Hi All,
I have a few questions regarding the Lop Sau drill.
Now, this may sound like a dumb question, but what is its purpose? Yes, I know that it is a “sensitivity” drill, but what does kind of motion, energy, whatever does it make you sensitive to?
Also, What ‘switches’ do you practice on a regular basis. We work the bong sau switch, the tan sau switch, and a few others.
Thanks in advance,
BIG Sean Madigan http://www.bigjkd.com
The little known hidden meaning to lop sao is the loose hand striking which is greatly utilized in the Siu Batt Kua footworks.
Hi Sean,
Although you can develope a limited amount of sensitivity from Lop Sau, I prefer Chi Sau for that purpose. 
I always viewed Lop Sau as more of a speed and coordination drill. Got you used to reacting very quickly and without thought. We do try a variety of switches as well. The Taun/Pak/Fook seem the most common.
Since you do JKD you could probably incorporate some Sinawali for some fun times Of course, you are probably familiar with the de cadenamo (spelling-loosely translates as chain of hands) which basically serves the same purpose in the FMA as Lop does in Wing Chun.
Peace,
Dave
Hi Dave, Sam,
Thanks for the answers.
Dave, believe it or not, I am not much of a FMA kind of guy, I know a bit, but not as much as most JKDers.
My instructor teaches in more of a “Wing Chun” type of structure, and I enjoy it. We end each class with Sil Lim Tau, and enjoy training in Wing Chun. I think that is why you find me more WC forums these days then JKD ones. 
Anyway, I do a few of the switches, but my favorite is one called the beat/pak switch. It is fun to do, and I feel it teaches some great lessons.
As far as the Lop Sau drill goes, I look at it as more of a drill to in grain the reactions to:
A - Having a Lop Sau preformed on you.
B - Dealing with the structure and timing of the bong sau.
Sadly, I feel that to call this drill the “Lop Sau” drill really does it a misservice. In the way we do it, it is more of a bong sau/lop sau drill.
Again, this maybe just we the drill, I can not, and do not speak for all of JKD, just my little segment of it.
In your response, you said that you feel the drill is more of a “speed and coordination drill”. That’s interesting in that I never really looked at the speed aspects of the drill. My instructor tends to talk more of the timing of it, rather then the speed.
That’s what I love about this forum, although the Wing Chun is very new, it is really starting to have some great, informative posts in it.
All the best,
BIG Sean Madigan
www.bigjkd.com
[This message has been edited by Sean Madigan (edited 08-31-2000).]
Hi Sean,
I would have to go along with what your isntructor says. The timing aspect is more important than speed per se.
I am reminded of a story I once read years ago; There was an old karate master who was teaching a very young and powerful student. The student was very strong and would put all of his effort into making each technique work. He began to come closer and closer to hitting and possibly hurting the old master. The master was saddened as the student seemed to have lost respect for the master and seemed intent on showing him up. The master thought about no longer teaching but this also saddened him as he loved the arts. Then one day he was watching a rat and a cat. The Cat had all of the grace and power that nature oculd give. The rat in comparison seemed slow and uncoordinated. The master expected to see the cat kill the rat with ease. As he watched the act would pounce and at almost the last possible instant the rat would move and the cat owuld miss. This went on for several minutes with the rat finally striking back and biting the car on the paw. The cat withdrew and left the rat in peace. The master pondered what he had seen and came to realize that the timing was made the rat successful. He then considered how to use this knoweldge to his own benefit. Later when sparring with the young student he found himself relaxed and responding with ease. The students eyes widened as he kept missing the old master. Although faster and more powerful he was not match for the masters skill and timing. The student looked at the master with new-foudn respect realizing just how much more he had to learn. The master looked at life differently and with the knoweldege that he still had much to leanr and he atarted on the road to mastery of timing.
Forgive the paraphrase but that is pretty much the gist of the story.
Peace,
Dave
Didn’t Yip Man once call bong sau wing chun’s best technique? Didn’t he also call it the worst? We are taught that bong sau “happens” and that it should not remain. Lop Sau drill is suposed to hyper train the arms response to a bong sau so that the wing chun fighter can respond to a bong properly in an instant.
Now me I know how to respond to a bong
for timing drills anyone here do a varint of the “Pak Da” punch drill, know that’s fun!
Oh yeah switchs! I guess we train at about 10 or 12 different switchs. personal favorites include “noy pak da”, “counter lop”, and “lop jui dia chun”
hey Word if your reeding this i left a couple of spelling/grammer errors in it on pourpouse so have a ball!
[This message has been edited by OdderMensch (edited 09-01-2000).]
OdderMensch,
You are absolutely correct; Yip Man said Bong Sau was the best and worst technique. If done properly it was great if done improperly it was useless.
Pak Da drills are also great for timing and speed/reflex training.
I would agree that Lop trains one in the proper use of Bong but not sure if I would say it hyper trains the arm for Bong. I think that the best emphasis will be found within the forms. The Lop is just a drill or laboratory to apply the technique/concept.
Peace,
Dave
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=“-1”>quote:</font><HR>Also, What ‘switches’ do you practice on a regular basis. We work the bong sau switch, the tan sau switch, and a few others.[/quote]
we train lots of inside and outside changes. most commonly the garn/lap, pak/lap, pak/chuen, etc. any technique you can train off a straigh punch we train as switches
and then doing all the switches with tor ma (toy ma?) switch stance and so-on.