i dnt stand a stance against my teacher

[sir-elrik]

it starts anoying me, in every sesion we spar for 5 minutes or so and i cant pass more than a hit (usually in the belly). my legs are moving arround. i cnt see them coming. he is keep locking my hands in ways that im helpless. i cnt bloke, when i go in the side usually im to far away.

Ok i train for about three months and he is training the last six years but still i was thinking i cnt stand a stance currenlty i dnt stand none chance. fustrating.

does anyone hv any tip how i will loose my natural tendency for movement and to become more solid

[leung jam]

it starts anoying me, in every sesion we spar for 5 minutes or so and i cant pass more than a hit (usually in the belly). my legs are moving arround. i cnt see them coming. he is keep locking my hands in ways that im helpless. i cnt bloke, when i go in the side usually im to far away.

Ok i train for about three months and he is training the last six years but still i was thinking i cnt stand a stance currenlty i dnt stand none chance. fustrating.

does anyone hv any tip how i will loose my natural tendency for movement and to become more solid

Sounds like your 'teacher' isnt allowing you to learn, if he never gives you a chance in sparring there is a chance you will train in bad habits, movements.

[sir-elrik]

Sounds like your 'teacher' isnt allowing you to learn, if he never gives you a chance in sparring there is a chance you will train in bad habits, movements.

do u reckon he should leave me some openings which i could take advantage?

cause i get a feeling his uses me to train his reflex since im moving in unstructural way.

[leejunfan]

OK first of all you've been training for three months... THREE MONTHS!!! You should not expect to NOT be frustrated when you spar against your Sifu. Secondly, if your Sifu is kicking your rear end every time you spar it sounds to me like he's not doing alot of teaching. Please answer these questions for us all so we can get a better picture of what you are doing.

1. Have you learned all or part of the form?
2. Do you truly TRULY understand the parts of the form you have learned (doubtful in only 3 months).
3. Do you do cooperative drills?
4. Do you do reflex drills?
5. Do you do footwork drills?
6. How much stance/horse training do you do each class?
7. Do you do accuracy drills?
8. Do you do timing drills?
9. Does your teacher actualy answer your questions with a real answer or does he say "You'll figure it out" or the ever popular "SHUT UP AND TRAIN!"

These are just a few questions. The main thing is..... you have to get rid of the "Quick Fix" want it now now NOW mentality and understand that kung fu is a path and not a destination. The more you train the better you get. Here's a quote I lifted from a video. I loved it so much I printed it out and posted it on my schools bulliton board.

"Sometimes people want to copy techniques, but we have no techniques in this style. Our technique is not the important part. If you train you are your secret, if you don’t train there is no secret."
Sifu Cesario Di Domenico

In a nutshell.... have faith and confidence.... think positive thoughts........train your ass off and eventually.... if you want it.... you'll get good

[sir-elrik]

1. Have you learned all or part of the form?

I hv learnd it all and know im trying to improve some bits of it

2. Do you truly TRULY understand the parts of the form you have learned (doubtful in only 3 months).

I understand what i hv to do and in most parts its use

3. Do you do cooperative drills?

enough

4. Do you do reflex drills?

not really

5. Do you do footwork drills?

yeap

6. How much stance/horse training do you do each class?

Most of the session we use the stance and we train in every single session the movement in left or right

7. Do you do accuracy drills?

not really

8. Do you do timing drills?

some. mainly when we train blogs

9. Does your teacher actualy answer your questions with a real answer or does he say "You'll figure it out" or the ever popular "SHUT UP AND TRAIN!"

especially in the begining i was full of question and in every single question he took the necesarry time to explain and to illustrate his asnwers.

[leejunfan]

Your answers were vague. Please give us examples of what you are doing.

[sunfist]

Identify your 'bread and butter' techniques, ie bare bones what you rely on. Strikes, parries, footwork. Should only be one or two each.

Drill each 1000 times a night.

Analyse your stuff until you stop sucking.

[couch]

it starts anoying me, in every sesion we spar for 5 minutes or so and i cant pass more than a hit (usually in the belly). my legs are moving arround. i cnt see them coming. he is keep locking my hands in ways that im helpless. i cnt bloke, when i go in the side usually im to far away.

Ok i train for about three months and he is training the last six years but still i was thinking i cnt stand a stance currenlty i dnt stand none chance. fustrating.

does anyone hv any tip how i will loose my natural tendency for movement and to become more solid

It takes time. As Moy Yat said: You should learn Wing Chun as you learned to talk. Building on the foundation...learning a little of this...a little of that...and then one day your Tan Sau is pretty good.

Take you time with your teacher. Take your time with the system.

If I could recommend something key to work on: stance. Make sure that your shoulders are over your heels and that you are sinking so that there is a fist distance between the knees. Don't squeeze them together...sink!

If your stance is strong...then all you have to worry about is striking the centre!

I would like to share a short story of when I met Ray Van Raamsdonk (a long-time practicioner and poster here):

I met Ray for the first and only time about 1.5 years ago. We exchanged forms, and then we did a little Chi Sau. He threw me around like a rag doll and I felt like I was tripping over my own feet...let alone get control of what was going on with the hands!

When we said goodbye...HE shared a story with me: "I trained with Kenneth Chung in the USA. After all the time I spent down in the USA learning from him, he told me to forget everything that he taught me and to remember to work on only one thing - stance. So Kenton," he said "I want you to remember one thing after our time together today - stance."

Hope this helps!

Best,
Kenton Sefcik

P.S. Some people translate Gong Fu as Time and Patience...or Skill Aquired Through Hard Work

[AndrewS]

it starts anoying me, in every sesion we spar for 5 minutes or so and i cant pass more than a hit (usually in the belly). my legs are moving arround. i cnt see them coming. he is keep locking my hands in ways that im helpless. i cnt bloke, when i go in the side usually im to far away.

Ok i train for about three months and he is training the last six years but still i was thinking i cnt stand a stance currenlty i dnt stand none chance. fustrating.

does anyone hv any tip how i will loose my natural tendency for movement and to become more solid

Dude,

you don't want to lose your natural tendancy for movement; you want to be balanced, on point, and be able to use your whole body, the other person's body, and the ground without them controlling you.

There's some basic structural stuff out there that's a useful beginning, but ultimately what you're asking requires that you put the work in with someone who can show you. Basic mechanics can be shown in a session or two, learned in a year so of moderate work, and become second nature in 3 years of dedicated training, in my experience. After that, refining and making them 'natural' is a lifetime's work.

As to getting your *ss beat- that may be productive for you, it may not. In my experience allowing a trainee too high a success rate is more detrimental than allowing them too high a failure rate. In my own training with people much better than me, I find session where I'm 'right' only a 1/3 to 1/4 of the time to be productive- worse than that and I'm a brain-fried punching bag.

Andrew

[couch]

Dude,

you don't want to lose your natural tendancy for movement; you want to be balanced, on point, and be able to use your whole body, the other person's body, and the ground without them controlling you.

There's some basic structural stuff out there that's a useful beginning, but ultimately what you're asking requires that you put the work in with someone who can show you. Basic mechanics can be shown in a session or two, learned in a year so of moderate work, and become second nature in 3 years of dedicated training, in my experience. After that, refining and making them 'natural' is a lifetime's work.

As to getting your *ss beat- that may be productive for you, it may not. In my experience allowing a trainee too high a success rate is more detrimental than allowing them too high a failure rate. In my own training with people much better than me, I find session where I'm 'right' only a 1/3 to 1/4 of the time to be productive- worse than that and I'm a brain-fried punching bag.

Andrew

Good advice. From a teaching perspective...there can be two sides of the coin as well:

1. Give your student some openings so that they may learn a little here and there and pick it up. (Chi Sau)

2. Don't give your student openings because this will be detrimental to your own Kung-Fu and Chi Sau.

However...my Sifu takes the approach of #1, even though he told me he was instructed to never compromise his own skill because it's going to mess with his tool.

Eh.

Best,
Kenton Sefcik