2nd Gup Excerpts

I finally got the DVD of my Second Gup test. I can only watch myself in small doses.

Here’s me breaking 2 boards with a reverse side kick. Yeah, it took three tries. Yeah, I was mad. And yeah I forgot to shout: Ki-yap!

Thankfully the rest of the test went pretty good. As I muddle through the rest of the DVD I may rip a few select parts and post.

The ki-yap! thing almost cost me a rank and is one of my problem areas. Part because all the other styles I’ve learned never emphasized it and part because my ki-yap! sucks.

Bruce Lee I am not. However, given the fact that I am in some kind of pain weekly, have to stretch nightly, am almost 40, and could not do any of this1.5 years ago I’m quite happy. In fact, I think it would have been much easier for me to go with a hand striking art because that’s where my experience lies. Oh well, I’m in too deep now to quit.
~BCP

[tags]martial arts, taekwondo[/tags]

Stamp Kick

A principle of Wing Chun is simultaneous attack and defense. In contrast, Taekwondo mostly starts from defending against an attacker. There are cultural and philosophical reasons for Taekwondo’s approach to self-defense that I’ll not get into in this post. However, it is safe to say that Wing Chun is different in this regard.

In Taekwondo (generally speaking) you are drilled to respond with a technique only after having blocked or checked an attack. In contrast, Wing Chun teaches that if you sense the attack (i.e. see the punch starting) you should attack first and in hopes of disrupting the opponent’s attack. Now I’m not saying that a high level Taekwondo stylist might not try to disrupt an attack. In fact, I’ve known a few black belts that either have figured this out on their own or learned it from a different martial art.

What I am saying is that generally speaking Taekwondo teaches a defensive response to attacks (mostly through one-steps and self-defense) while Wing Chun teaches a simultaneous response (attack AND defend). In fact, out of the 22 one-steps and self-defense techniques that I have to learn, there are only one or two that teach attack and defend.

After having the chance to teach some Wing Chun basics (with boxing thrown in for good measure) I’ve been comparing WC to TKO and looking for mostly gross motor skill techniques that I can teach my instructor. I’ve come to the conclusion that we just don’t have enough time to develop the WC finesse techniques to any great degree.

The next technique that I want to show her is WC’s instep kick. Taekwondo would call it a pressing knife edge kick or stamp kick. According to Tedeschi’s Taekwondo the kick does exist in the world of Taekwondo; however, I’m suspecting that it’s rarely taught. In contrast, it is one of WC’s primary kicks.  It mostly looks like this:

Note: This photo actually illustrates a toe kick but it was the closet image I could find. From fighting stance (left foot forward) the kick would have your rear right leg moving forward and then angling across the front of your own knee. The striking surface is your foot’s instep.  The kick is designed to damage your opponent’s knee and is only used in close quarters. The key is to hit their knee at an angle.

From a Taekwondo perspective (using WC’s philosophy) from that same fighting stance you would block the opponents punch or grab with your rear right hand (knife edge or hammer), then grab. While grabbing you would execute the kick with your rear right leg and with your free left hand you could also simultaneously strike their head, throat, eyes, or just do a simple head push for balance disruption.

So it’s really simultaneous block with two strikes. Better still, the kick is very deceptive because at close quarters it’s not one you’d normally expect. However, it does take practice and repeptition if you want any reasonable chance of pulling it off.

~BCP

[tags]martial arts, taekwondo, Wing Chun[/tags]

Kung Fu: The Lesson

My instructor has been mining me for my striking experience which is essentially a mixture of boxing and Wing Chun. Since our focus is Taekwondo there is simply no way given these short teaching interludes that I can ever get back to my so-called “peak” or get her to “expert” level.

So, I essentially followed the department of corrections model: Teach mainly gross motor skills from both of these arts.

Gross motor skills are simple, large-muscle group actions…This includes basic fighting skills like a straight punch, a hook punch or a Thai boxer’s knee strike for example. Unlike fine and complex motor skills, gross motor skills DO NOT deteriorate under stress.

From boxing: The jab, the reverse, the uppercut, and basic combos with the aforenoted.

From Wing Chun: The finger jabs, the knife-edge jab, elbow strikes, rising kick, stomp kick, and non-chambered side kick.

Mixing the two: Mainly gap-bridging which is a coordinated movement of bodymass and entry techniques to “bridge the gap” between defender and opponent and moving in to disrupt their structure and balance. e.g. a low shuffle side kick to knee which simultaneously closes the gap and distracts, then follow up with a hand combination to the head. Alternately, a finger strike to the eyes followed up by hand combinations, shuffling back to assess, then blasting in with Taekwondo’s kicks.

The gross motor skills from Taekwondo, boxing, and Wing Chun really work well together and the combinations are almost infinite. They also fit well with WC’s notion of gap bridging.

Well last night I rolled out two simple flow drills and three basic hand traps from Wing Chun. Talk about RUSTY! These skills definitely take fine motor skills and the learning curve is much higher.

The Wing Chun practitioner uses reflexes and sticking hands to probe for holes in the opponent’s defence through touching.

The practitioner controls an opponent by contacting through a block or a strike and maintaining contact or “sticking” to the opponent. If the opponent attempts to withdraw or redirect the hand, the practitioner follows, often using the motion to facilitate a trap or a strike

This is the most basic video example I could find. What I tried to teach was even more basic yet if I try to type out the drills by steps this post will be very long. Essentially two single arm traps and one cross arm trap. The latter was so new and difficult that we focused on just learning it (or in my case re-learning it) from our strong lead sides.

I was taught the first 1/3 of the wooden dummy form and still practice it. So, based on last night, I’m thinking there are some gross motor techniques from the form that could be taught in simple lessons. Mainly the notion of a block becoming a stick and grab which ends in you pulling yourself into your opponent for a stronger strike.

This little experiment was good because it forced me to look at Taekwondo from another perspective or perspectives. The thing that really stood out is how the beginner in tko is taught gross motor skills. Then, at intermediate and advanced ranks, the techniques start to rely more on fine motor skills. So quite literally by black belt the student has practiced the basics (mostly gross motor techniques) hundreds of times.

It’s funny but Karate and Taekwondo likely figured out something that scientific study would later confirm: Fine motor skills are more likely to deteriorate under stress than gross motor skills.

~BCP