Control of Techniques

With the smaller classes in the colder weather, we have had a couple of chances to focus classes on control of techniques during fighting. The students that have been in the advanced classes have had a chance to start working on this and hopefully picked up some interesting learning. I hope to continue with this over the next few weeks.

The main point of these exercises are:

• If you can do something with control, you can add power later.
• It is much easier to learn in the safer environment.
• It will help you develop because you are less afraid to try new techniques when there is no danger of being knocked on your butt.
• There is less escalation of strength during the fights when students know the goal is to control.
• You will start to learn to feel the attacks that you are blocking.
• Speed of the fight increases allowing the students to learn how to read techniques.
• Less hesitation to throw combinations.

Some of the points we should keep in mind:

• Stay loose.
• Try to learn how much power is needed in your blocks to be more efficient with your energy.
• Concede strikes - if you know that a controlled strike would have hurt you, your reaction should be appropriate (do not try to jump back at your opponent right away as this is not what would actually happen).
• Control your emotions - getting excited will escalate the power of your strikes and ultimately the power of the fight.
• Have fun.

Old Fut Gar Article

Thanks to James for sending this to me. I had not seen this in a long time. The Fut Gar article was an article that was posted on the wall in Master Chen's old school. The other interesting thing, I believe I actually have this particular magazine somewhere (from the cover) but was not teaching Fut Gar at the time.



Not sure how the embedding will work but hopefully you can see it.

Frustrating But Funny

Just an fyi for any of the students who have tried to email me recently. Someone (not one of our students) sent through a couple of huge files to me and completely locked up my email account. It should be fixed soon but you probably got bounced messages if you tried to reach me in the last week or so.

How is this funny? I can only laugh because my first thought was "this is what happens when you give old Kung Fu Instructors an email address"

Be back in touch soon!!!

Hands Up, Hands Down

Today's class spent some time focused on hand positioning during your techniques. In Fut Gar we are always pulling to generate power on our strikes, so as we punch with one hand, we are pulling back with the other hand. One thing to keep in mind as you are engaged in a fight is that you need to properly position your hands. A few notes on this:

1. If you block high with one hand, the other hand should automatically drift lower to protect your ribs and if you block low with one hand, your other hand should automatically drift higher to protect your head. I have often been asked how to block faster but the reality is that you just need to get your hands to locations that make them more effective and cut down the amount of time to get to the block.
2. As you face off with your opponent, keeping one hand directly between you and your opponent forces them to go around it before they can get to you. This also minimizes your required movement to execute a block because a slight move of the hand to one side or the other allows you to deflect the attack.
3. Don't forget that you can block more than once with the same hand. If you have executed a block and that hand is the fasted block for the following attack, use it. There is no rule that you have to alternate hands :)
4. Get yourself back to a set position as soon as possible. This just gets you into the habit of getting your hands ready for an attack whenever there is no activity.

Happy training.

Fun Reminder Slideshow

I was digging through old pictures and was reminded of a slideshow from one of my old posts. Some of the newer students may not have seen this - October 2008

The 21st Annual Canadian Kung Fu Championship 2010

October 16th will be the date for this year's CCKSF tournament. Information can be viewed at www.wushu.ca

A Few More Pictures from Grandmaster Chen's 88th Birthday

Respect Your Weapons

Kung fu practitioners will learn weapons at some point in their training. This is always an exciting and fun time in a student's training, especially the first weapon. Something to keep in mind is the respect for your weapon. This is something that has become forgotten in some schools. A few hints when you are training:

• Always be aware of your surroundings - this helps avoid hitting your weapon on something (or someone)
• Don't throw your weapon around - when not using your weapon, put it down slowly
• A lesser known one for you that only more traditional Sifus would know - when standing holding your staff, don't place it on the ground but instead you should be resting it on your foot
• Respect also goes to other students' weapons - do not touch someone's weapon without asking for permission

It is important to have your own weapon because each weapon will feel a little bit different. Getting used to your weapon and the feel of it will improve your performance. For this reason, it is even more important to take care of your weapon.

Slow Kicking

When practicing kicks, it is good to occasionally practice kicking slowly. Break down the kicks and make sure that you are executing the kick properly including proper foot position, hip position, body position, etc. Repeating your kicks slowly over and over will help you develop the proper positioning by getting your body used to the feel of the kick when in the proper position. Kicking slowly will also help with your balance. You need to practice at full speed and full power as well but I believe it is good to switch it up.

Long Overdue Blue Sash Pics.

It has taken me a while to get these up but here are a couple of shots from Megan's grading. She is our newest Blue Sash.

Reverse Engineering Your Form

The students that have been at class the past few weeks have had an opportunity to participate in the painful exercise which could be called reverse engineering your form. We all enjoyed the exercise of figuring out what caused your form to move in a certain way and what caused the combinations to fit together. What started as an exercise turned into something that took an entire class. This shows how much thought can go into defining a form. We will continue to do this in class in the future but keep thinking about it at home. Remember to keep asking why and trying to figure out the answer.

First Picture from Grandmaster Chen's 88th Birthday

Here is a first picture from the birthday dinner with Grandmaster Chen. I will try to get more but unfortunately my memory card on my camera burnt out so I am not sure I can get the other pictures. This picture was taken by Harry who spent the time to organize the event.

Another Successful Victim

Master Chen Rong En's Birthday

I just wanted to post a quick announcement of Master Chen's 88th birthday that will be taking place in a few weeks (June 27th). Students, please connect with me in class if you are interested in attending the dinner and also if you would like to perform.

Thank you.

5 Staff Hints

I would like to begin this post by reiterating the importance of staff in Kung Fu which I wrote about in a previous post. It is further reinforced when you look at the list of weapons forms taught in Fut Gar Kung Fu. I previously also wrote about defending with your staff. There are a few other hints in using a staff that will help you in your training.

1. In my post about defending with your staff, I mentioned a dead staff. The other side of it is the live staff which is the staff that is on top when there is contact. If you are in this situation during an exchange, you can choose to attack if you see an opening or wait to see if the opponent moves. When you are in the live staff position, almost any move by the opponent will create an opening which you can attack.
2. During your execution of techniques, keep your staff close to your body. An experienced opponent will be able to separate you from your staff if they can get their staff between your staff and your body.
3. Be very aware of where the end of your staff is. This applies to other weapons as well and basically is getting to know your weapon length so you can control it properly. You will also learn to be aware of your surroundings and which techniques will work given the space and environment restrictions.
4. Keep your hands at the end of your staff. When blocking or striking, your back hand should be at the end of the staff to fully use the length of your weapon. There are some techniques that would be exceptions to this hint but in general this is true.
5. Slide your front hand for power. Gripping your weapon too hard to allow movement in your hand will limit the power of your strikes and blocks. As you strike or block, allow the staff to slide through your hands for additional power.

Happy Training.

First Picture of Kevin in Red

Just thought I would post the first shot of Kevin after Thursday's beating. I will try to post more soon.

Tournament in Quebec

For anybody that is interested, there is a tournament in Quebec on the weekend of May 1st. As some may remember, we competed in the tournament when it was in Ottawa in 2006 with great results. The details for the tournament (World Kobudo Championships) can be viewed on the CCKSF website.

Power vs. Control

A recent discussion I had prompted me to write about training for increased power vs. training of control. I believe that martial arts in general trains people to strike with power, focuses on how to increase your power, focus to drive through your targets, etc. I agree that it is important to execute your techniques properly to generate power including how to set your stance, how to use your entire body, how to turn your waist, how to set your fist or foot, when to tense your muscles etc. All of these things come together to allow you to generate power in your strikes.

I believe it is more of an art to put all of these things together but stop your technique just at the point of impact each and every time. Total control of your techniques to the point of always being able to do damage but never doing damage is much more impressive. Of course you may face a time that you need to defend yourself and need to follow through but if you can control it, you can un-control it. On the surface this may seem straight forward but in sparring, nothing is standing still. You are controlling strikes where your opponent is advancing or you are advancing or the opponent changes direction, etc. All of these things add further complication to controlling the technique. With experience, it is ideal to be able to adjust in mid-strike and further shorten or adjust the point of impact of your strike. The final challenge to this is controlling all of the techniques without slowing down and leaving yourself open during the strike.

Happy sparring.

Kevin's Jamaica Blog

Our student Kevin will be in Jamaica for the next few months. Here is a link to his blog of his stay there - JAHCHIN in Jamaica

Pictures

Just a few pictures in class from August that were taken by Amrit.

Visualization of Form

In response to JP's comment on my past post, I do have ideas on maintaining your training while injured or unable to train for other health reasons. I am a believer in visualization as a training aid in a student's progression.

When you are unable to train properly due to health issues or even lack of space, I recommend visualizing yourself performing your forms and techniques properly. This will help remember the sequences so you are still able to do these things when you are able to train regularly again. The visualization must include the reminder of what is proper because this will help you remember what points are important to do your form correctly. Remember all details such as how your feet should be positioned, where your hands should be, posture, correct stance, how power should be generated in the technique, etc.

If you are not feeling that visualization is enough, there is the hybrid of visualization of your proper steps and stances while performing the hand techniques. This allows you to still move your upper body while not requiring you to move your legs. If your health issue is with your upper body, you can reverse this and only perform the lower body parts of your form while visualizing the upper body.

Train To Fight Against Your Personality

While teaching some fighting theories in a recent class, I realized that I often advise individuals to do things that are the opposite of their personalities. How this translates into sparring matches is quite interesting. More aggressive personalities tend to be more aggressive fighters while less aggressive personalities are less aggressive fighters. Careful personalities are careful during their fighting, detail oriented people are more detailed in their fighting, etc.

I see personalities exaggerated during sparring matches which is the reason I would advise students to train against their personalities to become a better rounded fighter. A very aggressive personality may be an overly aggressive fighter who leaves themselves vulnerable in their enthusiasm towards the attack. A cautious personality may be overly cautious during sparring and have difficulties generating any offence. By working on being the opposite of your personality, you will be able to learn to do the things that are not natural or comfortable to you.

My theory is not designed to completely suppress your personality because being comfortable will allow you to relax and have a better fight but a bit of training can really help. An example would be for the aggressive fighter to take more caution to avoid leaving themselves vulnerable to counterattack but still utilizing the aggressive instinct to quickly shift from defence to offence when it is time to attack an opening in the opponent's defences.

Attacking in Reverse

Those that were in class tonight worked on a few retreating exercises where we were striking while backing up. In my fighting, I often use this as a way to keep my distance. It is not necessary to fight in the traditional way where you advance when you strike and back up when you block. I think it is too predictable to fight this way all the time. An effective strike while retreating can completely interrupt the momentum of an attacker's series of attacks and allow you to turn the fight in the other direction. Fighting is difficult when the opponent can confidently charge into you. Put some doubt in the opponents mind by throwing a strike at any time. They will not charge as eagerly if they think they may be diving into a fist.

Experienced Martial Artists That Try Classes

In my 20+ years of teaching I have seen hundreds, maybe thousands of students (see past blog post) pass through the doors of the school. I have had anyone from the person with no experience at all to the person who is at an accomplished level in another style train with me. The one thing that I always watch with experienced martial artists is the attitude they bring with them. I always ask about previous experience because I love seeing what types of styles are out there and hearing a bit about how they train. Once I get past this initial discussion and we are training, everybody trains the same way and everybody starts from the beginning of our system.

It has been interesting watching the reactions of trained martial artists as I break the news to them. Some have an excellent attitude and are very happy to learn everything from scratch whereas others will be taken aback by the suggestion that they need to start with learning stances and blocks. A true martial artist understands that every style is not the same and you need to learn from the beginning to become proficient at a style. Those that do not understand this normally don't remain in the class as they are too busy pouting instead of learning. I have even had one young man insist that he come to the advanced class as his first class....of course that was met with a thanks but no thanks response. Demanding anything as you meet your potential instructor is probably an indication that you are not ready for my class.

I would suggest that those that are determined to try a new style of martial arts should completely clear their minds of previous training as they enter the door because there are likely many things that are taught differently than the previous style. This is not to say that one is right and one is wrong but rather that theories differ between styles. Having an open attitude is the best way to learn the new style quickly.

Block Softly

As discussed in a previous blog post, I believe that learning to block effectively is the most important thing to do as you learn how to fight. When students begin to fight it is natural to be tense, nervous and unsure. It is normal to learn your blocks and attack every strike as if you are trying to destroy it. This is not wrong. There are times when you will want to block hard to damage the opponent's attacking arm or leg. What I find is that students do not remember that you only need to block hard enough to prevent the strike from hitting them. Not every block should be hard. By blocking softly and guiding the strike past them the student is set up to control the attacking appendage or counterattack the opponent as their momentum continues in the direction of the strike. A strike that has been blocked hard sends a signal that it is time to throw the next strike or prepare to defend. By not sending the signal, the defender has the opportunity catch the opponent off guard. This is the reason we practice softer blocks that cushion or deflect instead of stopping a strike suddenly.