Wing Chun Martial Approach There are two concepts that are essential to Wing Chun: centerline and simplicity. The centerline is guarded meticulously with hands on center and elbows down and in. Movement is small and extremely efficient, utilizing subtle shifts of the body to deflect, evade and counterstrike all in one motion. At its most advanced level, contact with the opponent is maintained at all times to constantly check arms and legs, trap, and utilize the opponent’s movement to guide and even to increase power. Once the first blow is struck, the Wing Chun practitioner will march an opponent back with a constant barrage of swift, low kicks to disrupt the stance, and a flurry of cycle punches that serve as both offense and defense, batting everything off center and continuing in for the strike. Because of its simplicity, Wing Chun can be used effectively by beginning practitioners; also because of its simplicity, at its most advanced, Wing Chun is a devastatingly efficient style. Wing Chun concepts Stance and center of gravity The stance in Wing Chun is either a high horse with weight evenly distributed, or a T-stance with weight 85% on the back leg. There are advantages to either stance. Because of the high stance, it is very important to maintain focus on keeping the center of gravity as low as possible. At more advanced levels this is done by “rooting.” It is crucial to never lean backward in this stance, even the slightest amount, to prevent being uprooted. Once balance is lost, it is difficult to regain the offensive. When moving out of either stance, maintain a lowered center of gravity and slide over the ground with each step. Never transfer weight to the stepping leg until that leg is where you want it to be; a leg off the ground is easily swept. Foot checks and kicks Kicks in Wing Chun are characteristically low and swift. At advanced levels they are used as much to check advancing legs and kicks as they are to kick themselves. When checking, be sure to turn the foot out to the side to gain greater surface area for contact. Remember that a careless opponent can be taken off balance by checking advancing steps. The legs are often overlooked in Wing Chun. This is a great mistake that limits the effectiveness of the style. Do not fall into this trap. Rotation Rotation, along with gate punching, is crucial to taking Wing Chun to the advanced level. Mastery of proper rotation allows for complete efficiency, in movement and power. Rotation allows for subtle shifts in body position that aid in deflecting attacks and generating power over short distances. But be careful: over-rotation leaves one in a very vulnerable position, and although one might think more rotation would generate more power, the opposite is in fact true. Also, be careful to avoid generating rotation through rotation of the torso on the hips. Rotation should begin at the feet, which in turn rotate the legs and the hips. The torso should move with the hips, like a gun turret. Parrying Part of being efficient is parrying instead of blocking. Linear attacks are more easily guided across the opponent’s centerline than forced outward. When facing circular technique and not able to parry, employ rotation or other body movement (usually in and to the opposite side of the attack), to position yourself inside of the point of power on the incoming technique. There is less power on a punch as you get closer to the shoulder. In this case the block you are forced to use is more an extra assurance than an actual block. Another important point to remember when parrying is to meet and intercept the attacking arm as far out as possible. This way, when you deflect the attack off centerline, it will travel further off to the side by the time it reaches the distance of its intended target (you). Also, be wary of applying too much lateral motion to your parries. You don’t want to follow the attack off centerline; you want to force it off centerline and remain there. The best way to do that is to attack the centerline with outward motion. Because your arms come from the side of your body, and thus off centerline, the motion of moving to centerline itself is enough lateral motion. The “pop” from your parries should come largely from forward motion. This way if you glance off your parrying arm will end up in the face of your opponent, not off to the side somewhere where it does little good. Remember, strive for efficiency. Gate theory In gate theory, the body is divided into gates, or sections, that added together cover the body from head to toe and shoulder to shoulder. This is the area that must be protected from attack. In addition, another dimension is added with the outer gate, so that every section of the front of the body has an inner and outer gate associated with it. This is to distinguish whether it is the outer or inner hand that will defend against an attack to each gate. Certain attacks are better defended against with the outer gate than the inner, and vice versa. Dividing the body in this way, the practitioner can classify each technique according to the gate that it defends against. Trapping The concept of trapping is very important in Wing Chun, the idea being to take the opponents limbs out of action. There are two main ways this can be done. The most common form of trapping is to get one of the opponent’s arms under the other and to press in or down, thus allowing you to occupy both of the attacker’s hands with one of yours. The benefits of this are obvious. A simple form of this type of trapping is crossing the opponent up by parrying one arm toward the center and pressing inward. This opens up the side of the opponent as well as putting one arm in the way of the other. Another type of trapping, less commonly utilized but no less important, is pinning the opponent’s elbow to their body. A good cycle puncher will keep one arm pinned to an opponent’s body by checking it on the return stroke after each punch, and all this while marching the opponent backwards. Gate punches Gate punching is the ultimate in efficiency, as a gate punch effectively parries or blocks an incoming attack on its way to its target. To effectively execute an outer gate punch, one must utilize the method of parrying described above. In this way, a parry can be continued on into a strike without a change in motion. Slap parries require a change in direction to continue on towards an opponent, and therefore cannot be used for gate punching. In this gate punch, it is the motion of bringing the arm from slightly off center onto center that facilitates the parry. The forearm effectively bats anything off of centerline, and then carries the hand in for the strike. The inside gate punch is much more difficult to execute, and involves forcing the opponent’s arm of centerline in the direction against all of the opponent’s strength. This leaves your arm inside of his, and effectively amounts to a block. As always, the parry is preferable to the block, so keep this in mind. Cycle punches As stated above, cycle punching is more than just hitting an opponent with rolling blows. Cycle punching actually involves every other major concept in Wing Chun, including parrying, gate punching, rotation and often trapping. Therefore the motion of the arms in cycle punching is critical! To begin, the punch must not, as is often though, begin on centerline at your own chest. It is the motion of going to centerline that affords the parrying motion, and allows the continuation on into a gate punch. Rotation must also be added to cycle punches to provide power. However, this rotation should be minimal. Also, a punch is not finished after it reaches or does not reach its target. It is not useless until it re-chambers for another strike. A returning punch can be used to drop down and parry any incoming strikes to the lower gates, and can also serve to keep an opponent’s arm pinned to their side by dropping down in its cycle and hitting the elbow of the checked arm. Another important concept to cycle punching is the concept of circularity. Whatever the circle may be, whether it is in downward motion to bat attacks downward, or vice versa, at least a slight circle should be kept in all motion at all time. Linearity requires stopping and re-starting of motion, something that takes far to long when we are striving for efficiency.
Posted on: Fri, 30 Aug 2013 02:09:11 +0000
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