‘Love, Hate’, or rather ‘Hate, Love, Hate, Love’ -24 pattern Tai Chi set

I have truly had a ‘Love, Hate’, or rather ‘Hate, Love’ relationship with the short 24 pattern Tai Chi set. I first learned the set over ten years ago in China. At the time I had travelled to China with the express intention of learning Shaolin Kung Fu and wasn’t even clear on what Tai Chi was. At the academy I was training at in Northern China, an hour of Tai Chi Chuan before dinner was part of the syllabus and all students were required to take part. Initially, I found the slow movements very frustrating and learned the 24 pattern set begrudgingly. It was never explained to me what the purpose of the moves were but many of the students said there were many benefits to practicing Tai Chi, I just assumed the subject was too profound for me to understand at that time.

A few years later when I was in China, probably in around the year 2002, a young Kung Fu practitioner showed me some applications from the 24 pattern set for the very first time and my whole opinion of Tai Chi changed. I was intrigued by this slow but seemingly combat efficient art, it seemed so soft but could also put you into a lot of pain with the use of a joint lock. The 24 pattern set was my entrance to the combat application side of Tai Chi and I began to love the 24 pattern set.

A year or so later again around 2003 I was studying a ‘traditional long form’ Tai Chi set (as opposed to a government developed set like the 24 pattern set) and my attitude towards the 24 pattern set changed again. I began to think it was a deviation from ‘real’ and ‘authentic’ Tai Chi and thought that it was debased and a waste of time. At that time practicing long forms was the only way to practice Tai Chi.

A year or two later again and I had met my current Tai Chi Chuan Master ‘Wong Kiew Kit’ (Sifu), and the first set that Sifu had me learn was… the 24 pattern Tai Chi set. It was after training with Sifu that I realized that ‘Forms’ were just a tool of Tai Chi and not the complete art in itself. It is the health, combat and spiritual aspects of Tai Chi Chuan that make the art complete, not simply forms. However, once you know the correct path, like the force training methods, footwork, applications and mind training techniques any Tai Chi form can be used to gain huge life benefits. Once again my love for the 24 pattern set had returned and again I loved to practice it.

Now, I see 24 pattern set for what it is, an incredibly useful tool for training Tai Chi skills in short space of time, in fact in can be practiced in as little as three and a half minutes.

I will be teaching this set in Switzerland in March.

Please check out the video below.

Best

Robin

Ronda Rousey and Rickson Gracie black belt Henry Akins demonstrate in detail how to execute a nasty rolling kimura at Dynamix MMA in Santa Monica, Calif.

Chi Sau Drill…

Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold demonstrates two amazing moves from the leg-ride position in this edition of Sherdog.com’s Technique of the Week, which is brought to you by Trojan.

For the most part, the majority of people know that Chael Sonnen has some anger issues to deal with.   That’s a given.  But after seeing this interview on TSN with David Landsberg’s “Off the Record”… I’m convinced he’s a couple of fries short of a happy meal – to say the least

To sum it up, Chael Sonnen walked off a live interview with David Landsberg because he couldn’t handle the fact that the first topic was his fight  (and not to mention loss) with Anderson Silva.  Leading up to the walkout, the 185 lbs  overgrown baby insulted Langberg,  expressed his disrespect for the show, and insulted Canadians.

Riiiight.  Seems to me that the big-mouthed Sonnen is pretty good at flappin his lips, but when faced with questions by  someone more intelligent than he is, he buckles and resorts to what he’s best at. INSULTS.

My advice to him……grab a tissue and STOP BEING AN OVERSIZED CRYBABY.   Deal with it like a man.  If you can dish it out, then you should be able to take it also.    Walking off the show just made you look stupider that you already are.   Secondly, don’t go all patriotic and start insulting Canadians because you don’t want to answer questions.   Not only does it show that your low-class, but you’ve just lost 34 million potential fans.

If the reality shows of today ever start producing “The Next American A**hole”,  I’m nominating him

Good luck with your career……eh.

http://watch.tsn.ca/clip569248#clip569248

Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold demonstrates a slick reverse triangle from the single-leg position in this edition of Sherdog.com’s Technique of the Week, which is brought to you by Trojan.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Igor Gracie displays a nasty kimura in this edition of Sherdog.com’s Technique of the Week.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Igor Gracie displays a nasty arm-triangle choke setup from the seat-belt position in this edition of Sherdog.com’s Technique of the Week.

UFC and Bellator Fighting Championships veteran David Branch demonstrates his signature super power bomb in this edition of Sherdog.com’s Technique of the Week.

In this video I am demonstrating doing a pressure point /meridian knockout from a head lock. In the video I was working out the details of this KO as we were going. It is far from the final product, but it is entertaining to view.