We should not forget that taichi is principally a martial art thus it is necessary to have strong muscles and tendons to execute techinques and deliver power and speed .. Moreover the first practicioners and founders were farmers /soldiers etc ie with STRONG bodies by field labour or Military practice ... Consequently weight lifting /bodywork /calishtenics are required by the modern practicioners in order to accumulate strength and flexibility.. what is required is a good number of repetitions with not extremely heavy weights to have elasticity /strength and velocity . Weight lifting should be followed by streching or yoga sessions to relaxe the muscles worked out..
I agree with you 100% Whatever floats your boat. I realized recently, enjoying what I do is more important than anything else. I love lifting weights and I love Muay Thai, so I sacrificed a big chunk of my own taiji practice to do these things. And I accepted that I'll probably never reach the highest level. But I don't really care anymore. In the end TaijiQuan is just an activity like any other. Everyone needs to make their own choices.
I gave up weight training 12 years ago because it made me stiff and sore. But to develop the spiritual and mental qualities of Taijiquan retiring from professional life was equally if not more important.
In fact Tai Chi Chuan USE weight training as part of a more integral routine to develop strenght, the name for weights in a bar is Tan but is used in a very different way than Western weight lifting, first of all is not so repetitive and the weight is lesser than westerner counterpart, the goal is develop very elastic strenght for power not for force, there is no biceps curls rather in moving the Tan around the neck and torso in a very similar fashion as Shuai Jiao does. There several other devices for strenght training as Bang (Tai chi stick), iron rings and a kind of kettlebell but rectangular in shape, stone ball, very long stick with hanging weights or shaking it etc. The most of today TCC practicioners are not familiar with these device sadly. TCC is not only about internal strenght is about an armonious use of both strenghts: internal & external to maximize effective combat performance in times of crisis
Can I share my story, would really love to hear people's thoughts. I live in London and after years of looking for a good tai chi teacher who had legitimate skill, I found a man named Lindon. This is after trying several chinese masters and other internal guys for many years . He led an open pushing hands group in a central london park. His skill was absolutely amazing, he would send me flying, he had great sensitivity. He could break my balance easily. His students were not that great and I beat them all, but he was far above anyone else. He told me never to do any weights or press ups at all, only train internal. When we pushed hands there were rare occasions I could get him, but for the most part he destroyed me. His punches were so strong too. He could send anyone flying . I then met another man Neil rosiak who trains wudang tai chi. In this system of tai chi along with the form, weapons and a very sophisticated nei gung system they do do light weights. Neil himself is also a big proponent of kettlebells and can lift very heavy kettlebells, almost like a power lifter. I have pushed hands with Neil and he is now levels far above Lindon, I feel like a 5 year old kid compared to him. He has also allegedly destroyed Lindon in push hands, which I believe as I have touched hands with both. I now train with Neil and can only say whatever he's doing is what I am going to do . His sensitivity and power goes beyond someone who is merely just being physically strong, although I am sure the strength helps. I cant imagine anyone could beat him in push hands . Love to hear people's thoughts
Thank you so much for your input on this. It’s been a concern of mine since I first encountered my most recent teacher who I am sort of a student of Adam Mizner. He states you cannot strength train and do tai chi. Not the real stuff, that they are antithetical. But I am also long time fitness trainer and getting older now so I have concerns about losing muscle mass and power for doing regular things around my house, etc. So I value your input on this as well as this video in general.
This is terrific content- and I truly agree that you can do both weight/calethenics training and internal arts. In fact- I'd go as far as to say it actually helps. The mind-muscle connection achieved with a deep focus during weight training during contraction is the yang of the yin achieved in sung- one is deeper in both because you know both. How can you really release and "sung" if you don't know and have expertise in it's opposite? Sure you may develop deeper sung and internal skills with dedication to it (as Adam believes/ advises) but I'm personally convinced long term internal skills are increased when you understand their opposite- which is muscular strength and contraction. My personal experience alone- but it's what I've seen while training in Discover taiji online. However- I do think an emphasis in the early stages of internal arts on their practices helps a lot simply because the concepts and practices are so very forign/ alien to the average person. We all know what it feels like to exercise with resistance- very few of us even understand the concept of sung- much less experiencing it in person and seeing it's power. Subbed Ramzi - I'm glad I found your channel.
@@ramzi_nabulsije ne pratique pas la forme d'Adam, mais il me semble improbable d'allier musculation et tai chi, ils opèrent sur un postulat divergent. De mon observation dès qu'on commence à se sentir en 3 dimensions dans le tai chi, tellement de portes s'entrouvent, qu'il est difficile de fixer son attention sur une autre pratique " physique" Comme on dit, de son propre point de vue chacun a raison 😇
For myself I found that I was clinging to external training and weights because I didn't really trust the internal training, its only when I stopped the external training and committed to doing exactly what my instructor told me, did I start to see progress. You have to trust the art and your teacher. It's not that you have to give up everything else forever, but I think the best progress in internal arts is if you can dedicate yourself completely to the training until you reach a certain level of ability, and then if you feel you want to spend effort on building your physical body and learning techniques such as striking and grappling for a while great! probably worth doing a lot of sung gung and opening at this point. Great Videos, I like that like you have a solid background in external martial arts and combat sports but obviously have put the effort it to learn real skill in Taichi. Keep the content coming.
I practiced Goa style bagua years back, while lifting weights. As long as you incorporate standing meditation to your training, you should be able to overcome any issues developing from muscle building....
Same here, I still do calisthenics and use resistance bands. I hope that one day my Taiji will add to my Muay Thai and Grappling, so I just train it like it's shown on discovertaiji. And it is pure fun to do the training without trying to chase any combat- or spiritual goals. I just follow Adams instructions to the letter, iIt's a moving meditation for me. Your explanations add value to my training that I appreciate very much. Keep up the great work! Greetings from a former nightclub bouncer from Berlin, Germany:)
I've been in the same room with Chen Xiaowang when he releases real fajin (not miscategorized uprooting). When he releases power you can honestly hear the bones in his skeleton "clunk". That's how relaxed he is. What he trains for power is not something you can get with weight training.
@@ramzi_nabulsi Weight training can affect jin because stiffnesses (like in shoulder and lower back) will block the free/easy use of the ground-force through the body, yes, but that's not the primary reason for the caution against weight-lifting. Most of the people who have "found qi", "internal" and all the other buzzwords have discovered how to use at least rudimentary jin. But even Shaokin uses jin, so that can't be the big focus on "internal", can it? The real problem is in developing the qi and so far I haven't seen a westerner "name" even come close to figuring out how the functional qi works. And I don't mean some woo-woo "energy" ... there is an aspect of the body that is considered the qi and all real qigongs, when they say "qi", mean that aspect, not some "energy". So, the hint about being so loose that the bones move freely is a move in the right direction. Weight lifting is fine for most people because they're never going to understand what Taiji actually is, but a serious practitioner needs to keep looking.
I agree....and i dont...yet i do bro Fast path...the fast path is like building a skyscraper out of cigarette papers in the wind....thats not just the fast path its the only path However if you have no back the quality of sinking your back will be harder to find, if it is harder to find you grasp, if you grasp how will you know you grasped what is correct? Something i also noticed in myself is at 55kg i am more defensive, probably because everyone was bigger and my subconscious didnt want my body injured, at 67-70 kg my taiji is more offensive than before. I also think after 55 every man should do weight training of some sort, even living with sifu I was expected to go to the gym because I was small.
In a way, Taiji values & trains strength too ... but ideally it's a strength that can shift from hard to soft and vice versa on demand. What we don't want, is the muscles persisting in "hard" mode in those moments where the strength is not necessary. And unfortunately, (at least to my understanding) the usual gym training tends to go in that direction ... partly due to demand. People want to look "chiselled" and "rugged" etc etc, and so they focus on tensing at the expense of relaxing :|
I believe you can lift weight again after you understand the meaning of song (release). Many people never get there. But the thing is, there is no end to Song it seems. The thing is with training muscles is: the more muscles you have, the more the contraction of those muscles eill freeze the fascias and the joints (if you don't understand the release, or song). Because you will have the tendency to use Li (muscles, the natural external way) and forget about Jin (the internal way). But I'm not saying we are not using or contacting muscles, because we are. But we use our muscles in a different way. Basically we using them the opposite way for any given movement. And that's the softness. But I can feel very hard to your opponent. And there is no way to understand Song without a partner. 2-people drills are extremely important.
I appreciated your talk. In my mid-seventies I find spending time in the gym essential for my well-being. I was a gymnast in my youth so my body thirsts for integrative movement, and easily restores muscle. As you advised, everything is executed slowly with full extensions. Time slows down in focused movement. I don't know if muscular exertion is antithetical to fascial expression, but it seems to be helpful in tai chi as my mind is not a stranger to the territory.
Everyone do yourself a favor and train with a weight vest and then eventually add leg and ankle weights also do calisthenics and lift weights especially functional strength training if you want to stop getting your butt kicked by MMA fighters, it would behoove you to gain the physical strength endurance and the explosive power that comes from having a athletic body internal, Martial Arts doesn’t mean the absence of external strength, neither does external martial arts mean the absence of internal strength they both complement each other Taiji gets better with practice. If you have a proper form to practice, you don’t have to worry about weight, lifting or calisthenics getting in the way they only help you don’t need to worry so much about getting to the higher level or being song that comes with practice too many people are trying to reach this higher level that everyone talks about in the beginning but in the beginning, it’s all about the physical movements of the art and having a foundation of a strong body is what you need first the internal will come through practice being able to hit harder push harder, lift, more run, faster jump higher is a part of being a martial artist. Those fast twitch muscles are still needed in taiji because taiji isn’t all yielding real taiji Is a aggressive martial arts? You do not wait to be attacked you hit first you attack first the second you feel you are in danger you’re on your opponent like a rabbit dog you are not some passive person standing there watching the fight happen
Hello, im glad to hear from you about this beautiful martial art!!! Your are very good sifu!!! Im practicing on wu style of tai chi chuan from grandmaster leong shum. It is magical, i love it !!! Thank you!!!
Thanks for this. After meeting Adam Mizner 5-6 yrs ago and seeing his incredible internal power in person, he always said one couldn’t lift weights and do real Tai Chi as it tightened one up. Being a longtime Personal Trainer in his 60s and knowing exercise science and the effects of aging on the body, I was always conflicted: should I allow my body to lose muscle mass to gain internal power and would that be a wise choice for me? I like to do chores around my house that call upon me to have some strength and I can feel that I’m weaker that way now… Any thoughts or advice?
It seems to me that the more one understands the value of training the fascia the less they'll see a need to do extensive weight lifting. Instead they would focus on the fascia and then occasionally try moving a heavy object just to test their progress or experiment, but not so much lifting by repetitions to build muscle mass. It would leave the muscles in a tense state. Doing an extensive "workout" of the fascia, tendons, ligaments will already work the whole body. Maybe a fighter would just add some running for cardio endurance. There is much wisdom in "going slower."
Taiji training increases the knowledge of your own self and thereby gives you knowledge of others. Lifting a heavy object would make a poor test because the 'training' teaches you how to 'join' with another animate creature. Thus the saying 'I cannot beat a wooden man or a steel man but I can beat any man' or something to that effect.
Thank you Ramzi! Greatly appreciate you answering my question and all of the helpful recommendations and insights into the topic. I've now hit the bell for your notifications as I just caught this response today. Thanks again!
Great answers. Do the Taiji mechanics reinforce or augment the grappling, striking(boxing) that you do? To they conflict or simply make stronger/more efficient...
Great video! How do you see tai chi and climbing? may the tension you need for climbing and keeping the body together contrast the release of muscle/fascia= please say no!!! ahh ahh
If you move with weights and so on, you're going to be moving in the normal way, so how do you learn a special new way of moving while you're using weights to ingrain the normal way? I was reading a conversation on a Facebook forum about moving with the dantien and how developing the connections that the dantien uses requires you to relinquish things like weight lifting until you learn the new way of moving. You don't appear to use your dantien, so your brand of tai chi may be using some other way of moving. Is that right, mate?
In my experience and style of Taiji, the method is to be used on people not an inanimate objects. The Dantien is the meeting place of the upper and lower carriage. And that is where change occurs.
@@ramzi_nabulsi The dantien and the mingmen are the central switching station for the sinew channels and for the qi meridians. You can't move the body with dantien unless you develop the sinew channels and the qi meridians. If you use weights you develop muscles and the actual dantien is outside your grasp. The thing to be used on humans and not inanimate articles is the jin/ch'in. Fine, but without the rest of it, the qi, the dantien, and so forth, it's just an external art. The real external arts use ch'in, too.
Can you not stretch and lift with your fascia? Granted the weight would be super light in the beginning not to activate muscle, but progressive overload on the fascia would strengthen the mind fascia connection giving a deeper sink. I also think old school monks and Taoist priests had to do alot of weapon training, carrying water up the mountain from the river, sparring, etc.
Fascia is an integral part of body mechanics and is certainly not uniquely internal. The internal method I follow is chi from 'release' not 'contraction.' It's a system that directly affects other nervous systems. Not so much iron and wood.
Thanks Sir for your teaching. I have a question, do you think it is possible to reach a good level in tai chi while having a job on the side, by only practicing two hours a day?
2 hours a day is plenty. There is no end so just enjoy the experience. (if you are training properly 2 hours a day would be quite exhausting and would require rest time)
it's fascinating that the topic of weight training is in relation to body tension; but would it be relevant to consider the mood implications of heavy lifting when training on 'The Path' of tai chi or is it the same thing...?
As far as mood is concerned, I'm not sure. I believe there's a consensus that lifting improves one's mood and that one function of testosterone is it makes hard work enjoyable. One's attitude to a lift could be detrimental to the taiji path though. For heavy lifting you need to unify the body with tension. The opposite is true in taiji. That can prove to be a difficult task for lifters to get their mind around.
just came across your channel recently. did you train with adam mizner then? i thought i recognized your studio from one of his videos too. would love to just hear you talk more about anything tbh.
Can i ask something else? This might be a concern for ppl pondering what they might lose if they give up strength training to go fully internal. Can the same internal strength that can manipulate another human with qi in their body, work as well with inanimate objects? On a basic level ppl wanna be able to do physical labour comfortably, but can internal strength fully replace functional muscle strength in this regard?
In short no. The internal system works on living things. You won't see taiji masters deadlift 600 pounds from internal training alone. FME most taiji students are in it for the health benefits. For those people I think it's better to do some heavy lifting to maintain their mass otherwise it's somewhat of a Faustian bargain If in pursuit of power you wither away.
@@ramzi_nabulsi thanks for the reply and this really deepens my understanding. So someone like master Mizner can knock a strongman athlete, a fellow human who runs on qi, off his feet, but not lift what he lifts.. It would be interesting to explore what forms of strength conditioning won't take too much away from time invested in taichi. There's a system called weckmethod that specializes in rotational movement training. There's also a coach named Cong Xie, who trains MMA fighter Wei Li in "hyperarch training", a system which he says relates to silk reeling.. Could I know, in your experience, how internal training may benefit someone who isn't really interested in combat?
The health benefits are many and substantial. Taiji connects people back to their body. In an age when many are numb. The qi work, even if done poorly is great for circulation, calming the mind and strengthening the will. People who train overcome their need for vices like alcohol and have a happier mood throughout the day.
I think you can do weight training but you must know your body and know how to relax under a load, you're teaching your brain that your muscles are stronger than they are and you will be able to activate more
Train yourself. Train mind body and use the tools that work for you to help build your skills in all areas
We should not forget that taichi is principally a martial art thus it is necessary to have strong muscles and tendons to execute techinques and deliver power and speed .. Moreover the first practicioners and founders were farmers /soldiers etc ie with STRONG bodies by field labour or Military practice ... Consequently weight lifting /bodywork /calishtenics are required by the modern practicioners in order to accumulate strength and flexibility.. what is required is a good number of repetitions with not extremely heavy weights to have elasticity /strength and velocity . Weight lifting should be followed by streching or yoga sessions to relaxe the muscles worked out..
I agree with you 100%
Whatever floats your boat.
I realized recently, enjoying what I do is more important than anything else.
I love lifting weights and I love Muay Thai, so I sacrificed a big chunk of my own taiji practice to do these things.
And I accepted that I'll probably never reach the highest level. But I don't really care anymore. In the end TaijiQuan is just an activity like any other. Everyone needs to make their own choices.
100%
I gave up weight training 12 years ago because it made me stiff and sore. But to develop the spiritual and mental qualities of Taijiquan retiring from professional life was equally if not more important.
In fact Tai Chi Chuan USE weight training as part of a more integral routine to develop strenght, the name for weights in a bar is Tan but is used in a very different way than Western weight lifting, first of all is not so repetitive and the weight is lesser than westerner counterpart, the goal is develop very elastic strenght for power not for force, there is no biceps curls rather in moving the Tan around the neck and torso in a very similar fashion as Shuai Jiao does.
There several other devices for strenght training as Bang (Tai chi stick), iron rings and a kind of kettlebell but rectangular in shape, stone ball, very long stick with hanging weights or shaking it etc. The most of today TCC practicioners are not familiar with these device sadly. TCC is not only about internal strenght is about an armonious use of both strenghts: internal & external to maximize effective combat performance in times of crisis
I spent 8 days with sifu and seniors in Milwaukee a couple of years ago. Exhausted is an understatement.
Can I share my story, would really love to hear people's thoughts. I live in London and after years of looking for a good tai chi teacher who had legitimate skill, I found a man named Lindon. This is after trying several chinese masters and other internal guys for many years . He led an open pushing hands group in a central london park. His skill was absolutely amazing, he would send me flying, he had great sensitivity. He could break my balance easily. His students were not that great and I beat them all, but he was far above anyone else. He told me never to do any weights or press ups at all, only train internal. When we pushed hands there were rare occasions I could get him, but for the most part he destroyed me. His punches were so strong too. He could send anyone flying .
I then met another man Neil rosiak who trains wudang tai chi. In this system of tai chi along with the form, weapons and a very sophisticated nei gung system they do do light weights. Neil himself is also a big proponent of kettlebells and can lift very heavy kettlebells, almost like a power lifter. I have pushed hands with Neil and he is now levels far above Lindon, I feel like a 5 year old kid compared to him. He has also allegedly destroyed Lindon in push hands, which I believe as I have touched hands with both. I now train with Neil and can only say whatever he's doing is what I am going to do . His sensitivity and power goes beyond someone who is merely just being physically strong, although I am sure the strength helps. I cant imagine anyone could beat him in push hands . Love to hear people's thoughts
Thank you so much for your input on this. It’s been a concern of mine since I first encountered my most recent teacher who I am sort of a student of Adam Mizner. He states you cannot strength train and do tai chi. Not the real stuff, that they are antithetical. But I am also long time fitness trainer and getting older now so I have concerns about losing muscle mass and power for doing regular things around my house, etc.
So I value your input on this as well as this video in general.
This is terrific content- and I truly agree that you can do both weight/calethenics training and internal arts. In fact- I'd go as far as to say it actually helps. The mind-muscle connection achieved with a deep focus during weight training during contraction is the yang of the yin achieved in sung- one is deeper in both because you know both. How can you really release and "sung" if you don't know and have expertise in it's opposite? Sure you may develop deeper sung and internal skills with dedication to it (as Adam believes/ advises) but I'm personally convinced long term internal skills are increased when you understand their opposite- which is muscular strength and contraction. My personal experience alone- but it's what I've seen while training in Discover taiji online. However- I do think an emphasis in the early stages of internal arts on their practices helps a lot simply because the concepts and practices are so very forign/ alien to the average person. We all know what it feels like to exercise with resistance- very few of us even understand the concept of sung- much less experiencing it in person and seeing it's power. Subbed Ramzi - I'm glad I found your channel.
' We all know what it feels like to exercise with resistance- very few of us even understand the concept of sung' 100%
@@ramzi_nabulsije ne pratique pas la forme d'Adam, mais il me semble improbable d'allier musculation et tai chi, ils opèrent sur un postulat divergent.
De mon observation dès qu'on commence à se sentir en 3 dimensions dans le tai chi, tellement de portes s'entrouvent, qu'il est difficile de fixer son attention sur une autre pratique " physique"
Comme on dit, de son propre point de vue chacun a raison 😇
Excellent analysis and reply. Thank you for these insights and tips.
For myself I found that I was clinging to external training and weights because I didn't really trust the internal training, its only when I stopped the external training and committed to doing exactly what my instructor told me, did I start to see progress. You have to trust the art and your teacher. It's not that you have to give up everything else forever, but I think the best progress in internal arts is if you can dedicate yourself completely to the training until you reach a certain level of ability, and then if you feel you want to spend effort on building your physical body and learning techniques such as striking and grappling for a while great! probably worth doing a lot of sung gung and opening at this point. Great Videos, I like that like you have a solid background in external martial arts and combat sports but obviously have put the effort it to learn real skill in Taichi. Keep the content coming.
I practiced Goa style bagua years back, while lifting weights. As long as you incorporate standing meditation to your training, you should be able to overcome any issues developing from muscle building....
Really good to hear your insights. Sounds very similar to the path I have took. Something that often isn't explained clearly in Tai Chi. Thank you.
Same here, I still do calisthenics and use resistance bands. I hope that one day my Taiji will add to my Muay Thai and Grappling, so I just train it like it's shown on discovertaiji. And it is pure fun to do the training without trying to chase any combat- or spiritual goals. I just follow Adams instructions to the letter, iIt's a moving meditation for me. Your explanations add value to my training that I appreciate very much. Keep up the great work! Greetings from a former nightclub bouncer from Berlin, Germany:)
I've been in the same room with Chen Xiaowang when he releases real fajin (not miscategorized uprooting). When he releases power you can honestly hear the bones in his skeleton "clunk". That's how relaxed he is. What he trains for power is not something you can get with weight training.
I agree that weight training is not the path to developing jin.
@@ramzi_nabulsi Weight training can affect jin because stiffnesses (like in shoulder and lower back) will block the free/easy use of the ground-force through the body, yes, but that's not the primary reason for the caution against weight-lifting. Most of the people who have "found qi", "internal" and all the other buzzwords have discovered how to use at least rudimentary jin. But even Shaokin uses jin, so that can't be the big focus on "internal", can it? The real problem is in developing the qi and so far I haven't seen a westerner "name" even come close to figuring out how the functional qi works. And I don't mean some woo-woo "energy" ... there is an aspect of the body that is considered the qi and all real qigongs, when they say "qi", mean that aspect, not some "energy". So, the hint about being so loose that the bones move freely is a move in the right direction. Weight lifting is fine for most people because they're never going to understand what Taiji actually is, but a serious practitioner needs to keep looking.
I agree....and i dont...yet i do bro
Fast path...the fast path is like building a skyscraper out of cigarette papers in the wind....thats not just the fast path its the only path
However if you have no back the quality of sinking your back will be harder to find, if it is harder to find you grasp, if you grasp how will you know you grasped what is correct?
Something i also noticed in myself is at 55kg i am more defensive, probably because everyone was bigger and my subconscious didnt want my body injured, at 67-70 kg my taiji is more offensive than before.
I also think after 55 every man should do weight training of some sort, even living with sifu I was expected to go to the gym because I was small.
In a way, Taiji values & trains strength too
... but ideally it's a strength that can shift from hard to soft and vice versa on demand.
What we don't want, is the muscles persisting in "hard" mode in those moments where the strength is not necessary.
And unfortunately, (at least to my understanding) the usual gym training tends to go in that direction
... partly due to demand. People want to look "chiselled" and "rugged" etc etc,
and so they focus on tensing at the expense of relaxing :|
yes, in opposites things are known.
Thank you for this video. I had this question in my mind too.
Aldo that's the chain ball step training for xing yi
It can appear that high level of tai chi also mean... losing the ability to run, climb and walk up hills. A balance.
I believe you can lift weight again after you understand the meaning of song (release). Many people never get there. But the thing is, there is no end to Song it seems.
The thing is with training muscles is: the more muscles you have, the more the contraction of those muscles eill freeze the fascias and the joints (if you don't understand the release, or song). Because you will have the tendency to use Li (muscles, the natural external way) and forget about Jin (the internal way).
But I'm not saying we are not using or contacting muscles, because we are. But we use our muscles in a different way. Basically we using them the opposite way for any given movement. And that's the softness. But I can feel very hard to your opponent.
And there is no way to understand Song without a partner. 2-people drills are extremely important.
More muscle more flesh to release.
More is more.
I appreciated your talk. In my mid-seventies I find spending time in the gym essential for my well-being. I was a gymnast in my youth so my body thirsts for integrative movement, and easily restores muscle. As you advised, everything is executed slowly with full extensions. Time slows down in focused movement. I don't know if muscular exertion is antithetical to fascial expression, but it seems to be helpful in tai chi as my mind is not a stranger to the territory.
Everyone do yourself a favor and train with a weight vest and then eventually add leg and ankle weights also do calisthenics and lift weights especially functional strength training if you want to stop getting your butt kicked by MMA fighters, it would behoove you to gain the physical strength endurance and the explosive power that comes from having a athletic body internal, Martial Arts doesn’t mean the absence of external strength, neither does external martial arts mean the absence of internal strength they both complement each other Taiji gets better with practice. If you have a proper form to practice, you don’t have to worry about weight, lifting or calisthenics getting in the way they only help you don’t need to worry so much about getting to the higher level or being song that comes with practice too many people are trying to reach this higher level that everyone talks about in the beginning but in the beginning, it’s all about the physical movements of the art and having a foundation of a strong body is what you need first the internal will come through practice being able to hit harder push harder, lift, more run, faster jump higher is a part of being a martial artist. Those fast twitch muscles are still needed in taiji because taiji isn’t all yielding real taiji Is a aggressive martial arts? You do not wait to be attacked you hit first you attack first the second you feel you are in danger you’re on your opponent like a rabbit dog you are not some passive person standing there watching the fight happen
Wonderful explanation Ramzi…I would love to make a connection in the future…🙏
Hello, im glad to hear from you about this beautiful martial art!!! Your are very good sifu!!! Im practicing on wu style of tai chi chuan from grandmaster leong shum. It is magical, i love it !!! Thank you!!!
Thanks for this. After meeting Adam Mizner 5-6 yrs ago and seeing his incredible internal power in person, he always said one couldn’t lift weights and do real Tai Chi as it tightened one up. Being a longtime Personal Trainer in his 60s and knowing exercise science and the effects of aging on the body, I was always conflicted: should I allow my body to lose muscle mass to gain internal power and would that be a wise choice for me? I like to do chores around my house that call upon me to have some strength and I can feel that I’m weaker that way now… Any thoughts or advice?
It seems to me that the more one understands the value of training the fascia the less they'll see a need to do extensive weight lifting. Instead they would focus on the fascia and then occasionally try moving a heavy object just to test their progress or experiment, but not so much lifting by repetitions to build muscle mass. It would leave the muscles in a tense state. Doing an extensive "workout" of the fascia, tendons, ligaments will already work the whole body. Maybe a fighter would just add some running for cardio endurance.
There is much wisdom in "going slower."
Taiji training increases the knowledge of your own self and thereby gives you knowledge of others. Lifting a heavy object would make a poor test because the 'training' teaches you how to 'join' with another animate creature. Thus the saying 'I cannot beat a wooden man or a steel man but I can beat any man' or something to that effect.
Thank you Ramzi! Greatly appreciate you answering my question and all of the helpful recommendations and insights into the topic. I've now hit the bell for your notifications as I just caught this response today. Thanks again!
my pleasure Greg
Very helpful, thanks!
So when are you actually lifting weights
Great answers. Do the Taiji mechanics reinforce or augment the grappling, striking(boxing) that you do? To they conflict or simply make stronger/more efficient...
Sounds like another video. Keep an eye out
I want to train with you. When you are in Thailand again?
No idea 😄
Great video! How do you see tai chi and climbing? may the tension you need for climbing and keeping the body together contrast the release of muscle/fascia= please say no!!! ahh ahh
😆Yeah I don't recommend climbing if you haven't got 'it' yet and desperately want 'it'.
s**t 😒, thanks @@ramzi_nabulsi
If you move with weights and so on, you're going to be moving in the normal way, so how do you learn a special new way of moving while you're using weights to ingrain the normal way? I was reading a conversation on a Facebook forum about moving with the dantien and how developing the connections that the dantien uses requires you to relinquish things like weight lifting until you learn the new way of moving. You don't appear to use your dantien, so your brand of tai chi may be using some other way of moving. Is that right, mate?
In my experience and style of Taiji, the method is to be used on people not an inanimate objects.
The Dantien is the meeting place of the upper and lower carriage. And that is where change occurs.
@@ramzi_nabulsi The dantien and the mingmen are the central switching station for the sinew channels and for the qi meridians. You can't move the body with dantien unless you develop the sinew channels and the qi meridians. If you use weights you develop muscles and the actual dantien is outside your grasp. The thing to be used on humans and not inanimate articles is the jin/ch'in. Fine, but without the rest of it, the qi, the dantien, and so forth, it's just an external art. The real external arts use ch'in, too.
@@BobJohnson992 thank you for your input.
Can you not stretch and lift with your fascia? Granted the weight would be super light in the beginning not to activate muscle, but progressive overload on the fascia would strengthen the mind fascia connection giving a deeper sink. I also think old school monks and Taoist priests had to do alot of weapon training, carrying water up the mountain from the river, sparring, etc.
Fascia is an integral part of body mechanics and is certainly not uniquely internal.
The internal method I follow is chi from 'release' not 'contraction.'
It's a system that directly affects other nervous systems. Not so much iron and wood.
Thanks Sir for your teaching.
I have a question, do you think it is possible to reach a good level in tai chi while having a job on the side, by only practicing two hours a day?
2 hours a day is plenty. There is no end so just enjoy the experience. (if you are training properly 2 hours a day would be quite exhausting and would require rest time)
it's fascinating that the topic of weight training is in relation to body tension; but would it be relevant to consider the mood implications of heavy lifting when training on 'The Path' of tai chi or is it the same thing...?
As far as mood is concerned, I'm not sure. I believe there's a consensus that lifting improves one's mood and that one function of testosterone is it makes hard work enjoyable.
One's attitude to a lift could be detrimental to the taiji path though.
For heavy lifting you need to unify the body with tension. The opposite is true in taiji. That can prove to be a difficult task for lifters to get their mind around.
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just came across your channel recently. did you train with adam mizner then? i thought i recognized your studio from one of his videos too.
would love to just hear you talk more about anything tbh.
Yes. Most of my Taiji training was under Adam.
What is a 2 man form?
'two man sets' referring to the partner pushing drills.
You said you were sore from the Tai chi training. Is it comparable with being sore after isometric resistance training? Thanks.
It's a different sore. Complete exhaustion all over.
been a while since ive seen u bro, we need to catch up soon iA
absolutely. let me know.
Can i ask something else? This might be a concern for ppl pondering what they might lose if they give up strength training to go fully internal. Can the same internal strength that can manipulate another human with qi in their body, work as well with inanimate objects? On a basic level ppl wanna be able to do physical labour comfortably, but can internal strength fully replace functional muscle strength in this regard?
In short no. The internal system works on living things.
You won't see taiji masters deadlift 600 pounds from internal training alone.
FME most taiji students are in it for the health benefits. For those people I think it's better to do some heavy lifting to maintain their mass otherwise it's somewhat of a Faustian bargain If in pursuit of power you wither away.
@@ramzi_nabulsi thanks for the reply and this really deepens my understanding. So someone like master Mizner can knock a strongman athlete, a fellow human who runs on qi, off his feet, but not lift what he lifts..
It would be interesting to explore what forms of strength conditioning won't take too much away from time invested in taichi. There's a system called weckmethod that specializes in rotational movement training. There's also a coach named Cong Xie, who trains MMA fighter Wei Li in "hyperarch training", a system which he says relates to silk reeling..
Could I know, in your experience, how internal training may benefit someone who isn't really interested in combat?
The health benefits are many and substantial.
Taiji connects people back to their body. In an age when many are numb.
The qi work, even if done poorly is great for circulation, calming the mind and strengthening the will.
People who train overcome their need for vices like alcohol and have a happier mood throughout the day.
Dear Ramzi, may I translate this to russian?
да
I think you can do weight training but you must know your body and know how to relax under a load, you're teaching your brain that your muscles are stronger than they are and you will be able to activate more
If a person could still have the energy to lift weights after 3-hour of Taiji training, they probably did not train Taiji properly.🧐
Hs advice is stop every thing and focus on him. convenient
so are you still at the mercy of me a internet troll?