Too Tense!!!!!

[PosterBoy]

Hi I'm new here and to Wing Chun.

I did Wing Tsun for about 5 months with a very bad student instructor, then got fed up and have found a very good Wing Chun instructor.

Both have told me I'm too tense, even when I'm trying really hard to be relaxed.

Does this just come in time or are there ways/exercises I can do to help.

[Ish]

I get told that a lot too especially towards the end of training cos my shoulders are sore and tighten up. I think it just gets easier over time but i dont know any specific exercises other than just to relax.

[Nat from UK]

Slow down,

i find if i dont worry about the speed of a technique i am less tense, I try to get the movement and structure right, speed IMO is secondary. You should find that you are alot more relaxed if doing it slowly.

Good luck with training

Nat from UK

[Ish]

Thats wierd being relaxed when doing it slowly as relaxing is the best way to move faster

[S.Teebas]

When your spine is straight, you will find it much easier to relax.

[red5angel]

Posterboy, I am fairly new to wing chun as well, and what I am finding is that you will probably be tense for a while. You rbody has to make some of the positions you assume, habit. For me, it isnt habit to round my back and tuck my pelvis, so I have to "force" it just a little. I have noticed that over time though I am growing more relaxed. I think maybe sometimes some of the people who have been doing this for a while forget how tense your body is in those new positions.

[PosterBoy]

Yeah, the neutral position definately looks and feels unnatural at the moment, but I guess just like every thing else it boils down to practice. :)

[straight blast]

I'm in much the same boat at the moment. I find it hard to relax when delivering power. In class today we were doing a sort of rotate-your-body-45-degrees & straight punch to the solar plexus. I was able to wind another student (oops! ;) ) through the heavy kick shield he was holding & thought I had it figured. Then the instructor says "Too tense!"

He demo'd on another larger student (he's smaller than me too) with the same hard kick shield & sent him flying backwards about 5 feet, while being totally relaxed.

Seems it comes with time, Posterboy :D

[stuartm]

The tension will go with time and practise. I had a particularly bad shoulder before i started Chi Sau - after much poon sau, the ailment has gone.

Your ability to relax will improve as your skill and training progresses.

Regards, Stuart

[Gluteus Maximus]

Some things that should help are:

First of all, do some loosening up exercises as described in steps (1) and (2) below. Then practise basic relaxed standing (3), then YJKYM - paying attention to relaxing (4) and then SLT (5).

1. Do some arm and hip rotations - the full 360 degrees about 15 - 20 in each direction (hula hoop action - slow) for the hips, and the same number forwards and then backwards for the arms (ie like swimming - Aussie crawl and backstroke - slow and steady).

2. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and arms loose by your sides. Quickly twist 90 degrees to your left and make sure your arms are as loose as possible (shoulders down, not hunched up). Let go any inhibition or fear of the arms hitting your upper body. They should lag behind the rest of your upper body and slap into your shoulder and back. As soon as they slap into you, quickly turn 180 degrees to your right (ie 90 degrees to right of centre) and let your arms lag behind and slap your upper body again. Keep repeating this for a few minutes.

There should be a lag after you turn, then one arm slaps and then the other. If not, you're not relaxed.

3. Practise standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms loose at sides, shoulders down, spine straight (coccyx bone tucked under your pelvis slightly, and imagine your head suspended by a string), knees slightly bent but not locked, and breathe into your stomach rather than your chest. Do this for 5 minutes or so, consciously running through every part of your body in turn, ensuring it is relaxed.

4. Spend at least 30 minutes a day practising the YJKYM (pigeon-toed) stance, fists chambered at sides, paying attention to your body as in (3) above.

5.When you do Sil Lum Tao, extend the same consciousness developed in steps (3) and (4) above, into all your movements.

[sanchezero]

First, analyze carefully what it means to be relaxed. The is a big difference between being relaxed and being limp. I spent alot of time in my early training being limp thinking I was relaxed. You need to develop the ability to use only the muscles necessary for a given action and only as much force necessary to hold your position. You must train yourself to release this position and assume another (advantageous) position as soon as you begin to recruit unnecessary muscles.

Study your body during the forms. If you can have your sifu tune your position to help you figure out just what muscles are used and how much, all the better. When you do your two-man drills, try to limit yourself to using those muscles in their 'proportional' amounts.

For example, when I play tan sau in a slow SLT, I feel it primarily across the front of my shoulder (ant delt) and less in my bicep, lat and the back of my shoulder (post delt, rhomb). When playing chi sao (or dan chi sau) and my partner's fuk sao gets heavy I can feel it more in my bicep and my lats. The pressure on the bicep signals that hes probably pushing down on my fuk, which is good for me as by being relaxed and not allowing myself to use those muscles UNRELATED to keeping the tan in position I can run around his fuk and whack him.

Pay attention to your body, particulary in the tan, bong, and fuk positions as they are so essential. Also, give careful study to your punches. Relaxation is the efficent use of your body. Structure is key.

:D

[wingchunalex]

other than it just takes time to get relaxed into your techniques, you might try tai chi, it really soffens up my wing chun.

[jesper]

Dont try, do....

You are probably thinking to much about it.

Slow down the speed your training at, and keep your eyes closed.
Often students are in such a rush to do things and forget the most basic.

Lastly dont dispair, this is not something you learn in 5-6 month.
If in two years from now you are able to be sensitive you have done well :)

[rubthebuddha]

i teach all the newest students at my kwoon, and a quick fix i give them is this: bunch your shoulders up. by that, i mean keep your arms pointed down, but try and touch both your shoulders to your ears while keeping your head straight. hold this position for a five-count, then just let your shoulders fall. do it one more time, then back to practice. this seems to make a major difference, especially when students are doing a lot of chain punching.

[Roy D. Anthony]

Try doing your Wing Chun with arms as loose as wet noodles. Keep your intention in the mind, and not in your arms.at least for now.

[Marshdrifter]

rubthebuddha:

I've heard this approach for teaching how to be relaxed, but I
have a question about it. How well does this transfer over into
being relaxed without being exhausted? Is it more of a
comparative teaching thing where the students can see what
relaxed should be like and they can then strive for that?

Roy D. Anthony:

I'm not sure I agree with this method either. Yes, it'll teach you
be relaxed, but the times I've seen this, the arm structure was
sloppy.


The way I've been learning it is the long slow route. Basically, I
try to relax as much as I can while maintaining the good structure.
Over time, I've been able to become more relaxed. Everytime I've
gotten to what I had previously believed was a relaxed state, I
found there was yet another level I could try to achieve. Of
course, that's like most of my Wing Chun. :)

[Roy D. Anthony]

Marshdrifter, no one said anything about giving up structure. This method that I have taught has produced many Great Chi Sao'ers. You should try it. It works wonders. Enjoy!

[Frank Exchange]

The best way I have found to get relaxation is to ensure that the hands are relaxed. The springiness and forward intent of Lut Sao Te Chung comes from the elbows. You can pry very strongly from the elbows, yet the forearms are as floppy as Roy's wet noodles. The moment your hands tense up, it tends to tense up the rest of the arms, you lose feeling, sensitivity etc.

[Roy D. Anthony]

Exactly!