Striking Fire

I practice Tai Chi Chuan. While I am certainly no expert by any means, I have come upon a few interesting pieces of information over the years.

I understand that at one time there was a tradition in China that if a Tai Chi Master hurt an opponent in a fight, the winner would be responsible for bringing the injured loser back to health. This goes right in line with the school where I studied Tai Chi Chuan – many of the advanced students studied acupuncture; the Sifu was a certified acupuncturist and he had a school of acupuncture, as well as the Tai Chi Chuan Academy that the students attended.

In case you’re not familiar with Tai Chi Chuan, it is known as an “internal fighting form”, meaning that one engages the (inner) energy while exploiting a weakness in the opponent. The various movements that you see in the Tai Chi Chuan form are frequently practice movements at striking an opponents energy points (acupuncture points). Ideally, a true Master of Tai Chi Chuan, I imagine, would know exactly where the right point to strike an opponent would be, and with just the right amount of energy in order to inflict the degree of effect intended for the opponent.

There are stories that tell of how one could merely be touched by a Master, and perhaps 2 hours later (unknowing that it was connected with that particular touch) suffer a sudden feeling in an organ.

If I am not mistaken, Shaolin monks studied internal martial arts forms as part of their practices. Perhaps there is a connection to the medical abilities through this avenue.