Peace and Fury

When people mention tai chi, people think peace and mental clarity. On the other hand, mention mixed martial arts (MMA), people think fury and violence.

Tyson Burwell has managed to mold the two into one.

Burwell, a Perrin native who is a physical therapist at Faith Community Health System has been a martial artist for years. He started off with karate when he was five then moved into kickboxing as a teenager followed by jiu jitsu and then muy thai which are more of  wrestling arts. He began tai chi as part of a work thing a few months back.

“Tim (Fitzgerald, head of physical therapy) wanted a program to assist in helping in fall prevention after they undergo therapy,” Burwell recalled. “I took a medical course in tai chi in the beginning of October and found it has helped my fighting in so many ways.”

He says taking the tai chi classes enables him to slow down his breathing, his heart rate and be in more of his cardio which he says you can transition into other things.

“I’ve taken being a therapist and cage fighting and brought them together,” Burwell said.

He says being a martial artist is actually safer than many sports such as football.

“At most, 40 percent of the hits in martial arts are to the head,” Burwell noted. “In football, the concussion rates are so high because you have two men running full clip into each other, almost like battering rams. Boxing, many of the shots are to the head as well. In martial arts, the strikes are all over: torso, knees.”

For the full story, see the Wednesday, Dec. 8 edition of the Jacksboro Herald-Gazette.