i promised myself I'd not respond to you again, but really its not just a kung fu concept its a principle of fighting full stop you never want to move backwards and not in a straight line if you can help it.
But like all principles its not ingrained in law and when under pressure you sometimes fail and retreat away from the heat of battle.
Perhaps you could link to a few fights which you consider good kung fu men in action?
i disagree, your instructor stepped back a lot when i met him. not a problem or a bad point. it just 'is'.
Chuck liddel never did too badly from stepping back...
its a certain skill set, granted, but its crtainly l;egitimate...
think of a boxers jab. he flies in with it then springs back.
When it does happen, it's fast and hard and over quick. Either I'm standing or he's standing. That's Real.
nospam
You type because you have fingers. Not because you have logic.
Phil Redmond
Of course boxers, kickboxers, etc. using stepping in and out all the time -- that's not the point. The point is that this is not WCK's method, it is a different method.
WCK's approach is to control the opponent while striking him. So, you need to look at everything in THAT context. Ask yourself: is what I am doing providing greater control over my opponent (or reducing my control) -- and that includes lessening the opponent's control. Does moving away, backing up, etc. provide more control? No. Generally, it reduces our ability to control our opponent and makes it easier for our opponent to control us. When we move away we can't use body leverage against our opponent.
I think everyone is forgetting one simple thing, and just entertain me here for a moment:
Yim Wing Chun was a woman. Stepping back is not the same as retreating, as retreating implies that you have a strategy. Retreating draws the opponent into your trap. This is fundamental to Wing Chun imho especially when dealing with a stronger and maybe more capable opponent.
So, for once T I disagree this week! Does moving away, backing up (retreating) provide more control? YES.
Ti Fei
詠春國術
I did not say that other MAs didn't use the no stepping back concept, however, in some TCMAs that concept is emphasised to a very high degree.
Of course, in "emergencies" one does step back to recover.....
Also, when one watches sports fighting competitions, many fighters are going back, if not hopping back, all the time!!!
Last edited by Hardwork108; 10-01-2010 at 01:51 PM.
Well, according to you, he did badly when an attending MMA-ist took him down, which is not true!
According to you his pressure point techniques did not work, because YOU did not feel anything, yet others at the seminare felt!
So, I don't know how to take your latest.....
However, I will say that if you are not fighting for real then instead of blasting through a visiting guest, you may take a step back.....
Anyway, just to say again, not going back in kung fu, may be a new concept for some, but it is present in styles as diverse as SPM, Ngo Cho and Wing Chun, and no doubt many others....
That is one of the reasons many of these styles do not put a new student into a sparring situation earlier on, because the natural tendecy is to go back when you are attacked. So, it is always better to get this concept "sunk" in through other two men exercises, etc. before one is pressure tested.
Again, I will repeat, in emergencies one can take a step back to recover ones central line, but the mindset is to stick/take the opponent's space......
From jump street not rolling hands if I can make somebody miss with footwork then enter into an advantage position why not though that was just an example of stepping back to to move forward......
NO problem, but you are talking about different strategies and even different arts. I am merely illustrating the that many kung fu styles use a different strategy, and if one trains enough to make this work then it can really put an opponent off his stride when, you manage to be all over him, no matter what he does.