THE FOUNDATION OF T’AI CHI CH’UAN

Without form we would not have t’ai chi or indeed any of the classical
martial arts. The forms give us the basics, which are essential for eventually
using t’ai chi as a fighting art. Many people ask me why I insist on
teaching t’ai chi as a martial art when all most of them want out of it are
the great healing benefits.
There are two ways that we are able to practice t’ai chi. We can take it
for it’s exercise value where-by the practitioner uses only the movements
to gain some health benefits, or we can take it a step further into a
ch’i or energy level in order to gain much greater healing benefits. This
is the area where t’ai chi has become so famous for it’s healing properties.
Using t’ai chi as an exercise only, we only gain a little exercise, as
most people doing it for this reason would never venture beyond the
slow form. Doing it for the other reasons, we are able to cure disease and
cause every internal and external organ in the body to become strong as
well as gain mind/body co-ordination. It is written of t’ai chi that it can
help to cure most diseases. One of my students came to me with what he
thought was arthritis in his ankle. This was so bad that he couldn’t walk
properly. After some time of practicing t’ai chi the pain became worse
and so he had an x-ray taken which showed that nothing was wrong. Af-
How To Use Tai Chi For Fighting

If we take the classical

forms from t’ai chi and attempt to use them in a
fighting sense, they will probably work against someone who is not a
trained fighter, (inexperienced street fighters included) provided that
we have practiced for long enough. But take these classical techniques
and pit them against a modem day trained fighter and we see a different
story. Fighters just don’t attack as they used to 400 years ago. We no
longer use large open stances in order to gain more power; we use centrifugal
force with more normal western boxing stances to gain power.
We no longer attack and then leave the attacking portion there for someone
to grab, we use whipping types of attacks which are very fast, full of
power and get the fist or foot in and out with great speed not giving
enough time for someone to use a grappling technique. What we are not
taught in our t’ai chi training are the most advanced techniques of
“Technique to gain no technique.”

The Classical school of Chinese Kung-Fu, Chi Ch’uan has such an element
of change built into it. These training methods are relatively unknown
due to the fact that most people practice t’ai chi nowadays to
gain the great healing benefits that this art has to offer, so when someone
wishes to learn a little more, i.e.: how to use t’ai chi to defend oneself
from external attack, all we are able to “find out is how to use each
of the postures from the classical form in it’s fighting sense. The form
Introduction: Page 6
from any t’ai chi style was not invented so that people could learn how
to fight. It was invented to give us some of the pre-requisites of any
great martial art, good health in mind and body; co-ordination of mind
and body: perfect timing; perfect balance; relaxation and sub-conscious
reaction.

For any martial

art to stay great there must be some element of
change built into its structure so that it is able to change as the general
standard of fighting changes and improves. All of the great classical
martial arts were founded in an era when all martial arts were still evolving
and people simply used different methods of attack and defense,
methods that were still very basic. The foundation of all the classical
martial arts were based upon the practice of certain forms or katas
which themselves were based upon the methods of attack and defense of
the time. T’ai chi is one of these great classical martial arts and as such
is also based upon these rules. Any founders of a martial art who had
some insight into the changing nature of martial arts would build into
their art some element where-by the practitioner was still able to use the
art in year to come and not be bogged down by classical maneuvers no
longer relevant to the time.

By Dan Inosanto

It gives me great pleasure to write the foreword for Erle Montaigue’s
book “HOW TO USE T’AI CHI (as a fighting art)”. This book should
be of great interest to both t’ai chi practitioners and non-T’ai chi practitioners
alike. A book on T’ai Chi as a “fighting art” is long overdue.
There are many people who still recognize and consider T’ai Chi as
only a health exercise. I feel that this book will be very informative to
the martial arts community and a must for everyone’s martial arts library.
BY DAN INOSANTO
26th November 1985
Dan Inosanto is one of the world’s foremost and well-known Martial
Artists and teaches at 4051 Glencoe Ave, Unit 12. MARINA DEL REY
CA 90292 U.S.A. (author).
How To Use Tai Chi For Fighting: Page 5
INTRODUCTION
Addenda to the original text: Please keep in mind that the applications
presented in this book are the basic applications and not the more advanced
Dim-Mak applications. This book was written back in 1984 and
first published in 1985. The original text has not been changed other
than fixing typing errors and spelling mistakes in the original text.

Once on the wall,

to get me to the floor, my partner drops to his knee without
making space between me and him. He will maintain pressure forward with his shoulder
and grab my legs. In one motion, he stands up and pulls up on my legs, bringing
me to the ground. Once I am pinned, I cannot escape my hips and use my guard
properly.
Here, my opponent (left) controls my head in the clinch and steps to the side as
shown. He is holding my right arm with his left arm wrapped over. He will step back
with his right leg. As he does this he will push my head down. As he side steps, he
hooks my arm under his, which will pull me toward him a little.
He will use the momentum to add power to the knee he is delivering to my
face.
1 2

Here, we are using punches again
to close, like a gun fight, the faster
man wins. My opponent gets closer
first and under my arms.
He keeps me moving backward so I
cannot punch with any real power. I
am also forced to defend as
opposed to attacking.
Once we reach the wall, it will be
very hard for me to pull back to get
any power from punches.
Vale Tudo Drive to the Wall

Bear Hug Defense

Here, I am in a bear hug where my
opponent has his arms over mine.
To break free, I bring my arms up
and my body down simultaneously.
I quickly step behind him, placing
my right leg behind his left. I then
grab his legs as shown and posture
up, pulling up on his legs and putting
him on his back.
In this situation, my opponent has me in a head lock. It is important to first
secure his right arm so he cannot punch me in the face, then the other so he can not
squeeze so hard or reposition to choke. I use my left hand under his left leg and
squat low with my legs. Dropping my weight and backing up will off balance my opponent
slightly.
When I’m ready, I move the right hand to his face, back up some more and turn
him to the right and I lift a little with my left hand.
1 2

Defense

I first learned this move while training Japanese Jiu-jitsu years ago and dismissed
it after training BJJ. I thought if I guy has your back, you are done. After seeing
the famous fighter Sakuraba execute this on many opponents, I decided to ‘bring it
back’. Here, I push my opponents hands down and settle my weight to break the grip.
Once the grip is broken, I hold his wrist as shown and trap is arm with mine,
creating a ‘Kimura’ lock. Your opponent will usually turn toward you, but you can kind
of chase him around with this until you get the lock or put him on the ground, at least
he won’t be on your back anymore.
1 2

Back Clinch Takedown

This is a way to put your opponent
on the ground if you get around to
his back. Without the gi, it will be
very slippery and hard to jump on
his back and choke.
Move your left leg behind your
opponent and use your weight to
pull him down - like a ‘human belt’.
If done properly, you will land to his
side as shown.
Be sure to fix your base to secure
the position before moving on.

Head to Chest

Hopefully you have learned from the
last few pages that it is much safer
to have you head against your
opponent’s chest and to hold him so
he cannot make space to strike.
Notice that I also step to the side to
avoid getting kneed in the stomach
and groin.
Here, I am caught in a tie up and to
avoid a striking situation with a larger
opponent, I begin to move myself
closer by ‘pummeling’.
I ‘swim’ with my arms under his right
with my left. As I do so, I bring my
head close to his chest and then
repeat the process on the other
side.
Here, my opponent moves his hips back a little to break the clinch. He notices
that I am making a move to punch, so he controls my head with his right hand, then
releases his grip with his left arm.
He will then land an elbow to the side of my face, generating power from the
hips. This can be a very effective strike at close range.

Defending the Take Down with Strikes

Here, I’ve illustrated the importance
of keeping your hands up as you
shoot in.
My opponent sees that my hand is
not up to defend the left side of my
face.
Once he successfully delivers the
first punch to the side of my face, he
will take away any future opportunity
for me to shoot in by side stepping
and punching again while I am disoriented
and off balance.
1

Using Punches to Clinch

Punches, in any combination, will
ultimately lead to your opponent
raising his hands to his head to
defend. If he does not raise his
hands, he will get hit in the face,
which makes things easier for you in
the long run, but I wouldn’t count on
it. Always prepare for the worst and
train for the best.
When you throw high punches,
remember to defend YOUR face
and look out for counter punches.
Keep moving forward as you punch
to keep your opponent searching for
solid footing.
As you punch to his (your opponent’s)
face, he will defend. When
he blocks, his hands will raise
and/or move away from his mid section,
providing me with an opening
to close the distance and clinch.

To defend the kick, it is important to remember not to drop my hands. A good
kickboxer will use a kick to make my hands come away from my head so he can strike
me there. Instead, I use my leg to block the kick by lifting my knee as shown .
As soon as I block it, I simply step forward with the blocking leg and clinch.

Baiting Punches

In this case, I will drop my hands a
little to draw my opponent’s (left)
attention to my head. Why?
Because I want him to attempt a
punch to my head. In doing so, his
elbows will raise from his waist and
clear a path to it for me to enter for
a take down.
When I drop my hands, I keep my
leg close and my head back. I also
grab his lead hand as shown, this
will encourage the punch to come
from the rear hand, which is slower
and can be easily seen coming. I
tilt my head back slightly to keep it
just out of range, just in case.
As my opponent punches, I slip to
the side and parry his right arm as
shown with my left hand.
When I clinch, I hold his back tightly
to stop him from stepping back, getting
distance and punching again.
Notice how my left shoulder is
touching my left ear. This is to
avoid the guillotine choke. My head
is also high under his armpit to stop
him from elbowing me to the back of
the head.

Once my opponent is
facing me, I secure the thumbside
of my forearm under his
chin so that it is touching the
front of my opponent’s throat.
I squeeze my arm tightly
around his neck and keep his
head trapped under my armpit.
Once my ar m is secured
tightly around my opponent’s
neck, I place my r ight hand on
his shoulder as shown.
I will then place my lef t
palm on my r ight wr i st as
shown in figure 6 and in the
highlighted circle.
To tighten the choke, creating
additional pressure
on my opponent’s neck, I
will do the following:
Make a reverse “motorcyc
l e - rev” move with my l e f t
hand around my r ight. This
will lift my lef t wr ist a few
i n ches, tightening the choke
around my opponent ’s neck .
Next I will squeeze my arm
around his neck tighter and
arch my body up and back .

At this point, I will begin
to posture up. This action of
looking up will help to comp
l e t e ly release the gr ip my
opponent has on my neck.
As I look up (figure 3), I
begin to turn my lef t wr ist so
that my palm faces downward.
The twisting motion is important
technically because it will
actually increase my power to
move my opponent’s head.
I use the twisting-move
to spin my opponent around as
shown here in figure 4.

Head Lock Escape

In this situation, my
opponent has secured a headlock
however, the fact he is
st anding in front of me will
make is easy for me to escape.
The first thing I do is
secure a gr ip on his r ight wr ist
with my r ight hand. Doing this
will ensure that he cannot create
additional pressure on my
face or skull and will also stop
him from sliding his arm down
to my neck and choking me.
The next step in my move
to escape is as I continue to
pull on his wr ist with my r ight
hand, I place my lef t ar m as far
as I can over his shoulder.
Once my lef t ar m is extended
over my opponent’s ri g h t
shoulder, I will begin to push
forward, down and out ant an
angle with the r idge of my hand
(pinky side) against the side of
his face.