Striking the Striker: Taijiquan Demo by Master Henry Wang

One of the gentlemen in my practice group alerted me to this video clip.  Henry Wang, an expert in the Cheng Man-ching style of Taiji, repeatedly bounces a puncher away through his own punch.  Not only that, but he is sitting on a table, with his feet off the ground, while he does it!

You can learn more about Henry Wang and his school at the Search Center Tai Chi website.

13 comments

  1. Your grip on reality is seriously impaired if you think this video is anything more than proof that some people are susceptible to brainwashing.

  2. I do not offer this video as proof of anything. However, I have seen similar demonstrations in person, on more than one occasion.

  3. Chris has u tested out yourself with one of the person who demostrated this manifestation??

  4. mmabjj I know your post is from long ago but for posterity’s sake I’ll continue. I’m not saying it is or is’nt real (this video) but I’ll tell you what–you’d be surprised what u can do when you totally and completely dedicate your life to it. That is something many, including yourself, find difficult to grasp. Many jump on the MMA train and regard themselves knowledgable in a few years. Mastering energy manifestation like this takes 20-30 years-4-10 hours a day working under someone who has already served thi time and energy. Until you’ve known someone who has acheived this regimen you might want to pick another subject to comment on.

  5. So if I post a video of my friend bunny-hopping backwards while I stare at them really hard, I assume that you’ll give me the same benefit of the doubt and not pass judgment until you know someone who’s passed my Super Secret Mind Control Course?

    This is just another in a long list of examples of martial arts students who become so subtly manipulated by their teachers that they’ll actually hurl themselves around believing that they’re being repelled by their teacher’s awesome power.

    For crying out loud, look closely and you can see that he’s moving in such a way that clearly indicates he’s leaping back, jutting his hips backward (after being pushed in the chest) before hopping back from the heels. Just like those aikido demos where the instructor twitches his pinky and the students go somersaulting through the air.

  6. Benefit of the doubt? Like I said, I’ve seen and felt these skills in person; that is my basis for passing judgment.

    BTW, here is another video of miltownkid, your “mind control victim”.

  7. I have presonally witnessed a Tai chi master demonstrate his powers. He was a middle aged man with a big belly. He got these two powerfully built young adults to push him at the same time together. They pushed hard as they can and he stood steady and laughed!
    Also he sent me tumbling back with a push.
    The thing is that, that type of power needs to be experienced in order to understand it. When you look at it on TV people are inclined to think it is fake. But it is really genius.

  8. I ran into this blog post searching something TOTALLY unrelated. I’d just like to say that I felt the same way as most people do when they see video like this. A friend showed me similar footage of himself getting thrown this way and I was like “WTF!?” But instead of totally writing it off I saved up enough money to go visit the person in question and experience it myself. I don’t even try to convince people of anything with video. I recommend people go see for themselves (or they can come challenge me to some pushing 🙂 ). All my contact information is on my website.

  9. I seen the miltownkids armbar and jj nice work, im a hardcore practitioner of wing chun kung fu, chen style and yang style tai ji, silat and mma, i would love to try to push hands with master wang, if he has such a gift he should share it with the world for free….

  10. @Badboybrendan he does share it. As a matter of fact, most of the needed theory, if not all, is available for free or close to it. The thing is, in most cases people want to ‘know’ and understand as much about it as they can get their head around, but very few individuals are actually willing to put in the work… And a lot of those who are, are basing their training on the wrong info. There are a couple of factors that need to be present at all times during training, or you might practice for decades ending up with (only?) a very strong spine, balans and health. But no cool no touch stuff…

  11. Coming from someone who has studied two years with one of William C.C. Chen’s first students, and now two years in Taiwan with many groups (and who has met Henry Wang as well) let me offer my opinions:

    1. It is really hard to continue learning in any field. At each step of understanding it’s easy to stop and claim you understand.
    2. Point one is exacerbated more so with an art. Especially like Tai Chi that doesn’t have a firm, outstanding foothold in the western world.
    3. In push hands training we try to open our joints and structure so that it is always up right while twisting and rotating around the other persons force. The better you train your body for this, the easier it is to lock someone’s body up. You can also add to this where the other persons attention (mind or center of focus is). If you can tell where they’re focusing you can lock them up without as much physical skill.
    4. Don’t overextend your body so your structure cannot maintain a relaxed center. It won’t twist and rotate as well.
    5. When a teacher shows you something, you’re often in a physically passive, observant mode. Your attention of the physical is somewhat fixed. Some teachers do not wish to fully teach, but will either ask you to lock your attention, or push you while it is locked. If you’re not aware of what they’re doing, it seems special.
    6. After meeting Henry Wang, he had many “conditions” for pushing. He would not come close to me, only push me after had had put me in a certain position, and during basic push hands practice, would keep backing up so I had to overextend. He told me this was because “traditional push hands was wrong.” They are too centered on “tradition.”

    He is the type of teacher who tries to lock up your attention to push you, only in scripted planned ways. He also wants to talk a lot before you push. He compliments you a lot, but then tells you before you push that you’re doing it wrong and he knows the way (before seeing you really push).

    In my honest, humble, somewhat experienced opinion, he has a type of skill. It’s just not true tai chi. It’s more like refined demonstration skills that come from an understanding of some psychology and physiology.

    I hope this helps.

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