Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Empty hand techniques in traditional weapons.

Last week Friday I had a nice time training (and fortunately LEARNING) something from my sifu. I was half fooling around with my kungfu brothers while practicing one of our forms. I explained certain concepts within the form while sifu watched from the side. I hope I got all of it right :) He didn't say anything about it so hopefully they were correct :D

Then he did something I am very thankful now. He gave concepts, techniques and principles to counter all the concepts and principles I just shared with my kungfu brothers, and ALL of them came from the 6 and half point pole form!

Sifu showed the Yin and Yang side of applications, according to the positioning, body posture, strength and size of the opponent. Again the emphasis was on "Using 4 ounces to defeat 1,000 catties". You can be at any size and age to apply all these. He then proceeded to give counters to the counters he taught, and ALL came from the 6 and a half point pole form!

Years ago Sifu showed us how to use the Yong Mui Pang as an empty hand form. I believe if I continue further, I'm gonna learn the empty hand applications and principles for all the weapons, and vice versa! This shows the unlimited depths of Yip Kin Wing Chun. As my kungfu brother Zaf said in the Yip Kin Wing Chun knol, "Each and every form contains the entire system".

We've said many MANY times, how lucky we are to learn this particular Wing Chun system! My only wish is more people can learn it and get the whole benefits. If only I had more time to practice. :(

P/S:
I just found out that I'm a 6th Generation practitioner of another Wing Chun and my name is included in their list of practitioners. I learned it for 1 or 2 odd months 11 years ago, haven't practiced it since then and I'm included in their list! WOW! and LoL!

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Who says traditional weapons are not important!

Three months ago (before I started this blog and also one of the reasons why I started this blog), my kungfu brother Yuen Loong started learning a new weapon form (the spear). I had a Chi Sau (sticky hands) session just a day before and on the day itself before he started practicing on the weapon again. Without knowing what I was going into, I asked for another chi sau session, and BOY WAS I SURPRISED! His energy and focus was different and much stronger even though he seemed relaxed! I had to be more careful or I would be thrown off (Usually I'm the one who throws people off!). And the only thing different before and after was the weapon's training he did with sifu. It was a revelation.

This reminded me of some other incidents I had doing chi sau with Chee Hoong who is one of my kungfu friends 3 or 4 years ago. He said my hands that day felt heavier and stronger than usual even though I seemed relaxed and as sensitive as usual. So he didn't feel like I was pushing beyond my limit. The truth was, I had just learnt the Kwan Tou (General Kwan's Big Knife) Form and practicing it a lot to ensure muscle memory.

I had another experience with my another kungfu brother of mine (Ah Tak). I didn't see him for a few months and when I met him again, as is usual with me, I ask for chi sau exchange. I was again surprised. He has lost his sensitivity and became hard and almost stiff. He had more power than before though. He told me he has just finished learning a staff form called Ng Long Pa Kua Kwan from another school (Shaolin if I can recalled properly). His energy and hand power has become more Shaolin than Wing Chun.

My best friend Zaf Abbas also made an interesting comment. He has just started the Yong Mui Pang (staff) and he found out that his footwork was a mess. So he worked on it and got better and the form is slowly beginning to smooth out. I noticed something then. His footwork for the empty hand forms were improving also and he could start and finish his forms at the same starting point and his footwork was a lot smoother. His Chun Ging also improved.

Based on the above points, I believe weapon forms are useful for improving our empty hands techniques and forms. They take us to a whole new level of proficiency. We might not be able to use the same weapons in a fight per say, but the benefits extend far more than what understand currently. So, DON'T THROW THOSE WEAPON FORMS AWAY, PLEASE!!! Practice them and reap the benefits!