covering in Wing Chun???????
What is tan sau, lap sau, pak sau, jut sau, bong sau, etc?
aelward sez:(interpreting Duncan Leung)
Covering is the idea of using hand motions and body positions to seal off your open gates with relation to an opponent.
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Too "general" and too big a motion for me.
"Covering by occupying the centerline
IMHO, if you occupy/control the centerline, you are pretty much "covered" defensively. Just like in chess, if your chess pieces occupy the center, then you have control over large areas of the chessboard.
Quote:
Also, before you have created a bridge,you usually don't know where your opponent is going to attack. So instead of trying to see what kind of attack is coming at you, you would instead cover a wide area to make sure that you are protected.
If you cover your upper gate, you will weaken
your lower gate. If you strenthen your lower gate, you will weaken your upper gate. Should you strengthen your left, you will weaken your right. Should you strengthen your right, you will weaken your left. If you cover everywhere, you will be weak everywhere.
Let's say you have 10 positions to defend and you have 10 soldiers. If you disperse your soldiers (one soldier per defensive position), you are weak in all 10 defensive positions. But if you concentrate all 10 in one position, then you are weak in the other 9 positions.
So where where would you defend? Defend the centerline. The centerline being accessable from all 10 positions. From the centerline, you can defend all areas.
covering takes eliminates need for guesswor
Joy writes:
> Sounds as though that there are additional
> unnecessary "defensive" steps involved which is based on
> guesswork.
Quite the contrary.
Covering can be offensive as much as it defensive in that you can launch an attack that still covers your gates. For example, the "excluding" punch over someone's left jab is an attack, and also covers most possible attacks from his left hand.
Covering also eliminates guesswork, which is the entire point. Guessing is too risky, as is relying on visual reflexes. It means respecting your opponent and the unknowns he presents. You are decreasing your chance of getting hit while you enter into contact range. Afterall, hitting is easy. Not getting hit is the hard part.
> If one has learned to protect the center line it
> should happen reflexively.
If you constantly drill the idea of covering, whether you are attacking or defending, it will become reflexive.