kyklosphaira

Defending against the roundhouse punch

2011-12-23T21:16:00.010-07:00

This seems to be a common topic of discussion for many self-defense situations. The search for solution is apparent in many youtube videos from WC to VT to WT.

Examples:

I definitely like the ideas and have trained similarily.

In fact, I remember initially learning about the body mechanics of training against a roundhouse punch. Chum kiu step, palm strike or punching with the inside hand, and the outer tan/fook sau as a barricade. The key was to be close and driving the center. Later on, I've also learned about driving into the source of the punch at the shoulders, shocking the opponent's core, etc.

But - it's hard to do! Especially with a strong opponent.

Also, I've realized that a good roundhouse puncher would not necessarily telegraph that obviously. If in close quarters, with a short turn of the waist and boom, the punch is there!

And, sometimes, the force is so great that the arm may just loop around, hinge at the elbow and clip you in the face, with a good amount of force there still.

Demos of defense against a telegraphed roundhouse punch are similar to demos of defending against an ugly poorly timed slow spinning back kick. Yawn.

It's hard to defend when done the attack is done well.

Here's a good video by a WT practitioner I've only met through some recent videos this year - Sifu Riis:

Here's another video of him:

That video reminded me of meeting Sifu Ralph for the first time, when I learned that the classical WT defensive starting position can be too "perfect".

Sifu Riis seems to impart a similar sarcastic humour as Sifu Ralph:

Happy training!

If I were to learn a martial art for self-defense...

2011-11-20T20:58:00.007-07:00

I have been attending a teaching course, the most recent one being about effective presentation skills. One of the recent assignments was to do a 10 minute talk on a topic of our choice.

I decided to do a talk about Wing Tsun Kung Fu. It was a combination of powerpoint slides to outline the history of WT, a short demo of the four principles of combat and strength, and a worksheet/handout.

One of the pre-presentation questions on the worksheet was to complete the following sentence:

If I were to learn a martial art for self-defense, I would want it to be...

These were the answers from the group:
- non strength dependent
- easy to learn
- proven effectiveness
- non-violent
- easy to apply

And also a footnote: *in an unfit person

Does your training fit with this small survey of answers?

Happy training!

Non-coding Wing Tsun

2011-03-17T00:00:00.002-06:00

We have millions of base pairs of DNA, yet only 22,000 genes or so from so-called coding DNA. The rest of the DNA? Initially termed "junk" non-coding DNA by some.

We may not yet understand the function of this DNA yet, thereby calling it junk. Some researchers have looked into the splicing characteristics of these regions of DNA, magnifying the number of possible genes a-hundred-fold, all with different functions at different times of need.

A comparison, hopefully not too much of a stretch...

We have many ways of expressing WT, yet perhaps only 108 or 116 movements (for the sake of argument), in a form.

Do you understand every single movement in the forms? Not just the obvious punches or palm strikes or ____-saus, but every single movement from every single angle at every single moment?

Or how one movement can lead to the next?

What about how multiple different movements can either form into or result from multiple different actions?

Do you understand the non-coding portions of Wing Tsun Kung Fu?

The third formless form

2011-01-11T22:04:00.005-07:00

Happy 2011!

For the first time, I have learned something from a movie that actually made me think about Wing Tsun Kung Fu.

Well, it was a movie about... you guessed it - Wing Chun. Kung Fu Wing Chun (功夫咏春):

Longer clip here with spoilers:

Although it started off with a bit of silliness (as per many Chinese movies), and contained some wire-fu, I actually enjoyed it more than older movies such as "Wing Chun" starring Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen, the Prodigal Son, Warriors Two, or Stranger from Shaolin. Nothing so far beats Yip Man (2008) with Donnie Yen though, even with the fictional storyline. I don't watch these movies to critique the Wing Chun Kung Fu itself or for a realistic documentary, because these are films... for entertainment!

Anyways, in 功夫咏春, there is a scene where Ng Mui starts teaching Yim Wing Chun. Ng Mui has Wing Chun mirror the Siu Nim Tao form, and explains about how something so simple can contain so much. She then explains how the Chum Kiu form helps train the bridging arms and turning forces of the body.

When it comes time to tell her about Biu Tze, she doesn't show her a form. In fact, she only says that it can be used for long bridging, and stressed that it does not have a form, and evolves as needed.

Interesting!

Ultimately we want to be formless, to become Wing Chun (the kung fu, not the lady herself). "Formless, shapeless, like water... etc." - Bruce Lee

Sure, Biu Tze has some different "moves", like the hook punch, elbows, etc. And it does help train body movements in a vertical plane, amongst other things. But all in all, it's almost like a form of freedom with the goal of freeing the Wing Tsun to a point of formlessness and directness.

Over-thinking a simple comment from a movie? Perhaps...

Here's to a good year... in life, as well as in Wing Tsun Kung Fu!

Journey to soft pliable effective power

2010-12-21T00:30:00.000-07:00

You may have heard before that in martial arts, softness wins in the end. I agree with this point. But, any softness should be backed up by good structure. To develop a soft, pliable, effective power, do you think it is better to start out strong or weak?

It may be easier to develop softness from a strong but stiff structure, as opposed to starting out weak and then adding both pliability as well as strong effective power. At least at the beginning. But then again, like most things, both paths have good and bad points.

I am influenced by my preference for subtraction over addition, for example as it relates to art sculptures. I have always enjoyed cutting or carving by subtraction (wood or soapstone carving), rather than building or molding by addition (clay-work).

When strong?

In the simplest sense, when we start out strong, in order to develop the desired pliable softness, it is done through subtraction. Have you seen photos of GM Kernspecht before his WT days?

Also, when strong to begin with, it is easier to overcome any weaknesses during training, if the softness is not yet trained properly. While training this way may not be as effective in the long run, doing so would at least give the trainee confidence in being somewhat successful in the meantime. It buys the trainee time while the proper strength and softness is developed.

The bad point? The same... relying on the brute strength too much and forgetting to develop the effective pliable power.

Remember the first WT principle of force? Free yourself from your own force.

When weak?

In contrast, when we start out weak, we need to develop both the softness at the same time as effective power, which requires strength at some point as part of the equation. This developmental approach requires both addition and subtraction throughout the path, which might be a bit much to juggle at first. Also, when weak, there is nothing to backup any failure of applying the softness correctly. And thus self-confidence may suffer.

When training, if there is no structure to begin with, then working on softness can often result in collapsing (of whatever little structure there is to begin with). It may actually result in giving way too much, with bad consequences.

The good point? Having a truly empty cup starting from scratch, and building the essential tools and backbone from the very start.

Which is better?

With this all in mind, is one journey better than the other?

Ideally, via these two different paths, there should be a similar end result, but only achievable with the right training methods.

What do you think?

In fact, what are the right training methods for these two different spectrums, and everything in between?
Are there different training methods unique to each person? Or simply different amounts of the same training methods needed?

Fear of failure

2010-11-29T23:41:00.001-07:00

Sifu Ralph Haenel of Wing Tsun Kung Fu Vancouver held the 2010 year-end seminar at Si-Hing Philip Lee's Golden Monkey Martial Arts Studio. Sifu German of Calgary WT also attended, from one snow-laden city to another...

The seminar was entitled "Twenty-One Steps to Knock-Out Self-Defense Skills!"

Basic or advanced skills?

We learned many different exercises to aid our growth in WT. Some of you may be wondering if we learned any advanced skills? Well, to answer that question, I will borrow a quote from Sifu Ralph... "Yo!"

Although the motions of the various exercises from the seminar originated from a variety of different WT program levels, they could all still be considered "basic" exercises.

It's not whether the skills themselves are advanced or basic, but whether or not the practice of the skills is done in an "advanced" or "basic" way.

In order to practice any basic exercise in an advanced way, we must first embrace failure. Yes, failure!

Learn how to fail

Being advanced just means refinement and improvement in skills. And in order to improve, I think we need to fail, even purposely at times.

Here are three simple common pitfalls that hinder improvement and progression in our WT training:
1. Fear of failure
2. Reliance on strengths alone
3. Over-confidence and complacency

Of all of the various "aha!" moments I gained at this seminar, "fear of failure" stuck with me the most. But, as you can imagine, the above three points are inter-related and feed off of each other.

Students want to succeed. Teachers want students to succeed. We all want to succeed! Doing otherwise can be uncomfortable, embarrassing perhaps, not really a big confidence-booster.

So, what do we do to avoid this situation? One option: shy away from failure, revert back to our strengths in order to succeed, and then become over-confident and satisfied by our "extreme skills". Some of us are stronger, some may be faster. Some have great footwork, while others have a tree-trunk-like stable posture. While these skills are of course, beneficial at the beginning and helps build self-esteem (a good thing), it makes it difficult to improve if we use our strengths all of the time.

Fail in order to succeed

Another more useful option in the long run: analyze the failure in the scenario and discover what weaknesses to improve upon. In fact, try doing something wrong to check what you need to do to correct it. Failing itself is not the problem, but how we analyze and react to the failures.

It is okay to get hit in a training scenario. Better to experience this in a controlled training environment. We can't expect to succeed immediately after just learning a skill. We aren't going to perfect the skill after 1 trial, a dozen trials, a hundred trials, or perhaps not until 10,000 hours (as per Malcolm Gladwell's book "Outliers").

Next time you are training an exercise, try turning off one of your strengths every now and then and work on failing. Then slowly build a new-found weakness into yet another strength over time. And then cycle back again and again...

I gained a lot from this seminar, but I thought I'd share with you a small philosophical viewpoint in training WT, but yet hopefully still being a practical approach.

Happy training!

WT is WC is WT...

2010-11-22T16:55:00.014-07:00

At the beginning of November, I traveled to California for a conference and vacation, and had the opportunity to visit Sifu Jin Young in Los Angeles, aka China Boxer. Some of you may have seen his teachings before at his youtube channel.

A selection of Sifu Jin Young's students in Los Angeles, California

I love visiting different schools. From seeing some of the youtube videos, I was looking forward to hearing his philosophy about training Wing Tsun/Chun.

I was not disappointed.

Sifu Jin takes his training and teaching seriously, and has a generous and passionate attitude towards teaching. His students were great to train with too.

Structure

His focus? (at least what I gathered from one group class)

Developing structure.

Ever since 2008, I have been working on developing structure via training in Calgary and Vancouver. So, it was great to see this theme repeated and repeated. Hearing about it from more than one lineage must mean structure is important!

He uses various very interesting and applicable drills to help students develop proper structure and familiarizing them with using whole body-chain movements.

Are you training with your partner?

Or are you training against your partner?

As emphasized repeatedly by Sifus Ralph, German, and Asad, I saw the importance of this point again during Sifu Jin's class. The drills we were working on relied on each partner's feedback and appropriate resistance. Each student not only focused on making themselves better, but made efforts to help their partners. There were no egos here!

Commonalities between lineages

The overlap of teaching throughout the different schools I have visited, including the visits to Ulm 1, 2 and Munich, reminds me about the commonality between different WT/WC lineages. Unfortunately, when comparing WT/WC schools, we tend to focus more on the differences rather than looking at the similarities.

It doesn't matter which lineage we are learning from, as long as the instructor: 1) Knows and applies WT/WC skills principles, and 2) Can teach it. Can the instructor teach and show students enough such that they can develop the skills to become a good practitioner, and perhaps even a teacher themselves as well?

Another commonality? The group class of 90 minutes was much too short, as usual.

An even more serious pose

If you are ever in Los Angeles, give Sifu Jin a message beforehand and I’m sure he’d welcome you to join his class.

Happy training!

Calgary Wing Tsun October 2010 Seminar

2010-11-02T00:00:00.005-06:00

I was particularly excited leading up to this seminar by Sifu Ralph Haenel of Wing Tsun Kung Fu Vancouver. During the summer training with Sifu German Ferrer of Wing Tsun Calgary, my WT addiction had exponentially increased.

In seminar reviews, I usually focus on training themes and ideas. This time, I will also describe some different yet equally important aspects of training (and teaching) martial arts.

Commitment
It was great to see many people take time out of their busy lives to attend the seminar. Some switched weekend shifts. Others arranged time away from their children. Another drove from quite a distance.

In fact, the student who lives 6-7 hours away not only came for both the bonus class and the entire weekend seminar, but also drives regularly to Calgary each month for a morning of private lessons!

What does this say about the Wingtsun Kung Fu as taught by Sifus Ralph and German during classes and private lessons?

Quality.

Punching power

But, I can’t do a WT seminar review without mentioning something physically related!

Scenario as commonly laid out in WT seminars: you are unexpectedly facing an aggressive attacker. You have solid smooth footwork, a fluid upper body, limber arms, everything. You evade the threat, get into the opponent’s core, and punch!

Yet, nothing happens. Uh-oh. The aggressive attacker, is… well, still aggressive or even more so now. Yes, everything was there, except power!

Once again, the importance of training punching power was evident throughout this seminar.

To aid in this development, students were introduced to different training exercises that were done either fast or slow, and worked on either fluidity or structure. All of the exercises helped understand where effective punching power comes from and also how to generate it.

Awesome.

Remember the soft sardine strike?

Questions, comments?

One thing students may take for granted is the openness of teachers to questions and queries.

Sifu Asad always pauses often for any questions and feedback during classes and private lessons.

Sifu German is also more than open to any ideas and thoughts, with an uncanny ability to engineer (pun intended) different drills to make a point.

During any private lessons or group classes, Si-Fu Ralph always asks for any questions or queries. To back up that offer, he is able to explain an answer in different ways depending on the student’s understanding. During class, he walks around often and gives students constant feedback and suggestions on how to improve. Check out his recent blog post about teaching.

These three teachers also have another thing in common. To balance any spoon-feeding, they have also allowed students to grow and discover things on their own. The WT structure is built in such a way that this can actually occur!

2010
In my previous post here, I mentioned that 2010 would be a good year for WT, and boy have I been right so far.

Happy training!

Kung Fu Fitness

2010-10-05T18:26:00.004-06:00

When first being exposed to Wing Chun or Wing Tsun, you may have heard statements such as: “You don’t need to be strong to be good” or “You can defeat a stronger opponent even if you are weak”. Perhaps this is what attracted you at the start.

Being strong and not being weak are two different things!

How about physical fitness? Do you have to be fit to do Wingtsun Kung Fu?

To be good in Wingtsun Kung Fu, being fit is very important.

Recently, I was reading this textbook from the American College of Sports Medicine. The qualities outlined below are stated to be important for physical fitness:

Health-Related Physical Fitness Components

Cardiovascular endurance: The ability of the circulatory and respiratory system to supply oxygen during sustained physical activity.

Body composition: The relative amounts of muscle, fat, bone, and other vital parts of the body.

Muscular strength: The ability of muscle to exert force.

Muscular endurance: The ability of muscle to continue to perform without fatigue.

Flexibility: The range of motion available at a joint.

Skill-Related Physical Fitness Components

Agility: The ability to change the position of the body in space with speed and accuracy.

Coordination: The ability to use the senses, such as sight and hearing, together with body parts in performing tasks smoothly and accurately.

Balance: The maintenance of equilibrium while stationary or moving.

Power: The ability or rate at which one can perform work.

Reaction time: The time elapsed between stimulation and the beginning of the reaction to it.

Speed: The ability to perform a movement within a short period of time.

Most would agree that strength, body composition, and both kinds of endurance are important for any type of physical activity. Why should Wingtsun Kung Fu be any different?

Do some of the other terms look familiar?
How about if we add: Centreline, Distance, and Positioning. And if we complement Agility and Flexibility with Mobility and Fluidity? And with Power, also Release Power.

Perhaps you have seen Sifu Ralph’s CoreConcepts!!!

Hmmm…

If Wingtsun Kung Fu and self-defense training is a physical activity, maybe physical fitness is important after all?

Restricted freedom

2010-10-03T21:49:00.004-06:00

How do you restrict and free a student?

This question came about in September, after teaching students in Wingtsun, as well as students in undergrad.

Whether it is kung fu, music, or any task requiring a new skillset, how do we approach learning it or teaching it?

The goal
We know that there is an ideal goal, the “finished product”, as Sifu Ralph mentions, also stated in his recent blog post. As a new student, at first, we imitate. Later on, we then try to understand. This analyzing and applying phase may last months or years. We are then also influenced by experience, before even attempting our own expression.

Teaching
At some point, in any career, we might be called upon to teach. When we are teaching, we no longer feel that foreign sensation that a new student feels while learning new motions. So, how do we empathize and understand what a new student has to go through?

We want to teach a foundation and base to start with, and thus restriction comes into play. Yet, we also want to allow freedom of expression. Is this done at the same time, or sequentially?

Know your boundaries
Bruce Lee, who was influenced by various philosophers, from Confucius to Krishnamurti, is often quoted as follows:

“Using no way as way, having no limitation as limitation.”

A less commonly heard quote of his is “From form to formless and from finite to infinite”

Two seemingly opposing concepts. The “from” and “to” imply a chronological teaching method. Might they exist simultaneously though?

At the beginning we might need restriction. Learning the rules. Boundaries. Foundation. Structure. In the end, we would like to achieve freedom without form.

In between the two spectrums, perhaps freedom starts to exist within the confines of a defined restriction. Simultaneously.

So?
Going back to the initial question. How do you restrict and free a student?

I started this blog entry in September, and I realize now that there is a flaw in my questioning. Before thinking about “how” in a practical sense, there is something else to think about, either at first or at the same time. Besides “how”, there is also “why” and “when”.

Why do you restrict and free a student?
When do you restrict and free a student?

Before becoming formless, we have to understand, explain, and experience form.

Practically speaking
Yes, it was time for another philosophical interlude. How about something a little bit more practical?

When learning anything new, think about the “why”.

Obviously, there is still much more to learn. Kung Fu is a long journey!

Four principles of ego

2010-08-20T18:44:00.006-06:00

I have recently been hinting at a blog post about “Drills and Training Strategies”, stemmed from thoughts I have had about drills with training partners at Calgary WT, and then later being fortunate to have Sifu Gary as a training partner at the WT Vancouver Victoria Day Bonus Class.

When we train, we hope to become better (at least most people want to!). But, we will always train with a variety of partners at different skill levels. So, how do both partners become better?

Tip #1. Leave your ego at the door

If you have heard of the four principles of fighting and four principles of force, you will understand my concoction listed below.

Four principles of ego:
1. Free yourself from one’s own ego
2. Free yourself from your partner’s ego
3. If you can and must (and feel generous), use your partner’s ego against him/her
4. If the encountered ego is too great, give way and find another partner

Note: I wouldn’t suggest adding your own ego or going forward with it.

More thoughts later…

Calgary WT 2010 Spring Seminar

2010-06-26T16:03:00.007-06:00

Sifu Ralph of WT Vancouver was invited by Sifu German to Calgary WT for the 2010 Spring Seminar from June 11-12th, with a bonus pre-seminar class on June 10th.

This seminar review is not only influenced by the teachings of Sifu Ralph, but also by training with two great WT Kung Fu Brothers, Sihings Tony and Edmond, who also flew in from Vancouver (pictured below).

Before the first night, I met up with Tony and Edmond for a chat over some snacks and coffee/tea. We ordered the “Flatbread with 3 dips”, one of the dips being garlic-flavoured.

Having garlic-breath was part of my secret plan of repelling any close-quarter attacks from any of my training partners that night. But alas, Edmond foiled my plan with his generosity: some refreshing chewing gum before we headed to class.

These visits from WT Vancouver are never disappointing. Day 0, as I call the informal pre-seminar class, was followed by the official 2-day seminar.

All chockfull of WT goodness.

As I usually like to do with seminar reviews, instead of a chronological summary, here are some random thoughts I had:

Purpose

If we don’t understand the purpose of a drill, exercise, or whatever we are training, how can we understand the benefits?

One example is understanding the Lat Sau program.

As mentioned in a previous post, in Lat Sau, we start disconnected from our partner. Then we engage. But, sensitivity and pressure-reaction-training are not the only things we train in Lat Sau. We can learn many things in this program: positioning, footwork, timing, seeing openings, mobility, etc. So many things to think about.

Some may not like the Lat Sau drills because they seem static, but it is likely as static as it was taught. If you find someone like Sifu Ralph who understands the purpose of Lat Sau, and knows the many intricate details within these drills, you have yourself an amazing dynamic training tool that will improve your WT.

We are not just limited to thinking about Lat Sau in this manner. Why not analyze whatever exercise you are doing?

“The usefullness of a cup is in its emptiness”

Scenario:

Instructor shows a new drill to practice. Result: Students do something different.

Instructor gives a reminder about drill both visually and verbally. Students do something different yet again.

Instructor shows what NOT to do. Students train exactly that… what NOT to do!

Why does this happen?!

I think it has a lot to do with being comfortable with familiar surroundings, movements, and reactions. It is never easy to learn something new, especially when it comes to moving differently than how we are accustomed to. So how do we counteract this? After looking within, here are some ideas I came up with…maybe they will apply to others who find themselves in a similar situation.

#1. Empty your cup

(or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NOH6kOr8eY if you can't see the embedded video)

Be open to new ideas. You are still allowed to think about the “whats” and “whys” in the drill. Ask questions!

#2. Don’t be shy

There’s no one really watching you. You won’t make a fool of yourself by moving and wiggling your body or what-not. Just try it!

#3. Look beyond the motions

A bit esoteric I know. But valid I think. We should not only want to learn the specific techniques and methods, but what lies beneath them.

Look beneath to look beyond. Huh?

Observe, think, wonder, imagine, discover. Is there something else that you can learn from the drill that is not visually obvious the first time?

Hopefully, you find these suggestions helpful. Would love to hear your thoughts.

(More in a later post on “Drills and Training Strategies”… still in progress)

Other final thoughts

Edmond’s nickname is “Wooden Arms”, but I think I felt “Cinder Blocks” on my neck.
Tony (Leung) is the one of the most patient WT training partners I have had.
Sifu Tony (Tam) was excited to share more of his thoughts and ideas again, even getting a bit more actively involved during the seminar; it is always very interesting to hear about another lineage of Wing Chun from Fatshan.

Another spring, another seminar, another dinner, another step towards “becoming WT”!

Knockout breakfast-making power

2010-06-13T08:48:00.006-06:00

Short preview of what a seminar by Sifu Ralph can do for you.

The morning after day 1 of the seminar at WT Calgary:

Breaking a knife while cutting some cheese for a sandwich (not grilled cheese though...)

Are you ready?! www.wingtsunkungfu.com

Next up: seminar review
(drills and training strategies still pending)

See it, feel it, do it

2010-05-30T14:48:00.006-06:00

On May 24th of 2010, I had the opportunity to attend Sifu Ralph’s bonus outdoor Victoria Day class at WT Vancouver.

What more could I ask for? The warm shy sun sneaking out from behind the clouds, a slight cool Vancouver breeze, a fun and knowledgeable teacher, a helpful training partner… okay, enough extravagant compliments by moi!

The worst part of the morning though? After a quick 90 minutes, class was dismissed!

So, which secret deadly technique did I gain this time in Vancouver? Sure I can tell you all about our training of the intense jum sau, smooth gwat sau, viscious fak sau, go-crazy-on-you-sau, etc., but what would you really gain from a few short paragraphs about these techniques that need to be physically practiced?

This blog post is about Secret Deadly Technique #147: Visualization

In sports, you may have heard about the mental aspect of training being as equally or even more important than the physical aspect of training. But does this apply to WT?

I’m no sports psychologist, but just here to tell you what I learned and gained from a simple comment by Sifu Ralph when talking about a fak sau strike: “… like a heavy weight.”

Have you ever swung one of those hammers at a carnival? (or in Canada: PNE, CNE, Calgary Stampede… eh?)

I found that visualizing the forearm (from the elbow downwards) as a “heavy weight” helped adjust any inefficient tension in the forearm, wrists and hands, so that the shoulders, back, and body could do a lot more of the work.

So how do we become a heavy weight as a whole? Some examples:
- drop our shoulders
- fire our pecs, lats, back muscles
- tighten our abs
- bend our knees
- etc.
- in other words, sink our whole body

This is just one scenario to imagine. We can visualize anything of course.

Visualize …
- … the energy traveling from your ankles up the pathway of your body all the way to your fists
- … punching right through your opponent
- … whatever else you need to help your training

Here’s a photo to help visualize the great bunch of WT Vancouver that made it out to the Victoria Day bonus class (thanks to Sifu Ralph for the photo).

Happy training!

Next up…
Drills and training strategies

Soft sardine strikes

2010-05-10T22:29:00.007-06:00

And now for something completely different...

The classical WT training comparison: “patty-cake” / “tag-you're-it” love-taps vs. powerful meaningful intended hits, summed up in a nice Monty Python scene...

What kind of striking power are you training for?

Just some fish for thought…

Fascia: an oft ignored enigma

2010-04-28T14:06:00.004-06:00

Pictured below is a slide from one of the talks at the Fascia Course I recently attended.

Besides the obvious picture of Bruce Lee in this slide, the whole lecture reminded me about fascia-oriented training in Wing Tsun.

Yes. Fascia!

You may have heard of this term before. Traditionally, fascia layers are the thinner planes of connective tissue that we dissect away during anatomy courses to get at the deeper anatomy, the “real money”, in muscles, ligaments, etc.

However, the “fascia” that we spoke of at this conference is a broader definition, including all soft connective tissues containing collagen. This strong, dynamic, elastic network is present throughout our entire body.

This network not only helps transmit forces through our myofascial chains, but much research is underway about many other properties, for example its sensory aspects such as propioception.

Imagine being able to train our fascia like we train our muscles. For any physical activity, here are some points to keep in mind:

- Use the entire functional myofascial chains of our body
- Pre-stretch and load movements
- Keep in mind that this is a long-term goal that requires patience

For Wing Tsun in particular:
- Do the Chi-gung forms
- Try out slow, deliberate waves of movements (to complement the other end of the spectrum)
- Move with a wiggle or a wave, like a wet towel or a flimsy noodle, whatever you’d like to call it

Outside of WT training, try out things such as kettlebells, clubbells, yoga, resistance band training, etc.

Get to know your fascia!

Nochmals!

2010-04-19T17:05:00.013-06:00

Training at WT Munich was a last minute decision - am I ever glad that I did!

On the night of Friday March 26th, I took a train from Ulm to Munich for some sight-seeing for the weekend. Since I had already bit the German WT bug in Ulm, I searched and found WT-Schulen via google, and then gave Sifu Sergej a heads-up e-mail.

Late!
On Saturday morning, I ventured out to the WT school. I was late about 15 minutes for two reasons:

#1. I had taken the wrong train line and needed to walk an additional 30 minutes to the school.

#2. After reaching the building that housed the WT school, I then wasted 5 minutes because I apparently don’t know how to open a door! Basically, kind of like the picture below, but I was pulling on the door that actually needed a push. There was no sign on the door, but if there was one it probably would have read in German “Push, you idiot!”

Okay, maybe it wasn’t 5 minutes, but it sure felt like it was.

Warm welcome
Anyways, after getting in tune with my body mechanics and boosting my self-confidence by successfully opening a commonplace door, I was ready for some WT training!

After venturing into the WT gym, I immediately received a friendly welcome by Sifu Sergej, and joined in on the class. We started with large group drills at first, and then continued on with isolated exercises. Great training partners: Max and Alex.

Mobility
A good mix of mobility to start the day. One-line realizations to ponder…

- Footwork: what use is an engine without wheels?
- Forward intention: you can still go forward whilst going backward
- Sinking: the whole entire body can absorb forces and return like a spring
- Pelvis motion: maybe hula hoops should be incorporated in a WT workout, just a random thought

Getting close
The grappling training afterwards was great (or anti-grappling, or anti-anti-grappling, however you like it, or don’t like it, or don’t don’t like it). Thoughts on this training:

- Getting close is uncomfortable but effective at times
- A force vector headed the wrong way just makes things more difficult
- Once the centerline is locked onto though, everything just flows easier
- Any part of the body is a weapon, including the splendid cauliflower ears as mentioned by Sifu Sergej

A very enjoyable workout with lots to think about. Friendly bunch of WT-ers – yes… again, highly recommended!

WT Munich Group – a dummy doll and wooden plank included…

Oh, in case you were wondering about beer gardens in Germany, there was a gargantuan one called Hofbrahaus, with seemingly never-ending rows and rows of benches. Unfortunately, it was surprisingly closed by the time we got there during some late strolling around the city on a Friday night.

Prost!

Lat Sau as a TTT (training transition tool)

2010-04-08T21:42:00.003-06:00

After the first WT class in Ulm, I was invited to come again the next night, including the Escrima class held before WT. Unfortunately I only had time to come for the WT class.

Don’t ask me why I took this photo slanted, that’s just where I was standing on the stairs. You’ll have to tilt your head a bit to read it, so please don’t break your neck.

Sifu Bodo was not in again, so it was Sihing Michael leading the class. There were a couple of other 1TGs as well. I mainly trained with Jörg, pictured below.

Ignore the Axe in the corner there. It was only used for punishing really really bad students =).

There were a lot of students on this Thursday night of March 25th. I got very hot just doing Chum Kiu! Doing the forms there, I realized that I miss having a mirror in class. Not that I’m vain or anything…

Then, more Chi Sau, Lat Sau, and the majority of the class spent on random attacks. Jörg was practicing soft take-downs, and I was asked to just respond however I chose to. One lucky thing about being smaller than most of my training partners is the chance to see and feel what is needed, be it footwork or better structure, etc.

Thoughts on Lat Sau
I really see the value of EWTO Lat Sau exercises as a great transition tool, linking what we learn during Chi Sau and what we apply during random attacks.

In Chi Sau, we are already in contact with our training partner. In random attacks, there is only air between us and the opponent. In Lat Sau though, we learn how to respond to pressure that is made at the very moment of contact. We can (and should) train slowly at first with a lot of obvious pressure, and hopefully as we get better we can lighten up and be able to respond with only a slight breeze of the hairs on the skin.

The IWTA 甩手 exercises are a bit different in procedure, but the same in terms of the ultimate goal.

And so that ended my WT experiences in Ulm, Germany. Next up, good times at WT Munich for just one class!

“No blood? It’s okay then”

2010-04-05T16:06:00.010-06:00

What an exhilarating experience, to practice WT in another part of the world. I have been lucky enough already to have trained in the main 3 cities of Canada involved in Wingtsun, namely Toronto, Vancouver, and most recently in Calgary.

Now, I can add Ulm, Germany to my list of WT journeys, albeit only for 1-2 classes. Why Ulm? I visited for a very exciting Interdisciplinary Fascia Course as part of my career journey. Interestingly enough, as a side product of this course, I have learned a few things about fascia as it relates to body movement that can likely be applicable to WT. More on this in a future post, including a lecture slide with a photo of Bruce Lee.

Greetings
Before flying out to Germany, I had e-mailed Sifu Bodo of WT Ulm about a possible visit. On the night of March 24th, when I visited the school, I was first met by a couple of students outside. There was lot of sign language for a few minutes mixed with a couple of phrases from the handy “Lonely Planet German phrasebook”. Then another student arrived who spoke a bit more English.

I was then greeted by Sihing Michael, who was generous enough to invite me to train with them. I did not have any of my training clothes, but how could you resist?

It was a beautiful gym with training pads, nice photos, the usual Wooden Dummy, etc. Standardized start of the class with SNT and CK. Then off to various drills.

Summary of thoughts:
- Chi Sau sections, be it EWTO-influenced, IWTA-influenced, instructor-influenced, is only a framework on which to build upon

- The whole body must be taken advantage of, using all of the joints including the back; there were no frozen and stilted bodies in this class!

- Hitting must be practiced in class, to get the feeling of what it takes to move somebody

- Wingtsun is an international language

- Best quote from one of my training partners: “No blood? It’s okay then.”

More sweat
Then, after various chi sau and lat sau exercises, the night was coming to an end! Then Sihing Michael said “Time to work up some more sweat!” Push-ups, leg raises, back extensions, chain punching… followed by some stretching.

By the way, “liegestütze” sounds just as painful and tiring as “push-ups”.

WT Ulm – highly recommended! Tune in for more about day 2 of 2.

"German" WT instructors

2010-04-01T18:40:00.008-06:00

I just realized something.

All of the WT teachers I have had so far are Germans (or from Germany), such as Sifu Asad Mir and Si-Fu Ralph Haenel, except for the occasional seminar with Sifu Carson Lau. In case you are wondering… yes, this includes Sifu German Ferrer of WT Calgary, a “German” as well!

Okay, now that the lame pun is over and done with…

As part of my academic interest, I had the wonderful opportunity taking part in the first ever Interdisciplinary Fascia Research Course in Ulm, Germany.

It was my first time in Germany. So, what would you do as a WT student? Well, check out some WT schools of course! I visited the WT school in Ulm twice. I also spent a day in Munich and stopped by Sifu Sergej's WT school for a class.

One word summary: nochmals! (a word I learned from a fellow WT trainee in Munich)

Yes, once again please. I would love to train there again, to experience that wonderful “different but the same training” feeling.

Keep an eye out for a few blog entries about my 3 classes of training in Germany.

For now… I will leave you with a beautiful photo of the Ulm Munster, the tallest church in the world with a steeple of 161.5 metres. Beautiful view from the top after 763 steps.

How do you change formlessnessessess...?

2010-03-15T22:49:00.005-06:00

Time for a short philosophical break… put on your thinking caps please…

This blog entry stemmed from thoughts related to this post by GM Kernspecht: http://www.wingtsunwelt.com/news.php?id=1780&PHPSESSID=c635d776eeafa99d54bfd318ed875227

1. If the goal of “becoming” Wing Tsun is the same for all, does it matter what kind of path you take? Why shouldn’t there be different journeys to the same goal?

2. Teachers adapt to the different learning styles of students. This can and should apply to martial arts training too.

3. If everyone has different body builds and characteristics, etc., then Wing Tsun can look very different. Depends on the scenario as well. Adaptation, anyone?

To me, “changing” Wing Tsun means changing the way to get to Wing Tsun. And that’s okay!

Have you got what it takes?

2010-02-08T17:59:00.009-07:00

Every now and again you might hear a question comparing WT with MMA or what not, or how WT would be in a tournament. I’m not talking about the silly chi sau tournaments here. Nor am I talking about love-tap fights with a point system. I’m talking about being locked up in a cage with another experienced, ruthless and belt-hungry fighter.

Queue the screeching brakes.

We have to remember what we are training WT for. How about this: self-defense when caught in an unexpected potentially violent situation. At least for me, I’m not training full-time to be in a professional ring where I’ve studied my opponent’s videos beforehand, and I’ve been studied in detail, both of us needing to obey various rules, etc.

I remember watching an MMA fight, where one fighter accidentally ran his eye into the other guy’s thumb (yes, not the other way around). “Ow! (Sniff, sniff)” Fight delayed. Groin shots in those fights are always classic as well.

Note: Yes, I realize that there are lethal techniques in other martial arts besides WT.

Let’s turn to a lesson from Master Wong.

Maybe a bit too much swearing for some, but I love watching the sarcastic tone of his videos. You’ll have to watch some of the other ones to understand his animosity towards his student.

This video has a clear message for me – it’s not about what kung fu versus MMA, my style versus your style, etc.

It’s about the person who is training in the martial art.

So, what else is new? Let’s train hard!

In a self-defense situation, we are assuming that:

Your attacker is bigger
You were chosen as a victim (despite your confident air about you)

You were also assumed by the attacker to be weaker with no fighting experience. When physical violence ensues, your WT training will hopefully kick in. But, despite all of the training, do you have a greater hunger for survival than your opponent? (On the other hand, do you have enough control re: “excessive force” with all of the adrenaline rushing through?)

I see I have dodged the question a bit of whether WT work in a cage fight. I think it’s because it’s an entirely different scenario. Do I think someone could incorporate effective WT training into their MMA training? Sure! Put a hard-training devoted fighter through WT and no doubt there’ll be improvement. Chinese boxing – why not?

But I guess I really won't know until I see it. Until then, I'll spend less time thinking about that and more time training in an effective self-defense system. What are your thoughts?

I hope you enjoyed that video. There are lots of amusing quotes in there. He has also been posting this entertaining “Wing Chun Apprentice” series for 2010.

And to end, because kung fu is not only about physical fighting, let’s broaden our thinking a bit. I think this lesson is a valid point in all aspects of life.

How much effort do you put in to attain your goals?

Lessons from Leung Kwok Wah in 1 minute

2010-02-05T12:15:00.006-07:00

I encountered a video on youtube by Sifu Leung Kwok Wah of Hong Kong. I thought it had some great teaching points that I’d like to share with you.

Face your opponent

At the very beginning of the video, he asks his students to face your opponent. Paraphrased:

Why aren’t you facing your opponent? You need to have forward intent. If you don’t face him, your concentration will be broken.

I don’t know why but when I see people doing chi sao exercises with their heads turned left or right, I think of a movie star holding a gun sideways, trying to look cool. The bit about focusing on forward intent by actually facing your training partner makes sense to me. Plus, as much as we want to rely on our sensitivity, we can’t ignore the amazing benefits of the visual input from our central and peripheral vision.

Continue to flow and spring forward

About 20 seconds in, he asks them not to stop, and continue. Paraphrased again:

Don’t stop. If you are turned and then stop there, a fighter is just going to push you around and you’ll get hit.

Also, at 2:30 or so, one of the students gets pushed away. His response:

Thrust back to him. Oh, you missed your chance. Okay, now you do it after I say it…

This is hard to do when you get tired I guess. It’s one thing to be able to dissolve a force, but another thing to still have forward pressure, or spring back after the force is dissipated. If we dissolve only without returning the favour, we’ll get slammed. And if we get pushed away, make sure those hands are up to defend against a follow-up attack, or just go back into the fire!

Stamina

At about 40 seconds one of his students says "I'm breathing hard". Paraphrased response:

Of course! We are training stamina here with this chi sao exercise.

'Nuff said.

Every now and again, I’ll post some interesting videos I find from various Sifus. You can see how there are many teaching points common throughout various "lineages". There is much to learn out there in the Wing Chun family.

What am I learning, anyways?

2010-02-03T23:59:00.003-07:00

As you know, kung fu has traditionally been passed down from generation to generation with no noticeable structure per se. Students did not sign up each semester for Kung Fu 101, then 102, then 201 and 202, etc. I wonder how people knew their progress then? Perhaps they got into a lot more fights and random challenges with other styles back then e.g. “Bei Mo”. Before, perhaps teaching was more individualized, and students were taught when they were presumed to be ready. Sifus either passed down kung fu to their own family members, or only had a handful of students, not like nowadays.

Now though, with so many schools and students, how would the Sifus and To-dais keep track? WT has been touted as having a more structured approach with a standardized curriculum. Theoretically, you should be able to go anywhere around the world with your WT Passport and continue training in your own program. I’ve never really tried that out actually. A balance of being both between standardized and individualized.

A skeleton

Now that I think about it, whenever we had guest instructors in Toronto, there may have been differences in the specific details of each technique that may not have seemed standardized. But, in the end, the framework was actually there. I’ve come to realize that the so-called structured program is just a skeleton on which to build upon, since everything that we learn is so spread out across the whole system of levels.

Checklist

On the other hand, having a checklist for each level has been useful for me in the past. It told me what the basic requirements were for each grade. Like pre-requisites for the next course. Plus, I’m sure everyone has enough unpredictable and unstructured things in their lives already, be it at home or at work, so it’s nice to have some structure in one’s life. It also gave the instructor an idea as to where the students were at and what they haven’t learned yet.

However, it’s not like after you tick off the checklists, then we are done with it! Also, in mathematics, when we learned long division, you still had to use addition and subtraction. Okay, bad example… how many people whip out their cell phones now for calculations?

Progress

So, how do we know that we are getting better in WT? Why, get into a random scrum at the bar of course! Just kidding - if you want to talk about unpredictability and unstructured, that approach is highly not recommended.

Well, we can simulate the realistic and practical side of assessing progress throughout our training. In Toronto, we routinely practiced defending against “random attacks” to test our skills. That way, we can try and apply and test out our skills. (As an aside, that’s another great reason to have a variety of students with other martial arts experiences in the class, because they can throw a proper TKD kick, or boxer’s jab/punch, or Jiu-Jitsu take-down, etc. )

Then there is formal testing to advance levels of course, as a standardized way of saying: “Now you are ready grasshopper, to start learning the next technique… monkey plucks two peaches!” Students become aware of what they have accomplished. Everyone needs some encouragement and confidence now and again as well. A sense of pride and achievement. Plus, some credentials for teaching and passing it on in the future.

Overall though, I don’t care much about a label, as long as I know the skills are there. Someone once told me (paraphrased): “having a technician suit doesn’t help my WT when I have to use it.” What do you mean, you could take that jacket off, throw it at your opponent to blind him right before your pummel him with chain punches!

Anyways, as long as I keep a record of my training, and spend the time re-thinking and recalling what has been taught, that helps me identify gaps and weaknesses. Then, just train harder!

What are your thoughts?

Check out these older posts at Grasshopper 2.0 and WT Vancouver with a similar theme:

WT Structure

Columns of Wing Tsun training and How to train

Sifu Ralph's CoreConcepts

Behave!

2010-01-31T14:35:00.005-07:00

When you were a kid, and you weren’t in your parent’s sight, how did you behave? Did you paint chocolate pudding all over the walls? Did you eat all the candy that you could find?

I guess it’s a stretch of a comparison, considering we're talking about training in martial arts.

How about this? You are a nomadic warrior who has traversed through snowstorms and climbed thousands of rock-faced cliffs to see a kung fu master in the hidden mountains. He teaches you a handful of techniques and tells you to return in 1 year for more tutelage.

Or maybe this. You have a life-long dream about becoming a martial artist, but live hundreds of kilometers away from the closest teacher. So, you only have enough time to visit a few times a year.

Or maybe something else more realistic. You are a regular person with a job or two, a family, other hobbies and interests, and also train in Wingtsun Kung Fu. Your instructor happens to be away for a short while.

In all these scenarios, what would you do?

1. You could relax and enjoy your other aspects of life, ignoring all Wing Tsun training. A holiday! Then return and expect to pick up where you left off.

2. You could train with other partners, repeating drills as you recall them. Or maybe look through your detailed notebook for the drills, because you know _everyone_ keeps a WT notebook…

3. You could analyze various movements of the drills and thus focus your training, breaking them apart and think about what they are, what they are for, why are they done, etc.

4. You could incorporate numerous things you have learned in the past, and see how they can connect together. Then train to help this consolidation.

5. Better yet, a combination of everything above.

6. Your comments?

Now, many moons have passed. It is time for you visit the wise kung fu master again in the high mountains: “Let me see how you have improved...”

WT journey thus far...

2010-01-16T00:53:00.010-07:00

2004 to 2008: Baby steps

Finally, my dream of learning Bruce Lee’s original kung fu comes true. While I was in Toronto in 2004 I had the time and money to start training in Wingtsun.

When I first started out in WT Toronto, I only had some basic training in Hapkido/TKD from the odd session run after classes in high school with 2 of our social studies and science teachers (ninjas in disguise). Lucky for me, there was not too big of a cup to empty prior to learning WT.

So, I was introduced to things like IRAS, advancing stance, footwork, chain punching, etc. More awkward and uncomfortable than a silent moment on a blind date. Just for your interest, I attended the Calgary Stampede last year and noticed that they really do use the IRAS stance in sheep shearing contests (In Chinese, the name for IRAS is actually “character two sheep grasping stance”).

Soon after starting, I injured my right MCL while playing Ultimate Frisbee. I almost didn’t continue with WT, but was reassured I could. And so I continued training with this knee brace on. Thanks for the encouragement Si-Hing/Sifu Asad!

I still remember my first test in February 2005 with Sifu Lau: “More fierce!” Whenever we “screwed up” a defense/attack and stopped (you know, don’t you stop and pose in a fight for the photo shoot?), he wanted us to just plow through and go ahead. More fierce! (it sounds better with a Chinese accent...)

Also, whenever visiting Vancouver from 2007 onwards, I had the occasional training session / tea-drinking conversation with Si-Hing/Sifu Steve. Fun times! My first visit to WT Vancouver was on Boxing Day of 2007. I still remember my “initiation ceremony” of chain punching to Sifu Ralph’s chest to no avail. And when faced with a grinning menacing Mr. Hyde, I started backing up with my hands up “I don’t want to fight”, until I found myself trapped between him and a closed door (which was probably locked – yikes!). “Be aware of your surroundings…”

Anyways, I found Calgary WT in January of 2008 while I was in town. I recall having food poisoning and still wanting to meet up with Si-Hing/Sifu German. Vomiting in a Kung Fu teacher’s bathroom – bad idea. Even better, thinking I could stomach dinner afterwards and having to excuse myself after the 4th shrimp wonton. What a great night afterwards… walking out in the -40 weather to buy bread and lots of Gatorade.

Then, just when I was about to start assimilating everything together to adapt and flow more, I moved from Toronto to Calgary in July of 2008.

2008: Freeing myself from my own force

So, I started attending Calgary WT, and met most of the students in group class - the “initiating ceremony” here being partnering up with Craig (a ninja in disguise as a ninja).

This was a good year - trying to get that body moving more and to start getting rid of all those tensions throughout my body. Started this blog in 2008. First seminar with Sifu Ralph.

2009: Upgrading the foundation, seeing the blueprint

An even better year - going back to the basics: structure, foundation, rooting. Big anniversaries in Calgary and Vancouver. A WT vacation.

Also, I was able to plan the WT road ahead by finally realizing what lies beyond.

2010: Back to square one

I’m looking forward to building up everything again from scratch, hopefully with a stronger base of support. Plus, applying the principles of how to best train with each other. Analyzing and answering the question “Why?” Opening my eyes more to Chi Sau training methods.

Exciting year ahead… I can feel it. Maybe almost taste it. And it doesn’t taste like chicken…

Good kung fu!

Cardio fitness in martial arts

2009-12-27T16:09:00.004-07:00

Do you incorporate cardio fitness training in your martial arts workout?

Back in Toronto, 1 out of the 3 classes each week was devoted to pad-work, bag-work, and cardio training. In Calgary, we occasionally mix it up with some pad-work training.

I visited Vancouver again during the Christmas holidays, and unfortunately missed out on Sifu Brian Yam's cardio class on December 23rd at Wing Tsun Vancouver. I even brought my gloves and shin pads. You know how busy the holidays can be though.

But... today, I tried out a cardio kickboxing class, which was a great 1-hour intense period of not only boxing, but leg-work, ab-work, core-training, isometric exercises, etc. I felt both alive and dead at the same time! The ultimate balance between yin and yang.

Techniques can only get you so far. Power aside, if you don't have the stamina to finish the deal, then those techniques won't get you very far. What if you're too tired to even run away!

An additional side effect of cardio workouts: good for your health!

Time to take a nap on the flight back to Calgary...

Happy New Year!

WT-vacation

2009-12-19T12:46:00.013-07:00

In December, I visited Toronto again to visit friends and family, and included WT training during my week there (of course!). By the way, I nearly died driving in the wind-snowstorm to Calgary’s airport, but I avoided the majority of the snowfall and -30 degree weather while I was in Toronto. On the other hand, I definitely do not miss those wind-tunnels in Toronto created by all of the buildings in downtown. Especially Bay Street.

Anyways, I attended a 1-day WT seminar held by Sifu Carson Lau of WingTsun Canada – Richmond Hill. I also took private lessons with my Si-Hing/Sifu Asad of WingTsun Toronto. And then, besides the evening group classes of WT Toronto, I also had the chance to attend the now additional day-time classes twice a week. That, plus some bonus training outside of class with my training buddies, made this week a WT-vacation!

WT seminar with Sifu Lau

This seminar focused mainly on defending against some Jiu-Jitsu take-downs. What thought-provoking points did I mainly get out of this seminar?

Techniques are needed to be taught at the beginning, but hopefully the end product stems from the opponent creating those techniques. Much like what Bruce Lee said: “The highest technique is to have no technique. My technique is a result of your technique; my movement is a result of your movement.”

But, we need something to help us bridge to this state… and that’s why it is good to learn techniques and responses in a systematic fashion. However, throughout our training, we will still need to analyze and learn the “why” behind the techniques, and coming back to them often. So, in the future… ideally… as long as those always-mentioned principles of force and combat are used, these techniques will just happen automatically.

Training with my training buddies

Si-Hing, Si-Jet, and Si-Je pictured from left to right

Training outside of class is always useful, because it’s not like we’ll become experts after training certain drills for only 30 minutes each in a single class.

It’s always good to have a variety of training partners. Too often we may get used to the idiosyncrasies and intentions of a single training partner, and succumb to the tendency of thinking ahead in anticipation rather than respond naturally. Plus, we need to get used to different heights, body masses, arm lengths, footwork, timing, etc.

Another bonus… everyone has something to teach. Confucius quote: “If there are three people before me, one of them must be my teacher.”

So, don’t be shy! Introduce yourself in class and “cross-train” with other partners.

P.S. Not all places in Toronto carry Calgary’s Grasshopper on-tap.

Private lessons with my Si-Hing... Sifu Asad

Shh… this is private! Okay, just a peek..

How do we become formless without knowing what form is to begin with? What I gleaned from all of the private lessons was going back to the structured WT forms (SNT, CK, CS sections) with rules. Also, during my week there, a training partner reminded me of “knowing the rules before being able to break them.”

I enjoy both spectrums of training. When we train formless exaggerated movements, it helps us know what muscles are needed, and the goal is to make those movements tighter and tighter until perhaps imperceptible! And ultimately we will be back full circle with “economy of motion”. When your opponents just fall with a twitch of your eyebrow.

WT Toronto 11th Annual Christmas Party

On top of all of the WT training, luckily enough I was still in town when WT Toronto held its 11th Annual Christmas Party. It was fun to meet new people of the ever-growing WT group. Great potluck dinner! And lots of chocolate desserts to be shared…

I didn’t take the large X-mas party group photo with my camera – sorry!

Calgary WT November 2009 Seminar

2009-11-08T22:42:00.013-07:00

Well, another year… another seminar! This year is a bit more special though, as 2009 marks the 5th anniversary of Calgary Wingtsun, as well as the 15th anniversary of Wing Tsun Kung Fu Vancouver.

This seminar was jam-packed with countless ideas and concepts, so it’s very hard to put it all in this blog entry. So, I will sum up 3 main points instead:

1. Give me a hug
2. Like watah
3. Blech!

Huh?! These are WT concepts? Well, sure… in my own words!

Give me a hug
It’s one thing to be able to “eat up space”, but it’s another thing to become comfortable about being extremely close to your opponent. Being comfortable about suffocating the opponent, but not feeling the same yourself. It’s like being in the eye of a tornado, as Sifu Ralph mentioned. This is a tough concept to train. I entitled it “Give me a hug”, because I remember a couple of years ago, when training with Si-Hing Steve... he decided to go into that hugging mentality and was able to: 1) disgust me, but more importantly 2) get into my space very easily, leaving tons of chances to finish the deal.

Like watah
Most people have heard of the Bruce Lee quote “Be like water…”.

Well, the concept of fluidity came about again. Combat Tai Chi! Many animals use each and every part of their bodies in a synchronized wave when they move. We are animals as well, so why don’t we do the same? Let’s get into that hula hoop action, and get those hips going!

Blech!
When training, performing or applying WT (or posting youtube videos for that matter), don’t make the observers say “Blech!”. That expression of vomiting should be reserved for the opponent when falling down to the ground. Or any other sound effect that happens to come out after being hit. What am I getting at here? Being alive. Intensity (gee… not that again). No dead techniques. We’re not posing for a photo-shoot here.

These 3 ideas are so difficult to get hard-wired into our system. But imagine the possibilities! There were several more ideas… maybe I’ll just list a few more to see if they ring any bells:

- Don’t care, be bored
- C’mon, come closer! Just you try…
- Create a chance, and take the chance
- Exaggerate the movements when training
- Role play into the feeling
- Link the upper and lower body like a marionette
- Etc.

Evan squared

It was awesome to train with Danny and Evan Senior. On Saturday night, we visited Regency Palace again, but this time we sat in one of the smaller rooms. It was nice to chat with Sifu Tony Tam again, about his Fatshan Wing Chun lineage.

Promotion to 2nd Technician Grade

Following dinner, there were presentations by Sifu Ralph, in particular the promotion of Si-Hing/Sifu German to 2nd Technician Grade (congrats!). Plus, a lovely cake baked by Joy. Finally, the students presented a WT banner to Sifu German.

The first two Grasshoppers, Adrian and Cory

One thing though, we forgot to get Adrian and Cory to regail us with memories of the past when Calgary WT first started out in a garage.

WT Anniversary Cake by Joy

I don’t know what special ingredient was in that cake, but soon after everyone had a piece each, a lot of laughs were brought out!

If you can make it, the Wing Tsun Kung Fu Vancouver 15th Anniversary Seminar occurs on November 21st, plus a dinner on December 4th of 2009.

Go forward with confidence

2009-10-21T00:04:00.000-06:00

Tonight, something dawned on me during class. Like many things in WT, the concept seems so simple but actually fairly difficult to execute exquisitely. Tonight's idea: having confidence is such a big part of being able to go forward and attack as a defense.

In practicing defending against random attacks, I’ve always been told:
- “You are moving in too late!”
- “You need to move your body earlier!”
- “Go forward!”
- “You need to step into him earlier!”

It is still difficult to do, but whatever has happened in the last year has made it a little easier to follow these concepts. And I think it has to do with a different level of confidence, which comes from several things, but I’ll mention a few: a little more experience, not caring too much and tensing up for fear of getting hit during training, and the development of a more reliable structure.

More experience
I won’t say much more about this, as it has been mentioned several times that it’s about the intensity and dedication to the training session that counts. With the limited amount of time devoted to WT training, all the more reason to do so!

Less fear of getting hit
A perfect attack/defense isn’t going to be executed every single time. Mistakes are bound to be made on the journey. That’s where training comes into play! And if I get hit, so what? I’m still working on this aspect of training – not flinching, not evading a la natural instinct… just taking the hit and try and try again. If it were that easy, then why work so hard? This “not caring” attitude sure is tough to get used to!

Reliable structure
Something reliable to back up the argument. A little oomph and engine behind the kick-start. I guess it’s not just strength though, but a flowing force that ends with a good oomph, which will hopefully be learned with time. It’s like with anything, you need to have the skills to back up what you’re getting yourself into. For example, competing in ice skating (sorry, I’ve been watching NHL players on CBC’s “Battle of the Blades”), a breakaway shootout shot in hockey, running into an emergency Code Blue… if you don’t “got somethin’”, why would you go ahead? I think that having a reliable structure helps a lot with the WT concept of going forward, by contributing to the building of confidence.

What else?
I did leave something out though. This confidence is also a part of the “fighting spirit” that some people just have. Like turning on a switch, these people just have it. Without being involved in any fights or big sparring competitions, I wonder if this quality can be bred. It depends a lot on the individual. Check out these blog posts:
http://stevemcminn.blogspot.com/2009/10/it-is-not-necessarily-martial-art-but.html
http://usefulnessisinemptiness.blogspot.com/2009/09/applying-traditional-kung-fu-concepts.html

Well, that just about wraps this light-bulb thought of mine for the night.

Si-Fu: “Go forward!”
To-dai: “But, with what, and then what?”

A tradition that evolves over time

2009-10-11T00:00:00.000-06:00

I recently came across an article by GM Kernspecht on Wingtsun Welt at http://www.wingtsunwelt.com/news.php?id=1729

Quote: “Asians often have a different point of view, and in my experience many would rather allow themselves to be struck on the head than use a technique that is not part of their style.”

I hope he was using the word “Asians” to describe “traditionalists”. Because then I would tend to agree more with that statement. But only if the word “traditionalist” means that the person is traditional in the techniques rather than the concepts of WT. After all, how many times have you heard that WT is not a style, but a system?

Traditional techniques
If the person is traditional in the techniques only, and also without realizing how or where they originated from, then to this person in WT there are bong saus, tan saus, fak saus, straight punches, and even hooking punches, etc. However, there wouldn’t be a spinning back fist or a high roundhouse kick in the WT repertoire.

Is this person limited or restricted then? Perhaps, but what if a so-called traditional technique does the job every single time? Hard to predict that, but then there would be no problems whatsoever. But if an attack isn’t used because it wasn’t in the dictionary of traditional techniques, at the expense of getting hit instead, then that would be considered a failure. This is what the above article alluded to. I suppose this scenario could happen, but hopefully whatever high-impact hit is done is still economical and to the point without wasting too much energy. To counter that though, what if it doesn’t fit those ideas but still gets the job done anyways?

Traditional concepts
If the person is traditional in the concepts, then I don’t think that’d be too much of a problem, as long as there are functional and effective techniques to back up those concepts. Because either the concepts would create the techniques, or certain techniques would fit into the concepts. After all, “if the way is clear, then move forward” could mean a nice high hook kick to an open face. If you’ve seen some demos by Sifu Heinrich Pfaff, then you know what I mean.

Anyways, my first reflexive response to that article was “wait… I’m an Asian – what is he trying to say?” But in my infant years of learning WT, I think he was trying to say when it comes to learning a martial art, that it’s sometimes okay to be goal-oriented and think about the ends rather than the means. And if we are stubborn traditionalists, then we might lose out on certain aspects of training WT.

Do you want to be traditional or effective?

The Basics

2009-09-22T00:57:00.001-06:00

This post stems from a Point #2 from a recent post by Sifu Ralph at http://www.realisticselfdefense.net/blog/index.blog?from=20090920

Bruce Lee was obsessed about the length of a fight – even if it lasted minutes or seconds, it was always much too long.

Now, imagine if you could finish a fight without any fancy obscure secret technique from Biu Tze or Wooden Dummy or whatever. Would you like to finish a fight with: a) 10 moves, b) 1 move, or c) 0 moves?

Option c) would be great, giving us the least amount of potential contact time with any bone-jarring fists or kicks. Sometimes a fight can be avoided with verbal de-escalation.

But that might not always work, so you might be left with option a) or b). Any votes for b)? 1 punch. 1 kick. Or 1 “universal solution”, something you may have heard of before from WT. In an uncontrolled adrenaline-rushed state, that 1 move might be followed by a flurry of more attacks.

Now how does this relate to training? Back to the basics. This applies to any sport, line of work, etc. In CPR, as frantic as the situation could be, it’s always “back to the basic ABCs” (airway, breathing, and circulation). In WT training, there’s always time for chain punching, and Siu Nim Tao totally evolves as you go.

I’m not going to try and Chi Sau my opponent to death using part A of the lost section 17, sub-section 8. Oh I am human after all, and have feelings of jealousy and selfishness at times. I do like learning new things, but as long as I don’t become only a collector of techniques. I’d love to be able to have a solid punch stemming from a grounded root, which comes from training the basics often. After all, most if not all of the “techniques” stem from a temporarily inhibited attack.

Speed Kills

2009-09-06T00:50:00.000-06:00

Speed during martial arts training can be counter-productive. Huh? Isn’t it better to be faster? Besides that, doesn’t it look cool? What I mean here is uncontrolled speed without structure when learning new techniques.

(Gasp, I said techniques! We don’t learn techniques in WT, you say. We learn concepts! Yes, we do, but at the beginning we still need to learn movements and techniques, before one day transcending into a pure flurry of formless form… if you want to be philosophical about it.)

Back to the topic at hand: speed kills. When learning a new technique, it is easy to become impatient and want to train faster and faster and faster. However, if you’ve noticed, when the pace is turned up with an unfamiliar body movement, everything begins to break down. The wrong muscles begin to compensate for the lack of correct structure behind the movement. And basically, you can be lifted off your feet, or pummeled into the ground, your choice.

What is speed without structure? I would say that the best thing to do is to start out slow, and understand where your power is being generated from. Only then can you even begin thinking about increasing the speed of training, making sure that you still have your whole weight behind the technique. This way, the technique can be built upon until one day, it can happen with speed. (By the way, I would say that speed is just one dimension that is not necessarily required all the time.)

You can flail all you want at the opponent, but then it turns into the so-called “patty-cake” WT that people talk about, and rightly so. But imagine if you can just place your antennae arms outward and control your opponent right from the start. Knowing that there is meaning and oomph behind your “technique”.

So, let’s go back to even the basic movements, and work slowly at it to find out: what pressures you feel, where the power comes from, when you start moving, and why you are moving, etc.

Slow down!

Training outside outside

2009-07-04T11:25:00.002-06:00

Recently, while there was some downtime at WT Calgary, Adrian organized some training sessions in a park beside an elementary school that will remain unnamed, less we expose our “secret techniques.”

Which brings us to this posting about training outside outside! Outside meaning “outdoors”, but also meaning “apart from class.”

There is something about being mobile in the free air and open space that makes training so much more refreshing. It is a good complement to spending all day cooped up in buildings and tight spaces. (I suppose it’d be the opposite feeling if you work outdoors – you see, it’s all relative as usual!) Also, the feeling of uneven grass, ditches, and rocks cautions you to be more aware of your surroundings. After all, physical WT might be needed anywhere and anytime, although hopefully never (as opposed to the confident composure and radar of mental WT that is ideally always on). Training outdoors reminded me of how Jet Li learned to be more calm and peaceful in the villages from the movie Fearless, stopping during work to breath in and out the fresh air and absorbing nature.

As far as training outside of class, I think it’s a way to explore and harness our evolving sense of WT. Trying to take what was learned in class and seminars, and to train on our own. Sure, it might be trained differently, because of memory recall problems. If we were doing it perfectly from the start, then we wouldn’t need to attend classes, now would we?

Although each person is unique, everything should still be based upon a common foundation. However, interpretations will vary between students and at different times of your training. Haven’t you ever read a book a second or third time, and thought “Why didn’t that make sense to me before?” Each person is at a different stage of WT, and will grasp something different out of each group class. But, as long as we are working together with everyone’s opinions and ideas, it’ll all work out in the end. Then, we just go back and fine-tune things in class!

Some leaked photos from our “secret training sessions”…

May 2009 WT Calgary Seminar

2009-06-10T00:48:00.001-06:00

On May 29-30th, Sifu German Ferrer WT Calgary hosted a seminar by Sifu Ralph Haenel of WT Vancouver.

First of all, it was great to see the class full of so many students, including three visiting senior students from WT Vancouver. Having a full class just creates this addictive atmosphere conducive to more intense training. We even had a visitor from Edmonton, a student from WT Vancouver over 10 years ago. Also, Sifu Tony Tam from Saskatchewan shared his Fatshan Wing Chun knowledge with us.

Pre-seminar photos – these innocent happy students don’t know what’s in store for them

In the November 2008 seminar, I had talked about “moving your body”. What are my thoughts from this recent seminar?
- Encouragement, Motivation, Enthusiasm
- Punching power, intense training

Encouragement, Motivation, Enthusiasm
WT Seminars are usually held a couple or few times a year with a different theme each time. But, one of the common threads between seminars is the amount of encouragement they give for your WT training. A jumpstart:
- Revving up a stalled engine (less training), encouraging you to re-start your training.
- Or adding nitro to an already running engine, motivating you to train even harder than before.

It takes a lot of devotion and energy to consistently attend group class, take private lessons, train outside of class, or train on your own, etc. Self-initiative and discipline can be difficult, and having these seminars really do help re-energize my enthusiasm for WT.

The ladies of WT Calgary with Sifu Ralph (Brian are you jealous again?)

Punching power, intense training
In the last blog entry, I mentioned “sweating profusely” in passing. I’d also like to direct you to Brian Yam’s June blog entry entitled "Intense".

The theme for this WT seminar was BlitzDefence (some videos here).

I found that this seminar emphasized the need for explosive power. Without a powerful knock-out type punch, what can you really do with your techniques? As Sifu Ralph would say, “bong sau you to death”?. During the seminar, besides training responses with our partners, we did quite a bit of stamina and punching drills before and after. Giving it all. Locking out. Same target each time. No patty-caking in the air. There were no “empty punches”. The first exercises were so intense. So intense that those arms started trembling and felt like falling right off. So intense that I could barely hold my water bottle during one of the breaks!

Me, lifting a 100 pound water bottle (picture stolen courtesy of Tony from this blog post)

Although we need these exercises to complement all of our training, it’s one of those things that we hate. Yes, don’t lie! How many would rather not break a sweat during a workout? But it feels so good afterwards, and think of the benefits!

Unfortunately, without a large group and/or instructor to push us along, it’s difficult to work so hard until all of your large muscle groups fail, leaving you to rely on all of those new and important muscles you didn’t know existed before. If we don’t have the correctly built muscles to begin with, how can we generate the appropriate power? I’m not talking about stiff brute force, but a pliable power with properly trained muscles ("Muscles of WT", a work-in-progress).

We’ll just have to push each other more, and each one of us should focus on intense training on our own as well. You must train until that sweat just stings your eye! So much that you begin to cry. Crying, out of happiness…

In any case, this wasn’t a chronological summary of the seminar, but again just some random thoughts I had. On Saturday, we did enjoy another buffet at the Regency Palace Restaurant like last year. Good chatting, and good eats. It’s always fun to see the WT people in their civilian clothing.

Perhaps some of the WT Calgary group can make it to the seminars in Vancouver one day. I can tell you that it is a great training atmosphere there as well, with great people just like the ones we have already met so far.

See you next time!

Training: time, quality, and effort

2009-05-16T23:56:00.000-06:00

How many years have you trained in Wing Tsun, or your martial art of choice, or whatever other endeavour?

My profile states "A student of WT since November 2004". Very true. Forever a student of course, at least that's what I believe. But what about that second part - what does "since November 2004" mean? Why, nearly 5 years of training by calculation. Ah... but how much do you train, an obvious question. For me, it has been at most only 2-3 times per week, minus vacations, intermittent chunks of absences when busy with family/work, etc. I started taking private lessons more regularly only after 3 years or so. So maybe that 5 years all boils down to only 6 months of training 40 hours/week. Not much, eh?

Recently, I had the wonderful chance of being part of a 10-hour Chi Sau Marathon (http://www.realisticselfdefense.net/blog/index.blog?from=20090513 13). Not 10 hours for me, just the one for the students! Granted I was recovering from an earlier private lesson 2 days prior, resulting in a lot of new interesting sores and pains, all good of course! But this doesn't compare to the 10-hour training session of Sifu Ralph Haenel.

How does one get better? Time. Quality of training. Effort spent. You would think that these are obvious points, but how many of us train enough in these ways? Spending lots of time with proper training, and sweating profusely!

Is this a reachable state in people's busy lives with a full-time job or a couple of part-time jobs, a family and other responsibilities? Perhaps not for a long time, but it also depends on what you are able to take away from lessons and group classes. Munch up every bit of information. Just like anything, you can choose to mindlessly wander through without really understanding and developing ideas, or you can try to analyze and incoorporate concepts to improve your limited time spent training.

All theory and abstract banter? I'll leave it up to you to decide!

WT withdrawal

2009-02-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've been there. The sweats, the shakes, the itchy arms... what am I referring to you ask? Withdrawal from Wingtsun of course, what else?!

Whether or not there are busier days at work, family-time becomes a priority, or you've simply fallen ill, there always comes a time when you need to take a break from training. Then what becomes of us? Well, for me, I have a WT addiction to feed. So, it only takes a matter of days before I start getting the shakes.

Try as I might with form-training, resistance training, shadow Wingtsun-ning, etc.... it just doesn't fullfill that feeling of training with a partner. Oh, the aforementioned training is all good and useful of course, but few things surmount the sensation of "crossing hands" in WT.

What to do then? Well, persevere for one thing. And lots of patience.

Do you have an addiction? What is it's root - a need or a want?

It hits all by itself

2009-01-23T23:59:00.004-07:00

"When the opponent expand, I contract, When he contracts, I expand, And when there is an opportunity, I do not hit--it hits all by itself" - Bruce Lee

This is what I want to be able do do one day, but with control.

How many times have you accidentally hit your training partner? Sometimes, by chance, perhaps. Other times, maybe the forces were actually in the right direction for once, and just because there was no obstacle, your pliable arms, legs, or body just got through. "Ooops, sorry", you say.

But wait! Let's go back to that moment and see what happened. Then it becomes too complicated, because you start to think about what you did, how you placed your arm, where your pressure was, etc... and everything begins to fall apart. Don't get me wrong, I think analysis is a good thing. It just might be difficult to get right back to that instance of an undisturbed mental state of, well, just flowing I guess. Not thinking too hard.

Techniques can certainly teach proper positioning. Which is static though. Valid and good to learn. In application, it is different altogether! We don't fire off neurons and make our arm into bong sau or tan sau. It should one day, one day, be automatic. When bong or tan or whatever sau just occurs on its own - but just as quickly as it came, it should dissipate again into the next "photo-op" position let's say. Maybe it'll be a fak sau, or a punch, or something else we can give a name to. Who knows? But in the end, it should hit all by itself!

One day...

Why are you learning WingTsun?

2008-12-26T15:57:00.001-07:00

What got you into WT to begin with?

- for self-defense?
- to meet other people?
- for a good workout?
- to learn a "traditional" kung fu system?
- to embark on a spiritual journey?
- to "look good"?
- to increase your self-esteem and confidence?
- part of a spiritual journey?

What other reasons compelled you to start training in this effective kung fu system?

Think about what attracted you to WingTsun in particular. Is it the same reason that keeps you there today? For me, being a fan of Bruce Lee and always wanting to learn kung fu at one point, WT was a natural starting point. I'm sure one or more of those above reasons have come into play at one time for all of us.

Initially, I wanted not only to learn self-defense, but effective realistic self defense. Now, I am also excited to build a more solid structure. Back to the basics! Not new techniques, but a solid structure.

Don't you also want to become better?

Happy 2009!

November 2008 Calgary WingTsun Seminar

2008-12-01T00:05:00.004-07:00

If I were to summarize the impact of Sifu Ralph’s November Calgary WingTsun seminar in one word, I think that word would have to be “freedom”. I say this as if I were constricted in some way. So, what do I mean by freedom in the context of WT training?

- To liberate ourselves from constrained positions
- To instill life back into our bodies
- To free ourselves from our own force (gasp, the first WT principle of force)
- In other words, as coined together by a fellow training partner, “MOVE YOUR BODY!”

In martial arts, functionality is needed to complement the structured forms. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely do not regret learning proper structure and forms in the past – that’s why I used the word “complement.” In my training to date, I have hopefully gained a strong foundation on which to further improve my skills. Only now, I am embarking on a different stage of training that helps add more fluid function to the techniques learned thus far. I don’t mind if this means going back to the basics, because if it works and is practical then I’m all for it!

It’s hard to explain the training exercises from the seminar in detail using words. In general though, I would like to emphasize that during any type of training, you get what you put in. As decided with another fellow student, we definitely tired ourselves out!

What's that shoulder doing so high up??

Since I have an interest in learning more about the biomechanics of WT, I do want to share some thoughts about the Siu Nim Tau (SNT) Chi Gung form. On the first day, we did move our bodies… but very very very slowly. I was an hour late on the first day, and the rest of the group was all nearly motionless during one of the early sets of the SNT Chi Gung form. Oh boy, quite the stretch! This exercise is a great way (or perhaps the way) to stretch out all the muscle fibres, tendons, sheaths, fascia, etc. The more initial stretch a muscle has to begin with, the more powerful the contraction will be. A stretched muscle has more travel to go through in terms of contraction (e.g. sliding of the myosin and actin filaments of sarcomere units). During any movement (e.g. a punch), when a muscle is stretched further as a sort of “loading tension”, more strength and power can be provided. Anyways, enough of that scientific mumbo-jumbo. In summary, stretching is gooood. It feels great (afterwards, that is), and its benefits will be reaped later on (months, years).

Other than the training, there was good food at the buffet dinner and even better company! The dinner was highlighted with a classy move by Sifu Ralph in acknowledging an official Sifu status for Si-Hing German – well-deserved indeed! It was also nice to see that Si-Hing Brian made it over from Vancouver. Fit quite nicely with the group. Perhaps more people will visit next time!

I’m quite lucky to have found such a motivated, friendly, and jovial group of people from Calgary WT. I do miss the Toronto downtown WT group greatly though. Besides going back to Vancouver every now and then, I hope to find some time to visit Toronto in the future.

Anyhow, now that the holidays are approaching, what can I ask Santa for? How about another seminar and more group dinners!

Why is WT more effective: The four principles of combat

2008-11-28T23:57:00.002-07:00

The following essay is not a collection of new and recent thoughts. I wrote this short essay for my student level 6 grading about one or two years ago. I've only made a few minor edits in the introduction since then. Hopefully, this will stimulate some thoughts!

Introduction

My personal hands-on experience in other martial arts is limited, and includes brief introductions to Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido over 10-12 years ago, so it is difficult for me to do a detailed comparison with Wingtsun (WT). Nonetheless, I believe that WT is a more effective system. Note that I state "system" rather than "style" - WT consists of a collection of crucial cardinal concepts (thought I'd try out some onomatopoeia here). Throughout my WT training, I have found that in addition to the physical training there are also many important concepts to learn. WT training provides martial artists with the skills, strength, techniques, and attitude necessary to apply these concepts in the most efficient and well-trained means possible. This is how it differs from other "styles" of martial arts.

Four principles of combat

The following few paragraphs will describe the four principles of combat as I understand how they apply to WT. I will leave the four principles of strength for a future essay. The four principles of combat are as follows:

If the path is clear, move forward

If there is contact, stick

If the force is greater, give way

If the opponent retreats, follow through

I believe that if these fighting concepts are used in all martial arts systems, one could excel and do extremely well. However, by training in WT one can progress even further.

If the path is clear, move forward

Many styles use this concept in essence, but more as an initiating event or a sudden burst of movement when the eyes see a clear path. For example, the initiation of a fight principally involves moving forward and attacking. And thus the first principle is achieved. However, throughout a fight itself, there are plenty of opportunities to illustrate and apply this concept, as it does not only mean the body moving forward, but also the tools that we use, namely our limbs. I mention limbs rather than hands, because in WT we use each and every joint of our limbs including the wrists, elbows, shoulders, back, hips, down to the knees and ankles. When we train our limbs to have forward pressure, we are preparing to use this principle from the stored energy ready to explode forward.

If there is contact, stick

This concept may be difficult to explain to any other martial artist without a similar training program of sticky hands. To grapplers it may mean turning into grappling mode with ground-fighting. In any case, this is a principle more suited to the practitioner of WT, as the combination of attacking and defending exponentially increases with the sticky contact of the four limbs.

When people read or hear about WT, most have heard about Chi Sao (“sticky hands”). What is not very well known however, is that Chi Sao is not a means of combat but rather a form of training. In addition to the skills developed in Siu Nim Tao, Chum Kiu, and drills, Chi Sao trains the necessary reflexive sensitivity cardinal to WT. During combat, the reflexive nature of the sensitivity training takes place and the opponent is soon thrown into a storm of magnetic, flexible, yet strong bamboo canes.

If the force is greater, give way

Quite often martial arts rely on “force vs. force” principles through blocks with the hands, forearms, or shins. It is also human nature to resist when being pulled, or defend punches by hacking at incoming punches or kicks. This third principle is often applied to softer martial arts such as Tai Chi. In WT, deflections and wedges are used to dissipate incoming forces. Although we train to have forward pressure with our limbs, it is a yielding fluctuating compressible forward pressure that is able to give way when necessary. As such we are then able to relocate the weaknesses and holes through which the attacks can return into.

If the opponent retreats, follow through

This concept is used in combination with the first two principles, by maintaining contact or following through with an attack when there is an opening. This can occur on a smaller scale when there is an opening through the arms or legs, or it can happen on a larger scale when the opponent physically steps back. This is a concept that is likely used in many martial arts with successive attacks. However, in WT we are able to apply this concept very well using efficient footwork, forward pressure, and effective chain punches.

Summary

Most importantly, WT does not only rely on visual cues for reacting to attacks, but rather on forces and directions from whence they come from, employing absorbing movements but also maintaining a flexible forward pressure to gain advantages through openings. Thus there are no rehearsed defensive maneuvers being used, but instead a flowing synergy of attacking and defensive movements.

In this short essay I hope that the reader has gained an appreciation of how Wingtsun is effective in training students to use fighting concepts and principles, specifically the four important principles of combat essential in any self-defense situation or fight. Although any martial artist can likely apply and adapt these four principles, WT training provides students with the necessary tools and reflexes to excel at applying these principles during any fight.

Wing Tsun Kung Fu

2008-10-05T18:01:00.001-06:00

This blog, kyklosphaira, was previously created as a tribute to a website posted years ago in my teenage years. It's name was derived from greek roots, kyklos meaning "circle, cycle" and sphaira meaning "globe, ball, sphere". It was a redundant word made up at a time when I first started thinking about how many things in life revolve around cycles and patterns. There was nothing really on the website at all though.

However, now that I think about it, how appropriate is the name kyklosphaira for a blog devoted to Wing Tsun Kung Fu! Cycles of chain punching. Circles in chi sau. A sphere of 3-dimensional protection (or 4D if we add time).

And so this blog begins!

κύκλοςσφαῖρα

2008-02-28T15:27:00.000-07:00

kyklos sphaira, circle sphere

kyklosphaira
κύκλοςσφαῖρα

A tribute to a previous website.

Cycles, circles, patterns, repeating elements.