MMA vs Tai Chi 10 seconds knock out: an explanation
The truth about a fight which has “upset” the foundations of Tai Chi from China to the United States
A note by Master Kongling – Initially I was not so much interested in dealing with such a trivial subject but given the number of questions I’ve received, I decided to make a small effort sharing my (absolutely personal) opinions on it. Probably I am the last who comment this vicissitude but I hope this article could be anyway useful.
Some time ago a video was published showing a fight between a (so-called) “grandmaster” of Tai Chi (Taiji) and a (so-called) ambassador “of the MMA in China:
- The two (chinese) contenders – In the clip appear Wei Lei a (clumsy) “representative” of the Tai Chi and Xu Xiaodong an (arrogant) “representative” of the MMA (even if it is not immediately clear, they have a similar weight and age, according to what has been said)
- The content of the video – The video shows a clash in which the Tai Chi “master” is ridiculously defeated in a matter of seconds by his opponent (the MMA guy)
- The context – In the presence of a discreet audience and taken from multiple angles (through various smartphones, etc.), the fight happened on a typical training / competition tatami
- The reason of the challenge – According to the interviews on Chinese TV and other sources, after an online bickering on fighting techniques (liberations, falsified skills, etc.) the two contenders decided to meet in a “friendly” and open-door match to demonstrate technical superiority of one on the other
- The justifications of the “grandmaster” – After the defeat, in his defense, the “master” of Tai Chi alleged (childishly) to have slipped to the ground due to the instability of the combat surface
- The purpose of the MMA guy – He claims to want to discredit all the false Kung Fu illusions (and illusionists) with tangible evidences
The fool against the bully: a few reflections
Some premises:
- This article is obviously written from the point of view of Kung Fu but it will not be compassionate towards the practitioner of Tai Chi
- There are many things that could be said, let’s limit ourselves to the essential ones (useful to our martial growth, certainly not to establish reasons or wrongs)
- Even if we do not link any video, more and more versions of it are easy to find on the web (in almost any search engine and video-related social networks)
A Master of Tai Chi (really worthy of this title):
- Should not accept meaningless challenges – He should not give up so easily to things like pride, anger and resentment (accepting to fight purely to prove to be better than someone else, read Revenge and resentment, knives taken from the blade side); this is totally wrong in the conception of Tai Chi (and Kung Fu in general)
- Should know his (more than obvious) limits – Nobody can know the outcome of a fight before its start but a real expert should have at least a certain knowledge of his psychophysical state in terms of combat preparation and, above all, should understand the ones of his opponents; there was no need to be a genius to understand how it would end (Xu Xiaodong is a fighter with several serious fights behind him, Wei Lei probably had never fought)
- Should not justify with a so trivial excuse – Not having enough adherence to the fighting surface is a very bland justification (commonly used by the martial artists to hide a bad execution, for example, of a form); even admitting that the terrain of struggle guaranteed low adherence, we must say that even his opponent was in the same conditions and above all, that although rootedness is fundamental in Tai Chi (read Kung Fu rooting: the pyramid concept), it is ridiculous to think that such an ancient martial art (used in an incredibly big number of fight during the centuries) could be so poor to be 100% deprived of its effectiveness only because of a slightly slippery battlefield
A note by Master Kongling – I will never stop repeating it: you become good doing what you do not what you never do (read Why martial arts do not work: 5 reasons). Practicing martial arts’ forms only (even for an entire life) has nothing to do with fighting: to learn to play football you have to play football matches, to learn to fight you have to fight. It should be so simple but when we talk about martial arts, people do not understand it.
A professional athlete:
- Should not fight against an amateur – Whatever kind of preparation he may have, who has never fought is and remains an amateur
- Should not give in to anger – It was not necessary to rage against an opponent who was objectively defeated in the exact moment of his falling (see the video of the fight)
- Should respect his opponent – Xu Xiaodong should have maintained a correct sporting attitude; even if what Wei Lei said before the match may have been wrong, it is not for professionals to humiliate an opponent and strut so much after a so easy win
Why Wei Lei had no right to represent Tai Chi
Wei Lei:
- Was not ethically worthy of representing Tai Chi
- Was not technically worthy of representing Tai Chi
- Was (consequently) not worthy to the fight
- Has (consequently) neither added nor removed anything from the valor of Tai Chi
Being recognized as a representative by a federation or a high-sounding name is not the same as being able to worthily represent an ancient combat style like Tai Chi.
Let’s take the example of medieval European fencing:
- Would it make sense to choose a famous medieval fencing teacher (but that has never faced a competition) and make him fight against a modern fencing athlete (even not the better one)?
- Who could ever win between a person with a high level physical preparation, who is used to managing all the fighting mechanics (against opponents of his level) and a Y person who (even if prepared on the theory) has simply taught amateurs?
It makes no sense (and anyone who has a minimum of martial culture and preparation knows it).
Is Xu Xiaodong’s purpose acceptable?
Because of this fight (and others like it), the general public has extended these individual episodes to the entire world of traditional martial arts, which was not in Xu Xiaodong’s intial intentions at all:
- Xu Xiaodong goal was and is to “show the naked king”, to expose all the scammers who, without any preparation boast to be invincible fighters (or to possess supreme skills)
- In an interview with Chinese TV, Xu Xiaodong claims to recognize that it is not Tai Chi that is weak but the way it is taught (thing that our school is in full agreement with)
The point is that Xu Xiaodong’s martial goal therefore has a sense (it is the battle started by Bruce Lee, after all) but the way in which it was conducted no.
A note by Master Kongling – It’s a sad story. What particularly disappointed me (as a Kung Fu practitioner and at the same time as a lover of combat sports), was the arrogance that reigned in this whole matter: from Wei Lei in his attitude of invincible warrior (unable to recognize a certain defeat), to the arrogance demonstrated by Xu Xiaodong (before and after the event, unworthy of a sportsman), to the institutions that have censored Xu Xiaodong’s social channels (closing all his work and communication possibilities).
In the next article of this series, we will deeply see the combat (the strategic and technical errors of the Tai Chi “grandmaster” in relation to the MMA fighter’s action).
In-depth articles
- The 10 principles of Tai Chi – The fundamental concepts of Tai Chi (this article is a good starting point to make your own considerations about the video)
- How to use martial arts in a real fight – The reasons why the Tai Chi “grandmaster” lost so badly this fight
Questions
Reply in the comments and share your experience:
- Have you seen the fight? What do you think about? Do you consider them worthy representatives of MMA and Tai Chi?
Author: Master Kongling
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January 5, 2020 @ 7:25 am
I have seen it, xu is arrogant but he has been punished too much
January 6, 2020 @ 6:00 pm
True
March 4, 2020 @ 3:14 pm
The MMA guy has chosen a poor level opponent
March 5, 2020 @ 12:23 pm
Who should he fight against?
April 6, 2020 @ 8:18 pm
There’s no such thing as “combat tai chi style” Tai Chi isn’t a martial art. Neither is Kung Fu. Sorry if that offends delicate sensibilities, but its utter failure by every “master” every time they try to show that it’s legitimate makes this obvious to anyone with a clear, unbiased mind.
Regarding this article, it’s interesting to note that the author state those who practice Tai Chi shouldn’t accept challenges. This begs the question of “why not?” Shouldn’t it be the goal of everyone who wants to be a true martial artist to test their skills, gain new experiences, and most importantly, be able to distinguish what works and what doesn’t?
Bottom line, if you only spar against people trained just at you’re trained, you’re not a martial artist, you’re just pretending to be one. If more people adopted this attitude, the number of TCMAs making fools of themselves with fake chi attack techniques and ridiculous, unpractical, and dangerous (for the user) techniques would be zero.
As of right now, the state of TCMA is that if you lose, you say the loser wasn’t a real martial artist, and if they win, then it’s proof that their martial art works. It’s a complete lie, but it lets you pretend that your calisthenics is a real martial art.
April 7, 2020 @ 5:56 pm
Nice to meet you Frank and welcome, I reply to you:
1) The term “martial art” was born in reference to something that includes combat but that is not limited to it, at best we should not consider martial arts those types of disciplines that are shown in sporting clashes
2) When I say that who practices Tai Chi shouldn’t accept challenges, it is, first, because it is contrary to the spirit of their martial art and, second, because who has never practiced seriously sparring should never accept any fight at all (it is simply a question of intelligence)
3) In our school, our students practice sparring regularly and we encourage them to face as much as possible different types of opponents, this is the only way to gain real combat skills (for self-defense and / or sports competitions); said this, not all practitioners have the goal to become fighters, so we offer them a choice but guaranteeing that they will never learn to fight without fighting (a lot of people are not interested in this aspect and they can benefit from the practice even without focusing on this, the important thing is to be clear at the beginning)
4) I cannot speak for the other schools but in ours, everything that is mystical, unrealistic or magical is totally excluded (no-touch blows that make people fly away, etc.); said this it is easy to dream a perfect world without scammers and gullible but it is a little naive (if you allow me) 😉
5) Who tries to demonstrate something with the result of a fight is not too intelligent (and as you know, this happens on both sides), every fight has always a winner and a loser both between MMA fighters, both between Tai Chi practitioners (etc.) and it does not demonstrate anything; if you have ever been involved in a fight you should know that the number of concurring variables is big and very hard to evaluate (even when the fight is perfectly balanced)
6) Dear friend, trying to derive an absolute, certain and general rule from single examples is not scientific at all (right or wrong, it is simply a prejudice); especially if you talk about Kung Fu, of which there are more than 500 different styles (and those are only the ones that have been recognized)… to those you have to add all the new evolutions and the variants of the various families… if you want to rely on logical methods, know that any scientist could only laugh at such a risky statement 🙂
7) If you do not like lies, be precise please and do not attribute me words that I have never said, I have never said that if a Kung Fu practitioner beats an MMA fighter it is the proof of something; I am a person, I have personal opinions and I do not like generalizations 😉
January 17, 2022 @ 9:49 pm
Yes I have seen this fight