disclaimer:
this is more of a thread for those of us who work from the 0/100 weight school of thought, as opposed to those of us who work from the 50/50 school of thought, however input is always nice as long as it isnt: “50/50 is real wing chun, 0/100 sucks.”
lately i’ve been disecting my wooden dummy/biu jee forms, and finding that the 0/100 weight terminology is somewhat wrong. i think 0/100 rooting does a much better job in describing whats going on. in a strike, or hand motion, my weight may not nessecarily be all on the rear leg - until impact. on impact the weight of the strike falls on my back leg (which happens to be the large majority of the weight of my body as well imho). from this noticing this i feel my forms have made a big jump in power generation, while not losing any of the root - however they may not be traditionally rear weighted anymore. i do feel the essence is still there, and that the motions feel more “correct” now.
comments/suggestions on this?
and for the 50/50 guys:
i think that perhaps 50/50 weight and 0/100 weight both work towards this rear weightedness. for better rear rootedness in my wing chun, i feel that at times my stance gets closer to 50/50 - however upon impact its still 0/100. with 50/50 weighting do you go for rooting with both legs upon impact, or with the rear leg?
Originally posted by TjD
i think that perhaps 50/50 weight and 0/100 weight both work towards this rear weightedness. for better rear rootedness in my wing chun, i feel that at times my stance gets closer to 50/50
Here’s my caveat: I think you can make anything work at some level.
In my school’s approach, we use primarily two horses, the Yee Gee Kim Yeung Mar (goat-clamping stance) and the Bil Mar (chasing/darting horse)…any weight on the front leg when in the chasing horse is a big no-no.
You may be feeling more powerful in working with some forward weight, but this is a false path for us. Whenever one feels powerful, then we’re likely doing it wrong.
We work our horse hard and I’m rooted in either horse. Weight on the front leg may suggest leaning forward, which is another common error, but feels powerful to the one doing it, leading to overcommitment.
As a 50/50 person, what you’re describing sounds like what happens whenever I impact. Try this - stand side on to a wall with your feet parallel (so you’re not 0/100), sink, and then push on the wall with the hand closest to the wall. You should be able to feel the foot ****hest from the wall receive more pressure as you push harder, yet your stance is still 50/50 and your weight can’t possibly be on your back leg because you don’t have one If you face the wall with your feet parallel and push, you should feel pressure on your heels, and if you had someone pull you, you’d feel pressure on the front of your feet. All you’re doing is redirecting pressure into the ground, nothing to do with your weighting.
If you want an example of how this works when you’re not in a parallel stance, see if you can get hold of some photos or video footage of Tsui Seung Tin at the 99 conference on one leg using (in addition to elbow force), his stance to redirect the incoming force of someone pushing on him, down into the ground. He uses a 50/50 stance, his weight is centered, and I can assure you it’s nothing to do with having strong legs or arms.
Just as you can feel the pressure on your feet when you are acting passively like this, you will also feel it when you’re the one instigating the movement as an attack, which is probably why you’re feeling it when you strike the dummy.
Of course, if this is not what’s happening and your entire body is actually having the weight transferred to your back leg when striking (i.e. going from a 50/50 to a 0/100), then you’re going to be losing a lot of power in your strikes.
Originally posted by Rill Of course, if this is not what’s happening and your entire body is actually having the weight transferred to your back leg when striking (i.e. going from a 50/50 to a 0/100), then you’re going to be losing a lot of power in your strikes.
definately not having my weight transferred to my back leg, the structure just makes it feel that way. on a strikes impact its immovable steel from the point of contact to the ground
Originally posted by John Weiland
Always wrong except for a true master such as yourself.
actually i dissagree with that some steps in wing chun require generating structure from the lead leg - except the rear one usually gets in front rather quickly.
it seems like when you strike there is more pressure on your rear leg. to me it feels like i’m pushing on the dummy (opponent) with my rear leg through my arm, and my arm takes on the weight that is usually on my front leg and transfers it into my opponent. i use 60% weight on my back leg 40% on my front.
Originally posted by John Weiland If you’re using 0/100 horse, then if you’re 100/0, you’re at the wrong distance to kick.
100/0 is the perfect kicking distance.
Originally posted by S.Teebas I agree that as a fixed stance this is wrong. But what about when you kick?
One could say there are no fixed stances in Wing Chun. One could also say that a fixed stance is very important, depending on which one and at which time.
Originally posted by TjD actually i dissagree with that some steps in wing chun require generating structure from the lead leg - except the rear one usually gets in front rather quickly.
What?!!
When the feet are more apart than shoulders with you have more strength, when closer than shoulders with you have more speed.
50/50 horse is the way, because you are one step away from both.
In actual combat weight will shift from one foot to the other, this is unavoidable.
Training(drills) and fighting never look the same.
If you face the wall with your feet parallel and push, you should feel pressure on your heels, and if you had someone pull you, you’d feel pressure on the front of your feet. All you’re doing is redirecting pressure into the ground, nothing to do with your weighting.