Four principles of ego

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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!