Quote Originally Posted by Ali. R View Post
Here is a question that someone asked me on my site…




First of all, you must understand the concept behind what you’re trying too accomplish… Well, in the case of chi sao you should have had that understood in the SLT system (don chi sao)…

If you’re having trouble staying soft when playing chi sao, I suggest that you really begin to explore the don chi sao within your wing chun structure, if the mechanics of the don chi sao never promotes redirection through complete softness and sensitivity, then I suggest try another structure until you can find a way too naturalize or redirected energy through complete softness and sensitivity…

The main thing is too make sure that the mind is not over worked, meaning that your overall structure dealing with forward sensitivity must stay connected to the your stance, and your upper and lower extremities must stay connected to the floor through your stance…

If there’s no strong connection as I mention just above, then the mind will become over worked and the hands will become tense or tight, then one will begin too fall off the track or the road that guides his structure directly to the right offensive and defensive line that needs to be occupied when under pressure, and if one just cant find it, then its a structure problem…

Your chi sao structure must fit and work within your stance, just as the gears works within a watch, if the gears do not fit correctly within the watch, then one will never begin to understand what time it is… The concept of understanding true wing chun attacks is through timing and having a strong connection to the floor, by connecting the upper and lower extremities through you stance, it will help promote good softness and forward sensitivity; hence, very good defensive structure with very little thought pattern…

The main key as far as the Woo Fai Ching system dealing with chi sao, is the fook sao… If one cannot master the understanding or ideal dealing with the fook sao, then he or she will always have trouble dealing with double line sensitivity, because in the start of you chi sao studies the fook sao is always misunderstood… Why? Because the fook sao do nothing but ride or should cling to structure, and the other side or arm cycles from tan to bong; in other words that side have something too do, in which helps keeps the mind pre-occupied while almost losing the ideal or mechanics dealing with the fook sao… Just master of try to understand the mechanics of the fook sao through total softness and forward sensitivity, then I’m sure you’ll find what you’re looking for…

The more one can control his fook sao through good forward sensitivity and line control, the softer and stronger his overall chi sao structure will become…


Ali Rahim.

I find that knowing how the YI can be easily unsettled and continuity of awareness breaks down at certain points in the Chi Sao exercise makes me aware of how the vision and eyes can be fooled when dealing with such 'small intervals in time' and trying to look at fighting movements/energies. (funny how in high level martial arts discussion we speak of intervals and energies and such....kinda the same as when physicists and quantum mathematicians speak of intervals and time when dealing with the small things...). But this being what it is what are your thoughts on this, Sifu Rahim...
It is a known fact that the hand is quicker than the eye. The hand can move faster than the eye can track. Just try to track a fastball from a pro or try to catch the slight of hand from a master Mage. This is also true in a fight. 'Its always the one that you dont see that gets you'. Kinda reminds me of the Kuen Kuit...'Good Wing Chun is felt but not seen.' Anyways, Chi Sao, being a sensitivity excersize, developes a way to track your opponents intentions with your own hands(Sao) so that you dont fall behind.
This is why it is so important to get proper bridge contact immediately or to attack thier attack with a bridging movement to occupy space (Bil Gee). After that we maintain that range with moving stances and bridging(Chum Kil) in order to stay in the proper followthrough range. At this point we use the basic hand postures (SLT) to end the fight.
Wing Chun as a training system teaches us from the inside out(SLT,CK,BG) but in the event of a fight we move outside in as I described earlier. This way...the closer we get to an opponent the more comfortable we should become.
Chi Sao is the way we bring it all together. When an attack is engaged, natural reaction always gets our hands up and we make contact with something. If that 'shape' or 'energy' at that moment triggers the muscle memory of a trained and powerful technique and our followthrough is supported by the proper structure, then the art comes alive and there is no need to be caught up in the eyes.
There is a Kuen Kuit that says something like ' Attack the emptiness '. This is not an emptiness in vision...its an emptiness in sensitivity and asking energy. How much asking energy do we need to activate Jing Lik and not overwork the mind(YI)? Well I remember some old masters of the Supreme Ultimate Fist saying something about 2 ounces of force. Once our Chi Sao senses a differential of 2 ounces either way our structure should adjust accordingly to neautralize, take over lines, support double arm control, etc. After all....WCK has a Taoist root does it not?

If it takes only 2 ounces of force....then why worry about using muscle since its the muscles that tense up and slow us down when the mind is stressed?