BOXING IS BOXING, TAIJIQUAN IS TAIJIQUAN

Taijiquan, Tai Chi Chuan

Sifu Robin Gamble and all other Wahnam Taijiquan practitioners believe that Taijiquan is combat effective, and actually use it for combat. You can view a video clip showing Sifu Robin using Taijiquan in a free sparring competition here.

The following discussion is reproduced from the thread What is Genuine, Traditional Taijiquan? started in the Shaolin Wahnam Discussion Forum on 5th June 2006.

"But he comes to our forum and arrogantly tells our students that our grandmaster does not know Taijiquan, that his internal force is not internal force, that his combat application are useless, and that all of us are fools without exposure to other martial arts so as to compare how combat ineffective our arts are."

-- Sifu Robin Gamble

Robin Gamble Sifu Robin Gamble
Instructor, Shaolin Wahnam England
18th June 2006

If you practice Karate, you would use Karate for combat. If you practice Taekwondo, you would use Taekwondo for combat. This is only logical.

Many people practice kungfu, but they use Boxing and Kick-Boxing for combat. Why? The answer is straight-forward, although they may not admit it. It is because they do not know how to use kungfu for combat.

Kaitain claims to practice Taijiquan, but he uses Boxing and Wrestling for combat.

Why? The answer is straight-forward, although he may not admit it. It is because he does not know how to use Taijiquan for combat.

Worse, he insults generations of Taijiquan masters by suggesting that they too did not know Taijiquan for combat. He tries to be smarter than them by proclaiming in an authoritative manner that Taijiquan techniques are useless in combat. He advocates using Boxing stances instead of Taijiquan stances, and Wrestling techniques like the sprawl instead of Taijiquan techniques.

If Kaitain is ignorant of Taijiquan combat application, and admits it, we would have much respect for him. If he keeps quiet but uses Boxing and Wrestling combat techniques, that is his prerogative. But he comes to our forum and arrogantly tells our students that our grandmaster does not know Taijiquan, that his internal force is not internal force, that his combat application are useless, and that all of us are fools without exposure to other martial arts so as to compare how combat ineffective our arts are. Hence, we are duty-bound to right wrongs.

Taijiquan, Tai Chi Chuan

Kaitan proclaims that Taijiquan is useless for combat, and he uses Boxing instead, but he calls his Boxing, Taijiquan.

In contrast Wahnam Taijiquan practitioners use Wahnam Taijiquan techniques for combat. We believe in and are grateful for the combat applications generations of Taijiquan masters have bequeathed to us.

I have checked with my Sifu, and he has told me that although he has made some modifications to meet expediencies, the Taijiquan combat applications we use are not his inventions, but are part of the legacy passed down to us by past Taijiquan masters.

For example, if Kaitain were to attack me or any Wahnam Taijiquan practitioner with a shoot, we would not use a sprawl as advocated by Kaitain in his version of Taijiquan. We would use a pattern like "Green Dragon Shoots Pearl", striking his head with our palm, or "Low Stance Punch", striking his head with a fist. We have no doubt that these techniques are effective.

But the question is whether we have the skills to carry them out. Honestly, our real concern is that if we have the skill to hit Kaitain on his head, we may kill him, which we certainly would not want to do despite his arrogant declaration that Shaolin Wahnam strikes would be ineffective on him, and also despite his assurance to sign a disclaimer for us. So we would have to modify the attack to his shoulder instead.

From what we have read from Taijiquan classics, we believe that the combat applications we use are closer to genuine, traditional Taijiquan than Kaitain's sprawl. Wouldn't you agree too?

What is Genuine, Traditional Taijiquan?

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