This preference

is quite important as everyone
has a particular way of doing
things and this way comes easier to that
person than any other technique and so
we try to arrange our training techniques
around that particular method. In this way the student is able to
utilize his/her own natural body method as amartial art. This is what the
training method of Long Har Ch’uan is all about, it teaches us to use
what we have naturally rather than trying to change us and place
un-natural movements onto our bodies. So, it can be seen that any one
person will only ever use a certain ‘way’ of attack and defense while
only ever using three or at the most four fighting techniques and derivations
of these. It’s much better to train in only a few techniques than
many. This also gets back to why one is practicing martial arts. Do you
do it for good sport within the school or to defend yourself?
In a classroom and training with your friends, you tend to gain a false
sense of security in that we know that no one is really going to hurt us in
our sparring matches and so we use many techniques Just for the sake of
using them. In one’s first real encounter there usually comes a big shock
to the martial artist. People in the street just don’t fight as they do in the
dojo or dawgwan.

LONG HAR CH’UAN

Long Har Ch’uan means ‘Dragon Prawn Boxing’. The reason for this is
that we use the two arms as ‘feelers’ with the body slightly concave. The
theory is that if someone strikes with a fist, you go in at the waist, which
causes the attacker to have to reach further to strike, where-as, you are
able to re-attack at a closer range. See Photo number 1.
Long Har Ch’uan is only a training
method, which is used in order to gain a
certain way of doing things. In kung fu
we try not to place the same sort of limitations
on ourselves that some of the external
styles do by sticking rigidly to
what the forms or katas dictate. We use
the forms only as guides to teach us
something and then translate what they
have taught us into our own particular
body types or ‘preference.’

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

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

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.

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 .

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.

After I break my opponent

’s gr ip, I control both of
his hands as shown here in fig -
ure 3. It is very impor tant to
control the wr ists or hands of
my opponent to ensure that he
does not use them in order to
choke me or star t a new attack.
Once I have control of
his hands, I will then step to
the side, leading with my hips
out .
Once I have made the
appropr iate amount of room
with my hips to facilitate this
next move, I will step behind
him with my lef t leg ( figure 4).
At this point it is cr ucial that I
control my opponent ’s r i g h t
arm so that he does not grab
my head. In the event that he
does, the next technique will
come in handy .

Bear Hug from Behind

In this situation, My opponent
is holding my from behind.
He has both of my arms trapped
by wrapping his arms around my
entire body.
My first priority is to
“break his grip” so that I may
begin to escape. To do so, I will
first take a very deep breath in,
filling my lungs completely with air
and expanding my diaphragm as
much as possible. This will cause
my opponent to widen his grip.
Once my chest is expanded,
I will make my move to escape.
All in one move, I will combine
the following steps: I let out my
air, becoming instantly smaller
than I was before. I Squat to the
floor, lowering my base, as shown
in Figure 2. I spread my arms
apart as shown here to the left. I
will also drive my butt into his
hips ar I drop my weight. The
combination of these above
moves done simultaneously with
proper speed and force will
break my opponent’s hold.

The pressure

created on
my opponent’s r ight shoulder
will cause him to lose his balance
to the right side of his body.
I will take advantage of
this loss of balance by hooking
my r ight leg behind his r ight
leg (figure 4). When I do so, I
must be sure to pass my cent
e r line beyond his and lean
forward so he cannot counter
my throw.
At this point, I will use
the O Soto Gari technique by
k i cking my r ight leg up and
back, reaping my opponent’s
r ight leg. As I do this, I dr ive
my r ight shoulder into his r ight
shoulder and maintain pressure
on his shoulder.
The combination of the
movements described above will
cause my opponent to fall to
the floor as shown in figure 5.
Once my opponent is on the
floor, I will secure his arm for
potential follow -up techniques.

opponent

Since I cannot pull my
opponent over my head, I pull
my opponent’s r ight elbow into
my chest and begin to tur n to
my r ight. As I tur n, I lean forward
and secure his r ight wr ist
with my lef t hand (figure 2). I
try to keep his r ight ar m at an
angle to create pressure on his
shoulder.
Some less exper ienced
opponent’s will submit or fall to
the floor because of the pressure
created on the r ight shoulder
when this move is properly
applied. The proper application
of this movement will come
in time with a great deal of sensitivity
and practice.

As I complete the throw,
my opponent will land directly
in front of me, being flipped
over my front. I continue to
secure his ar m for potential
follow -up techniques in case
the throw has not neutralized
his desire to fight ( figure 5).
Rear Choke Defense 2
In this situation, my opponent
pushes the back of my leg
with his foot. Because he is
doing this, I can not lean forward
to flip him over my head
(figure 1).
To begin my defense, I pull
down on his right arm as I did
during the first choke defense.

After I lower my hips

below my opponent’s belt line, I
will make a move to lift my
opponent onto my hips. Shown
to the left in figure 3, I do so by
straightening my legs and leaning
forward slightly. I am still
pulling down on my opponent’s
arms to assist the lift and take
pressure of f the choke.
I will now “throw” my
opponent over my back with
the “seoi nage” movement (fig -
ure 4). To do so, I will pull my
opponent’s arm down and to
my r ight, leading him to my
r ight side. I will also make a
slight twisting motion to the
r ight with my hips to roll him
over my shoulder and back.

I will continue to step

through in a counter clock-wise
motion until I am positioned as
shown in figure 5. You will notice
that because I performed this
movement slowly, my opponent
had the opportunity to let go of
my lapel with his left hand.
I will not give him the same
option with his right hand. I secure
my opponent’s right hand as
shown here and begin to push
his elbow down and forward.
Take note of this grip I am
using on my opponent’s
right hand - I have
switched from the sleeve
to the knife edge of his
hand. My palm is over the
top of his hand with my fingers
gripping the pinky-side of his
hand. This will allow me to twist
his wrist, bending his arm in such a
way that his elbow will point up.
The pain at his wrist will cause
most to submit at this point.
In figure 6, I step behind
him, creating pressure on his wrist
as I just described and his shoulder
by pushing his elbow down and
pulling up on his hand.