Latest News - 5th July 2009

Larne Seminar with Si-Hing Michael O'Leary

Si-Hing Michael O’Leary paid another visit to the Larne WingTsun school on Sunday the 5th of July to give a four hour seminar. As Si-Hing James Mc Quaid, who runs the Larne school, is taking a two week summer break, this was a perfect way for the Larne students to finish up before the summer break. As well as attendees from the Larne school, some of Michael’s students from the Blanchardstown school travelled up to the seminar.

The theme of the seminar was WingTsun defences against sticks and knives. While profiency in weapon defences are the requirement for the 11th student grade, students can be introduced to the techniques and principles at an earlier stage. Michael explained to the students that while no method of defence against weapons is 100% successful, by attaining proficiency in WingTsun defences against sticks and knives, a student can significently reduce their risk of serious injury in the event of an attack.

The principles of WingTsun defences against weapons is similar to that of defences against kicks, punches, etc. Rather than waiting for the opponent to launch an attack with a stick and trying to guess the direction of the attack, if appropriate, the WingTsun practitioner will attack their opponent and secure the hand brandishing the weapon. However this is not always possible and students worked on both attacking the opponent to secure the weapon hand and defences against attacks from all angles once the strike has been launched.

As it is important to control both the opponent and their weapon arm, a good position in relation to the opponent must be attained. The students practised footwork that helps to attain that position. Michael also highlighted the importance of the Lap-Sau grab where the pressure from the opponents arm on the WingTsun practitioners palm will automatically close their finger’s securing a fast, firm but flexible grip.

One important point highlighted by Michael is the difference between knowing what you are supposed to do in the case of an attack and actually being able to do it. While it only takes a few hours to learn the techniques for defending against weapons, the real work involves months of constantly pressure testing where the training partner actively tries to stike their opponent with random attacks. The students at the seminar worked on this using foam sticks and were surprised at how quickly their ability to defend against weapons increased in a short space of time.

There was a grading for some of the students from both the Dublin and Larne schools. Congradulations to the following students who successfully passed their exam.

Adam Nesbitt (Blanchardstown School) 3rd SG

Mo Morrison (Larne School) 2nd SG

Cormac Mc Clean (Blanchardstown School) 2nd SG

Ricky Joel (Larne School) 2nd SG

John Dennedy (Blanchardstown School) 2nd SG

All of the students and instructors enjoyed themselves despite being tired after over four hours of training. Michael would like to thank James and his students for hosting the seminar and for making all the Blanchardstown students feel welcome. Thanks also to the Blanchardstown students themselves for making the trip.

P.S. For more photos of the event please click here. Gallery - July Larne Seminar