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TAI ZEN-The Mechanics of Martial Arts Movement

by

W. ADAM MANDELBAUM

There is a sign on the wall of the Tai Zen Dojo in East Meadow, New York, that serves both as a prediction and a promise to the student therein. It reads "Yet." While the practical methods and motions of Tai Zen may, at first, be difficult to comprehend for a beginner nursed on Bruce Lee movies, or a seasoned martial artist mired with the "mud" of traditional styles, practice and patience will produce a most effective fighter with both feet grounded in combat reality.

Ever since the initial martial arts boom of the early sixties, where traditional styles were the rule, and the student unquestioningly mirrored every move and word of the "sensei" or "sifu," there have been those who sought a better way-a synthesis of the best, and the elimination of what was impractical. One of the earliest pioneers in this direction was Howard Tague, who created Tai Zen forty years ago. He synthesized the most economical yet powerful moves from boxing, jiu jitsu and karate in his creation.

There are no spinning jump kicks, no "flowery hands" in Tai Zen. While the ability to leap like a Nijinsky or perform kata like a bushido Barishnikov may impress audiences and paying students, these skills have little application to proper combat motion. In Tai Zen, the form behind the force is based completely on the reality of mechanics and physics, especially the Newtonian concept of Force equals Mass times Acceleration.

It is a defensive art, declaring that the best defense is a good defense. The practitioner of the art of Tague's Tai Zen uses the aggressive incoming motion of the opponent to the defender's own advantage-using the adversary's offensive acceleration to add to the force of a defensive strike, throw, or joint lock. Further, techniques are targeted towards areas of the body and head that are least "armored" and most vulnerable to attack; a nose, a groin, an eye, a shin. Stressing maximum impact and economy of motion, Tai Zen is an efficient and effective method of self-defense, one that does not try to be a mixture of combat and choreography.

Many would be martial artists are first exposed to and enthused by the flash and speed of movie fight techniques. Whether it is the trampoline assisted jumps of the Hong Kong stars, or the airborne whirls of combatants in such recent films as Matrix, the martial arts are viewed by many as a combination of magic and a zero gravity environment. They aren't.

In speaking with master Tai Zen instructor Lenny Romeo (who combines thirty plus years of martial arts training with twenty some years of being a bar bouncer) I learned that flexibility, (so often stressed by the more dance-like martial arts) is unnecessary to the Tai Zen practitioner. "We kick low, and eliminate excessive distance between our adversaries," says Romeo. "The body is a series of hinges, and in Tai Zen we acknowledge this anatomical reality by our natural movements in a self defense situation."

Your author, who had taught Chinese Kempo professionally in the late seventies, was most impressed when Romeo gave certain physical demonstrations of the methods and mechanics of Tai Zen techniques. "The abdomen is a source of great strength-much more so than the arms," said Romeo, as he ran me through my paces. It was much easier to resist arm powered offensive motions than those augmented by abdominal and hip twisting.

"Speed is only important in relation to distance," Romeo told me. It was an obvious although often overlooked combat reality. From a certain distance, regardless of his speed, I easily avoided his attacks. However, when he was close in to me, his blows could not be effectively perceived and countered in time. When one considers the average distance between opponents in a sport karate or kick boxing match, contrasted with the closeness of "close encounters of the worst kind," the Tai Zen lessons of speed, distance, and motion are definitely required "reading."

In analyzing Tai Zen's approach to motion, founder Tague has noted that the body has three distinct sections-toes to groin, groin to lower chest, and lower chest to head. "The motion of these three body sections will vary." says Tague. "In cumulative motion, the three sections move separately-fractions of seconds apart. In this way each body section is allowed to move at its maximum speed and power. Cumulative motion is essential to ki, and this is the major difference in the way Tai Zen compares with other styles.

By recognizing the realities of the physics and mechanics of motion, and eliminating the "ballet" of some traditional combat styles, the art of Tai Zen has become an important and practical martial art for those who seek an effective and efficient form of self defense.