Quote :Sevenstar
"There is a tradeoff however, as there is less power in your strike. as for power not dependent on retracting the hand, don't you WANT to retract it quickly? Not doing so gives them a bridge to use to get in on you, doesn't it? the jab is usually done in conjunction with wither a step or lunge - the whole body is behind it - it's not an arm push."
Yes there is less power in the strike, mostly though for beginners, but the amount of strikes one can administer is the same period of time is more in the WC system than most boxing fighting arts. When the jab is thrown, how does the boxer throw the other punch? Does he have to rotate his hips and shoulders? Usually they do, and when this happens you cannot punch as fast and move as well with as many punch as the WC practitioner can, because we are more square to the opponent, but not totally square. The punch is not an arm punch as the whole body would be moving forward behind it. As for retraction what I meant was that at the moment the opening is seen I would not retract my arm to punch, but launch it from where it is(the 1" punch), then retract is very quickily so the chain punch can be applied, anywhere from 6 to 9 in one second. If contact is made with the opponents limbs then at this stage the bridge would be interpreted for what it represents (energy, structure) and dealt with immediately, through chi-sao training. Forward intention is paramount at this stage as this makes it more difficult for the opponent to advance closer or attack with either hand.
Joy,
In my system our Man/Wu sao is static, but not like a statue static. I've seen some of Sift Fong's video's and I've always thought his guard was too low, but this is just an personal opinion and taken from my own training and experience, he's free to do whatever he likes. In our guard, once the positioning with the opponent is perfectly aligned (opponents foot and knee down center of side neutral stance, guard pointed down center of persons body dividing it in half), the opponent can throw any punch towards the upper gate and it will be defended with very little movement of the limbs (this is hard to describe in written form). Now perfect alignment is not always guaranteed yes, but the closer to perfect structure and defense it is the better it will be when things are not perfect, that is even if you get to have a guard up in the first place.
James