Monday 11 March 2013

Ups and downs


While I was in Portugal recently, I had the opportunity to do some wing chun training at a friend's class.
The sifu was German and clearly skilled in several martial arts.
It was the first time I had trained with anyone outside of my club and, naturally I suppose, I found myself comparing what I had been told to what this sifu was teaching.

There were subtle differences noticeable in the first form but it was one overall idea that I struggled with.
He told his students that they should hit down - and down, and down, and down.
The idea being that you want to get your opponent on the floor as fast as possible, and keep them there.
It makes sense as fights tend to be won when someone hits the deck and stays there.



What if your opponent is bigger than you though?
I can't hit a guy downwards in the neck or face if he's taller than me.
Even if he's a similar size, I have to get on tip toes to hit down.
And that, as far as I have learnt, is a big no-no.

Power in the wing chun punch comes from the whole body. You ground your feet and push the energy up through your legs, torso, arms and fist.
The key to the turning punch, and what many in my class seem to struggle with, is turning while keeping heels on the ground.
But without the heels grounded, the punch lacks firmness and you are off-balance.
This is the other problem with being on tip-toe. Without rooted feet, you can be pushed and pulled all over the place.

Had I had the chance to discuss it further with him, I'd like to think the sifu in Portugal would have agreed with this.
Perhaps he meant hit down when it's possible to do it solidly and it got lost in translation.
Still, I'm not sure I agree as you can't hit down into the neck - even if you are the bigger guy.

What I concluded from all this was that the class wasn't teaching wing chun - it was a self defence system based on wing chun. I'm not sure if this was a widely-used system or the idea of this particular teacher though.

I would rather learn a purer form of the art. Not for any snobbish reasons, but if you are learning a martial art purely for self defence, why would you study the intricacies of techniques like bong and tan? You would be better off sticking to simple punching.

You learn the more sophisticated techniques to use with other wing chun practitioners.  OK, if you were in a situation where you had to defend yourself on the street, you may use some of them. But realistically, you're just looking to land a few blows to stop the guy. I would imagine it's harder for him to stop you if he doesn't know if the next one is coming up, down or sideways.

Grinding someone in to the ground is unnecessary too. If the aggressor finds himself being hit many times before he can land a punch, he doesn't need to hit the ground to stop. And if he does go down there's no need to get on top of him and keep hitting. If he gets back up, you can put him down again. Self defence, for me, is just about not getting hit and stopping the aggression. The other bloke doesn't have to be beaten up, he just has to be beaten.