Tai Chi & Self-Defence
‘It was when I woke up on the bus punching the air that I wondered whether six days a week training how to fight was the best use of life.’ - Tim (WXTBA Head Instructor)
We can’t put it off any longer, it’s time to address the thorny subject of Tai Chi and self-defence.
Some housekeeping first. Whilst we do teach self-defence if asked, you are much better off going to a good combat sports gym (Boxing/Muay Thai/BJJ/MMA) or maybe a self-protection specialist although that world is kind of murky.
If you have an immediate risk to your safety contact law enforcement and anybody else necessary to get some support. If you ever end up in an altercation and it is dealt with satisfactorily with no future negative consequences then don’t call law enforcement. You are a probably a decent person who will just be honest and tell the truth and do the right thing so they will screw you. In the UK the concept of reasonable force is thrown around, however as we understand it (and we highly recommend confirming all of these things with a legal professional if needed) if you take any action to defend yourself you are breaking the law and are effectively appealing to the better nature of the CPS to not prosecute you. Obviously it will require a different approach depending on where you are in the world but when it comes to self-defence it sucks to be British.
Now for the fun bit. If you learn a traditional martial art for self-defence as they are generally taught and practiced here in Western Europe, it will more likely make you less able to defend yourself than if you trained nothing at all. Maybe read that again. The risk is that the drilling of questionable techniques twice a week for 20 minutes will fuzzy your thinking in situations where in fact you shouldn’t be thinking much at all and your natural animal instincts will be stifled. To quote one of the most respected traditional martial arts teachers in the UK, ‘just practice your forms and if you’re attacked you’ll do something.’ Wow!
There are of course exceptions to which due respect should be paid. A couple of the most badass people we have ever met come from two of the traditional southern kung fu styles where for whatever reason there seems to be a higher likelihood of effective outcomes. They understand the volume of repetition needed, the conditioning, and the actual time scrapping to develop effective fighting skills.
We try hard to maintain a principle based system that would enhance an individual’s natural responses rather than override them. We work with distancing, timing and power as well as of course the core practice of movement ability. For the same reasons our system also serves to enhance the ringcraft of somebody training in combat sports. Systema has a similar approach and for any of its faults we have a soft spot for Systema. If you are going to go down the route of learning specific martial arts techniques to fight or defend yourself then you need to be all in with thousands of hours of work.
The first thing you need to consider when thinking about your safety is the level of risk you are subject to. Many times people have come to us seeking self-defence lessons and they live in the suburbs with a good support network. As much as it may be necessary one day is it really something to invest lots of time and money in to given that scenario? Like any insurance policy you are balancing risk but be sure you have some cover in place.
If there was just one thing you could do to keep yourself safe then arguably it is to maintain the ability to run. You don’t have to go nuts or even make it a significant part of your routine. Maybe just a half mile jog every couple of weeks with a couple of hundred metres run at the end so you know you can deliver when tired. This should keep you sufficiently conditioned. This is especially topical with the tragic events in Hawaii recently and our prayers definitely go out to the people there. It would not be unreasonable to add to our list of self-defence tips to vote in a government that actually gives a damn about you. That one is not so straight forward.
Possibly we should add to the above a second essential that is learning some kind of system of fear control. It happens organically in combat sports but in martial arts it appears to be only Systema that really addresses it. And us of course! One of our recent students who came to us in part to enhance his self-defence skillset made us laugh when he pointed out that he spent much of the 90s clad in No Fear clothing when at that point of his life he was ironically often very afraid. And so he should have been, he could have tripped on those baggy jeans at any point :-)
So here it is, our ultimate guide to staying safe in the world. The first one is going to go down like a lead balloon!
Don’t drink alcohol or frequent places where people do.
Be polite.
Maintain the ability to run a short to medium distance.
Assess your tolerance to stressful situations and address as necessary.
Be prepared; put a torch in your car if driving at night, write down emergency phone numbers in case your phone packs up etc. Run thought experiments for various scenarios and then put in real world fixes before they happen.
Learn first aid. Shout out to First Aid Bristol, such informative sessions to be had with them if you’re in the South West of England.
Hoard money. Squirrel it away for the winter like….dunno, some kind of animal that squirrels stuff away.
Change your online passwords regularly, get a VPN and any other measures to maintain online security.
Be well and stay safe!