a truly wonderful class last night really got me thinking about how happy i am studying wing chun, and that although the studies in general are great, i have a few specific times that really stand out. i’m curious what each of yours are, be they during self-practice, class, seminar, chi sau on the beach – anything.
the one last night for me was finally putting chi sau and chi gerk together for the first time. i’ve been studying chi sau for a couple years, but actively focusing on chi gerk for about a month and a half now. however, the two have been broken up for skills development. last night was the first time we put the two together and just let it flow.
honestly, i felt like the sky had opened up and the proverbial beam of sunlight hit me. soooo many things began to click and i don’t think i’ve felt that natural in a long time. just letting my arms and legs and whole body just flow were eye-opening for me, and soul-opening, too.
my sidai likes to say that chi sau is better than chocolate cake. when i asked him for an updated metaphor after last night, he said chi sau and gerk together were better than birthday cake.
sinking your stance just a little so everything “falls” into place.
seeing a beautiful (well to WC peeps ) armlock that come straight from the form.
Pak Da & Oi Mon Choi.
Like Leonardo’s sketchbooks, the Cistine chaple ceiling, the 5th shympony, or the roman auquaducts the surviveing work of the great masters still have wonders to behold.
as my Sifu says “a thing of beauty is a joy forever.”
For a beginner like me (less than 20 classes) the best moment was today. In a mock sparring session (more funsies than anything) when my opponent charged in to strike my shoulder I pivoted with a Tan sau & simultaneously fired a straight palm into his solar plexus. He went flying off on a diagonal and climbed to his feet and remarked how much power he felt from it. It was then that I realised that it was the first time that I’d instinctively completely aligned my body and attacked with a pivoting centerline. It felt soooo sweet
Better than chocolate cake. Better than birthday cake. Better than a new Jet Li movie (sorry Li Lian Jie!).
Oh god yes. When it “clicks”, when your body “gets it” and whatever it is your are doing passes from being an intellectual understanding to body knowledge, that ROCKS!!!
The feeling i get when im doing chi sau. The natural high, the buzz,… The feeling of being part of the universe, yet paradoxily as though im out of my body observing what is happening through my eyes…And it’s all working, my body knows what to do (i dont feel as though im really thinking). Seeing the things unfold infront of my eyes and im not trying to do them… they just happen.
‘Living in the moment’ to a degree that cant be explained, just experienced. Perfect peace…total contentness.
By the way Rubthebuddha, Great subject! You just reminded me of why i do this stuff
straight blast: yup. that’s how chi gerk was with me. hands were rolling, legs were sticking, then all of a sudden, a bong gerk clicked and i lightly kicked the inside of my partner’s back knee.
then all that footwork practice i’ve been doing for the past few years came into play and all i could do was grin like an idiot.
needless to say, i was still grinning the following morning.
My favorite Kungfu experience was several months ago. I was touching hands one friday night with a N. Mantis brother, who gives me trouble now. But that night we touched hands for about 10-15 minutes and it was the most “on” I’ve ever been. It took getting used to his attacks in the beginning and I asked him to repeat some things so I could figure out a way to handle them. But after that, we were really sticking to one another for a good 10 minutes. I had been doing chi-sao for a very short period at that time, maybe a month or two. It was the best sticky hands encounter I’ve had so far probabaly because it was another style that I wasn’t familiar with.
) armlock that come straight from the form.
