Pak / lop drill:
Further detail and practise form last week. One detail was to ensure good range. I assumed this meant appropriate distance between you and your partner, but Martin meant range or length of the technique. Get it to his hips and not creeping across his centre. This will ensure he is on his heels and rocking back. A second detail was making stronger grabs and snatches of his wrist. This was most apparent for me when Stable Joe worked his own special ninja death grip. I then tried on him but as his forearms are the size of my upper arms, snatching was a real challenge. I lost a little bit of my elbow discipline.
We spent more time this week on changing on the lop and hit, keeping the rhythm smooth and also the inside gate lop and change. When working the inside gate lop, start nice and slow to develop correct precision and feel. Off the pak, turn the hand over and pull in and to your hip (this will get him coming forward), follow immediately with a lop with the opposite hand. Give it good range and he will be back on his heels, for extra nicety, chamber the elbow back on non lopping hand and punch to the chin. Continue the roll.
When working with Rooney I found that for me, it is best to feed the punches with my eyes closed and to go with the energy he was giving. With my eyes open I was too busy watching his technique and almost struggling to alternate punches. Special needs I know.
Snatch Attack: This was a longer range and applied version of the technique we had just been learning. It is fast, deceptive and disruptive to receive as your arms are being manipulated quickly and punches are coming in. Too much info to process. So if your partner holds a standard guard, use your leading hand (LEFT for sake of argument) to lop his lead hand, right lop his right hand then punch to chin with left. Initial lop is path clearing, second lop must have strong snatch and long range.
Anti-grappling:
Headlock defence: push the head (palm out) so his head turns away then pull hand back so thumbs rests politely on the eyes. Visually for me it looks like a long and languid changing of the cars gears from first to second. Need to be hip aware, if he gets them close, push and post off them. If he steps inside and looks to throw, go with the motion, put your head towards his knees and pull on his opposite hip (reach around him), pull him around and over you onto the floor. You will (should) end up in side control with him lying on his side. Post hands on the floor and land sky knees to his back. When posting the hands on the floor ensure placement that puts a negative curve in his spine.
Double underhook defence: If he comes in low and grabs with his head not on your shoulder, but under your arm pit, get the hips away, insert head side arm between his neck and head and reach under his armpit, with the other hand place across his shoulders and clasp hands. Underarm should be palm up. Pull in tight to your chest and wheel him over. It is vital for the control of him that you pull him in first.
Pad training:
Focussed on correct body mechanics not power, keeping the movements compact. Connecting the hips and the shoulders in the movement and the arms are a manifestation of this.
Friday, 30 July 2010
Friday, 23 July 2010
Week 15
Anti grappling: Double underhooks
This material is from the level 3 program and level/stage 3 deals with all matters anti-grappling. This evening we started off by focussing on the double underhooks position. Initially we practised working the body lock on another. Keys are pulling their hips towards yours, maintain a strong palm to palm grip and keeping your own centre of gravity lower than theirs. IN part, this ensures you are harder to take down. To complete the takedown from double underhooks, level the elbows at the same time down and up. They become off balanced very quickly and the takedown is a matter of keeping control as you dump them down. When feeling the position, it was most uncomfortable and unpleasant. When studying BJJ this was a position we rarely played with. We tended to focus on single and double leg shots, throws and sweeps for takedown.
This was a very new experience for me tonight. So from this position, Martin talked about this being the worst case scenario as if someone knows this position, then they know where to go next and it is clearly not a good place for you. The next stage was defending the position as the go for the underhooks, arms are around but hands not yet clasped. There are several key movements to remember. Firstly, you need to drop the hips (arse) back then down . This double movement will ensure you have both space from his hips and your centre of gravity is lower and thus harder to manipulate. As the hips drop back and down, you need to insert the outside of your hands towards his hips, keep the arms straight. This will now create vital space and make him attempting to get the grip very, very hard. It is also important to maintain a good structural alignment, keep the back straight but angled. Of course we can’t stay in this stalemate forever so we need to work an escape. As we are not a sport we can look to manipulate the eyes to get him moving away. Bring the hands up to his face, thumbs down, so the fingers fall into the soft tissues of the face. Protective reflexes will start to kick in and he will look to move away and you push his head back over his spine and centre of gravity. To make it easier, the elbows should not stay out as you push the head as you are not using the correct muscle groups, try to get the elbows closer together, engage the lats.
The second escape involved same initial anti grapple, try to squeeze his elbows together, take an elbow with your opposite hand, use the same side hand to take it off and away then pass it across your centre which puts him in a sort of arm triangle. Stand up and push his face on the jaw then strike with the elbow where you just pushed. If he does pull out an arm, great, you can still give him more good news with little strike threat to yourself.
Finally we looked at throwing punches at our partner, they crescent under and go for double underhooks, we then looked to practise the above escapes. Interestingly the attacker threw 2 types of punches. We started with tight and centred wing chun punches which felt really hard to shoot under for double underhooks. I wanted to drop right under and go for the double leg. I felt the punches were going to prohibit my double underhook attempt. We then had to throw higher elbowed boxer style. This felt much easier to come under. The lesson is therefore, our style of punches are better.
Pak lop drill:
Continued from the last session I attended. Again working the basic lop and punch with the change (leaver the fist there), then pak and punch. The change for each is simply doing 2 of each technique, so if you want to change on the lop, follow it with a lop with the other hand. The inside gate lop is off the pak and the key is to turn the hand over and pull them in. The pak and lop get them going backwards, the inside lop lobs a spanner in the works as it brings them forward. I was training with Martin and we had a good system during this drill, when one makes a mistake, then the other take his turn. A good tip I picked up on the lop technique was keeping the elbow low and the hands almost looks like it is moving laterally as the wrist stays under the fingers. When you start to look for or reach for lop sau and pak sau in this drill, the elbow will come up and the lats are not engaged, it just felt more efficient.
We then looked to apply these techniques as entry techniques against a boxer pikey style guard.
Regular guard = lop (L) pak (R) hit (L)
Symmetrical guard = pak (R) pak (L) hit (R)
We also looked the using the inside gate lop but I have forgotten how to apply it.
Sparring
Really enjoyed it tonight, I changed my approach by trying to stay with the system as we were both attacking at the same time. For those training partners i had the absolute pleasure and privilege to spar with, thank you for your time, patience and pain. I left last night with battered arms, a bloody nose, a bruised chin but a stronger spirit. I need to ensure that if i am holding with one hand, the other is pistoning or hitting. I was also trying to spend time and an awful lots of energy going for the Thai clinch and taking the back.
This material is from the level 3 program and level/stage 3 deals with all matters anti-grappling. This evening we started off by focussing on the double underhooks position. Initially we practised working the body lock on another. Keys are pulling their hips towards yours, maintain a strong palm to palm grip and keeping your own centre of gravity lower than theirs. IN part, this ensures you are harder to take down. To complete the takedown from double underhooks, level the elbows at the same time down and up. They become off balanced very quickly and the takedown is a matter of keeping control as you dump them down. When feeling the position, it was most uncomfortable and unpleasant. When studying BJJ this was a position we rarely played with. We tended to focus on single and double leg shots, throws and sweeps for takedown.
This was a very new experience for me tonight. So from this position, Martin talked about this being the worst case scenario as if someone knows this position, then they know where to go next and it is clearly not a good place for you. The next stage was defending the position as the go for the underhooks, arms are around but hands not yet clasped. There are several key movements to remember. Firstly, you need to drop the hips (arse) back then down . This double movement will ensure you have both space from his hips and your centre of gravity is lower and thus harder to manipulate. As the hips drop back and down, you need to insert the outside of your hands towards his hips, keep the arms straight. This will now create vital space and make him attempting to get the grip very, very hard. It is also important to maintain a good structural alignment, keep the back straight but angled. Of course we can’t stay in this stalemate forever so we need to work an escape. As we are not a sport we can look to manipulate the eyes to get him moving away. Bring the hands up to his face, thumbs down, so the fingers fall into the soft tissues of the face. Protective reflexes will start to kick in and he will look to move away and you push his head back over his spine and centre of gravity. To make it easier, the elbows should not stay out as you push the head as you are not using the correct muscle groups, try to get the elbows closer together, engage the lats.
The second escape involved same initial anti grapple, try to squeeze his elbows together, take an elbow with your opposite hand, use the same side hand to take it off and away then pass it across your centre which puts him in a sort of arm triangle. Stand up and push his face on the jaw then strike with the elbow where you just pushed. If he does pull out an arm, great, you can still give him more good news with little strike threat to yourself.
Finally we looked at throwing punches at our partner, they crescent under and go for double underhooks, we then looked to practise the above escapes. Interestingly the attacker threw 2 types of punches. We started with tight and centred wing chun punches which felt really hard to shoot under for double underhooks. I wanted to drop right under and go for the double leg. I felt the punches were going to prohibit my double underhook attempt. We then had to throw higher elbowed boxer style. This felt much easier to come under. The lesson is therefore, our style of punches are better.
Pak lop drill:
Continued from the last session I attended. Again working the basic lop and punch with the change (leaver the fist there), then pak and punch. The change for each is simply doing 2 of each technique, so if you want to change on the lop, follow it with a lop with the other hand. The inside gate lop is off the pak and the key is to turn the hand over and pull them in. The pak and lop get them going backwards, the inside lop lobs a spanner in the works as it brings them forward. I was training with Martin and we had a good system during this drill, when one makes a mistake, then the other take his turn. A good tip I picked up on the lop technique was keeping the elbow low and the hands almost looks like it is moving laterally as the wrist stays under the fingers. When you start to look for or reach for lop sau and pak sau in this drill, the elbow will come up and the lats are not engaged, it just felt more efficient.
We then looked to apply these techniques as entry techniques against a boxer pikey style guard.
Regular guard = lop (L) pak (R) hit (L)
Symmetrical guard = pak (R) pak (L) hit (R)
We also looked the using the inside gate lop but I have forgotten how to apply it.
Sparring
Really enjoyed it tonight, I changed my approach by trying to stay with the system as we were both attacking at the same time. For those training partners i had the absolute pleasure and privilege to spar with, thank you for your time, patience and pain. I left last night with battered arms, a bloody nose, a bruised chin but a stronger spirit. I need to ensure that if i am holding with one hand, the other is pistoning or hitting. I was also trying to spend time and an awful lots of energy going for the Thai clinch and taking the back.
Saturday, 10 July 2010
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.
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.
The grading Syllabus: Development, intro and Grade 1
What follows below are taken directly from Martin's grading syllabus.
The Grades Explained
Let me start by saying that I believe in this grading system. It is what is necessary to get from beginner to expert. It is delivered in what I believe to be the order of importance. It is your short term training goals. It is not however an easy system. Anyone looking to grade should realise that you’re going to need to train hard to earn them. Too often in martial arts schools it seems that as long as you pay your money, you will get your grade. Not here. If you pass, you will know you deserve to. Please don’t let this concern you all however. It’s up to me to make sure you are ready and I’ll always be honest if I think you are ready or not.
The information within may seem complex but it will all make sense once you start training the specifics for the grade. You will notice as the grades get higher that the details for each movement are reduced. This is in fact because the applications are so much more complex and would require a book to explain them here so the necessary concepts or movements become a list rather than a detailed breakdown. In some cases such as the emergency attacks, the information is totally removed due to the danger of using these attacks.
Remember. The grading syllabus is here to make you concentrate on specifics and even force you to train some of the things that perhaps you don’t enjoy doing yet will ultimately make you a better martial artist. Some of the material within the grades may well change over the years as I teach an organic system that I constantly evolve with new training ideas. I believe that you never stop learning and I still love finding new and exciting ways to express my system.
It should also be noted that as you progress through your grades and attain the necessary standard, you shouldn’t just forget what you have learnt and move on. With this in mind it will be expected that a student going for a grade will have to join in with the testing for all the previous grades. For example a student who is hoping to pass grade 6 must first re – pass grades 1 – 5!
The final grade (the black sash) should be everyones aim. The standard for attaining your black sash will be high and the material will not be disclosed before hand. Of course it will be hard and it’s designed to test your mental strength as well as physical ability. The purpose of the black sash is a final affirmation of the journey through the system and I can promise you that on the day of the test, you will be in a place where you will feel you could conquer anything.
Grade 1 – Balance, Footwork, Posture and Punching
‘No matter how big the attacker is, he has a chin and therefore can be knocked out. If your punch is hard enough and quick enough so that it lands without warning then you maximise your chance of knocking your attacker out without them even throwing a punch. But balance should never be compromised. As long as you have balance then you have the potential for power. As long as you remain balanced even after punching, then you can continue to attack and capitalise on your initial advantage or make good your escape. Our style is aggressive. The best form of defence is attack. Be first with your punch and be ready to follow up. This is where it all begins………’
Punches
The fist must be formed correctly. This means the fist must be as tight as possible without tension in the forearm or bicep. The punch should be driven from the elbow and along the centre line. Elbow power must be maintained at all times whilst the forearm remains relaxed and pointing at the target. Shoulders must be back and the elbows down. Single and chain punches will be used to analyze technique and ‘rate of fire’. Endurance, accuracy and power will be tested on the focus pads.
Balance, Footwork and Body Structure
The feet should be at a 45 degree angle. The width of the foot at grade 1 should be as narrow as possible without losing balance, punch power and the ability to keep the hips and shoulders square. The legs must be bent, the rear knee pulled in and the hips square. Core muscles and lower abs should be engaged and the spine upright. The lats should also be engaged. Shoulders must be square and never further back than the hips. The neck should not be bent. The weight should be 75 % on the back leg but the student must have his weight on the balls of the feet.
When moving, the drive should come from the back leg. With the rear leg bent the muscle is already engaged. The rear leg pushes and the front leg lengthens the stance. Pressure should be felt on the inside of the ball of the rear foot. The front foot lands and then snaps the rear foot under the body weight again. Weight must not increase beyond 25% to the front leg at any point! The student must demonstrate all of this on their own, with a partner, with their guard up and whilst chain punching.
Mastery of pre fight, pre emptive striking, hunting down and basic takedown.
The fight ready position (FRP) must be applied. Hands must be up, in a non threatening manner with the strong arm back and the front arm forward. The arch between thumb and finger should be directly under the attackers chin. Legs must be bent with muscles already engaged and ready to push forward. Eyes should be on the chin. ‘Trigger touch’ punching and ‘meet and hit’ punching will be tested. Punches must be delivered without drawing back, legs loading (bending – they should already be bent) or any other movement that may warn the opponent. The purpose of the FRP means that everything is ready to go. The very next movement must be the step and punch. Once connected the student must demonstrate their ability to remain in balance and hunt down the opponent whilst throwing more shots or escape.
In addition the student must understand the theory of pre fight awareness and how to project a confident manner.
Focus pads
Left and right punches on the pads while moving around. When moving into range, this must be done with footwork rather than leaning or distributing more weight onto the front leg. Accurate, solid punches delivered without drawing back are essential.
Pyramid set to 5.
3 Drill
All attacks should be towards the partners face, not the arms. Lap’s should be in the correct direction and strong. The defences with the exception of the pak sau must be moving forwards and the arm that is lap’d must be relaxed.
The required standard for grade 1 is to show the ability to change from one side to the other, remain relaxed and maintain form.
Lat Sau
Punches must be towards the opponents face and not become specific blocks. The arms stay relaxed throughout but the shoulders remain square even if they are getting hit!
The required standard for grade 1 is to show the ability to change from one side to the other, remain relaxed and maintain form.
Theory
Explain and demonstrate the three basic theories of Wing Chun.
The Grades Explained
Let me start by saying that I believe in this grading system. It is what is necessary to get from beginner to expert. It is delivered in what I believe to be the order of importance. It is your short term training goals. It is not however an easy system. Anyone looking to grade should realise that you’re going to need to train hard to earn them. Too often in martial arts schools it seems that as long as you pay your money, you will get your grade. Not here. If you pass, you will know you deserve to. Please don’t let this concern you all however. It’s up to me to make sure you are ready and I’ll always be honest if I think you are ready or not.
The information within may seem complex but it will all make sense once you start training the specifics for the grade. You will notice as the grades get higher that the details for each movement are reduced. This is in fact because the applications are so much more complex and would require a book to explain them here so the necessary concepts or movements become a list rather than a detailed breakdown. In some cases such as the emergency attacks, the information is totally removed due to the danger of using these attacks.
Remember. The grading syllabus is here to make you concentrate on specifics and even force you to train some of the things that perhaps you don’t enjoy doing yet will ultimately make you a better martial artist. Some of the material within the grades may well change over the years as I teach an organic system that I constantly evolve with new training ideas. I believe that you never stop learning and I still love finding new and exciting ways to express my system.
It should also be noted that as you progress through your grades and attain the necessary standard, you shouldn’t just forget what you have learnt and move on. With this in mind it will be expected that a student going for a grade will have to join in with the testing for all the previous grades. For example a student who is hoping to pass grade 6 must first re – pass grades 1 – 5!
The final grade (the black sash) should be everyones aim. The standard for attaining your black sash will be high and the material will not be disclosed before hand. Of course it will be hard and it’s designed to test your mental strength as well as physical ability. The purpose of the black sash is a final affirmation of the journey through the system and I can promise you that on the day of the test, you will be in a place where you will feel you could conquer anything.
Grade 1 – Balance, Footwork, Posture and Punching
‘No matter how big the attacker is, he has a chin and therefore can be knocked out. If your punch is hard enough and quick enough so that it lands without warning then you maximise your chance of knocking your attacker out without them even throwing a punch. But balance should never be compromised. As long as you have balance then you have the potential for power. As long as you remain balanced even after punching, then you can continue to attack and capitalise on your initial advantage or make good your escape. Our style is aggressive. The best form of defence is attack. Be first with your punch and be ready to follow up. This is where it all begins………’
Punches
The fist must be formed correctly. This means the fist must be as tight as possible without tension in the forearm or bicep. The punch should be driven from the elbow and along the centre line. Elbow power must be maintained at all times whilst the forearm remains relaxed and pointing at the target. Shoulders must be back and the elbows down. Single and chain punches will be used to analyze technique and ‘rate of fire’. Endurance, accuracy and power will be tested on the focus pads.
Balance, Footwork and Body Structure
The feet should be at a 45 degree angle. The width of the foot at grade 1 should be as narrow as possible without losing balance, punch power and the ability to keep the hips and shoulders square. The legs must be bent, the rear knee pulled in and the hips square. Core muscles and lower abs should be engaged and the spine upright. The lats should also be engaged. Shoulders must be square and never further back than the hips. The neck should not be bent. The weight should be 75 % on the back leg but the student must have his weight on the balls of the feet.
When moving, the drive should come from the back leg. With the rear leg bent the muscle is already engaged. The rear leg pushes and the front leg lengthens the stance. Pressure should be felt on the inside of the ball of the rear foot. The front foot lands and then snaps the rear foot under the body weight again. Weight must not increase beyond 25% to the front leg at any point! The student must demonstrate all of this on their own, with a partner, with their guard up and whilst chain punching.
Mastery of pre fight, pre emptive striking, hunting down and basic takedown.
The fight ready position (FRP) must be applied. Hands must be up, in a non threatening manner with the strong arm back and the front arm forward. The arch between thumb and finger should be directly under the attackers chin. Legs must be bent with muscles already engaged and ready to push forward. Eyes should be on the chin. ‘Trigger touch’ punching and ‘meet and hit’ punching will be tested. Punches must be delivered without drawing back, legs loading (bending – they should already be bent) or any other movement that may warn the opponent. The purpose of the FRP means that everything is ready to go. The very next movement must be the step and punch. Once connected the student must demonstrate their ability to remain in balance and hunt down the opponent whilst throwing more shots or escape.
In addition the student must understand the theory of pre fight awareness and how to project a confident manner.
Focus pads
Left and right punches on the pads while moving around. When moving into range, this must be done with footwork rather than leaning or distributing more weight onto the front leg. Accurate, solid punches delivered without drawing back are essential.
Pyramid set to 5.
3 Drill
All attacks should be towards the partners face, not the arms. Lap’s should be in the correct direction and strong. The defences with the exception of the pak sau must be moving forwards and the arm that is lap’d must be relaxed.
The required standard for grade 1 is to show the ability to change from one side to the other, remain relaxed and maintain form.
Lat Sau
Punches must be towards the opponents face and not become specific blocks. The arms stay relaxed throughout but the shoulders remain square even if they are getting hit!
The required standard for grade 1 is to show the ability to change from one side to the other, remain relaxed and maintain form.
Theory
Explain and demonstrate the three basic theories of Wing Chun.
Thursday, 1 July 2010
Week 13
Against the fully covered head:
The opponent is standing and holds a classic protective head posture (you have already thrown a left right combo to encourage the cover up). Take a lazy lap and use this to turn him as you step around and hammerfist to the back of the head. Use repeaters and following footwork to complete the motion. If they stay in posture but do not fight back, give them a double palm push to move them away and escape.
If they take a very low defensive posture, step deep into the armpit and heel palm to the back of the head. Ensure the fingers are facing down the head to secure more of the hand landing. In addition, the elbow can strike the spine. All of these 3 moves work most effectively with sinking the weight as the hits goes in. Another attack when opponent in low posture is to kau sau the elbow and uppercut. Martin labelled this as the ripping uppercut move. It felt crisp and nasty.
We then looked at 2 methods when the opponent has the same guard but is standing up tall after the initiating punches. Firstly was using the lifting elbow after the 2 hits, this opens his guard and will startle, follow up with lop and hit to head. Secondly we looked at doing first 2 punches then following up with a right left hooking heel palm to ear/jaw area. As a loosener, worked this combo on the pads.
3 drill: cheeky hits of the backfist:
Sinking and dropping the weight to hammerfist the groin. This can be done in 2 subtly different ways. The first sinks down and hits through the guard, the second involves lifting the arm and coming under for the hit to the groin.
Thirdly is circling the hand down and to the solar plexus.
Fourthly, rotating the fist back and up to hit to the chin.
Finally, lifting the arm held and hitting to the ribs.
Sparring:
Worked in several incremental ways.
1: one defend and other attack
2: both attack and defend freely
3: one attacks as the other aims to spoil.
Really enjoyed sparring. Felt relaxed and looking to work consistent energy. Was a bit naughty in spoiling Giant Nathan's sparring by closing the distance and tying up and head clinch range. Enjoyed the close range grapple and the brief chess match that ensued.
Ended with a pyramid session to 7
The opponent is standing and holds a classic protective head posture (you have already thrown a left right combo to encourage the cover up). Take a lazy lap and use this to turn him as you step around and hammerfist to the back of the head. Use repeaters and following footwork to complete the motion. If they stay in posture but do not fight back, give them a double palm push to move them away and escape.
If they take a very low defensive posture, step deep into the armpit and heel palm to the back of the head. Ensure the fingers are facing down the head to secure more of the hand landing. In addition, the elbow can strike the spine. All of these 3 moves work most effectively with sinking the weight as the hits goes in. Another attack when opponent in low posture is to kau sau the elbow and uppercut. Martin labelled this as the ripping uppercut move. It felt crisp and nasty.
We then looked at 2 methods when the opponent has the same guard but is standing up tall after the initiating punches. Firstly was using the lifting elbow after the 2 hits, this opens his guard and will startle, follow up with lop and hit to head. Secondly we looked at doing first 2 punches then following up with a right left hooking heel palm to ear/jaw area. As a loosener, worked this combo on the pads.
3 drill: cheeky hits of the backfist:
Sinking and dropping the weight to hammerfist the groin. This can be done in 2 subtly different ways. The first sinks down and hits through the guard, the second involves lifting the arm and coming under for the hit to the groin.
Thirdly is circling the hand down and to the solar plexus.
Fourthly, rotating the fist back and up to hit to the chin.
Finally, lifting the arm held and hitting to the ribs.
Sparring:
Worked in several incremental ways.
1: one defend and other attack
2: both attack and defend freely
3: one attacks as the other aims to spoil.
Really enjoyed sparring. Felt relaxed and looking to work consistent energy. Was a bit naughty in spoiling Giant Nathan's sparring by closing the distance and tying up and head clinch range. Enjoyed the close range grapple and the brief chess match that ensued.
Ended with a pyramid session to 7
Friday, 25 June 2010
Week 12
Punching: Got warmed up by punching out a pyramid to 13.
Footwork – basic stepping footwork, then added single and double punch. Final combo was double punch followed by elbow (folding wrist into chest). Then moved onto the pads to work double punch and elbow combo.
Arm drag series: remove and double palm push, remove and swing back and attack, remove and uppercut and head control
Pad circuit
Footwork – basic stepping footwork, then added single and double punch. Final combo was double punch followed by elbow (folding wrist into chest). Then moved onto the pads to work double punch and elbow combo.
Arm drag series: remove and double palm push, remove and swing back and attack, remove and uppercut and head control
Pad circuit
Saturday, 19 June 2010
Week 11
Footwork: basic stepping and then stepping with punching to the count. An interesting development was chain punching then moving to the count whilst chain punching. A subtle way to work on integrated co-ordination and torque alignment with upper and lower parts of the body.
Anti-grappling; grip breaking: Initially we investigated different ways of breaking single hand to single hand breaks. First thing is to hit, work the break whilst hitting. All involved rotations of wrist and elbows.
High double hand grab: Give forward energy, turn arms to high/low, step deep between his legs and shoulder butt into the same side chest of opponent. Same side as if not then you are crossing his centre and gifting him your back. Once bumped, follow up with a upward elbow, snake is for neck control and knee to lower limbs.
Pad training circuit: Usual pain and suffering. This session I was focussing more on speed than power. A few times my ego got the better of me and I started to go for power and technique got looser. It was also pointed out to me by a pad holder that my stance to too boxer (wide base)and not enough wing chun (narrow). Had to focus hard to maintain the Wing Chun stance probably because the wider base is more comfortable. Therefore easy. Walk the hard path.
First form: Apart from being a nice warm down, ran through the whole form once, starting to pick it up. First 3 sections OK, rest is vague at best.
Anti-grappling; grip breaking: Initially we investigated different ways of breaking single hand to single hand breaks. First thing is to hit, work the break whilst hitting. All involved rotations of wrist and elbows.
High double hand grab: Give forward energy, turn arms to high/low, step deep between his legs and shoulder butt into the same side chest of opponent. Same side as if not then you are crossing his centre and gifting him your back. Once bumped, follow up with a upward elbow, snake is for neck control and knee to lower limbs.
Pad training circuit: Usual pain and suffering. This session I was focussing more on speed than power. A few times my ego got the better of me and I started to go for power and technique got looser. It was also pointed out to me by a pad holder that my stance to too boxer (wide base)and not enough wing chun (narrow). Had to focus hard to maintain the Wing Chun stance probably because the wider base is more comfortable. Therefore easy. Walk the hard path.
First form: Apart from being a nice warm down, ran through the whole form once, starting to pick it up. First 3 sections OK, rest is vague at best.
Friday, 11 June 2010
Week 10
3 drill: Investigated body shots from the backfist attack.
• Hit through to the abdomen, piston back inside to face followed by lap and hit to chin.
• As above initially but instead of piston, crappy chop to the outside gate and hit to chin.
• Backfist, step to the side, turn and hit to floating ribs.
• As above but fake the body shot and slide across his centre to other side and hit to body. The beauty of this technique is that the fake sets up the opponent to compact on one side on prep for the hit, as they load you pass to the other side and attack the open soft part of his body, complete with hit to the chin.
Martin touched on the limitations and positives of the 3 drill. In a previous post I touched on my ideas about the limitations of the drill. For Martin the key one he talked about was how it developed a certain muscle memory in terms of the expectations of movements due to happen in a given order. Your defence at times can be happening before the attack instead to being alive to it.
Pre emption pad training.
In the pre fight posture, ready to go, palms open and pointing at the target, elbows in, looking and talking to the chin, compact body, core activated, weight just off heels on balls and ready to drive forward.
• Partner flashes the pad, we had to close the distance and hot once with the right hand. Maintaining relaxation, giving nothing away (telegraphing), making sure the hand moves first and forward. Extend the elbow through the punch.
• As above but this time the partner steps forward with the pad and we had to meet and engage with the punch. Then moved into hitting with 3 punches.
Sparring ideas: Looked at use of mun sau (inquisitive hand) coming through to subtly trap the rear hand and hit to chin. Enter with punches to gain contact, trap and hit to chin.
Sparring: One side attack whilst the other defends. Stayed quite compact and relaxed, Martin said my stance was to shallow, I kept standing parallel at time, need to keep depth (just as in the 3 drill). Have to stay ground as I was coming high on my hits at times. Despite initial reservations, I really enjoyed the session. Took the hits and stayed calm, look forward to the rest of my martial life...
• Hit through to the abdomen, piston back inside to face followed by lap and hit to chin.
• As above initially but instead of piston, crappy chop to the outside gate and hit to chin.
• Backfist, step to the side, turn and hit to floating ribs.
• As above but fake the body shot and slide across his centre to other side and hit to body. The beauty of this technique is that the fake sets up the opponent to compact on one side on prep for the hit, as they load you pass to the other side and attack the open soft part of his body, complete with hit to the chin.
Martin touched on the limitations and positives of the 3 drill. In a previous post I touched on my ideas about the limitations of the drill. For Martin the key one he talked about was how it developed a certain muscle memory in terms of the expectations of movements due to happen in a given order. Your defence at times can be happening before the attack instead to being alive to it.
Pre emption pad training.
In the pre fight posture, ready to go, palms open and pointing at the target, elbows in, looking and talking to the chin, compact body, core activated, weight just off heels on balls and ready to drive forward.
• Partner flashes the pad, we had to close the distance and hot once with the right hand. Maintaining relaxation, giving nothing away (telegraphing), making sure the hand moves first and forward. Extend the elbow through the punch.
• As above but this time the partner steps forward with the pad and we had to meet and engage with the punch. Then moved into hitting with 3 punches.
Sparring ideas: Looked at use of mun sau (inquisitive hand) coming through to subtly trap the rear hand and hit to chin. Enter with punches to gain contact, trap and hit to chin.
Sparring: One side attack whilst the other defends. Stayed quite compact and relaxed, Martin said my stance was to shallow, I kept standing parallel at time, need to keep depth (just as in the 3 drill). Have to stay ground as I was coming high on my hits at times. Despite initial reservations, I really enjoyed the session. Took the hits and stayed calm, look forward to the rest of my martial life...
Saturday, 5 June 2010
Week 9
3 drill warm up. It still amazes me the different feelings (tension, softness, skill) working with different people. Trying to be consistently consistent in the basics of the 3 drill
Grip breakers: Starting from the last resort and working backwards. The shoulder bump: Turn and step into his void as pointing the same side grabbed arm to the floor and bump with the shoulder to his shoulder/pec. Don’t go past his centre. This grip is tremendously hard to maintain if this is being done to you, it acts against the grabbers elbow then the bump breaks his balance. After the bump, lift the elbow up to his chin, sending the head to the sky.
We then looked at how using the same initial move above to taking the back. The arm that is being held, drop the knees as lifting the arm, rotate under whilst leaning on him until at his ¾, takedown or move out and hit.
Only the brave: Use of the head butt, separate the arms of the grab, drive from the legs up into the soft parts of the face with the hard parts of your head. Just above the hairline, not the forehead.
Another idea is the thumb smash into 2 hand to one control (with the little finger, chase the thumb then run away from it). Finally the smallest, bread and butter motion, hand roll to the thumb and press into inside gate lap.
When grabbing to control: (no thumb) look to hit off by popping elbow up and forward, pak and punch entry, feed energy to him and hit. Make sure the non striking hand is kept with forward pressure as hitting with the other hand. Contact keeps his brain engaged, gaps give time for reactions.
With strong and solid partner, turn elbow so own elbow uses his as a lever to turn his shoulders, drop the shove (pop elbow) against his upper arm without breaking initial contact and hit, use off-lining footwork.
Entry punching: Not looking to KO, looking to enter in his space and get him on the back foot and in negative posture. Coming in from out of range feels silly as we are hitting the air. Ensure the left arm is straight and high and the chin is tucked down and into the deltoid. Prevents head shock from a powerful hit. One of the limitations with the wing chun stance, as outlined by Martin is the gap between the chin and the shoulder when entering into an opponent. Simply does not offer enough real world protection. When used with aggressive body language this can add to the disruption of his balance and posture as he will know that it is on and not shadow boxing. Kau sau control and hit. Ping back elbow against their natural reaction to forward pressure is to push against it.
Grip breakers: Starting from the last resort and working backwards. The shoulder bump: Turn and step into his void as pointing the same side grabbed arm to the floor and bump with the shoulder to his shoulder/pec. Don’t go past his centre. This grip is tremendously hard to maintain if this is being done to you, it acts against the grabbers elbow then the bump breaks his balance. After the bump, lift the elbow up to his chin, sending the head to the sky.
We then looked at how using the same initial move above to taking the back. The arm that is being held, drop the knees as lifting the arm, rotate under whilst leaning on him until at his ¾, takedown or move out and hit.
Only the brave: Use of the head butt, separate the arms of the grab, drive from the legs up into the soft parts of the face with the hard parts of your head. Just above the hairline, not the forehead.
Another idea is the thumb smash into 2 hand to one control (with the little finger, chase the thumb then run away from it). Finally the smallest, bread and butter motion, hand roll to the thumb and press into inside gate lap.
When grabbing to control: (no thumb) look to hit off by popping elbow up and forward, pak and punch entry, feed energy to him and hit. Make sure the non striking hand is kept with forward pressure as hitting with the other hand. Contact keeps his brain engaged, gaps give time for reactions.
With strong and solid partner, turn elbow so own elbow uses his as a lever to turn his shoulders, drop the shove (pop elbow) against his upper arm without breaking initial contact and hit, use off-lining footwork.
Entry punching: Not looking to KO, looking to enter in his space and get him on the back foot and in negative posture. Coming in from out of range feels silly as we are hitting the air. Ensure the left arm is straight and high and the chin is tucked down and into the deltoid. Prevents head shock from a powerful hit. One of the limitations with the wing chun stance, as outlined by Martin is the gap between the chin and the shoulder when entering into an opponent. Simply does not offer enough real world protection. When used with aggressive body language this can add to the disruption of his balance and posture as he will know that it is on and not shadow boxing. Kau sau control and hit. Ping back elbow against their natural reaction to forward pressure is to push against it.
Friday, 4 June 2010
Class notes: lat sau and 3 drill limitations
Lat Sau: Corrections and points to note; make sure both hands hit towards the face and go over the previous punch. Just need to make sure I stay present and focussed.
The change: on the long (inside) punch, feel the pressure from the arm into the feet and step to adjust balance accordingly. Don’t keep tension in the shoulders to avoid being moved or bounced.
Elbow lap: Ensure forward pressure punches, thus making him believe the content of the hits, off the inside punch, keep the hands alive and lap at the forearm and pivot his centre and hit to the body and finish with a head shot.
Body shots: Practised on static opponent to develop the correct range and body mechanics. Start by standing opposite partner in classical stance, falling side step to transfer weight to the front foot and turn hips for torque. Penetrate his core with good solid hits. Essential to never forget that a body shot equals open head, if you are going to hit to the body, make him puke and scream otherwise it is probably worthless.
Kau Sau; Insert the pak and punch to gain entry, keep forward pressure through the defended punch and bring the hand back to clasp the elbow to lift and give the good news. If we meet a dude with solidity and won’t turn the shoulders, use his tension to step around to take his ¾, hit to body then to the line from the ear to the chin.
3 drill corrections and points to note: backfist over, imagine trying to break the nose
Keep hitting forward and through to the centre
Keep wu sau up in defence
To night I was much more present in trying to keep my shoulders square and not to turn on laps.
Ended with another pad training cicuit. Good mental training moreso than physical for me as I am learning to stay present in the moment and trying not to think of the pain and suffering...
Martin poised the questions of what are the limitations of the 3 drill and lat sau. Here are my ideas and I look forward to being corrected.
• They are static in nature and focus entirely on the torso.
• Kicks, multiple opponents and weapon awareness appear to be outside of the drill.
• Are they only to be done on the feet? Can they be done on the knees, floor, sitting?
• Becoming a slave to the drill, doing rather than exploring? That perhaps could be to do with the practitioner over the drill.
• It is wing chun against wing chun as oppossed to street style work
The change: on the long (inside) punch, feel the pressure from the arm into the feet and step to adjust balance accordingly. Don’t keep tension in the shoulders to avoid being moved or bounced.
Elbow lap: Ensure forward pressure punches, thus making him believe the content of the hits, off the inside punch, keep the hands alive and lap at the forearm and pivot his centre and hit to the body and finish with a head shot.
Body shots: Practised on static opponent to develop the correct range and body mechanics. Start by standing opposite partner in classical stance, falling side step to transfer weight to the front foot and turn hips for torque. Penetrate his core with good solid hits. Essential to never forget that a body shot equals open head, if you are going to hit to the body, make him puke and scream otherwise it is probably worthless.
Kau Sau; Insert the pak and punch to gain entry, keep forward pressure through the defended punch and bring the hand back to clasp the elbow to lift and give the good news. If we meet a dude with solidity and won’t turn the shoulders, use his tension to step around to take his ¾, hit to body then to the line from the ear to the chin.
3 drill corrections and points to note: backfist over, imagine trying to break the nose
Keep hitting forward and through to the centre
Keep wu sau up in defence
To night I was much more present in trying to keep my shoulders square and not to turn on laps.
Ended with another pad training cicuit. Good mental training moreso than physical for me as I am learning to stay present in the moment and trying not to think of the pain and suffering...
Martin poised the questions of what are the limitations of the 3 drill and lat sau. Here are my ideas and I look forward to being corrected.
• They are static in nature and focus entirely on the torso.
• Kicks, multiple opponents and weapon awareness appear to be outside of the drill.
• Are they only to be done on the feet? Can they be done on the knees, floor, sitting?
• Becoming a slave to the drill, doing rather than exploring? That perhaps could be to do with the practitioner over the drill.
• It is wing chun against wing chun as oppossed to street style work
Monday, 31 May 2010
Friday, 28 May 2010
Class notes: fight posture
Punching and footwork warm up: Good old fashioned getting the body ready for the main class. IN the footwork we were looking at moving rapidly and crisply on the count
PFP (pre fight posture) touch response: Initially we looked at it from going forward and backwards from the defensive chest push. If going backwards use it as a rebound effect to move you back and off line, away from the right hand as this is usually the one to get thrown first. First round of practise was getting the fist to land softly on the chin, arm bent. This to make sure that if the shot was fully completed it would be hitting the correct target with the correct depth in the head. We then moved onto putting the punch beside the head but elbow deep.
Rolling flinch response to the right cross: (this is part of the grade 6 syllabus but he is looking to insert a simplified version for grade 1) Martin likened this motion to rebound, as soon as you go back the body is using the motion to load for an attack. He said it is a 3D motion as spin to roll the punch as you lean away in prep for the loading of the hit. Essential detail is to tuck the chin into the shoulder tightly. This keeps the structure compact and able to absorb hits better than if the chin is disconnected from the shoulder. On the rebound engage the right elbow and drive into his chin.
3 drill: Inside gate lap sau: Slowly looking and feeling where we can use it in the 3 drill. This then turned into 2 hands to 1 elbow control (gwai sau) half and full. This was initiated after the chop as we are on the inside. They block the punch (inside lap and punch form chop), take the wrist to the hand, rev the holding wrist and make sure the move backwards under the pressure of the gwai sau. Half relates to arm control, full relates to full arm control with own elbow almost in and on their centre. If he block the hits from gwai sau the simply reverse chop and punch.
Pad training circuit training. 7 station, 2 minute rounds with 60 seconds rest in between. Held first then had my fun and games. Today my forearms are still tired and my right hand has a slight shake to it. I have not been this sweaty since grappling. Thankfully my hands stayed free of cuts and abrasions.
Round 1: 1(LVP) – 6 (RDP) – 3 (LHHP) – 2 (RVP)
Round 2: 1 – 2 – 1 – 14 (LHE)
Round 3: can’t remember...
Round 4: 1 – 1 - 2
Round 5: ?(LBF) – 2 – ?(RBF) - 1
Round 6: 1 – 2 - ?(LLHP) small step to the left to enable whole hip use. – 3 - 2
Round 7: 1 – 2 – SLIP – 2
Of course all above rounds can be used as shadow boxing too.
PFP (pre fight posture) touch response: Initially we looked at it from going forward and backwards from the defensive chest push. If going backwards use it as a rebound effect to move you back and off line, away from the right hand as this is usually the one to get thrown first. First round of practise was getting the fist to land softly on the chin, arm bent. This to make sure that if the shot was fully completed it would be hitting the correct target with the correct depth in the head. We then moved onto putting the punch beside the head but elbow deep.
Rolling flinch response to the right cross: (this is part of the grade 6 syllabus but he is looking to insert a simplified version for grade 1) Martin likened this motion to rebound, as soon as you go back the body is using the motion to load for an attack. He said it is a 3D motion as spin to roll the punch as you lean away in prep for the loading of the hit. Essential detail is to tuck the chin into the shoulder tightly. This keeps the structure compact and able to absorb hits better than if the chin is disconnected from the shoulder. On the rebound engage the right elbow and drive into his chin.
3 drill: Inside gate lap sau: Slowly looking and feeling where we can use it in the 3 drill. This then turned into 2 hands to 1 elbow control (gwai sau) half and full. This was initiated after the chop as we are on the inside. They block the punch (inside lap and punch form chop), take the wrist to the hand, rev the holding wrist and make sure the move backwards under the pressure of the gwai sau. Half relates to arm control, full relates to full arm control with own elbow almost in and on their centre. If he block the hits from gwai sau the simply reverse chop and punch.
Pad training circuit training. 7 station, 2 minute rounds with 60 seconds rest in between. Held first then had my fun and games. Today my forearms are still tired and my right hand has a slight shake to it. I have not been this sweaty since grappling. Thankfully my hands stayed free of cuts and abrasions.
Round 1: 1(LVP) – 6 (RDP) – 3 (LHHP) – 2 (RVP)
Round 2: 1 – 2 – 1 – 14 (LHE)
Round 3: can’t remember...
Round 4: 1 – 1 - 2
Round 5: ?(LBF) – 2 – ?(RBF) - 1
Round 6: 1 – 2 - ?(LLHP) small step to the left to enable whole hip use. – 3 - 2
Round 7: 1 – 2 – SLIP – 2
Of course all above rounds can be used as shadow boxing too.
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Class notes: grading details
Back to basics with the focus on grading specific detail. Martin was very clear about what constitutes a fail and that he would be strict with fail detail. The main thing to avoid is negative posture (hips further back than the hips) as all power and options are negated by NP.
Footwork: balls of feet, but on the inside of the feet, legs alive and ready to drive forward. Imagine a band around the knees – leg far apart then it will snap, knees too close together then it will fall down, we want to keep the band up. When stepping, ensure the back leg keeps up and is not dragged. Shoulders square but feet @ 45 degrees. When inserting punching (air or pad), don’t load the punch and drive the elbow forward as the legs engage motion.
Pre fight posture: Looked at the trigger touch and meet and hit variations. Martin confidently talked about confidence in having good posture and crashing in with a strong punch. Used the palm against the chest (web strike V), keep the forearm bone aiming towards the target.
3 drill: off lining footwork when under pressure but ensure motions are kept tight and no NP, on the backfist drive forward and hit through centre into neck. Ensure a full lap sau. In addition, try to lap him into his void as this will affect his posture and balance. Keep attacking and defending with relaxed and forward energy, make sure that the energy is forward and along the centreline and not off to the side as this will create gaps in own defence. Also, look to change the tempo and look to break the rhythm and timing of opponent by hitting on half beats.
Footwork: balls of feet, but on the inside of the feet, legs alive and ready to drive forward. Imagine a band around the knees – leg far apart then it will snap, knees too close together then it will fall down, we want to keep the band up. When stepping, ensure the back leg keeps up and is not dragged. Shoulders square but feet @ 45 degrees. When inserting punching (air or pad), don’t load the punch and drive the elbow forward as the legs engage motion.
Pre fight posture: Looked at the trigger touch and meet and hit variations. Martin confidently talked about confidence in having good posture and crashing in with a strong punch. Used the palm against the chest (web strike V), keep the forearm bone aiming towards the target.
3 drill: off lining footwork when under pressure but ensure motions are kept tight and no NP, on the backfist drive forward and hit through centre into neck. Ensure a full lap sau. In addition, try to lap him into his void as this will affect his posture and balance. Keep attacking and defending with relaxed and forward energy, make sure that the energy is forward and along the centreline and not off to the side as this will create gaps in own defence. Also, look to change the tempo and look to break the rhythm and timing of opponent by hitting on half beats.
Thursday, 6 May 2010
Class notes: lap and punch
Footwork:
Lap and punch drill: working correct energy, keeping shoulders square and back, maintain a centred posture relative to partner. Counter to the lap is to move with energy and step off line. My error was that I was stepping too sideways and not close enough, this meant I was out of range for punching. This moved into hitting the pad after being laped. Other key points to note were turn the hand over and pull down as this engages all the correct muscles.
Entry punches against street guard:
Lat sau: Keep the shoulders square, inserting arm dargs
Hand on shoulder: arm drag; turn hand over and circle
Lap and punch drill: working correct energy, keeping shoulders square and back, maintain a centred posture relative to partner. Counter to the lap is to move with energy and step off line. My error was that I was stepping too sideways and not close enough, this meant I was out of range for punching. This moved into hitting the pad after being laped. Other key points to note were turn the hand over and pull down as this engages all the correct muscles.
Entry punches against street guard:
Lat sau: Keep the shoulders square, inserting arm dargs
Hand on shoulder: arm drag; turn hand over and circle
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Class notes: lat sau
Entry punches against the street guard: Unknown to me, this later in the session turned into the lat sau drill (detailed later in this blog entry). Martin said that many systems battle for the space that the arms occupy and thus have methods to work with this stimulus. If a guard is held, we want to aim for the chin and crash the distance. If we get stopped by the arms, we can feel for gaps and energy and advance from that, in addition, if we don't get our punches stopped then we have access to the chin. The drill started from outside kicking range, close the range quickly with a jamming right hand punch followed simultaneously a straight left, making sure the elbow is straight. This is because it prevents his punch, we are inside his arm, our left might even go high and tall. Matters not, what is most important is that this arm is straight as it negates his right arm. From here we looked at several options: The repeater punch if his left stays low. If the left arm lifts as he tries to escape the ‘stick’, let it go up and switch to a compact uppercut.
Lat sau: Basic roll and initial details, stick on arm and repeaters.
Stance: I asked about the negative posture which he often refers to. Shoulders should not be further back than the hips as this takes the power away from your body leaving you with only the power in the arm. Low rather than high because you are more compact and able to use the whole body power. He kept reminding of the need to be compact, think not of hitting with the hand but with the hip (from which the rest is connected).
Application work: From the same hand on the same shoulder position we looked at using the arm drag which leads into options such as following up with hits, the flying choke or releasing him back to face as crashing in with punches. From opposite hand to shoulder we use the head and arm trap. Head to the arm then pull in to the crook of the arm, takedown or elbow... A great counter is to go soft and have a good posture. Similar to my experiences in Systema, holds need tension to work against, soft and loose can’t be controlled as easily. Seems to create space and has a wonderfully startling effect on their hold.
Pyramids: To 7. No matter how much relaxation is mentally sent to the lactic in the shoulders, the elbows can still go forward but the hands feel empty and spasmodic. Ergo, pyramid much more as only working through the pain, the acid and disbelief will growth occur.
3 drill: Change detail, I had been chopping but Martin said it has evolved into a resemblance of a left or right cross, aiming the little finger along the jaw line of partner. Much more intrusive to be on the receiving end of and shifted me towards negative posture. As a result, will begin to employ.
Lat sau: Basic roll and initial details, stick on arm and repeaters.
Stance: I asked about the negative posture which he often refers to. Shoulders should not be further back than the hips as this takes the power away from your body leaving you with only the power in the arm. Low rather than high because you are more compact and able to use the whole body power. He kept reminding of the need to be compact, think not of hitting with the hand but with the hip (from which the rest is connected).
Application work: From the same hand on the same shoulder position we looked at using the arm drag which leads into options such as following up with hits, the flying choke or releasing him back to face as crashing in with punches. From opposite hand to shoulder we use the head and arm trap. Head to the arm then pull in to the crook of the arm, takedown or elbow... A great counter is to go soft and have a good posture. Similar to my experiences in Systema, holds need tension to work against, soft and loose can’t be controlled as easily. Seems to create space and has a wonderfully startling effect on their hold.
Pyramids: To 7. No matter how much relaxation is mentally sent to the lactic in the shoulders, the elbows can still go forward but the hands feel empty and spasmodic. Ergo, pyramid much more as only working through the pain, the acid and disbelief will growth occur.
3 drill: Change detail, I had been chopping but Martin said it has evolved into a resemblance of a left or right cross, aiming the little finger along the jaw line of partner. Much more intrusive to be on the receiving end of and shifted me towards negative posture. As a result, will begin to employ.
Thursday, 22 April 2010
Class notes: elbow power
No Martin tonight so Kam and Z took the reigns.
SNT:
Ran through the form once, some came back. Enjoyed standing and learning, posted info above about the form and a few articles to outline and remind of the purpose of the form.
Elbow power:
Lots of focus on this today, in the 3 drill, opunching, chopping. Linked to this was engaging the lat muscles. I found it very hard to put my mind in my lats and engage them, but Kam said that when the elbow is down and moving along the centre, the lat will engage. Thankfully this explanantion made something almost esoteric, quite simple and something I can apply.
3 drill off backfist:
body hit, x trap, tan sau. 3 drill initial block pak sau
Pad training:
Focus was not necessarily on the numbers of the combos, but having elbow extension. I kept hitting with bent elbow, something I am very aware of in my own punching practise and am working on improving.
SNT:
Ran through the form once, some came back. Enjoyed standing and learning, posted info above about the form and a few articles to outline and remind of the purpose of the form.
Elbow power:
Lots of focus on this today, in the 3 drill, opunching, chopping. Linked to this was engaging the lat muscles. I found it very hard to put my mind in my lats and engage them, but Kam said that when the elbow is down and moving along the centre, the lat will engage. Thankfully this explanantion made something almost esoteric, quite simple and something I can apply.
3 drill off backfist:
body hit, x trap, tan sau. 3 drill initial block pak sau
Pad training:
Focus was not necessarily on the numbers of the combos, but having elbow extension. I kept hitting with bent elbow, something I am very aware of in my own punching practise and am working on improving.
Friday, 16 April 2010
My fear pyramid as of now
I have thought long and hard and tried to make sure that fears not dislikes have been listed, from the peak down.
Fear.
Verbal anger and aggression.
Freezing in the face of raw aggression.
Being hit in the face.
Failure: as a husband, a father, a chef, a teacher, a depatment head, a martial artist, physical prowess diminishing with age.
Hitting the head of another.
Opening formal letters.
Checking bank account.
The dark and the tricks the mind plays about what lies beyond the field of vision.
Speaking to a group of adults and wondering when I get the tap on shoulder and the whisper in the ear 'I am on to you, you don't belong here.'
Saying no to people.
Receiving negative jugdements, related to fears of failure listed above.
Calf tearing again unexpectedly.
Never done this before, read about it years ago in Geoff Thompson's book Fear, the friend of exceptional people. Glad to have done it as one of my fears means I have exposed my mind and thinking. Part of me hopes that only I ever read this, the bolder part of me hopes others do and criticise what I write so I may grow from the hardship.
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Class notes: neck manipulation
Started off this week by looking at;
Arm drags: firstly from the position with your partner having their hand on your shoulder, then from lat sau and finally at the end of the, out of the 3 drill. In lat sau, the first punch (right) lands short but the second (left) one is very deep with a fully extended arm, the right simultaneously grabs and opens their arm
for the drag. Make sure the elbow lifts and the path of the arm drag is circular. This makes the motion more efficient.
Pad training: looked at 3 combos:
1-2-1-14 (LVP, RVP, LVP, RHE)
1-2-3-2 (LVP, RVP, LHP, RVP)
1-6-3-2 (LVP, DSP, LHP, RVP)
Noticed that on the final hit I was making a right mess of it, over extending, not relaxing enough, poor distancing. Must do some shadow boxing of these and even some visualisation to consolidate.
Catch wrestling neck manipulation: Nasty and feels like nothing at all. Come under neck, forearm out, other hand grasps by interlocking fingers, 2nd arm (hairy part) is flat against his head (ear area). Rotate and can open. Put ridiculous pressure on the neck and head. No effort my end, lots of pain his end.
3 drill inside gate lap and arm drag: Revising last weeks 3 drills and extending from the inside gate lap, swap to other arm to inside gate lap and arm drag.
Growing confidence through confident teaching. Martin is very confident in his abiliy to have a strong hit and the consequences of this on an opponents chin. I feel as if by hearing his confident and positive words that I am becoming more confident in myself, perhaps more empowered is more approproate a label. I am aware that this is not a false sense of security, just beginning to believe in the potential of my hands and thus myself.
Forward pressure from the Real Deal: He has excellent and a little intimidating forward pressure on his 3 drill. You know that if you were not to defend, your face would be smashed to bits. It is good for me to train with him as I can work on my posture and mind not collapsing under pressure
Arm drags: firstly from the position with your partner having their hand on your shoulder, then from lat sau and finally at the end of the, out of the 3 drill. In lat sau, the first punch (right) lands short but the second (left) one is very deep with a fully extended arm, the right simultaneously grabs and opens their arm
for the drag. Make sure the elbow lifts and the path of the arm drag is circular. This makes the motion more efficient.
Pad training: looked at 3 combos:
1-2-1-14 (LVP, RVP, LVP, RHE)
1-2-3-2 (LVP, RVP, LHP, RVP)
1-6-3-2 (LVP, DSP, LHP, RVP)
Noticed that on the final hit I was making a right mess of it, over extending, not relaxing enough, poor distancing. Must do some shadow boxing of these and even some visualisation to consolidate.
Catch wrestling neck manipulation: Nasty and feels like nothing at all. Come under neck, forearm out, other hand grasps by interlocking fingers, 2nd arm (hairy part) is flat against his head (ear area). Rotate and can open. Put ridiculous pressure on the neck and head. No effort my end, lots of pain his end.
3 drill inside gate lap and arm drag: Revising last weeks 3 drills and extending from the inside gate lap, swap to other arm to inside gate lap and arm drag.
Growing confidence through confident teaching. Martin is very confident in his abiliy to have a strong hit and the consequences of this on an opponents chin. I feel as if by hearing his confident and positive words that I am becoming more confident in myself, perhaps more empowered is more approproate a label. I am aware that this is not a false sense of security, just beginning to believe in the potential of my hands and thus myself.
Forward pressure from the Real Deal: He has excellent and a little intimidating forward pressure on his 3 drill. You know that if you were not to defend, your face would be smashed to bits. It is good for me to train with him as I can work on my posture and mind not collapsing under pressure
Friday, 9 April 2010
Class notes: Put your toe in the bloody water
So last night was my first session with Martin. I remember texting my wife before I went in to say that I was racked with nerves. I walked through the doors and into a familiar sight; an exuberant Martin most welcoming and warm. The infant school hall made me feel comfortable as I had spent so much time there in the past training.
This is what we did; (my notes as I remember and not set in stone accurate. Any errors are all mine and a reflection on my bottom rung of the ladder-ness)
3 drill: - forward pressure - make each hit direct and aiming for target, not merely there as something to be 'blocked'
- taking the lop sau - over the top, never underneath as this gives them a path to come over and into your centre
- lop sau - to his hip - engage the lat and grab with thumb
- develop feeling for gaps and hit through the centre
- inside gate lop sau after first chop - key is to drop the elbow in the lop, this uses the correct muscles with the most efficiency. Also worked on the non-grab lop sau by using the web of the hand
- chops are from the elbow from the centre (as the punch) as opposed to my judo chop style hinging from the elbow
Pad training: Power in the first hit, extend the arm and hit with enough tension in the fist to whilst keeping the forearm soft as possible, fist to height of the wrist, elbows in tight, feet to move with the body. All of the pad training was from the pre fight fence position, left hand forward.
Combo 1: left hand lead touch the pad twice - right fist, left hook palm, right fist
Combo 2: hits the left arm - go with motion using immoveable elbow left palm strike - right fist
Combo 3: extended feed for outside gate lop sau - 3 hits with right fist and drive forward with each.
Pad training development: worked on random variations of the 3 at pad holders discretion, then moved into using hands on hands working relaxation and softness.
Anti Grappling: escape from the can opener. Looked at understanding the head control and how to apply it correctly - tight head and neck control. Elbows in tight and close, drive them forward as this will make the head pull down much easier, puts lots of pressure on the back of the head. Counter: palms on face and drive back up and over his hips whilst applying forward pressure, keep him stumbling. Swim 1 arm in, then the other for own can opener and drill continues.
Pyramid punching: (all x10)
singles
doubles, then doubles with other hand forward
3's
5's
7's then back down the pyramid. I felt good up to 5's then the lactic kicked in and it all went stiff and sour. Something else to work on there then... I held the pads for Grandmaster who was solid, consistent, relaxed and sharp for all of the pyramid.
After the session I had a brief chat to Martin about where this is going, his honesty and mine in the training journey ahead. I felt very pleased to make this first step. I look forward to what will be a challenging and rewarding training future with Martin and his group of students.
On reflection 24 hours later, I am aware that I made many small errors tonight but am looking to develop these into positives and thus a decent level of skill.
This is what we did; (my notes as I remember and not set in stone accurate. Any errors are all mine and a reflection on my bottom rung of the ladder-ness)
3 drill: - forward pressure - make each hit direct and aiming for target, not merely there as something to be 'blocked'
- taking the lop sau - over the top, never underneath as this gives them a path to come over and into your centre
- lop sau - to his hip - engage the lat and grab with thumb
- develop feeling for gaps and hit through the centre
- inside gate lop sau after first chop - key is to drop the elbow in the lop, this uses the correct muscles with the most efficiency. Also worked on the non-grab lop sau by using the web of the hand
- chops are from the elbow from the centre (as the punch) as opposed to my judo chop style hinging from the elbow
Pad training: Power in the first hit, extend the arm and hit with enough tension in the fist to whilst keeping the forearm soft as possible, fist to height of the wrist, elbows in tight, feet to move with the body. All of the pad training was from the pre fight fence position, left hand forward.
Combo 1: left hand lead touch the pad twice - right fist, left hook palm, right fist
Combo 2: hits the left arm - go with motion using immoveable elbow left palm strike - right fist
Combo 3: extended feed for outside gate lop sau - 3 hits with right fist and drive forward with each.
Pad training development: worked on random variations of the 3 at pad holders discretion, then moved into using hands on hands working relaxation and softness.
Anti Grappling: escape from the can opener. Looked at understanding the head control and how to apply it correctly - tight head and neck control. Elbows in tight and close, drive them forward as this will make the head pull down much easier, puts lots of pressure on the back of the head. Counter: palms on face and drive back up and over his hips whilst applying forward pressure, keep him stumbling. Swim 1 arm in, then the other for own can opener and drill continues.
Pyramid punching: (all x10)
singles
doubles, then doubles with other hand forward
3's
5's
7's then back down the pyramid. I felt good up to 5's then the lactic kicked in and it all went stiff and sour. Something else to work on there then... I held the pads for Grandmaster who was solid, consistent, relaxed and sharp for all of the pyramid.
After the session I had a brief chat to Martin about where this is going, his honesty and mine in the training journey ahead. I felt very pleased to make this first step. I look forward to what will be a challenging and rewarding training future with Martin and his group of students.
On reflection 24 hours later, I am aware that I made many small errors tonight but am looking to develop these into positives and thus a decent level of skill.
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
My martial arts history to this point
Lau Gar: 2 years. All started in Ellesmere Port in October 93 under Brain Nelson. The training was hard with the focus on competitive semi contact point fighting. We had to do gradings every 3 months and this was the kung fu syllabus. I really enjoyed doing this but remember spending little time on it in class in terms of applications of the forms. Did a few competitions and enjoyed them immensely. Moving to London for University, Brian referred me to Curtis Page. He was a tall, lean fighter, great reflexes and incredible kicks. My most vivid memory of Curtis was watching him in a tournament do a rolling axe kick and score with it. Here I met my first mate down south, Damo. Over the next year or so we spent much time together training and hanging out. Training focus waned, the class became very small and the instructor was doing his best to keep it going but my motivation slipped. Outside of training I was an avid reader of martial arts mags and books, in retrospect, these filled my head with different ideas as well as building potential insecurities. Specifically fear of attack and needing to learn the ultimate martial art. Damo went to a demo of a wing chun school in Croydon. I had read about wing chun, the martial art that Bruce Lee sort of made famous. It has been known as scientific street fighting. So to an insecure young man, I needed to investigate.
Wing Chun: 18 moths Martin Workman. Martin at the time was 19 and to my eye a very gifted wing chun guy. The first session we did, he got me to hold a pad at my chest, he stood on one leg and hit the pad with a lateral elbow strike. I was instantly impressed with his power and technique. At the time, Martin was part of the National Wing Chun Association, who were a break away from the James Sinclair tribe. The twp top guys in the association had developed an interesting syllabus. Lots of footwork drills, basic shape drills, 1-2-3- drills, entry techniques, a great pad work syllabus. I really enjoyed training but kept reading outside and started to learn about the ancient fighting art of taichi. Reading fed my mind, I made my excuses and moved on.
Wudang Taichi Chuan: 6 months, Ray White. I read about a no nonsense guy called Dan Docherty teaching a style of taichi that was tournament tested and focused on developing a strong body and spirit through hard training. I really enjoyed the training, my best mate Jonny trained with me and we had a right old time. We trained in Stockwell, the dojo of Sid Hoare (a legendary Judo player). The simple end of this class was the dojo closed and no club near was available to train in. Instead of going back to Martin, I found an apparent fighting taichi style in Holland Park.
Old Yang style Taichi Chuan: 3 years, Paul Brecher. This was a great 3 years, I learned the old yang style long form and associated training methods and forms, lots of qigong, methods from Wudang (the predecessor to taichi) and dim mak knowledge. Perhaps the highlight was a week in the Spanish Hills at a retreat learning and training. Towards the end of my time with Paul, I lost my way as I started to question his teaching methods. This was my failing not Paul’s. He is a great guy whom I have total respect for and we still keep in touch to this day.
CQC: 1 year, Joe Hubbard. I hooked up with Jonny again and found Joe in Kingston teaching the methods of Hock Hockheim. This was a synthesis of Pacific rim systems. It is 5 different systems (Hand to hand, stick, knife, gun, etc) and very systematic in it’s syllabus. 10 levels for each module. It was good stuff but me and Jonny were not his favourites and unfortunately were treated without the same martial affection. Downer really, they were good times.
Warriors Escrima: 3 months, so I moved to a Filipino specific class, a student of Krishna Godhania. He was teaching some new material out of the States (Sayoc Kali), it was pure knife fighting, almost to an anal level. Got bored so tried some thing mental.
Harimau Pentjak Silat: 3 months, Scott McQuaid. This was a crazy time, training in a public park at tea time in Kingston. Hard, hard traditional training in a most demanding art. Scott was clearly a gifted guy in his chosen discipline. I binned it because I simply found the training too rigorous on the legs. Lots and lots and lots of low stance training.
Systema: 3 years, Greg Coveney, Darren Pickard. I did some research, and this new system was making an appearance in the mags. Now the internet was starting to develop and saw some vids. It looked both interesting and fake so thought about having a go. Simply put, loved it. I stopped after 3 years because 1 session was on fear and street fighting. So, Darren, Greg, Barry and me, donned the mma gloves an went at it. It scarred the shit out of me and mentally found this very hard to deal with. I left by making some inane excuse about money or my car or something. Instead of facing my fears with the guys who I am sure would have helped me through, I put my tail between my legs and left.
Wudang Taichi Chuan: 6 months. Found a local class and popped along for a while, it was really great, but because my head as always was looking for something new I had not tried, I got attracted to BJJ as I love, love watching UFC.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: 2 and a half years years, Ricardo Da Silva. This is the most physically demanding system I have trained in. It made me fitter, stronger and less scarred than anything studied. Because of the honesty of the training (there is no room for paper tigers, they get found out very quickly) it was a great bunch of guys. Some of who were and still are successful pro MMA fighters. Lots of humility in that dojo. I used to go 3 times a week, Ben was born and I stepped down to 1. Found it hard to make progress and just tick over at once a week. A reduce in training meant sessions were harder to keep up with the rest. I would give them a jolly good fight as I became realised good cardio and the desire to keep fighting went along way. So I looked elsewhere for training that permitted me once a week.
Some action of me sparring...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlTO-ksCUK4
Wing Tsun: 3 months, Lee Heron. An interesting group, lots of skill differentiated, very thorough syllabus, no flexibility in methodology. Which led me to muse a return to Systema. Not bound by rules, syllabus, etc.
Systema: 8 weeks. Back with the Maidenhead boys. Some faces are similar, others not, the group still energetic, fluid, fun and firm. I love the free experimentation in and out of class. At home, I started focusing on stick work and various strength training centred around the 4 core exercises and Russian yoga. But as usual my lack of focus and discipline to one style kicked in and I moved on.
Wudang tai chi chuan: 12 months. learning many thinks with Norman - variety of pushing hands, short form round, sabre form, handstands... Wont talk too much about the last 12 months as where I am now and why is detailed in my original blog post.
I have met and trained with some wonderful characters and am sorry if I have missed anyone out.
And to the final path, Wing Chun with Martin... The syllabus is concept not technique driven, he will fail you in a grading on your first mistake = Growth through hardship. How can I not grow?
Wing Chun: 18 moths Martin Workman. Martin at the time was 19 and to my eye a very gifted wing chun guy. The first session we did, he got me to hold a pad at my chest, he stood on one leg and hit the pad with a lateral elbow strike. I was instantly impressed with his power and technique. At the time, Martin was part of the National Wing Chun Association, who were a break away from the James Sinclair tribe. The twp top guys in the association had developed an interesting syllabus. Lots of footwork drills, basic shape drills, 1-2-3- drills, entry techniques, a great pad work syllabus. I really enjoyed training but kept reading outside and started to learn about the ancient fighting art of taichi. Reading fed my mind, I made my excuses and moved on.
Wudang Taichi Chuan: 6 months, Ray White. I read about a no nonsense guy called Dan Docherty teaching a style of taichi that was tournament tested and focused on developing a strong body and spirit through hard training. I really enjoyed the training, my best mate Jonny trained with me and we had a right old time. We trained in Stockwell, the dojo of Sid Hoare (a legendary Judo player). The simple end of this class was the dojo closed and no club near was available to train in. Instead of going back to Martin, I found an apparent fighting taichi style in Holland Park.
Old Yang style Taichi Chuan: 3 years, Paul Brecher. This was a great 3 years, I learned the old yang style long form and associated training methods and forms, lots of qigong, methods from Wudang (the predecessor to taichi) and dim mak knowledge. Perhaps the highlight was a week in the Spanish Hills at a retreat learning and training. Towards the end of my time with Paul, I lost my way as I started to question his teaching methods. This was my failing not Paul’s. He is a great guy whom I have total respect for and we still keep in touch to this day.
CQC: 1 year, Joe Hubbard. I hooked up with Jonny again and found Joe in Kingston teaching the methods of Hock Hockheim. This was a synthesis of Pacific rim systems. It is 5 different systems (Hand to hand, stick, knife, gun, etc) and very systematic in it’s syllabus. 10 levels for each module. It was good stuff but me and Jonny were not his favourites and unfortunately were treated without the same martial affection. Downer really, they were good times.
Warriors Escrima: 3 months, so I moved to a Filipino specific class, a student of Krishna Godhania. He was teaching some new material out of the States (Sayoc Kali), it was pure knife fighting, almost to an anal level. Got bored so tried some thing mental.
Harimau Pentjak Silat: 3 months, Scott McQuaid. This was a crazy time, training in a public park at tea time in Kingston. Hard, hard traditional training in a most demanding art. Scott was clearly a gifted guy in his chosen discipline. I binned it because I simply found the training too rigorous on the legs. Lots and lots and lots of low stance training.
Systema: 3 years, Greg Coveney, Darren Pickard. I did some research, and this new system was making an appearance in the mags. Now the internet was starting to develop and saw some vids. It looked both interesting and fake so thought about having a go. Simply put, loved it. I stopped after 3 years because 1 session was on fear and street fighting. So, Darren, Greg, Barry and me, donned the mma gloves an went at it. It scarred the shit out of me and mentally found this very hard to deal with. I left by making some inane excuse about money or my car or something. Instead of facing my fears with the guys who I am sure would have helped me through, I put my tail between my legs and left.
Wudang Taichi Chuan: 6 months. Found a local class and popped along for a while, it was really great, but because my head as always was looking for something new I had not tried, I got attracted to BJJ as I love, love watching UFC.
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: 2 and a half years years, Ricardo Da Silva. This is the most physically demanding system I have trained in. It made me fitter, stronger and less scarred than anything studied. Because of the honesty of the training (there is no room for paper tigers, they get found out very quickly) it was a great bunch of guys. Some of who were and still are successful pro MMA fighters. Lots of humility in that dojo. I used to go 3 times a week, Ben was born and I stepped down to 1. Found it hard to make progress and just tick over at once a week. A reduce in training meant sessions were harder to keep up with the rest. I would give them a jolly good fight as I became realised good cardio and the desire to keep fighting went along way. So I looked elsewhere for training that permitted me once a week.
Some action of me sparring...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IlTO-ksCUK4
Wing Tsun: 3 months, Lee Heron. An interesting group, lots of skill differentiated, very thorough syllabus, no flexibility in methodology. Which led me to muse a return to Systema. Not bound by rules, syllabus, etc.
Systema: 8 weeks. Back with the Maidenhead boys. Some faces are similar, others not, the group still energetic, fluid, fun and firm. I love the free experimentation in and out of class. At home, I started focusing on stick work and various strength training centred around the 4 core exercises and Russian yoga. But as usual my lack of focus and discipline to one style kicked in and I moved on.
Wudang tai chi chuan: 12 months. learning many thinks with Norman - variety of pushing hands, short form round, sabre form, handstands... Wont talk too much about the last 12 months as where I am now and why is detailed in my original blog post.
I have met and trained with some wonderful characters and am sorry if I have missed anyone out.
And to the final path, Wing Chun with Martin... The syllabus is concept not technique driven, he will fail you in a grading on your first mistake = Growth through hardship. How can I not grow?
Saturday, 27 March 2010
The Background
What follows is a letter I recently wrote to a former instructor of mine who I trust, respect and value the opinion of. I have come to a cross roads in my training after 17 years (now aged 36), a martial mid life crisis if you will.
Hi Martin,
Hope all is well with you. Great to see you have got some vids on YouTube at last. Seeing your videos got me thinking, dangerous I know. I hope there is some cohesion to my ramblings. I guess I am after your advice as I respect your opinion and honesty.
I started martial arts for many reasons way back in 1993. Fitness, fear, Bruce Lee admiration, the mysticism and romance of the Eastern Arts.
Fear used to be my main reason for training, looking for ways to overcome it. Yet the more I tried, the more, in retrospect I failed. As soon as the contact and psychological pressure got heavy in training, I made excuses and went to look for the next system to make me capable in self defence. It is hard to admit but I think I was looking to get my hands dirty without really getting them dirty. 4 years ago I came back to your class for a couple of weeks and I was amazed at the subtle differences in the 10 year hiatus since I last walked through your doors. But my mind took my focus to grappling as you demoed some amazing transitions on the floor in one of your classes. In my head I thought ‘Thhis what I need to learn, I want to be this good on the floor’. This led me to investigate a tough and mainly enjoyable 3 years in BJJ. I learned essentially in BJJ about the pain and contact of grappling and would quite happily now go and wrestle with anyone as my fear in the sphere has been confronted and understood.
As you know I went along to Lee Heron’s wing chun class for a couple of months hoping to find answers from the stand up perspective. He has some interesting ideas and clearly a well thought out ‘progressive’ system but for me lacked the essence of what I experienced in your class. It is quite hard to put that essence into words, I just know that there was a difference. So I went back to BJJ but fell out of love due to feeling like I was not making progress. For a couple of years I was going 3 times a week, Steph had a baby so I had to trim it down to once a week. It soon became apparent felt like each week was just about maintaining my level and not moving forward as fast as the others.. I got quite good at having a tight defence, giving them a tough hard fight, but got frustrated as I felt I was not getting my blue belt when others were. People who I was dominating in sparring, or some lads were also doing the MMA training and I felt they got promoted as they were part of the Team. But who am I to judge?
I have always felt a great sense of excitement when I started investigating a new system then a sense of letting myself down for not sticking around in anything for more than 3 years. At the moment I am training in tai chi and have been since May last year. I do enjoy it, but feel like I am learning solely a martial art and not a functional martial art.
Over the past few months I have started subscribing to Geoff Thompson’s podcasts and find his words to be very inspirational. He talks about growth through hardship. I recognise that in my martial arts training history, when hardship (physical, psychological) creeps in, I pack it in and move on. On question is, do you think it is something I should think about overcoming at my soon to be middle age? I know in terms of stats, the chances of me being mugged or attacked are slim, and if jumped I would probably drag them to the floor as that is where I would feel safest and most competent. I guess in my path through life I am looking to always grow and learn and conquer my own fears and growing from this.
Then I noticed that you have developed a grading system. This also got me thinking about what have I achieved in 17 years in the martial arts. Well I have a few grading certificates from my first art; Lau Gar Kung Fu with Damo in the dark and distant past. However, I have read that if you train in Geoff Thompson’s art, the grading is earned and not given. I assume from reading your class blog, the same case is for your system. Part of me wants to feel a sense of achievement in my training from specific goals that have been set. Part of me wants to feel a sense of achievement in my training, that might be doing a grading as it is something that is measureable and tangible but also earned. Part of me is also an over analytical perfectionist who trembles with the fear of performing in front of others. Recently, my Head teacher asked me to do a short presentation to the rest of the staff. I found it very hard; sweaty, shaky voice, tunnel vision. Put in front of a room full of kids and not a problem at all. I was pleased that I did it afterwards as next time it will be easier, or more emotionally manageable. The first one will be my reference point. So, I know I am a contradiction: I want to stop being a contradiction. I want to grow from stepping out of my comfort zone but am scarred of stepping out of my comfort zone.
An example of this is the idea of coming back to your class. Part of me feels like a failure for not sticking with it all those years ago, I had such fun with you, Damo and the rest of the guys. Part of me feels like turning of the internal dialogue and just focussing on the now (taichi) and forgetting about growth and fear, but I do find it hard to do. Part of me is excited about the idea of stepping through your doors as I know the lessons I will learn will be hard, challenging and I will fail a lot but will grow from this.
Linked to the above points are some things you mentioned on your YouTube clips and about aggression and relaxation. I want to develop the ability to move with the fluidity, relaxation, confidence and aggression that you and your students demonstrated on the clips. I understand these concepts but am poor at applying them. I rarely was aggressive in BJJ, generally defensive. Used to fight a lot from half and full guard, not in a stifling way, always looking to submit but never have understood how to work aggressively with relaxation and confidence. Perhaps it is because I am scarred of aggression, my own interpretation of aggression is about pain (emotional and physical). Maybe I am confusing anger with aggression? Maybe it is angry aggression that I am scarred of?
After the rambling, I guess the questions are this? Would you think it suitable for me to come back to your class? If not, where do you think I could address and confront and understand my internal questions?
In using so many words I have also demonstrated a lack of understanding of the concept of economy of (typing) motion
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