Hey Dzu, I think I’m starting to hear gongs sound at the end of your replies
Actually, that pretty well sums up my current thinking on a lot of WCK (the one and infinite, not the gong). We have concepts simple in essance and fairly unlimited in application. Since neither one nor infinite is a particularly useful number for a student, however, we tend to come up with 3 or 8 or whatever number of examples and chew on them for a while until they’re digested into understanding. Then, when contact is made, the opponent tells you exactly what shape, path, and power will defeat them.
Sean- FWIW, in Sum Nung Wing Chun Kuen, we don’t call all those three Tan Sao. The first one we call Tan Sao (Dispersing Arm), the second Tun Sao (Swallowing Arm), and the third Chum Jarn Gao Sao (Sinking Elbow Saving Arm). Each one has a different shape, path, and power. There’s also another Tan-like hand just before the double Biu Jee (Darting Fingers) that shows another example. As above, I found those examples helpful in the beginning not to get locked into any one rigid example nor get lost in unfocused variation.
“What you wan’ cry fo? You know that my hammer is heavy and it got kick like tae kwon do, now you gwarn die slow… I’ma show you how to stretch a m0therfucker if you wanna watch tae bo”
you asked to think about how the tan fook and wu motions in the beginning of SLT are used in application
and i know awhile ago someone posted how their sifu actually switched the directions
anyhow, if you look at the single handed dan chi sau routine, ( tan -> palm strike -> bong ) vs ( fook -> wu (jut) -> punch )
you see that the way the energy is trained in SLT is the same as the one handed drill and this is the basis of normal chi sau
but it all really gets back to what energy your opponent is sending to you there is no tan sau without an opponent
peace
travis
Receive what comes, Escort what leaves, and if there is an opening, rush in
LOL! Nope. I was thinking eastern, not western. I meant the kind that would usually be followed by heads knocking on the tiles and murmurs of profundity
BTW- I think the motions of Dan Chi Sao (whether you do them in sequence like Yip Man’s HK students) or loose like in other branches, teach the nuts and bolts of tan, fook, wu, chum, and the way in which WCK intent focuses on the opponent’s center (even when seeming to go back or down, etc.) As things get more dynamic, however, I also think they serve as the keys to the rather amazing (to me at least) way some of the top WCK people seem to be able to toss others around (and down) so suddenly.
There are many methods of naming techniques. The techniques seemingly to have an open palm-up are usually nicknamed Tan Sao. However, many techniques are also named by their function. Therefore, to say that there is only one tan may be inappropriate, as well as very appropriate! In our System we have 4 Single varied Tans and 2 double varied Tans.
