Thursday 13 August 2015

I've got you...you bastard!

You know when you're training and you're having issues with a particular concept, technique, or manoeuvre? You've been told what to do, how to do it and WHY to do it. You've been practicing for ages...and it doesn't work right. It's frustrating. Its downright despicable and you start to fret that you'll never get it, or that there's something physical/psychological wrong with you which is inhibiting you from doing this thing correct?
Bong Sao is my bane. Its had me questioning my ability, my sanity, and more importantly...my ability to understand instructions. Its been difficult and its been a roller-coaster.

To paraphrase Hillary, "I've knocked the bastard off it!!"
Only, in this case, the "bastard" is the veneer of mystery in understanding how to do Bong Sao effectively. And I've knocked the bastard off of Bong Sao.
The mystery is gone. All that remains difficulty, maintenance, practice and perseverance. There are probably other things to list there but I've just arrived at work and I'm nesting through my morning Moccachino (I can't deal with full strength coffee, so back up coffee snobs...I'm a kung fu mang!).

Last night at training there were only 4 of us, what I'd call the more senior of the bunch...merely meaning that we'd all been training together longer than others.And considering its winter, it was a pretty good turnout.
Senior-student-teacher guy and I are heading to Melbourne for a WSL meet'n'greet. Lots of WSL folk, including Chan Kim Man, will be attending. Because of this, Senior-student-teacher guy is motivating us all to spend more time rolling.
Sure I still don't have many entries into Chi Sao. However, my rolling was good, I disrupted my partners structure, and I was always able to shut them down and maintain control of My centre.

Most importantly is that I was able to roll for MINUTES without my rotator-cuffs screaming. If I put aside the WC specific improvements, merely experiencing chi sao without shoulder pain is phenomenally good. It's annoyance factor was huge. Think...you're wearing tight shoes, and there's a sharp stone in your shoe...its digging into the softest, most sensitive part of your foot. Now make that stone half an inch tall. THAT is what my shoulders feel like normally.

To be honest I'm feeling a little euphoric, and almost religious, about the whole thing.

So the point of this entry is simple.

Stick at it.
Sure, it may seem unachievable, if not merely difficult. But its not. You're body is awaiting an alignment of purpose and understanding. A congruent connection between mind and muscle without any attempts to micro-manage each manoeuvre. 
Additionally, I believe, we have to be thinking about WC every day. Not all the time of course, that's a little obsessive and creepy.
Consider what it is that you could be doing to improve your <insert concept/technique/manoeuvre> in the context of what you're trying to achieve.

- For me vs Bong Sao, my issue is pain in my shoulder caused by an increased load in a non-linear fashion.
- To fix this I've been told to work on my elbow moving in a linear motion perpendicular to my body, from down to up, rather than arcing out away from the body and then back in. (I think I'd been doing it this way from fear I'd miss a punch that went wide, not realising that I have other tools in my arsenal to deal with this strkies).
- My thoughts have been of using this motion. Repeating this motion. Aligning this idea with the 'rules-of-engagement' for Bong Sao. My intention is always aimed at my opponents centre. Keeping a strong structure, not having my weight too much in any particular direction (ie. no leaning in, no weighing down on my partner). Keeping the lines of force-transferal from my Bong connected to either my heel, my hip, or both (this means I'm no longer using my shoulder to lift weight, or as a lever). Disrupt my opponents structure by up-rooting them (by having my 'force' coming up from the ground, and thus from under my partners limbs, I'm able to keep a forward intention without being too heavy-handed and i undermine their structure. The force coming up on an angle redirects the resultant forces back into my feet, thus the ground. Keeping my bong motion perpendicular to my body allows me to bring my elbow into the centre at the end of the motion without creating a force that moves across the body. As I understand it, though I'm open to correction, Kwan Sao is the only one that moves across the body, thus this motion is to be avoided otherwise.
So this bong motion allows control of the centre and convinces (or at least it did last night) the partner otherwise, and they over commit.

Funny though, when I thought too much about my Bong Sao mid-Chi sao, either it would fall apart or my Jaam Sao would. Good times. And so much to work on!

Happy training everyone, about time I got back to work!

Sunday 9 August 2015

Long time, no blog!

Sooooo I'm back. I'd like to say that i've been on a Wing Chun sabbatical, travelling far and wide to experience different cultures and the other WC's...but nope. I've just been working, finding housemates, you know...life.

Regardless of this I've still been Winging-my-Chun as often as possible and had a couple break-throughs.
I've been having a lot more success with the dreaded Bong Sao, (may it fall into a crevice for all its difficulty to execute). I realise the short-coming is mine, but i need to project...it lets me feel superior and comfortable.

In 'that-former-class' I'd learnt Bong Sao as a manoeuvre of leverage, often swinging out away from the body and fighting against any forces encountered, such as against lop sao's. These days I'll borrow the momentum from the lop sao, rush in, and punchy-punchy. Back then it was more like a yanking motion. Unpleasant and rotator-cuff-unfriendly.

And strangely enough the 'thing' that improved my Bong was just moving my elbow from low, to high*, in a straight line toward my opponent so that my force was angling up and away from me and perpendicular to my body. Not only did it feel better on my shoulder, it up-rooted my opponent. Choice!
(*Obviously this is high by comparison to low. To my best knowledge the bong sao isn't really used for high defences as there are more efficient concepts to reply.)

Another success has been with my stance.
I've spent a few years trying to unlearn a distribution of weight of 70% on my back foot and 30% on the front...or thereabouts. This might work for some people, but i'm a big lad. Every time I moved I had to move most of my weight, wasting energy, before i could bridge. Having a balanced stance now, gives me greater manoeuvrability, and better stamina.
An additional bonus to this has been more power in my punches without having to put too much effort in. It's happened of its own accord...so my emphasis now will be on punching speed. Or cookies. Cookies are nice.

I've previously mentioned that I'm a fairly big lad, and I've previously been told I don't look as heavy as I am. And luckily I've built a good relationship with the ground...unless I'm falling over, in which case the ground and I aren't mates.
Because of this I've always had a stronger structure than those smaller folk around me. This is nice, but it can be misleading as it leads to less finesse than i'd like.
With my size, my weight, and my relationship with a strong stance I find that I can resist a lot more force and defuse a potentially more vicious attack. But I also find that I'm less prepared to move and I'm not so light on my feet. What I need to find is a happy medium between a strong structure, and efficient maneuverability.
I've been thinking about taking up boxing. They're light on their feet and they've fast punching.
And the more i've been looking, the more i realise their foot work is similar to ours in WSL...or at least it looks like that to mine adolescent (within the WC world) eyes.
It also helps that Boxing is the most style I'm most intimidated by.
Historically I've not been that concerned with other Kung Fu's. They, like WC, have some quality systems aaaaaand they've also got plenty of that pile-o-shit/taught-to-make-money systems that couldn't defend themselves against a hungry kitten. (note: you shouldn't be fighting hungry kittens you heartless animal!)
I've seen some great boxing schools, and I've seen some POS schools. From those I've seen, even the POS schools have plenty positives and leave you more prepared for a fight. I guess it's the nature of a 'simple' system that even the rubbish provides reasonable skills. I don't know. Perhaps my mouth is running away with me.

Anyways...training tonight.
Good training everyone!