Remembering to Pull Your Elbow Back

With the return of Grandmaster Chen to Canada, there is always the chance that he will pop in to visit our school without any prior notice. This is a great opportunity to have the head of our style critique our forms and techniques. Although students are understandably nervous when he is watching, the biggest thing to remember is that he is looking for precision. As mentioned in one of my previous blog entries, there is a heavy focus on pulling back your elbow to generate power when you are practicing Fut Gar Kung Fu. You must pull your elbow back as hard as possible to help generate power in your striking arm. This can be visualized as throwing a defensive elbow to the back at the same time as throwing an offensive strike to the front. Of course the end point of the elbow depends on the technique you are executing but keeping this in mind will make a big difference as you are performing.