Si-Hing Michael O'Leary paid another visit to Si-Hing James Mc Quaid's school on Sunday the 29th of November. The class started promptly at 11am with students performing the Siu-Nim-Tau (SNT) form.
Posture when performing forms
One of the key elements that Michael emphasised is need to keep the correct body posture at all times. GGM Leung Ting has written about this in his book on the SNT where the student should imagine they are pushing their head towards the ceiling while at the same time their feet and stance are rooted to the ground. The hips are rotated upwards so that the lumber spine rather than forming a curve is actually straightened. This enables the student to absorb their opponent's force more easily into the ground. The key to having good body structure is for the body to act as one unit rather than a collection of limbs. Beginning students always make the mistake of leaning forward or backwards. Practise of the single leg SNT highlights the loss of balance that occurs from an incorrect structure.
Michael then showed how correct body structure enables a fast, powerful kick to be delivered. The WingTsun front kick is known as an invisible kick as it cannot be seen by the opponents peripheral vision from close range. The key to applying this kick is to have all the body weight on the rear leg which means the kick is launched very fast and without movement of the shoulders. When the student has the correct body structure they can use their body mass to generate power. Dai-Sifu Rainer Tausend who is the National instructor for Ireland emphasises that to deliver a short range powerful strike, the limb must strike the target at a perpendicular angle. If the student is leaning backwards or forwards, the power behind the strike is diluted.
9th Lat-Sau (Counterkicking)
Students then practised counterkicking from the 9th student programme. A common mistake for students to make is to try and block low, powerful kicks with the leg using Bong and Yap Gerk. The strategy against a low kick is not to block but to attack the opponent's supporting leg with a kick of your own. Dai-Sifu Rainer Tausend previously explained that if a WingTsun straight kick is applied at the same time that the opponent applies a round kick then the WingTsun kick will land first. However if the WingTsun kick is in response to an opponent's kick there is a slight time delay and a chance of contact between the two legs. By applying a front kick against a round kick coming from the outside, the WingTsun student is protected by their outward turned knee and the same is true by applying a side kick against an inside attack. A Bong-Gerk is only half a side kick and a Yap-Gerk only half of a front kick and this is what people see when contact is made with the opponent's leg.
Chi-Sau ReakTsun training
Michael then brought the students through drills to enhance chi-sau reactions otherwise known as "ReakTsun" drills. This is a recent initiative by Si-Kung Keith Kernspecht who is the founder and Chief Instructor of the European WingTsun Organisation. (EWTO). Si-Kung Kernspecht feels there is a risk of becoming too attached to the chi-sau sections and performing them as a dance. He describes the chi-sau sections merely as something to define the scope of what is being taught in a particular module. The true focus should be on immediately perceiving and dealing with pressure coming from any direction. He divides each reaction (ReakTsun) into chi-sau part and the lat-sau part. When you make contact with your opponents limb, rather than resisting them, you let them do whatever they want as if you were surfing a wave until you reach a tipping point. This is the chi-sau part and is very soft. However once you reach this tipping point then the lat-sau part is applied and you execute your counterattack which is very powerful. There are only so many main directions that this force can be applied from and therefore Si-Kung Kernspecht has a total of six main reactions which can be superimposed on top of the chi-sau sections to make reaction quicker and more instinctive. However many students as they don't have correct body posture, tend to patch up their lack of balance by leaning on their opponent. This creates tension in the limbs and leaves them open to attack by their opponent. Michael used the Dan-Chi-Sau (Single sticky hand) drill as a framework to highlight the areas where mistakes can be made and then went through a variation of the drill created by Si-Kung Kernspecht which incorporates the main individual reactions.
Stress Testing
Following a 30 minute break the students pressure tested the combined hand and foot movements.The key strategy in WingTsun is to attack your attacker when they come within striking range. However some students make the mistake of attacking with hard, tense punches. They may be very soft in chi-sau can be stiff when punching. The risk is that when their punches are blocked they are stiff and cannot adapt to the pressure and continue attacking and end up struggling with their opponent using strength. There are other students who are very soft when performing chi-sau but who cannot deliver a powerful punch which is a serious problem as WingTsun is a striking art. The key is to deliver punches that are powerful and yet if blocked, using the chi-sau reactions (not sections) they can adapt and continue attacking without a pause.
10th Lat-Sau (Multiple Attackers)
The final part of the day was spent examining and working with options against multiple attackers. The key strategy here is not necessarily to take on and defeat multiple opponents. If you are faced with more than one opponent they best option is to run. If that choice is unavailable then the 10th student programme gives you some options to deal with the situation until you can escape.
When dealing with more than one person the key strategy is to position yourself so that you only have to deal with one person at any one time. The Biu-Tze movement feeds forward covering a large area and when making contact with an opponents arm converts into a Lap-Sau grab while at the same time the student punches with the other hand and moves around the flank of the other attackers herding them together. The key to this exercise is to start of slowly and gently building up coordination and when this is done then the intensity can be increased. Students worked on this until 5pm and Michael finished off the day by answering any questions.
Michael would like to thank Jimmy for inviting him to give a seminar as well as all the students who attended, especially those who travelled from Dublin for the day. Michael aims to come up to Larne again in another 3 -4 months to give another seminar.