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marcelino31
10-25-2001, 07:52 PM
I've been training in TWC for a few years here are some of my observations on some basic TWC
fighting strategies.

WC has been defined as the science of
in-Fighting -- you get close enough to your opponent and use sensitivity skills to land solid blows to your opponents body... Traditional wing chun as taught by Grandmaster William Cheung defines 5 stages of combat -- pre-contact, contact, exchange, pursuit, and retreat. In each of these stages certain types of stances and footwork are used to place the practitioner in an advantageous position in relation to his opponent. Proper timing, interrupability, balance, coordination, and focus are requirements for successful fighting strategy. Traditional wing chun advocates watching the opponents lead elbow and knee and to fight on the blind side. The entry technique is a trademark signature of TWC and is used to bridge the gap from the pre-contact to the contact stages of combat entering either with a cross legged or parallel legged situation. This system of fighting is further refined into BOEC -- Attack the opponents (B)alance , to create and (O)pening, by controlling the opponents lead (E)lbow, if the opponent retaliates and attacks and his arms are (C)rossed then you can interrupt your attack and take advantage of his arm positioning. TWC is preemptive in its approach to fighting and uses many fighting strategms, single direct attack (SDA), attack by combination (ABC), hand immobilization attack(HIA), progressive indirect attack(PIA), and attack by drawing(ABD).(These methods are also used in Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do). TWC prefers stepping to dragging the feet when moving, and in particular moving on the balls of the fight. Also when standing flat footed the weight is distributed over the whole foot and not the heels or ball of the foot. TWC evenly distributes body weight on both feet and does not employ the slant body structure of Jeet Kune do or other versions of wing chun where all or most of the body weight is on one leg.
TWC favours the neutral side stance in the pre contact stage of combat -- in this way the practitioner is not commited to any position and can move laterally much easier then a forward facing stance a la jeet kune do. While standing in the neutral side stance the leg that points to your opponent becomes the lead leg and the the arm on the same side becomes the lead arm. Because TWC favours fighting on the blind side it advises the practitioner to face the opponent parallel legged as it is easeier to get to the opponents blind side this way. If the opponent moves to the side or trys to circle around you then you side step and beat your opponent to the "position" -- kinda like cutting him off. TWC places emphasis on defence and interrupability and the practitioner is willing to sacrifice power in his techniques to insure the former. It is very important to face the point of contact for defense in TWC -- defense is on the center line and attack is on the central line... In this way the practitioner can use both hands at the same time for both offense and defense. I believe the key to winning a fight the TWC way is about timing and setting up your opponent. As an example, you can try to draw a technique out of your opponent make him commit and then move in for the kill. Its important to train properly against different body types and against different fighting strategies...i,e dealing with strikers grappler, boxers..etc... Grandmaster Cheung has created a living wing chun that is dynamic not static and is designed to evolve with the practitioner. Certain techniques are taught and are designed for certain body types. Everyone has their preference but the core fighting strategies remain..Its important to realize though that this art is not fixed in stone and that anyone can mold and adapt it to his own preference

What about you what fighting strategies do you employ in your wing chun?

OdderMensch
10-26-2001, 12:05 AM
i just hit people.

Martin Foot
10-26-2001, 02:46 AM
Refer to my posts in the "Yip Man taught William" thread.

Martin Foot
Body Mind & Spirit Kung Fu

wingchun.com
10-26-2001, 09:26 AM
I enter you and hit you. I keep you there and hit you more.

yenhoi
10-26-2001, 09:28 AM
smile, and...

strike!

dedalus
10-26-2001, 09:50 AM
Hmmm, its funny - I'm always saying that I think wing chun and taiji are incompatible, but I seem to be spending more and more time reading this forum and finding things to contribute.

To begin, then, in my usual manner: "When I used to do wing chun", I often got pounded after getting my arms crossed in free chi sau. I've been out of the art for quite a few years now, but only a week ago I noticed that my taiji teacher was crossing his arms during a free-double-push-hands type exercise, and I realised I couldn't get past him. After a little analysis, I came up with the remarkable conclusion that you get pummeled when your arms cross not so much because of the posture itself, but becuase of the way you're drilled to move in wing chun. If you can maintaing hand contact (though your arms are crossed) we figured you can turn any attack into a lock/break just by twisting your body. Moreover, if your opponent does lean in on your crossed arms to pin them (and if you lose hand contact in the process) you can again turn your body at the waist and the action leads you around behind your opponents ear you guide his force off to one side... very nice indeed.

I'd be interested if one of you guys would care to try this out at your next training session and report back on how your opponent deals with it :)

Incidentally, I'm familiar with the William Cheung BOEC thingy from a seminar of hisI once went to. He got grumpy when 2 of the guys started mixing kicks into the drills he was teaching ;)

dzu
10-26-2001, 07:12 PM
Dedalus,

What you are talking about doing is already in WC. Keep the arms relaxed and the body connected to the ground and you have many options.

One option is kwun sau to 'roll' or 'spiral' the force off the initial line. One place this is found is at the beginning of every form. When you open with Sup Ji Sau, the arms are crossed low and then roll up high. There are lots of other options as well.

Dzu

joy chaudhuri
10-26-2001, 09:13 PM
Dedalus: No taiji needed in wing chun. As Dzu pointed out correctly wing chun is full of options including the kwan sao & there are others.
Wing chunners trap others but they dont get trapped easily themselves if they know their game and have had good instruction and practice. :D

dedalus
10-27-2001, 07:06 AM
Well... good. I'm pleased wing chun can deal with that after all. I guess I didn't train long enough, eh? ;)