China has a long history of martial arts traditions that has distinctive and different styles. Chinese martial arts, often called Kung Fu as an umbrella term. With separate names many martial arts were practiced over the past two thousand years. Tai Chi is one of them. It has been part of Chinese martial arts culture since the 16th century. We shall discuss today the nature of Tai Chi martial arts and its effectiveness in MMA.
What is Tai Chi?
Tai Chi is an ancient Chinese martial art tradition. Till today, it is being practiced as a graceful form of exercise. It is a kind of yoga, taking deep breaths that focuses on meditation through which the practitioner desires to achieve his aim. Tai Chi offers a series of gentle physical exercises. Sometimes, it is described as meditation in motion. This is because it promotes serenity through gentle movements, connecting the mind and body to use it effectively when necessary.
Tai Chi Training Duration:
It is interesting to see that the training duration greatly varies. On average, it takes 3-12 months to learn Tai Chi. Of course, the length of time depends on short term training or long term training. It also depends on the number of weekly Tai Chi sessions, and length of each session. These are basic movements lessons. Most people attend weekly classes and practice in between. But to accomplish supernatural strength it takes years of deep meditation.
Is Practice of Tai Chi Effective in MMA?
Tai Chi is an internal Chinese martial art. The art trains the practitioner to learn the technique to defend from the attack of the enemies. It also teaches supernatural power to use in fighting. Based on traditional belief, films and TV dramas have portrayed Tai Chi martial arts’ masters as unbeatable heroes as they summon supernatural strength at the time of dire need. It is true that the story of a movie was generated from imagination. And Tai Chi is not claiming all the scenes shown in the films were true. Like all other movies, the theory of Suspension of Disbelief is applicable to these movies too. Actually Tai Chi practice creates serenity in the mind of its practitioner. That’s why it is called ‘internal martial arts’. MMA is open and tends to be embracing all popular martial arts that are required to enhance MMA. It has already incorporated world wide popular martial arts: Boxing, Kung Fu, Judo, Karate, Bjj, Wrestling and other disciplines. As MMA is the fastest growing martial art, the fighters and the governing body focus on its improvement by including other martial arts to refine it. All the martial arts MMA is made of are aggressive. The MMA fighters fight hard to outperform the opponent. But in fighting it is often seen that both the fighters get tired soon. If MMA fighters learn Tai Chi to gain internal strength, they would be able to control their physical power. They could summon the internal power to strike the opponent without opening their eyes. That decisive strike brings the win to the fighter who really knows the art of serenity blessed by Tai Chi supernatural power.
Tai Chi is a non-aggressive form of self-defense martial art. It chiefly focuses on the human mystic power that nature has ever bestowed on him. This branch of knowledge believes a man can gain more strength through meditation than physical training. But it does not necessarily mean they are denying physical training. Rather, alongside physical training, meditation is necessary to calm down the nerves to decide correctly. Not only in MMA but also other decision-making situations, a calm brain helps a lot. Tai Chi exercises offer serenity which is good for a fighter, especially when the fighters are in a stalemate situation. The fighter who has control over his mind can make the right decision and most probably he would win the match. However, Tai Chi as a complement should be incorporated into MMA to find another meaning for the game.