No problem
Well, regarding Huen Sau from the PB lineage, I don't know the reasoning behind what they do, the 'why' and the 'how'. Or why they feel it is repeated so often in the forms. But if they don't talk about tendon work, joint work and muscle work, then they probably do it differently. As the PB guys post images of BS detectors and bulls sh*tting, I'm guessing (and it's just a stab in the dark) that they don't work these things.
Huen Sau appears many times in the forms (across all lineages) and I was taught that this is because it places emphasis on the need to train it for what's
inside the movements.
We'd probably all agree that when we strike we don't want to be tensing all our muscles.
To do so will hamper speed (put the brakes on) and restrict the force of the strike (stop the flow of the force). So we need to use certain muscles to power the movement (triceps and lats), but we need to disengage the biceps and forearm, keeping them as relaxed as we can. The muscles we do actively use are supported by the stance and its kim sut, like I was saying before. The adduction force of the stance is not just to aid stability.
When you perform Huen Sau (in our lineage), the arm is full outstretched and you need to pay attention to what the elbow and the shoulder are doing (movement and/or position) during the Huen motion. The hand is open during part of the Huen motion and then closes into a fist during that same motion - and again you have to pay attention during this to the elbow and shoulder, as well as to the wrist.
You're working the correct articulation - as the motion is working the joints while at the same time working to stretch and strengthen the tendons. So this is about working the connective tissue while at the same time paying attention to correct muscle use (using those you need to, and relaxing/disengaging those you don't need to).
What's it all for?
If you're powering your strikes with certain muscles and muscle groups, but keeping parts of the arm
relaxed (in the LTWT lineage we don't want tension in the forearm
or the hand when we strike), then your tendon and joint work aids in flexibility and allows the strike to have better
transmission of force.
Which makes sense as sometimes people liken tendons to rubber bands connecting bones.
The Saam Bai Tze in the Biu Tze form works something similar, though with different movements and emphasis, but the general rules are the same (and the striking movements and general body methods inside of the BT form itself really take advantage of this tendon work once you've put in the time and effort - the form has what some call an elastic quality - kinda whip-like power).
Thinking of tendons as rubber bands is just my way of thinking about it, by the way, I've never heard Leung Ting use this analogy.
The Saam Pai Fut section of SNT trains various things, but the elbow, shoulder and wrist and thumb position of the 3x Fook Sau are also engaging the tendons, joints and certain muscles. Which is one of the reasons why they need to be done slowly and correctly.
Of course, although not complicated, you need someone to show you the positions of the joints, the correct articulation, etc, for these training methods.
And, perhaps most importantly, training these things in the forms
isn't enough. The forms are the beginning. You need to isolate these particular training methods and train them outside of the forms... a lot.
But the way you perform the forms generally, and as you train drills that require you to recycle the arms, etc, your learning arm methods and supporting body methods that take advantage of this relaxed use of force.
In a previous thread (many moons ago) I mentioned how the BT form has a different quality of power to it, and a few people laughed this off saying that it was hard enough to develop regular VT power, let alone adding in more power methods. But this is not really true, IMO, as this expression of power comes out naturally from the tendon training you do coupled with the particular torque and use of the spine in the BT form.
But I type all of this and I know the response that is coming from some - it is all just BS from Leung Ting.
Meh!
Originally Posted by BPWT
No problem
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