Are traditional martial arts 'useless'?

Jeremy (UK)

Most people don't practice tai chi for combat. They seek it for health and spiritual reasons. Also, it takes many, many years of training for the successful application of tai chi. I believe a well trained tai chi practitioner can easily defeat a well trained MMA fighter. Tai chi uses the opponents force against him and they all are pretty aggressive.

A student at Shaolin Tagou Martial Arts School in Dengfeng, Henan province, performs Shaolin kung fu for tourists at the Shaolin Temple scenic area. Gao Shanyue/China Daily