Everyone involved in martial arts love
their styles and are ready to swear that their arts are best and most
effective. People involved in Wing Chun , including myself are ready to say the
same for their art. If we put emotions aside for the moment and put aside
theory of Wing Chun as well, which is really outstanding , the reality is telling
us something entirely different about our art. If we look at the results of
Wing Chun fighters in professional MMA and Full Contact contests we can
conclude that Wing Chun is not the best choice for this type of competition .On
amateur competitions Wing Chun fighters have similar “success”. On the other
hand, there are martial arts that dominate rings and "cages" and are
an essential part of training for all professional fighters .Thai boxing,
classic boxing , BJJ and wrestling are basic foundation for training of every
professional fighter .These arts proved their efficiency all over the world in
all kinds of full contact competitions.
So, why some martial styles can
"work" and some , including Wing Chun does not. In my opinion it is
the inadequate approach to training and inadequate training its self. While in BJJ
and Thai boxing from the start practitioners are “pushed in fire" and
after only a few training sessions and only a few learned techniques practitioners
immediately apply what they have learned against an opponent who gives all
possible resistance , in traditional martial arts training process is usually
different . A great amount of time is spent on polishing techniques, we can
often see almost mathematical precision in performance which has great visual
effect , on the other hand , sparring if there is any , starts quite late .One more
thing is very important, competitive oriented sports\ styles pay great attention to physical preparation,
while traditional martial arts training often neglects this aspect at the
expense of prefect “techniques” performance, visual the effect and other less
important things .
I will try to analyze some of the mistakes
in Wig Chun training
1.
Proper understanding. At the
beginning, the most important thing is to fully and properly understand the concepts
and principles of the art .Level of understanding will determine the method and
approach to training. It is important to realize that Wing Chun is a system that
offers general principles of fighting rather than a fixed set of techniques
that cannot be changed. Wing Chun is a system that suppose to adapt to each
practitioner's needs and psycho-physical predispositions .This way a
practitioner will have an opportunity to improve all aspects of his art .It is
equally important to understand practitioner’s needs and goals and adjust training
system to that needs and goals. Self defense , sport and competition ,health
reasons …ect, suppose to have different approach in teaching and training .Clear
understanding of individual’s needs and
goals should come from both sides , instructor’s and student’s side. In order
to be achieved , goals should be clearly set up , individual must have a clear
picture of he or she wants to achieve , when that is clear instructor will have
a clear picture of the training process and adjust training system to for that
specific goals
2.
Dead drills. "Wing Chun
has a large number of exercises called "dead drills" .Tan sao drill,
drill Pak Sao, Bong sao drill and all others derived from Chi Sao are necessary
and very important for beginners. Through
these drills practitioners learn the proper mechanics and execution of the basic moves . Despite of a widespread belief these drills do not develop the reflex
response to the attack in a combat situation. The sole purpose of these
exercises is to help a beginner to correct his execution of basic techniques by
sensing an incoming energy . While these drills are very important for
beginners ,once mastered these drills should be practiced only occasionally
.This type of drills are just a tool that helps beginners learn proper mechanics
of certain movements, nothing more than that .It is wrong to believe that these
drills directly prepare practitioners for real combat conditions and represent some
kind of reflex training .Often practitioners spend too much time perfecting
these exercises and over time they become more relaxed and confident in their execution
but even a light sparring quickly show that "dead drills" are not preparation
for real fighting .It is very important to use ‘Dead drills “ properly because
they are very important training tool
that introduces beginners to the world of martial arts. Bad habits
acquired during this part of training can cause a lot of trouble for the
practitioner. Here are some important points
-Dead
drills are not sparring nor reflex training ,they are basic tool in developing
necessary physical attributes for fighting
-Proper stance and body position .If stance
and body position are not correct, body structure necessary for successful fighting
,will be ruined. Especially dangerous is losing of balance as a direct
consequence of bad body structure ,and as we all know, without a good balance
there is no good fighter.
- Improper distance between practitioners
.This is the most common and dangerous mistake that occurs in these drills is improper
distance. Techniques are performed from a "safe" distance, ie the
distance from which training partners can reach each other . This is wrong for
several reasons .Practitioners will develop wrong mechanics of blocks because
they are intercepting punches with insufficient force because they already lost
most of their energy , under a wrong angle. Awareness that punches cannot hurt develop
wrong mental state and practitioners are too relaxed which is not a proper
response to adrenaline rush that happens during combat .
- Insufficient strength. These drills,
after a certain initial period where basic mechanics of movement are acquired, must
be done with full power. If drills are not practiced with a full power practitioners
will have the same problem as it was described in the first example .
-Wrong footwork. In the beginning “dead drills” are static , without
footwork .After some time these drill should be exercised with footwork . Often
too much attention is on "arms" ,on the proper performance of the upper body but not enough attention on
footwork. Again wrong habits will cause trouble in a later pat of training
process , especially sparring . Wing Chun footwork is designed to maintain
balance and structure and helps us to preserve the integrity of the area that
we cover. Wrong footwork "opens" the practitioner to attacks and damaging
the balance and structure.
These are the most important aspects of the
"dead" reels that should be paid attention to as well as the fact
that you should be aware of the true role of these drills in this sense to
practice them.
3.
Wing Chun techniques “ . In my opinion Wing
Chun “techniques” are THE WORST thing in Wing Chun and in many traditional arts
as well. When I say " technique " I mean premeditated set of movements-blocks,
strikes, throws.. – as an answer to a certain type of attack with the help and
assistance of partner who carry out the attack . The problem with this is that
training partner "freezes" and wait for "technique" to be
executed without any resistance .This way it is possible to perform the most
complex sets of movements, unfortunately, without any support in the reality.
Often we can see two, three or more blocks applied on one strike ,or endless
set of blocks to an endless set of attacks . Often , this is a primary way of
practice is some styles and instead of sparring , people practice “techniques”
. Even practiced with full strength “techniques” are nothing more than choreography
,something that looks nice but it has no martial value . I do not understand
people who believe in ”techniques”, not that is not possible to apply more than
one block to one attack and it is not possible to endlessly block series of
attacks but it is impossible to memorize a set of movement as an answer to an
attack .
4. Chi sao besides wooden dummy is a "trade mark" Wing Chun.
What is the purpose of Chi Sao? Main purpose of chi sao is to help in development
of a proper body structures . Unfortunately the concept of wing chun structure
is unknown to many, hence many have wrong ideas about what chi sao is and how
to practice it . In short, the proper structure helps deal with incoming force
under different angles, allows us to control the opponent who is stronger than
us, to redirect or absorb great amount of
force without losing the balance or give up the position\space we control .Chi
sao is just an exercise that allows to develop proper body structure without
exposing the body to stress of constant hitting .Chi sao teaches us what to do
and how to react from the moment of contact, and how to deal with the
upcoming force. Also, chi sao teaches us how to cover and control the space in
front of us. Despite of common believe , chi sao does not develop contact reflexes and
"finding holes in opponent's defense". It s very easy to prove this ,
to prove that chi sao does not develop “contact reflexes” whatever that means
and cannot help anyone to find “holes in his opponent's defense" . I suggest
a visit to a boxing club .First , ask a boxer to practice chi sao , I believe
wing chun practitioner will have no problem to defeat a boxer , because boxing
does ton have a chi sao practice . After that wing chun practitioner should try
to fight with a boxer for a round or two , if “contact reflex” theory is
correct , boxer should be defeated just as easily as it was in chi sao session,
if that does not happened then “contact reflex”\ "finding holes in
opponent's defense" theory is not correct .Chi sao is not sparring , it is
not fighting , does not prepare directly for fighting it is a drill that
develops a necessary skills and attributes which will be ,through future
training, used to make a complete set of skill necessary for fighting . If there
is no sparring and|or real fighting experience , chi sao will not make anyone a
fighter. Chi sao is not substitution for
sparring ,and it is not a magical tool that makes good fighters , it is
just a training tool ,a drill and not the most important one .
5.
Physical conditioning is
probably the most neglected aspect in traditional martial arts. Physical conditioning
does not mean just the cardio workout but also the strength training and preparation
of the body to endure the pain and shock caused by physical trauma .This is a
crucial point for successful practice of martial arts and sports. Without
physical strength and ability to endure the pain and shock during the fight
everything else is meaningless , all sparring, chi sao, drills ect.
6.
–Sparring is the most
important part of martial arts training, often totally neglected . Sparring
should start at the very beginning of the training process , as soon as
practitioner learn couple of basics movements he should practice to apply with
a full force with noncomplying opponent , under a stress of possibility to be
injured ( punched , kicked , thrown …) . There is only one way to learn how to
fight and that is actual fight , there is no other way , just like swimming , you have to go into the water to learn how
to swim there is no other way . While in the early stages of training sparring
should be controlled and it shouldn’t be main part of training ,in the later
stages of practice, when practitioner already mastered technical part of the
art and is physically prepared , sparring should be main part of the practice .
7.
Situational training is crucial
in self-defense practice. This system of training should bring the practitioner
as close as possible to the real self-defense situation, to raise adrenalin to
the level equal to adrenalin level in a real attack. This way, practitioner
will build proper physical and psychological response to stress in a self –defense
situation and will have a real sense of his abilities. To be able to defend
means to be able to control adrenalin pump with all its effects in the body and
mind, to be able to use it and turn it against the attacker.
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