises & Bagua for some years for health. It's helped keep me out of a wheelchair for 20 years now, when 3 doctors' opinions said I would definitely be in a wheelchair in 2 years time. 20 years and counting. 🙏👍
This is awesome, I’ve been waiting for something like this from your channel for ages. I’ve been learning xingyi, bagua, and taiji in Texas from someone from the Hebei province for years and it’s nice to see these concepts presented by you. Thank you
Ver cool to see you doing this! Every time I see the “magical” approach to internal arts, it goes from hilarious to annoying. The 3 internal arts he’s presenting are the main ones but there is one more. It’s very rare to find and called Liuhebafa. I study this one. It’s often called the graduate school art after the first three are studied. So many techniques and concepts in this video I have used in real situations (snapped finger to get wrist lock and slam guy 40lbs heavier). And the footwork is quick transportation. Issue is, takes a lot of concentration, diligence, and saintly patience to learn. Most don’t have what it takes. Get the foot placement right, balance is wrong. Get them both right, foot angle is wrong. Get them all right, torso is wrong. Correct torso, now foot position AND angle have strayed. Strength through structure and I mean precise structure. But we all just wanna hit something, right? Thing is, during a strike, attention goes to the hand, foot, etc and one loses all that hard earned structure and has to start all over again. Walking to class, I laugh knowing It’s gonna be 2 hours of “Nope!”…” Wrong!”…..”What was that?”……..”Do it again!” until that magical moment where there’s just silence. Well worth the frustration when I later suddenly realize this made me better at everything I do every time I move. Even previously studied arts! It’s definitely not for everybody. When the learning curve is high, enrollment is low. My teacher likes it that way too.
I'm training those three martial arts for a few years now with a really good coach, it is without any magic, we spar etc. Unfortunately, there are maybe 5 places in my whole country, where you can do that, compared to hundreds or even thousends of places, where you train "magical chi powers". Thank you for covering this!
This is absolutely brilliant, please do more ! ! ! ! One of the best takes on "internal" arts ever. The comment that aikido works if you attack the fingers is quite true. Cheers
Good to see how internal martial arts are actually supposed to work in combat. When it comes to the health benefits it's quite easy to find out (once upon a time I actually practiced Taiji for a couple years precisely for that, I suffered from scoliosis and it helped getting my spine back in place), but about the combat aspect I couldn't really find much beyond the grappling aspect until now. Thanks for this video. P.S.: The thumbnail is beautiful.
I like his emphasis on moving yourself around the opponent to get away from his “weapons” and put yourself in a more advantageous position. That’s ALSO something encoded into Karate Kata BUT most “traditional” Karate practitioners don’t understand it. If you step to the side or change directions in a Kata most “traditional” practicioners think it means you’re being attacked from that direction. However, according to the Karate masters on the late 1800s and early 1900s dismissed that as “nonsense.” The real reason behind the steps, turns, and direction changes is that you should attack your opponent from those side angles or even get behind them. Since the Kata is a solo exercise, you turn relative to yourself. But when breaking the Kata down into its individual techniques with a partner, then you turn and step relative to that partner. I’ve only learned this relatively recently from folks like Iain Abernathy, Patrick McCarthy, etc. and it’s really shown me a whole new dimension to Karate I had no idea was there
Wow, that was amazing! My first time hearing about, what I assume is one out of many, Chinese fighting philosophies. His method seems to emphasize attacking through indirect pathways… there’s actually a military term for that, which I can’t recall at the moment. Anyways that was very enlightening, thanks to the both of you!!
I'm really glad that you made this video, it proves what I've said for years as a traditional student of Chinese martial arts, there is nothing mystical about it, it's all 100% scientific.
@@teeprice7499in Chinese martial arts, qi is the energy that ends up producing the force, but qi is only directed by yi, which means "intention" or "focus"
Ramsey I truly appreciate you posting this video. I like how you guys got into the push hands and the usefulness of the practice. So often people are familiar with Tai chi and it’s rehabilitation. But it’s so much deeper than that. So much more too it than just the forms. Thank you again.
I wish he would talk more about the use of internal styles in fencing. There's so much that I can understand from my experience in xingyi when I watch my kids during their fencing lessons.
Fencer here. I can be completely off the mark here, but IMO this is because a lot of Chinese "internal" styles are originally weapon arts. When weapons have been removed from them (for various reasons) they have taken those concepts and applied them to empty hand combat (and also if you are empty handed and the opponent has a weapon). It's also why the same systems then have clinch/wrestling mechanics to deal when things get messy and too close, but these often get mistaken for longer range striking techniques.
I was always taught what he described here anyway, you move off angle and around the opponent if you can't move them (what you practice with the jong). You would only be in that "death gate" and square up your stance if you are in clinch, same way you see the clinch in Muay Thai. Obviously you want to take the side/back, but fighting isn't always going to end how you want so you have to train in disadvantageous positions as well. And yeah, exactly that.
Please do of these videos! Just this video alone has helped me figure out a BUNCH of Karate Kata techniques I’ve been trying to figure out applications for.
I love this video. I've trained chi sao with my wife and feeling the sensitivity of your opponent feels almost like a superpower. I can react to touch faster than sight
His appointment of wingchun 😂😂😂. He was very smart in avoiding to explain the chinese concept and putting it in simple fighting demonstration. Awesome video. Thank you ! Edit: pls show us a bit of the sparring
Wow this is just like my schools' Tai Chi, Master Chang Dongshen lineage, did many hours of push hands, static and moving, when used with Shai Jiao it is deadly. Good Job!
Finally someone showing how Kung fu is supposed to work, The one thing your missing is an explanation of the upper and lower gate or rather attacking above your opponents striking arm and under.
Remsy, I found great value in your recent video that delved into the convergence of MMA and Internal Martial Arts. Your perspective sheds light on the often overlooked aspects of these less conventional styles and underscores the potential benefits they offer. Having immersed myself in various martial arts disciplines for numerous years, I deeply resonate with journey into Tai Chi (or Bagua) , which I practice over the past decade. It is disheartening to observe the scarcity of proper teaching, particularly in a landscape where Tai Chi is frequently narrowly perceived as merely a health-oriented practice. Reflecting on my own experience, understanding the importance of "internal" principles, encompassing elements such as proper stance, aligned body, balance, and the application of leverage over brute force, has significantly enriched my practice of Tai Chi. The foundational principles inherent in internal stxyles like: Tai Chiand or related arts like Bagua provide a distinctive advantage in approaching martial arts with an emphasis on balance, whole-body coordination, and efficiency. I am inclined to suggest that incorporating these "internal" basics before delving into other martial arts can be a strategically valuable path. It prompts contemplation on how such knowledge, if acquired earlier in my martial arts journey, would have undoubtedly elevated my overall understanding and performance. Thank you for generously sharing your experiences and insights. I eagerly anticipate more of your compelling content.
Hi Ramsey, First time asking a question in the comments, but as we know, you read the comments! Please bear with me, because this is a little long. On the life gate/taking the outside: I've heard a lot about the concept of avoiding trading in the pocket (the "death gate") and trying to get to the opponent's outside(the "life gate") from coaches, but I'm starting to feel like it's a little overemphasized and not given the correct context. During handfighting/wrestling noncompliant flow drills, a lot of times, my training partners or I have tried for a 2-on-1 control of the hand to try to circle around to the other person's back, and it's never really worked, because the other person just pivots with it, slips their arm out of the grip, loops the arm back around for an underhook, and starts clinching up. I've reasoned that this is due to basic geometry: to move to the opponent's outside, you have to take 1 or 2 steps, whereas the opponent only needs to move their feet a very small distance to face you again. (As you say in the video, move your own body instead of your opponent's, which is something I feel is really helpful for takedowns when you attach yourself to your opponent) So, I'm starting to get the impression that taking the outside is a concept that should be reserved for opportunities when your opponent isn't ready to turn to face you, not used as a default strategy. One example would be if they throw a strike that you've predicted, allowing you to take advantage of that tiny measured-in-milliseconds window to take the outside and counter them from a dominant angle. This makes it a very risky thing to commit to against an opponent who's skilled at feinting, since it's hard to predict them. Another, less risky example off the top of my head, is if you're driving the opponent back on a leg takedown and they're hopping backwards, it becomes very natural to pivot and cut and angle so that they're off balance from two different directions and can't resist both of them. And so, when I was first hearing about these concepts, I felt like there was a disconnect between theory and reality during sparring, because most of the time, both parties are able to maintain squareness most of the time, and those opportunities to take the outside don't crop up that often. Do you and Linji think I'm on the right track, or are the gate concepts more broadly applicable than I think? P.S. It's also really cool to go back to one of your sparring videos with Linji to see what you're referencing when you talk about Linji applying these techniques in sparring. Link so other viewers know which one I'm referring to. ruclips.net/video/Mj5Qws5SO4I/видео.html I feel like in practice, it just looks like he's spamming block removers, which I've also found very fun to abuse against passive opponents who shell up in a dutch guard. I feel like it's harder to get off against a less rigid guard where the hands are farther away, allowing them to move around and potentially counter, as well as not blocking peripheral vision. Against this, I've been experimenting lately with pawing at the hand and trying to briefly trap it so I can get a punch in, the way Fedor liked to.
This. I have practiced many, many martial arts over the years and i have never stopped sparring ever since i started and i gotta say that you are right and what you mentioned about moving to the sides is something that i teach about. Now then, there are workarounds to your opponent turning to face you again, these are found in Aikido, Baguazhang, Taijiquan, Wing Chun and other arts. Let me quickly go over some of them without too much detail: In aikido, once you get the opportunity to pull your opponent (might that be after they try to push you or you catch on of their attacks) you will attempt to do a throwing technique in the direction you pulled them, if it works, then that's it, but if you start feeling resistance, you keep going a bit so they resist even more and then quickly turn them in the opposite direction (the one they are trying to go to) this is usually done with the technique called "Kote Gaeshi" you can look that up here on RUclips. Basically the same thing is done in Taichi but the whole Kote Gaeshi thing (or "Chin Na" in Chinese Martial arts) is not always done, instead they will just try to pull you down the other way, but Taichi, Bagua and Aikido do pretty much the same things The one that differs a bit is Wing Chun even tho i've seen Bagua masters teaching this too. Once you use your opportunity to get to the Life Gate (usually with the technique called "Tan Sao" and a punch at the same time) you do as if you were going to attavl again, your opponent has around 4 different actions that they can choose from and they all have a way to counter and can be reacted to (so you do not need to guess) So, one of those actions is try to turn to you again and put you in the Death Gate, right? Well, let me paint the situation for you, you are supposed to stick one of your arms to your opponent's closest arm and that's what you're doing, you are basically in a text book cross-arm position, but very close. So now they can only attack you with the other one, after they start turning into you, they will again have 2 options from which they can choose from, they can thy to use their other hand to defend themselves or they can try to attack you with it. If they attack, you use your free hand fro an easy Tan Sao and now you can just direct that hand over the other one and now they're trapped. If they choose to defend, that means that there is nothing to fear, now that you are in a cross armed position and your opponent isn't making the first move, you can do ANY of the Wing Chun 2-person trapping forms (look for "Kevin Lee trapping demo" on youtube to get a picture of what i'm talking about) This reply was too damn big, it always ends up like that when i talk about martial arts 😭 But as you can see (if you managed to understand all pf my babbling) is that you can make all of this work, but it requires some set up. Furthermore, i mentioned at some point that the opponent had 4 choices and only talked about one, i'll go over them quickly (this time for real). The 3 options were: -They back away. Answer: you stick to them and follow with techniques -They try to go in for a grapple/clinch. Answer: you frame them while trying to deflect them away or even hit them with your elbows. Sprawl if they go too low -They push you. Answer: this is easy. Training in almost any grappling art will allow you to counter this. You can do an arm drag or a forward throw.
I'm sorry for leaving such a large reply 😂 i can't help it! If you need further explanation, i'll be happy to talk about martial arts at any moment. And like i said, i've practiced many, many martial arts; do ask about any of them!
Yes it's difficult to apply against a skilled opponent; as you said, he needs to be momentarily off-balanced &/or distracted, either through over-commitment on his part or by your own techniques. Circling to the outside is a generally good principle though, as any boxer knows.
Good content ramsey and shifu more content like this , how about a chen tai chi push hands and cannon fist master? Please? BTW chen tai chi really is that old and remains in their family since. Thanks for the content and congratulations on moving down my youtube martial artist hitlist 😅👍
So glad to see you doing a deeper dive into the Nei Jia methodologies. No magic powers here! Just sound, time tested, battle proven Principles and Methods for surviving combat. I haven't watched the whole vid yet so bear w me if this is redundant- but one translation of "Internal vs External" i saw offered by a Yang Taiji lineage holder was as simple as- the "External" arts actually originated in Buddhist India, outside of China. The entire Siu Lum (Shaolin) family of arts derives from this External, non Chinese source. The "Internal" arts are all originally Chinese concepts, and derive entirely from Taoist perspectives rather than Buddhist-informed perspectives. In this way, they are "Internal" arts from inside China. Perhaps a better translation of the terms would just be Exogenous and Indigenous
I was lucky early on to learn from a few "internal" stylists and it basically came down to doing breathing and energy type work not only for health benefits but also to learn to relax and breath during a fight , and also how to harness and use your adrenal system. There was never anything mystic or unscientific for me . I have used it for all sorts over things over the decades from martial arts to painting houses to performing onstage . Everybody has felt that rush, that surge of strength when they get startled . Well it's pretty much the same but you use it to focus your power in strikes while still staying loose and controlled and have intention in every move. Plenty of fighters are already doing it
I feel like your work on RUclips is done Ramsey! You’ve instructed so many people on Real martial arts for so many years now! Keep it up but I feel like you’ve taught us so much now, that the internet is up to date on real martial arts, training, and sparring.
For the 25:43 time mark. You ask about those inside hooks. You kind of allude to it yourself. And although it seems a bit more striking oriented, white snake entwines the waist would work there. The concept of stepping on the angle behind your left leg, and breaking your posture, and going under your arms and turning would be a sufficient maneuver there. Again you usually want to hook the throat with your arm almost like a choke and turn through the maneuver. Virgin donates the book, again, although striking maneuver also has the same hook the head throat concept. But since you have the control of the arm tucked, he can’t move up, but you can still turn through. You do allude to breaking that and adjusting. My suggestion, although a bit more shuai Jiao for some people to agree, but these concepts of movement and the idea to take the person down is still there. In Bagua that is. For this. Great video again.
Yeah, you said it yourself at 12:06 of the video, Mr. Dewey. Long guard, plus when you have contact, you immediately start removing options. And you must have the answers to the remaining options. See also 23:54 for his explanation. It's the same concept. Compare also the sequences from: 24:46 and 30:34. And then, as he explained at about 17:30 you also have contact when he defends. Then you do the same. Of course, you must use your palms (also prevents you from breaking your fists) or switch from fist to palm. And he must guard, because if he doesn't, your hit lands. If he does, you want to get his elbow, and have your elbows free. And yes, whether you move him or you move yourself, ultimately doesn't matter. If he's weaker, move him. If you're weaker, move yourself. But you have to have position, balance, body structure, and everything else - in short: alignment. But ultimately, with all of these, you aim to be doing the same moves (a relatively small set) with slight variations. Why learn many moves, to show off? The best analogue to that in BJJ (that I know) is the kimura trap system, IMO: once you have that kimura grip, you start removing options. Obviously all techniques and systems do that, of course, but with this one, it's especially clear, because the kimura is an ever-present threat. In traditional martial arts, the threat is different, but it's still got a chess aspect to it: the opponent must act on your threat, or you execute them.
After a few years of doing 'hard' kung fu, I decided to do some Tai Chi. After a few months of Tai Chi, I found that my punches and kicks were 100% more efficient and stronger, without ever actually training them. No 'magic' involved, just something in my body had opened up.
Exactly. People keep forgetting that what you train in taiji aren't fixed fighting techniques but a kind of skill that's more like a "mindset" and "bodyset" that improves your overall structure and efficiency when moving. And that transfers to literally anything.
If u approach most kung fu systems as grappling systems from grappling ranges it becomes extremely effective again, kung fu's plagued with distance and tactical misunderstandings Excellent demo and explanations here. Bjj frames, Tai chi sofly rides and steers like a boat rudder, allow your opponent to create 100% of the opportune openings to exploit, you don't have to force them, just recognize them mostly by feel
I have also been waiting for you to find a real internal person. It isn't what most people think. Internal is brutal if someone is at the level of Adam Mizner or above. Takes tremendous time to learn though and most Masters use your first ten years for dedication and character checks before they share anything. He has some of "It." Rare find to touch anyone who actually has It. Fighting isn't the same after you have experienced It. Mind Blowing. Thanks for having the real deal on your channel. Tai Chi Classics are Real but like a needle in a haystack lottery to find someone.
No offense, but you seem to have completely failed to understand he point of this video. Adam Milzner is the OPPOSITE of ACTUAL real internal martial arts. He's a charlatan who is still pushing the mythical "internal" martial arts. Look at Ramsey's own video calling out Milzner's nonsense on this channel.
There's a theory that the term Neijia/Waijia is originally meant to differentiate Taoist and Buddhist martial arts; where the former is indigenous to China, while the latter is originally from India. This makes more sense to me since both Taoist and Buddhist martial arts have both spiritual (internal) and physical (external) training.
Thank you to Linji and the Coach for sharing! :) I feel that this kind of teaching should be in the curriculum for every student of traditional martial arts, so that they know: what kind of combat tactic am I training all these skills for? To use a gun analogy: after you have learned to assembled a gun, you need to learn how to aim and shoot it (and avoid getting shot by the enemy), or else the gun is practically useless and may even be a hazard to you. As an aside: it's refreshing to see a modern combat sports person learn a traditional MA skill and immediately like it so much that he goes, "I'm gonna spam this on the opponent next time!" 😂
Interesting how Bagua, Wing Chun and Tai Chi share almost the same mechanics but what makes the distinction is conceptual preferences, bagua cuts angles, taichi redirects momentum, and wing chun pressures through, but it on first glance looks almost the same, just like the diferences between bjj, judo and wrestling, same mechanics but conceptualy different
Wonderful demonstration. And as Ramsey says, there's a lot that the camera cannot capture. Internal martial arts appear "soft", but the amount of pressure they exert purely on light contact is unreal. There is a lot of substantial behind the "wimpy" movements and techniques and it separates an effective fighter from a dancer who believes they can fight.
Yes!! So happy that Ramsey is learning the legitimacy of Chinese martial arts. Well done, both of you I’m learning Bajiquan, and I think Ramsey would enjoy something like that as well to add to his MMA arsenal
@@RamseyDewey sorry, I didn’t mean to sound critical. I just like to see when MMA coaches and fighters try and realize that traditional arts can be applied in modern times.
Thanks for the video ! :) Good information I happen to find some of those principles in my current taekwondo and aikido training. we are all on the same martial arts journey together !
The Neijia Quan (Internal Martial Arts) tends to involve a higher usage of inner muscles and softer movements compared to Waijia Quan (External Martial Arts). However, there are individual differences, and I think that thinking too much about differences based on these names is not important. At least, I only know that Neijia Quan primarily refers to Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, and Taijiquan, but I haven't thought too much about it.
This is exactly the kind of stuff that needs to happen more and I really liked this video, although I think he struggled to communicate some of what he wanted, partly due to the language barrier. There's body mechanics too, which is what the "nei" is all about, but it is not easy to communicate right away, especially when people have a different way of understanding the task at hand, i.e. fighting. The "external" parts are a common starting point and give the basic idea. The idea of "internal arts" may be pretty baseless and nonsensical in a lot of ways, but it does point to how we can shift our focus from outward movements to the mechanics and sensation, which as you said, cannot be caught on camera and is an important part of the skill development. One thing that he said though, which I kind of disagree with or misunderstood, was how "neijia" apparently don't like the close grappling range. Maybe it's not ideal, but there's things which can be done there, like shoulder bumping and tripping, but also joint manipulation if you get the opening you need. It's a kind of qinna.
Very enlightening talk. My internal martial arts is breathing integrated deeply with movement. Reverse breathing changes your balance point, and a small angle change driven by your breathing gets magnified through your skeletal structure and moves your opponent slightly while you walk past in the opposite direction for the back take. But it all starts with timing feeling and breath. That's the "internal" part I'm aware of and train. No magic though, unfortunately.
There's definitely some aspects of traditional martial arts that you can use in modern combat sports. As much as people shit on wing chun, there's moments where 'sticky hands' work in my boxing. I've even adopted 'vertical punches' that work well in boxing.
Great video. Very insightful. Its crazy how much functionality has been lost to time or hidden away behind a myth. In reality, the basic principles are always the same and hopefully modern martial arts can help traditional martial arts rediscover the true function of the form. Tanget: I wonder if wing chun was either trying to innovate combat within the "death gate" hence the lack of movement or they did teach moving into superior positions but that was lost to time. Were they trying to think outside the box or was a key aspect hidden away by other things 🤔
Watching this was exactly like the sort of lessons I get in Shotokan because of the overlap between Karate and Kungfu and as it turns out my teacher was making that point about the relationship between Karate and Kungfu generally. You're completely right, many of the very practical aspects of traditional martial arts get lost and it's because so many just go through the motions and they don't actually practice the technique especially when it comes to Kata. In Shotokan Kata's there are quite a number of joint lock and takedown techniques hidden away in the movements which a lot of MMA guys would be surprised by. This is something we've been going into a lot with sparring lately for the sake of learning more advanced sparring generally and getting more practical. This video is what you get when you see traditional martial arts being taught correctly, it's great Ramsey did this. Also worth noting, I have seen some of those exact techniques this guy is showing in Goju Ryu.
Almost all Wing Chun you encounter is Yip Man's, who was admittedly a horrible teacher. There are other schools of WC with better footwork, little emphasis on Chi Sao or even total lack of forms. Unfortunately, these are usually impossible to find and, thus, wide open to fraudulent "Sifu".
There's a theory that WC was made to mate Fujian boxing with western boxing. I believe this, not only because the WC stance is exactly the western boxing posture of those times, but WC's utter lack of the "spit/sink/swallow/float" principles that form the dynamics of virtually all other Fujian schools, in spite of the fact that WC pretty much shares their techniques.
From what my Sifu tells me is many generations ago the family that was carrying on the lineage of Wing Chun taught only to family. One day on the farm they lived on they were practicing and they noticed a neighbour watching them. The father modified his techniques to the odd stance and straight in fighting style, and when the neighbour wasn’t there he taught the original style to his children. So Modified Wing Chun got out to the masses but traditional family style which had a lot more techniques got taught only to the family. We don’t do the pigeon toed stance, we do lots of kicks, grappling, ground game, as well as the more traditional moves you see in Wing Chun. We never attack on the danger zone, but go off their attack line and come in from the side or back. Sifu hasn’t trained in MMA or other styles and yet we do lots of similar techniques.
That bit about sword fighting made so mich sense! When you fight with weapons, you cant just attack the person, you have to be aware of and in control of their weapon or you risk getting hit as well. In unarmed fighting, your hands are your weapons, so you have to control their weapons before you attack or you risk getting countered! Lightbulb moment!
As a Chinese living abroad, I can see some foreign MMA coaches, and practitioners are more friendly than a lot in China, which I'm so glad, and so pleasant to see. Today in China as far as I know they don't even show respect to others, discredit traditional arts at all cost, how irony. No matter who you are learning from, show respect first then we can see if he or she has anything worth learning, we try to understand it first then we can decide or judge, it's fair, rational and reasonable.
Great video. Are you finally admitting that there is plenty of practical material in traditional martial arts? I train in Inosanto Kali, and the footwork of our system is always moving off line on 45 degree angles to avoid the area directly in front of your opponent. This sounds somewhat similar to what this gentleman was speaking of avoiding the death gate. I personally believe that all martial arts offer as long as they are being taught properly have something to offer. Please do more videos like this, I like your analysis of the techniques that you are being shown.
hey ramsey ! I wondered, as someone who currently learns chinese, how much did you learn chinese and what are you thoughts / what were your first impressions on the language ?
In Wing Chun at least Wong Shun Leung lineage, you don't take the death gate, you just try to angel with smaller movements. Ask Wang Zhi Peng about it, perhaps in a similar format. ;)
From what I understand, the wooden dummy was originally posted in the ground and you could get around it. The wooden dummy on the wall started because that's the only place they fit in Hong Kong apartments
I've been waiting a long time for this ever since I saw you spar with him I was curious unfortunately you can't get good bog wao on the internet these days
A lot of people uphold the legend that the BaGua circle walking came from some mystical Taoist monk. Practitioner and historian HaiYang actually has a longform video about this, they originally have linear and zig-zag footwork patterns. Until Chinese Wrestler Cheng Tinghua took up BaGua and to save space, he had his students walk around the outer rim of his wrestling sand-pit. Also a lot of the pushing and rotating from Tai Chi supposedly related to Yang Lu Chan “selling out” and working for the Manchurians. If he indeed honed his Chen Tai Chi skills with the Manchurians, then no doubt he honed his skills dealing with a lot of proficient grapplers.
i love boxing but when i hear "sweet science" i always think of the wt/bagua/silat/kali hand figthing systems and their endless intricate hand trapping and wrestling entries. It's connective tissue between martial arts and also follows the general principle of the wing tsun mechanics and decision making loop/principles. more plz.
I've once heard internal power defined as using the structure of the body. Maybe that's a more helpful definition. But your analogy of rock paper scissors might be even better.
Howdy Coach, thanks for highlighting this area of martial arts. Dr Jwing-Ming Yang. has a book and an accompanying DVD ''Tai Chi Chuan Martial Applications: Advanced Yang Style'' that is really excellent. Do you know Dr Yang and his books/DVD from YMAA?
its all about changing the original question your opponent is asking. the major issue is that you dont get to dictate distance in a fight all the time.
I have found that a lot of traditional martial arts are built for more specific purposes and then expanded for generalization. On the other hand, modern combat systems are often built for as general a situation as possible, then honed in on specific scenarios. This idea may explain why Wing Chun often fights at the centerline, if you buy into the idea that it was developed for close quarters fighting where there is not much space for turning in the first place, like a small corridor. Maybe, this is why the legend that Wing Chun was invented by a woman is appealing: when you are boxed in by brute force, you must learn to fight at the Death gate. However, this does not necessarily expand well to more generalized situations. Or, for example, the legend that Karate was developed for unarmed attackers to beat armed attackers. This would help explain many of their blocking forms and punching mechanics, as you are borrowing from weapon arts systems. Wing Chun itself has knife and staff forms as well. These ideas lay directly in contrast to how we see modern fight sports develop, becoming standardized to highest percentage plays. However, this similarly shows the necessity for martial arts to develop with the times, as high percentage plays are more important in the modern world of self defense or fight sports. Even old bareknuckle boxing techniques are easily explained as being highest percentage for its time. Maybe, in a world where we have MMA but in a tiny janitor's closet, Wing Chun would theoretically prevail. This video argues quite effectively for internal martial arts as a combat system, which is perhaps why Linji makes such a distinction between certain traditional arts and others.
Coach can you make a video about elbows . Ive been watching more muay thai recently and Ive seen a lot more elbow variations and setups that i hadnt seen in Mma before . Why is there not so much elbow use in the standup part of mma ?is it because of not focusing on them that much or another reason? Love your channel.Love your videos. Hope your knee is better?
I suspect it's a lot like how you don't see as many of the fancier, more obscure judo throws in MMA as compared to IJF competition, or why taekwondo stylists in MMA don't tend to throw quite as many spinning kicks. The ruleset and context of judo means that we spend a lot more time in mid-distance tie-ups where we can work to set up cool throws, the ruleset of TKD means they spend a lot of time outside punching range setting up long-range kicks, and the ruleset of Muay Thai means a lot of time is spent in clinches and other close exchanges where elbow setups can shine. In MMA, there's very little restriction on what can be done, which means that simpler setups are needed because the situation changes so quickly. There's a quip I've seen a few places (including this channel, I think), which says that 90% of BJJ doesn't work in MMA, because 90% of any specialised art doesn't work when you put it in an arena where (almost) anything goes. None of that is to say that the cooler elbow setups *can't* work in MMA, it's just that unless you've got two very clinch-heavy fighters matched against each other, so little of the fight will be spent in situations where elbows are relevant that it's generally more efficient to just use the simple ones, because you're probably not gonna get the chance to use them so much that the opponent will start catching on, and even if they do, they're probably not proficient enough in that area to start making you use the really fancy stuff.
To be a little more concise: let's say a really good nak muay can make it so that a Muay Thai fight takes place 50% in the clinch. In that situation, so many elbows are going to be thrown that sneaky setups start to be really important. In an MMA fight, on the other hand, takedown threats and general reluctance to clinch might mean that same fighter can only make the fight take place 20% or even 10% in the clinch. In that case, it becomes a lot more efficient to mostly use your best two or three setups.
@@ihihiha3530 hmm, that is a good point, and my explanation doesn't really make sense of that. It's quite possible that you _could_ find an example of that being done in MMA, and it just hasn't happened on a big stage yet? There are two other possible reasons I can think of: firstly, the takedown threat combined with how close you have to get to land an elbow might make it unappealing, given how many people like to set up their takedown shots with their hands; if you commit to an elbow from outside the clinch and they happen to shoot a takedown at that moment, you more or less give them that takedown. The other is that from what I've seen, head movement is a lot more common and generally larger in MMA than in Muay Thai, so it may just not be as consistent a setup in that context?
I have a great deal of space for internal martial arts philosophy. An abstraction of body mechanics and movement can better convey intention than just learning the movements by themselves. Even if I know the chi isn’t a tangible thing, imagining it really helps perform better. The styles of internal martial arts are awesome.
Some things remind me a lot how the bind works in sword and spear. Winning the bind with leverage, footwork, but also gaining information/giving false information with pressures.
Funny history: The dallas cowboys and san fran 49ers in their legendary years trained and used these concepts, as well as a few NCAA teams. You can find the videos on youtube of them actually bringing in a sifu and doing some tai chi and wing chun at their practices around 1990.
This dude went through hundreds of years of training on flanking, controlling distance and cutting angles in about 40 minutes!!
Yup. It’s a shame most “traditional” martial artists have no idea of any of this. I started Shotokan Karate 20 years ago, but only in the last year or two have I realized all of these principles are encoded into our Kata but I just never knew to look for them. Now that my eyes have been opened, I see them all the time whether I’m looking at Kata, other styles forms, or just boxing, MMA, Judo, etc.
@alexanderren1097 what degree black belt are you?
@@31soham1 Not that it really matters but only 1st Dan. I was prepping for 2nd but never tested because Life happened and I left the JKA and stopped formal training. I’ve been ramping my training back up but having to train solo because there’s nothing in my area and I’m no longer interested in being part of an official Shotokan, or any other style’s organization.
This the problem with traditional martial arts. It's lost its true intention over the years, some people teaching it don't even know what they teaching.
@@mr.q337 I wouldn’t say lost so much as forgotten. But fortunately there’s a growing movement to rediscover and revitalize traditional styles. Patrick McCarthy and Iain Abernathy are particularly prominent in Karate and I expect this movement will become more mainstream in a decade or so
As a taijiquan practitioner and a longtime sub, thank you for this video! Many instructors will teach the traditional 'taichi stance' but will still advise on using the Western short guard (?) Instead of the long guard used by Linji here. Very interesting to see it in practice! Also, i think most people only go as far as fixed step push hands drills, so the footwork is never properly learned. Then, due to the self selection bias of taichi students (typically not a testosterone heavy group), there's rarely free pushing or sparring practice going around, which means the footwork in the form is never learned dynamically and remains useless.
Thank you Ramsay for showing TCMA some love, since there's a lot of really interesting concepts in there. 🙏
I've been practicing some "internal" exercises & Bagua for some years for health. It's helped keep me out of a wheelchair for 20 years now, when 3 doctors' opinions said I would definitely be in a wheelchair in 2 years time. 20 years and counting. 🙏👍
What did the doctors said you have may I ask? Just amazing!
bagua also helped me deal with a degenerted disc
This is awesome, I’ve been waiting for something like this from your channel for ages. I’ve been learning xingyi, bagua, and taiji in Texas from someone from the Hebei province for years and it’s nice to see these concepts presented by you. Thank you
Is that a references to Dale Gribble joke from King of The Hill?
Where in Texas? I’m in DFW
Where in TX is this available?
Hebei Chinese Martial Arts in Richardson
@@Pope2501
no but it should be @@DenshaOtoko2 Sh-sh-shaaaa!
Less than 15minutes in and it has already been one of the most informative videos on martial arts I've ever watched! Kudos and thank you Ramsey!
Ver cool to see you doing this! Every time I see the “magical” approach to internal arts, it goes from hilarious to annoying. The 3 internal arts he’s presenting are the main ones but there is one more. It’s very rare to find and called Liuhebafa. I study this one. It’s often called the graduate school art after the first three are studied.
So many techniques and concepts in this video I have used in real situations (snapped finger to get wrist lock and slam guy 40lbs heavier). And the footwork is quick transportation.
Issue is, takes a lot of concentration, diligence, and saintly patience to learn. Most don’t have what it takes. Get the foot placement right, balance is wrong. Get them both right, foot angle is wrong. Get them all right, torso is wrong. Correct torso, now foot position AND angle have strayed. Strength through structure and I mean precise structure.
But we all just wanna hit something, right?
Thing is, during a strike, attention goes to the hand, foot, etc and one loses all that hard earned structure and has to start all over again.
Walking to class, I laugh knowing It’s gonna be 2 hours of “Nope!”…” Wrong!”…..”What was that?”……..”Do it again!” until that magical moment where there’s just silence.
Well worth the frustration when I later suddenly realize this made me better at everything I do every time I move. Even previously studied arts!
It’s definitely not for everybody. When the learning curve is high, enrollment is low.
My teacher likes it that way too.
I'm training those three martial arts for a few years now with a really good coach, it is without any magic, we spar etc. Unfortunately, there are maybe 5 places in my whole country, where you can do that, compared to hundreds or even thousends of places, where you train "magical chi powers". Thank you for covering this!
This is absolutely brilliant, please do more ! ! ! ! One of the best takes on "internal" arts ever. The comment that aikido works if you attack the fingers is quite true. Cheers
Good to see how internal martial arts are actually supposed to work in combat. When it comes to the health benefits it's quite easy to find out (once upon a time I actually practiced Taiji for a couple years precisely for that, I suffered from scoliosis and it helped getting my spine back in place), but about the combat aspect I couldn't really find much beyond the grappling aspect until now. Thanks for this video.
P.S.: The thumbnail is beautiful.
LOVE IT!!!
Jesse-sensei!
Thank you!
I'm happy you're doing these videos because you're addressing the internal martial arts with respect. You're doing important work.
I like his emphasis on moving yourself around the opponent to get away from his “weapons” and put yourself in a more advantageous position.
That’s ALSO something encoded into Karate Kata BUT most “traditional” Karate practitioners don’t understand it. If you step to the side or change directions in a Kata most “traditional” practicioners think it means you’re being attacked from that direction. However, according to the Karate masters on the late 1800s and early 1900s dismissed that as “nonsense.”
The real reason behind the steps, turns, and direction changes is that you should attack your opponent from those side angles or even get behind them. Since the Kata is a solo exercise, you turn relative to yourself. But when breaking the Kata down into its individual techniques with a partner, then you turn and step relative to that partner.
I’ve only learned this relatively recently from folks like Iain Abernathy, Patrick McCarthy, etc. and it’s really shown me a whole new dimension to Karate I had no idea was there
Wow, that was amazing! My first time hearing about, what I assume is one out of many, Chinese fighting philosophies. His method seems to emphasize attacking through indirect pathways… there’s actually a military term for that, which I can’t recall at the moment. Anyways that was very enlightening, thanks to the both of you!!
I'm really glad that you made this video, it proves what I've said for years as a traditional student of Chinese martial arts, there is nothing mystical about it, it's all 100% scientific.
Kinda like how I explain to the usual ignoramus that KI is your focus, not the Force. A lot of people get those two things confused, somehow.
@@teeprice7499in Chinese martial arts, qi is the energy that ends up producing the force, but qi is only directed by yi, which means "intention" or "focus"
@@eprd313 understood but when I say the Force I'm referring to the Star wars version which is a different thing
@@teeprice7499 ohhh hehehe right, spot on!
Ramsey I truly appreciate you posting this video. I like how you guys got into the push hands and the usefulness of the practice. So often people are familiar with Tai chi and it’s rehabilitation. But it’s so much deeper than that. So much more too it than just the forms. Thank you again.
I watched this thinking it would be worthless but some of these principles I KNOW and understand at a basic level. This was very informative. Thanks.
I wish he would talk more about the use of internal styles in fencing. There's so much that I can understand from my experience in xingyi when I watch my kids during their fencing lessons.
Fencer here. I can be completely off the mark here, but IMO this is because a lot of Chinese "internal" styles are originally weapon arts. When weapons have been removed from them (for various reasons) they have taken those concepts and applied them to empty hand combat (and also if you are empty handed and the opponent has a weapon).
It's also why the same systems then have clinch/wrestling mechanics to deal when things get messy and too close, but these often get mistaken for longer range striking techniques.
@@vonbellum do you have experience with internal styles?
@@EvilWeiRamirez Wing Chun (I took the video in good humour 🤣)
@@vonbellum just gotta move out of that death gate.
I guess with weapon styles, a lot of stuff is going to transfer over.
I was always taught what he described here anyway, you move off angle and around the opponent if you can't move them (what you practice with the jong). You would only be in that "death gate" and square up your stance if you are in clinch, same way you see the clinch in Muay Thai. Obviously you want to take the side/back, but fighting isn't always going to end how you want so you have to train in disadvantageous positions as well.
And yeah, exactly that.
Please do of these videos! Just this video alone has helped me figure out a BUNCH of Karate Kata techniques I’ve been trying to figure out applications for.
I love this video. I've trained chi sao with my wife and feeling the sensitivity of your opponent feels almost like a superpower. I can react to touch faster than sight
Man, this video was SO enlightening!! Thank you guys!!
His appointment of wingchun 😂😂😂. He was very smart in avoiding to explain the chinese concept and putting it in simple fighting demonstration.
Awesome video.
Thank you !
Edit: pls show us a bit of the sparring
This was incredibly interesting. Thank you Ramsey and Linji. This really coincided with a recent few topics i was discussing with others.
Wow this is just like my schools' Tai Chi, Master Chang Dongshen lineage, did many hours of push hands, static and moving, when used with Shai Jiao it is deadly. Good Job!
Really enjoyed this! Great job Ramsey!
Finally someone showing how Kung fu is supposed to work, The one thing your missing is an explanation of the upper and lower gate or rather attacking above your opponents striking arm and under.
Remsy, I found great value in your recent video that delved into the convergence of MMA and Internal Martial Arts. Your perspective sheds light on the often overlooked aspects of these less conventional styles and underscores the potential benefits they offer.
Having immersed myself in various martial arts disciplines for numerous years, I deeply resonate with journey into Tai Chi (or Bagua) , which I practice over the past decade. It is disheartening to observe the scarcity of proper teaching, particularly in a landscape where Tai Chi is frequently narrowly perceived as merely a health-oriented practice.
Reflecting on my own experience, understanding the importance of "internal" principles, encompassing elements such as proper stance, aligned body, balance, and the application of leverage over brute force, has significantly enriched my practice of Tai Chi. The foundational principles inherent in internal stxyles like: Tai Chiand or related arts like Bagua provide a distinctive advantage in approaching martial arts with an emphasis on balance, whole-body coordination, and efficiency.
I am inclined to suggest that incorporating these "internal" basics before delving into other martial arts can be a strategically valuable path. It prompts contemplation on how such knowledge, if acquired earlier in my martial arts journey, would have undoubtedly elevated my overall understanding and performance.
Thank you for generously sharing your experiences and insights. I eagerly anticipate more of your compelling content.
Thank you!
This was wonderful I appreciate the instruction I cannot wait to attempt to apply what I've learned here THANK YOU
Great lesson! Some very important concepts there to integrate.
Hi Ramsey,
First time asking a question in the comments, but as we know, you read the comments!
Please bear with me, because this is a little long.
On the life gate/taking the outside: I've heard a lot about the concept of avoiding trading in the pocket (the "death gate") and trying to get to the opponent's outside(the "life gate") from coaches, but I'm starting to feel like it's a little overemphasized and not given the correct context.
During handfighting/wrestling noncompliant flow drills, a lot of times, my training partners or I have tried for a 2-on-1 control of the hand to try to circle around to the other person's back, and it's never really worked, because the other person just pivots with it, slips their arm out of the grip, loops the arm back around for an underhook, and starts clinching up. I've reasoned that this is due to basic geometry: to move to the opponent's outside, you have to take 1 or 2 steps, whereas the opponent only needs to move their feet a very small distance to face you again. (As you say in the video, move your own body instead of your opponent's, which is something I feel is really helpful for takedowns when you attach yourself to your opponent)
So, I'm starting to get the impression that taking the outside is a concept that should be reserved for opportunities when your opponent isn't ready to turn to face you, not used as a default strategy. One example would be if they throw a strike that you've predicted, allowing you to take advantage of that tiny measured-in-milliseconds window to take the outside and counter them from a dominant angle. This makes it a very risky thing to commit to against an opponent who's skilled at feinting, since it's hard to predict them. Another, less risky example off the top of my head, is if you're driving the opponent back on a leg takedown and they're hopping backwards, it becomes very natural to pivot and cut and angle so that they're off balance from two different directions and can't resist both of them.
And so, when I was first hearing about these concepts, I felt like there was a disconnect between theory and reality during sparring, because most of the time, both parties are able to maintain squareness most of the time, and those opportunities to take the outside don't crop up that often.
Do you and Linji think I'm on the right track, or are the gate concepts more broadly applicable than I think?
P.S. It's also really cool to go back to one of your sparring videos with Linji to see what you're referencing when you talk about Linji applying these techniques in sparring. Link so other viewers know which one I'm referring to.
ruclips.net/video/Mj5Qws5SO4I/видео.html
I feel like in practice, it just looks like he's spamming block removers, which I've also found very fun to abuse against passive opponents who shell up in a dutch guard. I feel like it's harder to get off against a less rigid guard where the hands are farther away, allowing them to move around and potentially counter, as well as not blocking peripheral vision. Against this, I've been experimenting lately with pawing at the hand and trying to briefly trap it so I can get a punch in, the way Fedor liked to.
This.
I have practiced many, many martial arts over the years and i have never stopped sparring ever since i started and i gotta say that you are right and what you mentioned about moving to the sides is something that i teach about. Now then, there are workarounds to your opponent turning to face you again, these are found in Aikido, Baguazhang, Taijiquan, Wing Chun and other arts. Let me quickly go over some of them without too much detail:
In aikido, once you get the opportunity to pull your opponent (might that be after they try to push you or you catch on of their attacks) you will attempt to do a throwing technique in the direction you pulled them, if it works, then that's it, but if you start feeling resistance, you keep going a bit so they resist even more and then quickly turn them in the opposite direction (the one they are trying to go to) this is usually done with the technique called "Kote Gaeshi" you can look that up here on RUclips.
Basically the same thing is done in Taichi but the whole Kote Gaeshi thing (or "Chin Na" in Chinese Martial arts) is not always done, instead they will just try to pull you down the other way, but Taichi, Bagua and Aikido do pretty much the same things
The one that differs a bit is Wing Chun even tho i've seen Bagua masters teaching this too. Once you use your opportunity to get to the Life Gate (usually with the technique called "Tan Sao" and a punch at the same time) you do as if you were going to attavl again, your opponent has around 4 different actions that they can choose from and they all have a way to counter and can be reacted to (so you do not need to guess)
So, one of those actions is try to turn to you again and put you in the Death Gate, right? Well, let me paint the situation for you, you are supposed to stick one of your arms to your opponent's closest arm and that's what you're doing, you are basically in a text book cross-arm position, but very close. So now they can only attack you with the other one, after they start turning into you, they will again have 2 options from which they can choose from, they can thy to use their other hand to defend themselves or they can try to attack you with it. If they attack, you use your free hand fro an easy Tan Sao and now you can just direct that hand over the other one and now they're trapped.
If they choose to defend, that means that there is nothing to fear, now that you are in a cross armed position and your opponent isn't making the first move, you can do ANY of the Wing Chun 2-person trapping forms (look for "Kevin Lee trapping demo" on youtube to get a picture of what i'm talking about)
This reply was too damn big, it always ends up like that when i talk about martial arts 😭
But as you can see (if you managed to understand all pf my babbling) is that you can make all of this work, but it requires some set up.
Furthermore, i mentioned at some point that the opponent had 4 choices and only talked about one, i'll go over them quickly (this time for real). The 3 options were:
-They back away. Answer: you stick to them and follow with techniques
-They try to go in for a grapple/clinch. Answer: you frame them while trying to deflect them away or even hit them with your elbows. Sprawl if they go too low
-They push you. Answer: this is easy. Training in almost any grappling art will allow you to counter this. You can do an arm drag or a forward throw.
I'm sorry for leaving such a large reply 😂 i can't help it!
If you need further explanation, i'll be happy to talk about martial arts at any moment. And like i said, i've practiced many, many martial arts; do ask about any of them!
Yes it's difficult to apply against a skilled opponent;
as you said, he needs to be momentarily off-balanced &/or distracted, either through over-commitment on his part or by your own techniques.
Circling to the outside is a generally good principle though, as any boxer knows.
@@BWater-yq3jx exactly
Good content ramsey and shifu more content like this , how about a chen tai chi push hands and cannon fist master? Please? BTW chen tai chi really is that old and remains in their family since.
Thanks for the content and congratulations on moving down my youtube martial artist hitlist 😅👍
Absolutely brilliant video! Anyone practicing TMA should watch this and take a page out of Linji’s book
I really like your videos, and that's one of the best I've ever seen. Very informative.
MMA and Internal Martial Art?
Sounds like great idea🤩
Best kung fu lesson vid I've found so far, thanks teachers. Stay blessed 1♡☆
So glad to see you doing a deeper dive into the Nei Jia methodologies.
No magic powers here! Just sound, time tested, battle proven Principles and Methods for surviving combat.
I haven't watched the whole vid yet so bear w me if this is redundant- but one translation of "Internal vs External" i saw offered by a Yang Taiji lineage holder was as simple as- the "External" arts actually originated in Buddhist India, outside of China. The entire Siu Lum (Shaolin) family of arts derives from this External, non Chinese source.
The "Internal" arts are all originally Chinese concepts, and derive entirely from Taoist perspectives rather than Buddhist-informed perspectives. In this way, they are "Internal" arts from inside China. Perhaps a better translation of the terms would just be Exogenous and Indigenous
Considering that 哪家 literally means “outside the home” and 外家 means “inside the home”, that makes a lot of sense.
@@RamseyDewey i didn't even realize that the translation was so clear and direct. Makes a ton of sense though.
I was lucky early on to learn from a few "internal" stylists and it basically came down to doing breathing and energy type work not only for health benefits but also to learn to relax and breath during a fight , and also how to harness and use your adrenal system. There was never anything mystic or unscientific for me . I have used it for all sorts over things over the decades from martial arts to painting houses to performing onstage . Everybody has felt that rush, that surge of strength when they get startled . Well it's pretty much the same but you use it to focus your power in strikes while still staying loose and controlled and have intention in every move. Plenty of fighters are already doing it
I feel like your work on RUclips is done Ramsey! You’ve instructed so many people on Real martial arts for so many years now! Keep it up but I feel like you’ve taught us so much now, that the internet is up to date on real martial arts, training, and sparring.
Hahaha! I have only shown you a tiny fraction of what I know, and what I know is only a tiny fraction of what there is.
Great vid' presentation thx. So many principle geared overlaps with styles such as Wing Chun, Bagua, Taiji, xinyi, Lung ying and Bak Mei.
For the 25:43 time mark. You ask about those inside hooks. You kind of allude to it yourself. And although it seems a bit more striking oriented, white snake entwines the waist would work there. The concept of stepping on the angle behind your left leg, and breaking your posture, and going under your arms and turning would be a sufficient maneuver there. Again you usually want to hook the throat with your arm almost like a choke and turn through the maneuver. Virgin donates the book, again, although striking maneuver also has the same hook the head throat concept. But since you have the control of the arm tucked, he can’t move up, but you can still turn through. You do allude to breaking that and adjusting. My suggestion, although a bit more shuai Jiao for some people to agree, but these concepts of movement and the idea to take the person down is still there. In Bagua that is. For this. Great video again.
16:44 Dewey, good recognition.-Ernie Moore Jr.
Great video as always! Please, can you make a video about Baji/Pigua applications in the future?
Yeah, you said it yourself at 12:06 of the video, Mr. Dewey. Long guard, plus when you have contact, you immediately start removing options. And you must have the answers to the remaining options. See also 23:54 for his explanation. It's the same concept. Compare also the sequences from: 24:46 and 30:34.
And then, as he explained at about 17:30 you also have contact when he defends. Then you do the same. Of course, you must use your palms (also prevents you from breaking your fists) or switch from fist to palm. And he must guard, because if he doesn't, your hit lands. If he does, you want to get his elbow, and have your elbows free.
And yes, whether you move him or you move yourself, ultimately doesn't matter. If he's weaker, move him. If you're weaker, move yourself. But you have to have position, balance, body structure, and everything else - in short: alignment.
But ultimately, with all of these, you aim to be doing the same moves (a relatively small set) with slight variations. Why learn many moves, to show off?
The best analogue to that in BJJ (that I know) is the kimura trap system, IMO: once you have that kimura grip, you start removing options. Obviously all techniques and systems do that, of course, but with this one, it's especially clear, because the kimura is an ever-present threat. In traditional martial arts, the threat is different, but it's still got a chess aspect to it: the opponent must act on your threat, or you execute them.
After a few years of doing 'hard' kung fu, I decided to do some Tai Chi. After a few months of Tai Chi, I found that my punches and kicks were 100% more efficient and stronger, without ever actually training them. No 'magic' involved, just something in my body had opened up.
Exactly. People keep forgetting that what you train in taiji aren't fixed fighting techniques but a kind of skill that's more like a "mindset" and "bodyset" that improves your overall structure and efficiency when moving. And that transfers to literally anything.
If u approach most kung fu systems as grappling systems from grappling ranges it becomes extremely effective again, kung fu's plagued with distance and tactical misunderstandings
Excellent demo and explanations here.
Bjj frames, Tai chi sofly rides and steers like a boat rudder, allow your opponent to create 100% of the opportune openings to exploit, you don't have to force them, just recognize them mostly by feel
I have also been waiting for you to find a real internal person. It isn't what most people think. Internal is brutal if someone is at the level of Adam Mizner or above. Takes tremendous time to learn though and most Masters use your first ten years for dedication and character checks before they share anything. He has some of "It." Rare find to touch anyone who actually has It. Fighting isn't the same after you have experienced It. Mind Blowing. Thanks for having the real deal on your channel. Tai Chi Classics are Real but like a needle in a haystack lottery to find someone.
You did not just say Adam Mizner smfh.....we got another one 💀
Agreed here 100%.
No offense, but you seem to have completely failed to understand he point of this video. Adam Milzner is the OPPOSITE of ACTUAL real internal martial arts. He's a charlatan who is still pushing the mythical "internal" martial arts. Look at Ramsey's own video calling out Milzner's nonsense on this channel.
There's a theory that the term Neijia/Waijia is originally meant to differentiate Taoist and Buddhist martial arts; where the former is indigenous to China, while the latter is originally from India.
This makes more sense to me since both Taoist and Buddhist martial arts have both spiritual (internal) and physical (external) training.
Thank you to Linji and the Coach for sharing! :)
I feel that this kind of teaching should be in the curriculum for every student of traditional martial arts,
so that they know: what kind of combat tactic am I training all these skills for?
To use a gun analogy: after you have learned to assembled a gun,
you need to learn how to aim and shoot it (and avoid getting shot by the enemy),
or else the gun is practically useless and may even be a hazard to you.
As an aside: it's refreshing to see a modern combat sports person learn a traditional MA skill
and immediately like it so much that he goes, "I'm gonna spam this on the opponent next time!" 😂
Interesting how Bagua, Wing Chun and Tai Chi share almost the same mechanics but what makes the distinction is conceptual preferences, bagua cuts angles, taichi redirects momentum, and wing chun pressures through, but it on first glance looks almost the same, just like the diferences between bjj, judo and wrestling, same mechanics but conceptualy different
He was showing xingyi though, not wingchun. He was indeed criticising wingchun.
Wonderful demonstration. And as Ramsey says, there's a lot that the camera cannot capture. Internal martial arts appear "soft", but the amount of pressure they exert purely on light contact is unreal. There is a lot of substantial behind the "wimpy" movements and techniques and it separates an effective fighter from a dancer who believes they can fight.
Very, very informative lessons masters
Yes!! So happy that Ramsey is learning the legitimacy of Chinese martial arts. Well done, both of you
I’m learning Bajiquan, and I think Ramsey would enjoy something like that as well to add to his MMA arsenal
I mean, he has known that they are legit for quite some time now
I mean, I’ve only been practicing Chinese martial arts for 15 years.
@@RamseyDewey sorry, I didn’t mean to sound critical. I just like to see when MMA coaches and fighters try and realize that traditional arts can be applied in modern times.
Thanks for the video ! :) Good information
I happen to find some of those principles in my current taekwondo and aikido training.
we are all on the same martial arts journey together !
Becoming a well rounded fighter is taking pieces everything to create a unique version of your style.
Amazing! Alot of things I pick up in this ty Coach
Great video, Ryu, I mean Ramsey! Please make a follow up on how to execute the Hadoken, Shoryuken, and Tatsumaki Senpukyaku. Thanks!
ruclips.net/video/8kqAg-X-kfQ/видео.htmlsi=JaoEqSebIW2CV2vr
False advertisement right under our jose
The Neijia Quan (Internal Martial Arts) tends to involve a higher usage of inner muscles and softer movements compared to Waijia Quan (External Martial Arts). However, there are individual differences, and I think that thinking too much about differences based on these names is not important. At least, I only know that Neijia Quan primarily refers to Xingyiquan, Baguazhang, and Taijiquan, but I haven't thought too much about it.
Fantastic video!
This is exactly the kind of stuff that needs to happen more and I really liked this video, although I think he struggled to communicate some of what he wanted, partly due to the language barrier. There's body mechanics too, which is what the "nei" is all about, but it is not easy to communicate right away, especially when people have a different way of understanding the task at hand, i.e. fighting. The "external" parts are a common starting point and give the basic idea.
The idea of "internal arts" may be pretty baseless and nonsensical in a lot of ways, but it does point to how we can shift our focus from outward movements to the mechanics and sensation, which as you said, cannot be caught on camera and is an important part of the skill development.
One thing that he said though, which I kind of disagree with or misunderstood, was how "neijia" apparently don't like the close grappling range. Maybe it's not ideal, but there's things which can be done there, like shoulder bumping and tripping, but also joint manipulation if you get the opening you need. It's a kind of qinna.
Very enlightening talk.
My internal martial arts is breathing integrated deeply with movement. Reverse breathing changes your balance point, and a small angle change driven by your breathing gets magnified through your skeletal structure and moves your opponent slightly while you walk past in the opposite direction for the back take. But it all starts with timing feeling and breath.
That's the "internal" part I'm aware of and train. No magic though, unfortunately.
I think there's so many good concepts in traditional martial arts that got lost through years of incorrect training methods.
Ive said it before, I ll say it again. Ramsey Dewey has no style prejudice. And its refreshing.
There's definitely some aspects of traditional martial arts that you can use in modern combat sports. As much as people shit on wing chun, there's moments where 'sticky hands' work in my boxing. I've even adopted 'vertical punches' that work well in boxing.
Roberto Duran baby! Hell yeah brother!
Great video. Very insightful. Its crazy how much functionality has been lost to time or hidden away behind a myth. In reality, the basic principles are always the same and hopefully modern martial arts can help traditional martial arts rediscover the true function of the form.
Tanget: I wonder if wing chun was either trying to innovate combat within the "death gate" hence the lack of movement or they did teach moving into superior positions but that was lost to time. Were they trying to think outside the box or was a key aspect hidden away by other things 🤔
Watching this was exactly like the sort of lessons I get in Shotokan because of the overlap between Karate and Kungfu and as it turns out my teacher was making that point about the relationship between Karate and Kungfu generally. You're completely right, many of the very practical aspects of traditional martial arts get lost and it's because so many just go through the motions and they don't actually practice the technique especially when it comes to Kata. In Shotokan Kata's there are quite a number of joint lock and takedown techniques hidden away in the movements which a lot of MMA guys would be surprised by. This is something we've been going into a lot with sparring lately for the sake of learning more advanced sparring generally and getting more practical.
This video is what you get when you see traditional martial arts being taught correctly, it's great Ramsey did this. Also worth noting, I have seen some of those exact techniques this guy is showing in Goju Ryu.
Almost all Wing Chun you encounter is Yip Man's, who was admittedly a horrible teacher. There are other schools of WC with better footwork, little emphasis on Chi Sao or even total lack of forms. Unfortunately, these are usually impossible to find and, thus, wide open to fraudulent "Sifu".
There's a theory that WC was made to mate Fujian boxing with western boxing. I believe this, not only because the WC stance is exactly the western boxing posture of those times, but WC's utter lack of the "spit/sink/swallow/float" principles that form the dynamics of virtually all other Fujian schools, in spite of the fact that WC pretty much shares their techniques.
From what my Sifu tells me is many generations ago the family that was carrying on the lineage of Wing Chun taught only to family. One day on the farm they lived on they were practicing and they noticed a neighbour watching them. The father modified his techniques to the odd stance and straight in fighting style, and when the neighbour wasn’t there he taught the original style to his children. So Modified Wing Chun got out to the masses but traditional family style which had a lot more techniques got taught only to the family. We don’t do the pigeon toed stance, we do lots of kicks, grappling, ground game, as well as the more traditional moves you see in Wing Chun. We never attack on the danger zone, but go off their attack line and come in from the side or back. Sifu hasn’t trained in MMA or other styles and yet we do lots of similar techniques.
Actually our Sifu teaches a lot of the same things as in this video.
That bit about sword fighting made so mich sense! When you fight with weapons, you cant just attack the person, you have to be aware of and in control of their weapon or you risk getting hit as well. In unarmed fighting, your hands are your weapons, so you have to control their weapons before you attack or you risk getting countered! Lightbulb moment!
You need to get Byron Jacobs on, he is the real deal when it comes to Xingyiquan.
My kids and I pretend to throw fireballs at each other all of the time. It drives my wife nuts. Haha.
As a Chinese living abroad, I can see some foreign MMA coaches, and practitioners are more friendly than a lot in China, which I'm so glad, and so pleasant to see. Today in China as far as I know they don't even show respect to others, discredit traditional arts at all cost, how irony. No matter who you are learning from, show respect first then we can see if he or she has anything worth learning, we try to understand it first then we can decide or judge, it's fair, rational and reasonable.
Which MMA coaches in China do you know? There aren’t very many.
Great video. Are you finally admitting that there is plenty of practical material in traditional martial arts? I train in Inosanto Kali, and the footwork of our system is always moving off line on 45 degree angles to avoid the area directly in front of your opponent. This sounds somewhat similar to what this gentleman was speaking of avoiding the death gate. I personally believe that all martial arts offer as long as they are being taught properly have something to offer. Please do more videos like this, I like your analysis of the techniques that you are being shown.
Finally admitting? You are late to the party. I’ve been practicing traditional martial arts for over 30 years.
I have many criticisms to make with regards To some of your latest videos but seeing again Lindjie is a pleasure
Make them. The comments section has been dead lately.
@@RamseyDewey thank you sir. You have my word. God bless
Great stuff!
I'd love to see sparring footage of you two!
ruclips.net/video/1nF0CsxGo0E/видео.htmlsi=hTA6Ioa-sOEBe2xD
hey ramsey ! I wondered, as someone who currently learns chinese, how much did you learn chinese and what are you thoughts / what were your first impressions on the language ?
In Wing Chun at least Wong Shun Leung lineage, you don't take the death gate, you just try to angel with smaller movements. Ask Wang Zhi Peng about it, perhaps in a similar format. ;)
I've been working similar techniques in my karate for about a year now. I know it really confuses those i spar with. Very interesting video.
From what I understand, the wooden dummy was originally posted in the ground and you could get around it. The wooden dummy on the wall started because that's the only place they fit in Hong Kong apartments
I've been waiting a long time for this ever since I saw you spar with him I was curious unfortunately you can't get good bog wao on the internet these days
A lot of people uphold the legend that the BaGua circle walking came from some mystical Taoist monk. Practitioner and historian HaiYang actually has a longform video about this, they originally have linear and zig-zag footwork patterns. Until Chinese Wrestler Cheng Tinghua took up BaGua and to save space, he had his students walk around the outer rim of his wrestling sand-pit. Also a lot of the pushing and rotating from Tai Chi supposedly related to Yang Lu Chan “selling out” and working for the Manchurians. If he indeed honed his Chen Tai Chi skills with the Manchurians, then no doubt he honed his skills dealing with a lot of proficient grapplers.
Amazing class!!
14:36 livegate as in robust and active area,, Life gate as in nearly guaranteed to live...nearly guaranteed life here.-Ernie Moore Jr.
This is very intresting really . I change my mind a little bit opinion about traditional martial arts.
This all makes sense to me. The redirection of force is something that you can't see, but is very real, and very effective. Can confirm.
Good one! I've been looking at how Hsing I and boxing go together. Thinking along the same lines.
9:26 focusing on Linji's last section from open hands only seems informative Ernie Moore Jr.
i love boxing but when i hear "sweet science" i always think of the wt/bagua/silat/kali hand figthing systems and their endless intricate hand trapping and wrestling entries. It's connective tissue between martial arts and also follows the general principle of the wing tsun mechanics and decision making loop/principles. more plz.
I've once heard internal power defined as using the structure of the body. Maybe that's a more helpful definition. But your analogy of rock paper scissors might be even better.
That was the best explanation.
Excelentes consejos
Howdy Coach, thanks for highlighting this area of martial arts. Dr Jwing-Ming Yang. has a book and an accompanying DVD ''Tai Chi Chuan Martial Applications: Advanced Yang Style'' that is really excellent.
Do you know Dr Yang and his books/DVD from YMAA?
its all about changing the original question your opponent is asking. the major issue is that you dont get to dictate distance in a fight all the time.
I have found that a lot of traditional martial arts are built for more specific purposes and then expanded for generalization. On the other hand, modern combat systems are often built for as general a situation as possible, then honed in on specific scenarios. This idea may explain why Wing Chun often fights at the centerline, if you buy into the idea that it was developed for close quarters fighting where there is not much space for turning in the first place, like a small corridor. Maybe, this is why the legend that Wing Chun was invented by a woman is appealing: when you are boxed in by brute force, you must learn to fight at the Death gate. However, this does not necessarily expand well to more generalized situations. Or, for example, the legend that Karate was developed for unarmed attackers to beat armed attackers. This would help explain many of their blocking forms and punching mechanics, as you are borrowing from weapon arts systems. Wing Chun itself has knife and staff forms as well. These ideas lay directly in contrast to how we see modern fight sports develop, becoming standardized to highest percentage plays. However, this similarly shows the necessity for martial arts to develop with the times, as high percentage plays are more important in the modern world of self defense or fight sports. Even old bareknuckle boxing techniques are easily explained as being highest percentage for its time. Maybe, in a world where we have MMA but in a tiny janitor's closet, Wing Chun would theoretically prevail. This video argues quite effectively for internal martial arts as a combat system, which is perhaps why Linji makes such a distinction between certain traditional arts and others.
Coach can you make a video about elbows . Ive been watching more muay thai recently and Ive seen a lot more elbow variations and setups that i hadnt seen in Mma before . Why is there not so much elbow use in the standup part of mma ?is it because of not focusing on them that much or another reason?
Love your channel.Love your videos.
Hope your knee is better?
I suspect it's a lot like how you don't see as many of the fancier, more obscure judo throws in MMA as compared to IJF competition, or why taekwondo stylists in MMA don't tend to throw quite as many spinning kicks. The ruleset and context of judo means that we spend a lot more time in mid-distance tie-ups where we can work to set up cool throws, the ruleset of TKD means they spend a lot of time outside punching range setting up long-range kicks, and the ruleset of Muay Thai means a lot of time is spent in clinches and other close exchanges where elbow setups can shine. In MMA, there's very little restriction on what can be done, which means that simpler setups are needed because the situation changes so quickly.
There's a quip I've seen a few places (including this channel, I think), which says that 90% of BJJ doesn't work in MMA, because 90% of any specialised art doesn't work when you put it in an arena where (almost) anything goes.
None of that is to say that the cooler elbow setups *can't* work in MMA, it's just that unless you've got two very clinch-heavy fighters matched against each other, so little of the fight will be spent in situations where elbows are relevant that it's generally more efficient to just use the simple ones, because you're probably not gonna get the chance to use them so much that the opponent will start catching on, and even if they do, they're probably not proficient enough in that area to start making you use the really fancy stuff.
To be a little more concise: let's say a really good nak muay can make it so that a Muay Thai fight takes place 50% in the clinch. In that situation, so many elbows are going to be thrown that sneaky setups start to be really important.
In an MMA fight, on the other hand, takedown threats and general reluctance to clinch might mean that same fighter can only make the fight take place 20% or even 10% in the clinch. In that case, it becomes a lot more efficient to mostly use your best two or three setups.
@@someirishkid9241 the elbows i was thinking about is the straight elbow as a counter to punches
@@ihihiha3530 hmm, that is a good point, and my explanation doesn't really make sense of that. It's quite possible that you _could_ find an example of that being done in MMA, and it just hasn't happened on a big stage yet?
There are two other possible reasons I can think of: firstly, the takedown threat combined with how close you have to get to land an elbow might make it unappealing, given how many people like to set up their takedown shots with their hands; if you commit to an elbow from outside the clinch and they happen to shoot a takedown at that moment, you more or less give them that takedown.
The other is that from what I've seen, head movement is a lot more common and generally larger in MMA than in Muay Thai, so it may just not be as consistent a setup in that context?
great video, linji's pretty cool. btw, can you put some timestamps? thanks a bunch
Amazing keep it up ❤
I have a great deal of space for internal martial arts philosophy. An abstraction of body mechanics and movement can better convey intention than just learning the movements by themselves. Even if I know the chi isn’t a tangible thing, imagining it really helps perform better.
The styles of internal martial arts are awesome.
Chi is 100% a tangible thing lol... just because it is a mystery to you that doesn't make it real or tangible 👍
Thanks coach!
Some things remind me a lot how the bind works in sword and spear. Winning the bind with leverage, footwork, but also gaining information/giving false information with pressures.
Bare hand fighting with wrestling elements is totally different game than pure boxing 🥊
please show us more of him in sparring!
Funny history: The dallas cowboys and san fran 49ers in their legendary years trained and used these concepts, as well as a few NCAA teams. You can find the videos on youtube of them actually bringing in a sifu and doing some tai chi and wing chun at their practices around 1990.
Ramsey: How would you explain neijia?
Linji: I think this concept is completely useless.
Ramsey: ...okay. 🥹