Footwork or retreat?

[Ali. R]

No one should let the might of others dictate how much man or woman one should be when dealing with the ideal of grace under pressure, rather then falling into the fetal position way before one comes out the gate physically, it’s all about being mentally prepared and not losing hope in ones ability, base on the size of another …


Ali Rahim.

[bennyvt]

I was thinking about one time at a party we were discussing the UFC and i was asked what I would do. I said not go to the ground. Ended up with a guy about 6"3 trying to tackle me, this was early in my training when I thought that with the right structure I could beat anyone. Well I ended up on the ground after pivoting and jum sao. He was knocked out but the point being that if I wasnt with friends I would have had people bouncing on my head. I also spent several months getting treatment for my back as I refused to step back on big people. VT is about being in the centre, not too stable not too movable. If one is rooted to the spot he can step any where. If you step into a big person and cant negate his force (by structure, strength, balance etc) you will be dead.
In any thread people will try to move it to where they want, you need to read the good ones and laugh at the rest of the keyboard warriors

[iron_leg_dave]

I was thinking about one time at a party we were discussing the UFC and i was asked what I would do. I said not go to the ground. Ended up with a guy about 6"3 trying to tackle me, this was early in my training when I thought that with the right structure I could beat anyone. Well I ended up on the ground after pivoting and jum sao. He was knocked out but the point being that if I wasnt with friends I would have had people bouncing on my head. I also spent several months getting treatment for my back as I refused to step back on big people. VT is about being in the centre, not too stable not too movable. If one is rooted to the spot he can step any where. If you step into a big person and cant negate his force (by structure, strength, balance etc) you will be dead.
In any thread people will try to move it to where they want, you need to read the good ones and laugh at the rest of the keyboard warriors

The earliest quantum of knowledge I was given in real kung fu went like this:

Me: I love practicing my kicks, freestyle, just kicking the air, I could kick all day.

Him: That's good.

Me: Yea, sometimes, it's hard to do the stuff that I don't like to do. I just want to the stuff that seems fun that day, I think it's better, I can concentrate on it, and eventually everything get's it's day.

Him: Thats good, but you've got to do all of it. You have to practice everything, and stretch everyday.


Simple words. They continue to resonate. When you stop breaking down your shua jiao, and qin na, you cut your ability to fight in half. When you decide to put the gloves away, you better hope there is no chance someone is going to try to fight you.

People can rush in on you faster than you can hit them. Any dude can do this. Alot of people need to be taken with a grain of salt. They will show you this technique, or that technique to defend against someone trying to rush in on you. If you train like that, you'll get tackled, and your face will get rearranged.

[Phil Redmond]

. . . . People can rush in on you faster than you can hit them. Any dude can do this. Alot of people need to be taken with a grain of salt. They will show you this technique, or that technique to defend against someone trying to rush in on you. If you train like that, you'll get tackled, and your face will get rearranged.

I knew some guys in NY that said their horse was so good that no one could take them down. When it happened I just laughed.

[bennyvt]

In my school we teach stepping as an exercise like dan chi or poon sao (rolling). After learning rolling and before any trap we teach the stepping in poon sao. This means stepping into the patrner and going through them at 45 degrees through their centre. But we teach stepping back first then forward. The idea is that
*as a novice you are more likely to step back.
*It is harder to learn how to step back as we don't naturally do this,
*Stepping back will always be slower then forward so need more practice
*Any fighting involves some stepping back
* VT takes it that you opponent is bigger, faster, better looking girl friend etc so you will probably get overwhelmed and need to adjust
* The angle needs to be right so you can still attack with both hands while cutting off your opponent
*It is harder to learn to stay your pproper distance while being chased then just running after someone.
*Learning to protect the centre while going from a parrellel stance.
There are many more this is just an example. But Barry always said dont step back, but if you do, for every one step back you step forward two. Meaning in the real world saying that you wont step back shows you only fight or train with people you can throw around. You will have to step back so it needs to be good but dont try to step back.