Week 14

The arm drag series.

In this series the feeder is holding the pads as after the arm drag we are looking to strike the pads. The focus was not on power delivery but timing, accuracy and quality reps of the techniques. Also added to the below during the feeding was the feeder simply holding the pads in number combos to add variety to the training.
Feeder puts pad on;

1. same side shoulder; arm drag across and hot to the pads. 2 options are to maintain hold of the elbow and hit with piston repeaters or leg go and chain punch, driving the feeder back with forward driving punches.

2. As above initially but reverse the motion and drag his arm across his centre, this is a very disorientating move, will work great if he is holding tension in his shoulder as the whipping effect will be dramatically greater, hot the pads.

3. opposite side shoulder; head and arm trap, secure face tight into his arm and then knee to the pads (which is being held at chest height).

4. same side hip; kau sau and hit to the pads driving forward with each one.

Pak/lop drill: Developed by Martin this drill aims to enhance co-ordination and timing as the hands are doing separate movements in different directions. Therefore independent movement in each arm and thus of each other, is being worked on. The feeder simply holds a low guard and whenever a hand is pak’d or lop’d he must replace with the other

Stage 1: For the sake of argument, start with the right hand. Simply lop and pak each of his arms with your right hand as he replaces his solar plexus height centreline guard. Ensure your elbow stays relatively fixed in position for each lop and pak, keep the elbow down and this will secure the lat muscle being used. Start to raise the elbow and the deltoids come into use and you will tire quickly, in addition to being poor technique. The energy for the pa/lop needs to go towards his hips and he should feel as if being pressured on to his heel and turned. My error was that I was stopping at the end of each pak an lop, instead of, what felt like when Martin did it to me, the pak/lop almost flowed to the hips and did not have a definite ending. Perhaps I was fixed on doing hard and secure techniques by pulling down more than across. IN terms of grabbing on each technique, this session was very hot and arms were sweaty and greasy. It can be done with and without the thumb. With the thumb ensure a tighter grip but harder to hit off more efficiently, conversely, the no thumb grip is not as powerful and controlling but allows easier release when hitting off.
Stage 2: Changes. This can be done on either a lop or pak but in order for a change, you do 2 of the same technique. For example, I lop his right arm, then lop his right arm with my left and continue the roll of pak/lop. It is quite a small movement, should not be hunted for as it is there right in front of you, keep that elbow low. Practise the change on both techniques.
Stage 3: Inserting punches. Practise with lop first, as you lop, hit forward to his chin with the other hand, land a soft fist on his chin with a bent arm. In reality this becomes a fully extended arm so we are in the habit of practising the correct range for our punches. They should not be extend by the time your hand hits the chin, the bent arms ensures the elbow can still drive forward and lift to its full extension and range of motion. The lop and hit should be simultaneous. Development: Insert changes, then practise pak and hit with changes, then practise hitting on every lop/pak, then with changes. It is vital hat the feeder can keep on replacing the hands. In addition, we must be mindful of the quality of the pak and lop when inserting the punches. Our feeder can keep us alive to how we are doing.
Stage 4: Inside gate lop. This is used as a change, but the key is turning the hand over and circling for the inside gate lop. Keep your elbow and wrist controlled, don’t allow them to weaken by loosing structure.
Stage 5: All of the above from stage 3 and 4 in a continuous flow.

Sparring

One side attack and one side defend. I was trying to use a variety of defensive styles and tactic so my partner is not facing a wing chun style all of the time. I used the following methods. long range wing chun guard, soft short range guard, classic stand up guard, covered head in positive posture, grabbing. Perhps next time I will ask if they want me to do this or regular wing chun guard.
Pyramid set to 7. Keep those shoulders down, the neck loose, don’t allow the tension to lift the shoulders and sink the chin. Breath and embrace. The pain will be over soon. Don’t give up as you will growth immensely from working with and through the hardship.