Is Bong Sao the hardest thing to learn properly in Wing Chun?

[straight blast]

Is it? I have enough trouble trying to get the form right, let alone actually use it in a combat/sparring situation. Admittedly I've been trying to learn it from a video & being shown once, but man is it difficult!!! I think learning the whole system of Muay Thai was easier than learning the blasted Bong Sao!
How do you use it? Which blows is it effective against? Does it lead into other defences i.e. not a stand alone block/deflection?
And why (in his ads in magazines) does William Cheung do it so differently to everyone else? His looks totally different in the way he hasn't got his palm rotated. Is this Bong Sao or something different?
Help would be much appreciated. I'm somewhat at a loss...

[alienofwar]

Ill tell you what I know about it. One of my teachers said it takes untill black belt (our school uses the color belt system) to get Bong sao (Wing block) just right and even then some people have trouble with it. I find bong sao to be very effective and versatile as it is great for counter-attacks. Bong sao is suppose to protect your upper and lower level body, we never use it to block our face.

Thats my two cents

[alienofwar]

Sorry I didnt answer your question because I dont know what the hardest block is. But bong sao might be one of the hardest, but keep at it, its a great block.

[Jeff Liboiron]

Try leading the bong sau more with your elbow and forearm. Never bong above your shoulder. Also you have to pivot while applying the bong sau. Oh, and bong sau should never stay, it should move into lop sau, tan sau, wu sau, etc.

another thing to remember is never to do the bong sau like a karate block or tae kwondo block.

But personally, i don't really care for the bong sau

hope this helps

[whippinghand]

Originally posted by Jeff Liboiron
another thing to remember is never to do the bong sau like a karate block or tae kwondo block.

How do you mean?

[Jeff Liboiron]

well, i don't know if you've studied karate, but i did for a few months when i was 12.

well, in karate, when practicing a block to the face, you lift your arm mainly by the shoulder in an upwards motion instead of leading with the forearm, wrist, or elbow. And also, this block is above the forehead.

I've seen people do the bong sau like a karate face block, only lower, they do that lifting motion, instead of leading with their forearm and elbow.

Do i make sense? if not, i'm sorry

[whippinghand]

perfect sense

[Jeff Liboiron]

are you being sarcastic?

What do you think about the other things i mentioned in that post? just wondering

[S.Teebas]

Try leading the bong sau more with your elbow and forearm.

Eeek!!!

Never bong above your shoulder

Why not?

...i believe what you ment to say is "I cant bong above my shoulder without getitng cramps and feeling like my arm is about to colapse...and then i'll get hit!!!"

Also you have to pivot while applying the bong sau

I disagree with this, i believe you only need to pivot if the force to too great, but alot of the time it is not necessary.

Oh, and bong sau should never stay..

Agreed. Because bong sau is a movement not a position.


S.Teebas

[Martial Joe]

Is Bong Sao the hardest thing to learn properly in Wing Chun?

I would say it was quite easy for me.
The footwork and using your body is the hardest for me.

[Jeff Liboiron]

What do you lead with when doing bong sau Teebas?

[whippinghand]

Originally posted by S.Teebas
i believe you only need to pivot if the force to too great, but alot of the time it is not necessary.

Because bong sau is a movement not a position.

I think you're missing something.

[whippinghand]

I was not being sarcastic.

I generally agree with what you stated. However, not only should the bong sau never stay, but any other movement as well. I believe that that expression or idiom, came about due to the common weakness experienced with a bong sau. And is one of those "fillers" I referred to in a previous post, that people use to justify their weak bong sau. Of course, you could say ANY weak position should be transitional.

But you also have to consider what the bong sau is used for as well. It's not necessarily evasive.

[Jeff Liboiron]

Originally posted by whippinghand
I
I generally agree with what you stated. However, not only should the bong sau never stay, but any other movement as well.

Thanks WC, I never thought of it that way

[Nichiren]

One thing I find funny is that I only use the bong-sau during chi-sao, never during fighting!

Some questions: Is the bong-sau a product of chis-sao? Is it relly any good in a real fight?