[QUOTE=Han Man;774769]
I’ve seen somebody else post on another thread, words to the effect of “Chi Sau is to train the attibutes you need for fighting”. I hear a phrase to this effect often in my class, the problem is that it can be interpreted to mean anything. I’m thinking it means specifically the attributes of power through structure, and how to react (and maintain structure) when someone exerts force upon you.
[/QUOTE]
Or when you exert force on him… And when he resists..
Arm to arm bridges are incidental.. Hitting your opponent isn’t…
[QUOTE=Han Man;774769]
If you walked out of a bar to find some huge bloke kicking your best friend’s head in whilst your friend lay unconscious on the floor (just building up the drama:)) and, since your approaching from the side of the altercation, you have a totally free shot at the assailant who is within punching range of you, in order to hit him with your most powerful punch would you:-
a. Hit him with boxing style right cross / hook / swing / other non WCK punch.
b. Hit him with one of the above, but adjusted to encorporate WCK structure.
c. Chain punch as fast as possible.
d. Just hit with the same WCK punch you practise in class
Shouldn’t we all be striving for point d. to be case - or would you call this ‘being a slave to Wing Chun’?
[/QUOTE]
No…IMO…
You attack him… What does that mean? It means you hit, keep hitting, kick keep kicking, elbow, keep elbowing, knee, keep kneeing, choke, keep choking… If you get my meaning..
And punches are not the end all be all of most martial arts.. Of all the strikes in WCK what percentage of them are punches? Ask yourself why…
On Chi Sao.. Something I wrote a while ago.. I think I still agree with most of it.. 
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Chi Sao and related material are DRILLS.. The drills are how WCK folks work on attribute development as it relates to WCK–Chi Sao is not fighting. The purpose of any of this kind of training is developing attributes FOR WCK fighting and for SELF DEFENSE, which is NOT always the same thing.
It cultivates attributes and skills like:
Contact Reflexes
Meaning a sensitivity to various conditions that can and will exist when fighters “clash”, meaning forceful contact with the arms, legs and body happens, something that happens often enough in real fighting—forceful contact.
Awareness to position and range
Conditions that WCK trains to be sensitive to relate to body and bridge position and energy. This translates into how, as it applies to energy/force, the opponent’s resistance manifests <how he leaves the line> and how to use this resistance depending on what position you find yourself in to gain an advantage in order to apply an effective attack.
Why Sensitivity Training?
In order to:
Speed up our timing
Just as grapplers use feeling to determine how to control the opponent using the concepts and moves in their system WCK emphasizes relying on feeling as much as possible because responding to feeling is several times faster than is relying on sight–due to reaction delay..
WCK in it’s simplest form is about learning how to control the center space through adapting to the opponent’s energy and position, just as a grappler does, except in this case using WCK techniques, structure and concepts..
More over these kinds of drills re-enforce and ingrain a myriad of key system concepts into the body, like:
General Center Space theory
Hand Unity
Hand Replacement
Bi-Directional Energy
Using the opponent’s energy against him
Leaving and Returning to the line
Body Unity
Body Alignment
WCK Structure
Economy of Motion
WCK Power generation and release
Freed Hand Attacks the Line
Attacking Hand Defends
Facing and Following
Hand Hits from where it is..
Fan Sao–or Continuity of Attack
Making Three movements at once
Combining attack and defense
And on and on…
These drills, when taught and trained the right way may not be a “cure all” but they represent a highly evolved training platform for cultivating several key system components via a PROGRESSIVE TRAINING method. The method addresses the majority of WCK concepts and integrates them as a whole that can be trained against progressive resistance and internalized..
The progression is an ingenious method of cultivating in a cohesive manner most of WCK’s key attributes in a format that can be completely unrehearsed and free, or it can be broken down into parts for students to focus on where they may need work. These dynamic sensitivity drills form the basic training of the system and provide a context for each tool, technique and concept and the opportunity to work them in a kind of WCK laboratory where our attributes, techniques and concepts can be cultivated with progressive resistance–ideally they become a natural part of us.
What is good about movement A and what is bad about movement A is a gross over-simplification; It all depends on the conditions that exist in the moment. Each tool has a use and time it is best applied.. There is no guarantee, however, that any training move or technique will ever be needed since this all depends on what the opponent does or fails to do.. Indeed some WCK moves will NEVER be needed, but this does not invalidate training to adapt to the opponent’s energy and position, since this is at the heart of what ANY MA system or method of training is trying to do, the only question is how one goes about it and what methods one wishes to train and cultivate..
WCK emphasizes training feeling and kinesthetic awareness as it relates to controlling our “center space” and center <CG> of the opponent. At close quarter combat range sight is almost useless, and deceptive as well, so other senses are cultivated in these drills. We train to use energy, ours and his, the given position, leverage and our system’s concepts to take control of the opponent by the most economic means possible–and that is the study made here in the drills..
No doubt that folks can get carried away by this large area of focus. So folks need to also work on Visual Sensitivity and working from the outside, non contact ranges, how to read the opponent, etc. And these things must be addressed in Sparring drills and sparring that involves MAINLY IMO sparring folks that DO NOT do WCK…
So, these drills form what is the base and core of WCK theory and how that is internalized… Don’t get confused by the “fancy moves” in these drills–don’t take the training so literally—look beyond petty technique–it is about the underlying lessons and concepts that are being taught.
The drilling is finally about a study of energy and position, through feeling and kinesthetic awareness and how to become sensitive enough to this resistance to adapt, naturally, economically and with superior timing and position. The objective of this drilling is to train the student how to use WCK concepts and internalize them in order to take control and finish the opponent.
In the end the training is the training, don’t confuse the Finger for the Moon, this stuff is all about using less not more, to become simpler, not more complicated and, as with any art you get out of it what you put into it—train harder and smarter and the result will be better.
