Wing Chun Training Rings

[Marky]

Hi all,

Years ago I bought a rattan training ring and I used it for all of two days before accepting my lack of knowledge and hanging it on my wall as a decoration. I practiced techniques with my arms INSIDE the ring which, upon reflection, would have been very counter-productive to the "inward drilling" motion if I had continued the way I was going (with kwan sao's, gaan jaam's, etc.).

I was wondering if anyone here uses/has used rattan training rings, and how they practice with them (I was trying rolling on the outside of the ring, but the pressure from the ring is in the opposite direction from the pressure of an opponent). This has left me wondering if it's really a Wing Chun training ring at all, and that perhaps it's for other gongfu styles? Should it forever remain as a mysterious ornament on my bedroom wall?

[PaulH]

Out of curiousity I bought one too 5 years ago. So far I find it as an amusing and exotic weapon to fook the head and the limbs of my intended victims. It can improve instantly the ease and novelty of your neck pulling or trapping techniques. And if you are in a dark mood, why not just bang or rap the ring into your opponent's WC straightline attacks? Infallible proof that Circle beats line! I don't roll my arms with it for binding ring can be a tricky thing if you know what I mean. Ha! Ha!

Regards,
PH

[lawrenceofidaho]

Marky,

some Wing Chun people use it (but not me!) ;)

Randy Williams has a video which is supposed to teach you how to use it. I'm sure someone on this forum has at least SEEN it, and could make some kind of comment about that tape.......

-Lawrence

[anerlich]

It could be useful if you hid it on the ground and got your opponent to chase you - trap both his feet inside it so he falls over. Then G&P him, or preferably use dim mak.

This happened to me one night - I was running alongside a reasonably heavily traffic road. Suddenly my feet got bound up with something and I fell flat on my face beside a number of cars queued at an intersection. No damage, other than to my pride, and my eardrums from the spectators laughter. I found I tripped in a two foot circle of wire some wacky funster had dropped there.

Seriously, my lineage does not use this tool. I too would be interested to hear more about it.

[Mr Punch]

Don't have time to do it for you but search this forum, there are already a couple of good threads on rings.

Besides which, if you keep your hands inside the rings but keep the ring horizontal, to practise splitting energy (you have for example in the sinking lan sau section of ck) and replacing one hand with the other, I think you may have interesting results.

And, LOL at anerlich!:D

[old jong]

I think a good use of these rings is to throw them at a small stick planted in the ground!...A great game to entertain your kids at BBQ's.;)

[yuanfen]

A great balancing game is to roll the rings on the street and keep it going with strokes of a stick and avoiding Anerlich's rolled wires
if there on the ground.

You can practice heavt duty frisbee play and sharpen the edges or insert things- enter Xena....rides again.

You can hang them and throw small (US) footballs through them.


You can train you cat to jump through them.

And at the rate people are wearing rings these days in the strangest places-there could be other creative uses.
Oh-never mind.!!

[old jong]

...A real big "Prince Albert" ?...;) :eek:

[yylee]

try this :)

You hold the ring, and pretend one half of the ring is the Tan, the other half is the Bong.

Then get some one to do Chi Sau with your ring, he/she will be doing Two Fooks against your rolling ratten ring Tan/Bong.

Not a real training exercise, but if your Tan/Bong is tough and round like the ring, it would be quite a challenge for your training partner.

[reneritchie]

It's used for training splitting power. It's focus equipment, like spearing a small target with the pole. The target on the string is not the important thing, but it enables the drill.

[yylee]

I think I've posted these before, let me do it again. I found them from some mainland China MA mags.

[yylee]

2nd page

[yylee]

3rd page

[yylee]

last page

[KPM]

Wong Nim Yi of Mai Gei Wong WCK fame has an entire VCD on the use of the ring out. Sometimes it shows up for sale on eBay. Its in chinese, but most of what he shows is pretty self-explanatory. I think the mistake that some WCK people make is using a ring that is too big. The rings that Wong shows on his video are smaller than all the ones I have seen commercially available in the US. He shows lots of good drills. I think one of the most valuable is just sliding the ring up to just above the elbows and then flowing through various technique combinations. This gives a beginner the sense of how everything should be as tight and compact as possible. Rene is correct about the ring developing "splitting" energy. Wong shows this on the video. And this "splitting" energy has more applications than some may realize. We practice inward pressure/energy all the time with our partners in Chi Sau. The rings just provide a way to practice the "splitting" or outward energy in a formal or structured way. The problem is learning to use this splitting energy without developing bad habits like opening your center. The size of the ring is very important in this regard. The rings Wong uses are approximately 10 inches in diameter, not the 14 inch diameter monsters you see advertised for sale. I know some scoff at the idea of using rings for WCK training, and my feeling is that it probably was not originally in the system but rather picked up by some down the line. But I also think there is some value to be had in training with them on a limited basis, just as there is value in using any other piece of training equipment if you do it intelligently.

Keith

[reneritchie]

I didn't learn any of the stuff in that article, just splitting stuff. Keith - we have 2 different rings, one for the splitting and one, smaller, for the elbows-in (I've never used the latter).

[YiWan]

Originally posted by KPM
Wong Nim Yi of Mai Gei Wong WCK fame has an entire VCD on the use of the ring out. Sometimes it shows up for sale on eBay. Its in chinese, but most of what he shows is pretty self-explanatory. I think the mistake that some WCK people make is using a ring that is too big. The rings that Wong shows on his video are smaller than all the ones I have seen commercially available in the US. He shows lots of good drills. I think one of the most valuable is just sliding the ring up to just above the elbows and then flowing through various technique combinations. This gives a beginner the sense of how everything should be as tight and compact as possible. Rene is correct about the ring developing "splitting" energy. Wong shows this on the video. And this "splitting" energy has more applications than some may realize. We practice inward pressure/energy all the time with our partners in Chi Sau. The rings just provide a way to practice the "splitting" or outward energy in a formal or structured way. The problem is learning to use this splitting energy without developing bad habits like opening your center. The size of the ring is very important in this regard. The rings Wong uses are approximately 10 inches in diameter, not the 14 inch diameter monsters you see advertised for sale. I know some scoff at the idea of using rings for WCK training, and my feeling is that it probably was not originally in the system but rather picked up by some down the line. But I also think there is some value to be had in training with them on a limited basis, just as there is value in using any other piece of training equipment if you do it intelligently.

Keith

Hi,
our "Mai Gei Wong Wing Chun" ring is 20cm in diameter. In Wong Nim Yi SIFUs VCD are just few exercises of using this ring - not all that we use. Here picture of my SIFU with rattan ring :-) : http://www.wing-chun.cz/images/Master/Master_kruh.GIF

greetings
YiWan