5snake

Our latest article from the Tai Chi Internal Arts magazine archive is "The Nature of Change in Tai Chi Chuan" by Ian Cameron, from Issue 29 (2009).

A thoughtful weekend read on why real change in Tai Chi doesn't come from chasing novelty, but by practising and deepening what is already under your own feet.

https://www.taichiunion.com/news/the-nature-of-change-in-tai-chi-chuan/

A short meditation on pushing hands..

What is Pushing Hands for? Here Ian and Nick of 5 Snake tai chi give a demonstration of tai chi pushing hands along with commentary

Great tip and demo from Jan, check it out:

https://youtube.com/shorts/zlIryGhgTRc?si=Ncf4FiGJfLmTCqIc

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Keep you GODD*AM HANDS UP Push Hands Players (Fighter Hack) ☯️💪🥊 Keep your HANDS UP when fighting! More specifically, use the sensitivity and balance skills of Tai Chi Push Hands as a foundation to lay other practical idea...

Listen to Ian and I ramble about tai chi courtesy of the amazing Tai Chi Notebook podcast hosted by Graham

Check it out!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/6uXO2kITQLTF4QIeCAq2GV?si=6GM_nN2vQmK1062SZycxVg%0A

See the latest issue...

Tai Chi isn’t just about repeating the same form every day. Too much Yang in our practice, too much rigidity and structure, can leave us unprepared when life pushes back. How do we bring more Yin, more chaos, play, and spontaneity, into our training?

Read the full article by Nick Walser and Ian Kendall in the latest TCIA magazine for free in the issue 74 preview

🔗https://www.taichiunion.com/tcia-magazine-2025-issue-74-short/

The correct range for our tai chi is close-range: infighting, grappling or clinch range.

We know that this is so because of the strong emphasis on sticking, the nature of the Eight Forces (which includes elbow,forearm and shoulder: close range techniques), the presence and nature of multiple pushing hands drills, and the lack of medium and long range tools.

Our tai chi has some techniques for catching kicks, but this is the only long-range option: after this we must close distance as the Classics say "when the enemy tries to close we are surpassingly far, when we close it is surprisingly near". So this is the overall tactic of tai chi.

Bridging distance using a guard such as Seven Stars, we come into contact. Here is where we employ pushing hands and the concept of Die Pu ( the other two concepts are Dim Mak and Chin Na): strike and uproot, or uproot and strike. We know this because in our handform, all strikes are accompanied by the other hand which is parrying, stifling, trapping or clearing the arm or arms of the opponent, or changing his structure. These are applications such as Stroking the Lute, Fist Under Elbow, Fan Through Back, and many others. We enter these situations using Reeling Silk and Gathering the Wave

Once we have closed with, stuck to, and uprooted the structure, then some sort of "finish" may be needed: this may be a throw or trip such as Single Hand Sweeps Lotus Leg, or a sudden structure break such as Pat Horse High. We will likely attack either neck/head, or legs to achieve this. Ideally we achieve this without also going to the floor, as tai chi has no ground fighting.

These various phases may be a split second, or they may be more prolonged.

Softness and sensitivity is favoured throughout as the best way to gather information and react accordingly at close-range, in the same manner as Jiu-Jitsu.

This is how our tai chi works.

How does yours work? 5🐍 ☯️👊

We have put together some tai chi action from free-play and demo footage: enjoy!
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THIS IS TAI CHI The flowing movements which tai chi is famous for come from its roots as a martial art, where it is used up-close and in a continuous manner, "like a great r...

https://youtu.be/Maa1wFCVQZA?si=8CdT9amvpjmavjc1

Check out Rory Miller, sharing some real martial/self defence gems in this interview with Randy King, interview starts at 4.O4

Ep 2 | During: What to Do When Violence Has Already Started with Rory Miller In this conversation, Randy King and Rory Miller delve into the complexities of managing violence, emphasizing the importance of understanding real-world dyn...