Gaining the Edge!
Ever since I begun training in Wing Chun, Sifu’s Mark and Frank have always mentioned about being able to step up/change ‘Gears’ when either fighting or sparing. In my early years of training, I thought I understood what was being said to me, I believed this was to be able to punch faster and harder than anyone else. This however, I feel is not the case, once you experience this extra ‘Gear’ you understand what Sifu’s Mark and Frank had been explaining to us. In this article I shall endeavour to explain my take on these ‘Gears’ and how they can give you the ‘Edge’ in a fighting or sparing situation.
Gears, what does this mean to me? Firstly, it is not about punching the hardest and fastest in a traditional sense. Anyone that practices Chi Sao will understand this simple premise, if we take the front Palm technique, the harder you try to force the technique the easier it seems your opponent can stop and counter this move. If you relax and understand what you were shown and drop the front palm towards your opponent when relaxed with control and precision they have great difficulty or are unable to stop or counter this simple but effective Chi Sao application.
So what do these so called ‘Gears’ mean to me? Well in the first instance once you have experienced and understand these ‘Gears’, it is not about the fastest, hardest, punch, it is something completely different. To me it means, you are not tense, you remain relaxed, techniques glide though your opponent. They seem unable to see/feel what is happening to them. Your opponent will seem to move very slowly in comparison to yourself, but you feel you have not increased in speed. Their defences and attacks are weak and easily dealt with. To me they have lost the willingness or ability to fight or spar.
How do you gain the edge through these ‘Gears’, there are many things you need to do to be able to grasp this ‘Gear’, training, commitment, practice and fitness, everyone will understand and apply in their Martial Arts. However, there are a number of other disciplines that I feel are sometimes missed or not truly practiced, and therefore these ‘Gears’ will never in my view be achieved.
Teaching, this is a very fundamental aspect of your Martial Arts Life. In this modern world, students can be sometimes impatient to learn what they initially see as the flashy parts of any Martial Arts system, Within Wing Chun this is Chi Sao (Sticking Hands), Wooden Dummy and Bil Jee. Some Clubs may have bowed to pressure of students and teach these skills from the beginning of their Wing Chun training, this I feel can undermine the system. These disciplines within the European Tradition Wing Chun System, are taught at a point where you can learn and understand what you are being shown and taught. I feel if you learn these disciplines too soon, you can learn them, but will you understand them NO, will you ever truly understand them, again the answer is I feel is NO. These disciplines are taught to a student at various points in their Wing Chun life, when they have gained enough knowledge and experience to learn and truly understand what they have learned. To show a student to quickly will only hurt them and the system that is being taught. Mark and Frank do not take this easy route, they show you the system the way it should be taught, introducing the correct disciplines at the correct time in your Wing Chun life, this enhances the system and your own skills at Wing Chun to enable you to achieve and experience these ‘Gears’.
Testing, have the techniques been tested? I’m not talking about within the confines of the club, or even the confines of the Style, whether it is Wing Chun, Karate, Tai Chi etc. To experience the unknown, as sparing within your own style or very similar style of martial art, you basically know what's coming, you know how your opponent moves, how the strike and how they defend. Whereas experiencing another art's fighting style you will truly test your art and your ability.
Speed and Strength of the technique or application come from relaxation. Relaxation does not mean weak, sloppy, or not committed. It means you are not tense or rigid in the application of your techniques. You are able to move from one technique / application to another, interrupt your moves when confronted with a block or defence. If one is rigid in a application you will find it very difficult to achieve this flow from one technique to another, a block does not phase you, you will just move on, adapt, continue to apply the pressure.
Pressure is another important area needed, again this is not pressure from a single move i.e. the hardest punch / kick etc. The pressure is applied by swamping / overwhelming your opponent with a series of flowing relaxed and effective applications and techniques. You will not rely on one or two punch / kicks making contact and working. As in the real world of fighting, this is not the case, you need to be able to execute a barrage of techniques to your opponent, so they have no chance of stopping all of your advances. They may stop one or two or even three, but the chances of stopping twenty or thirty in a matter of seconds will be almost impossible. However, training in Wing Chun can make the impossible possible.
Fear, I have mentioned in other articles about fear and the use of it in sparing / fighting. Fear is your friend and should not be treated as a weakness. Before a fight / sparing (not within your own style or similar style) you get butterflies in your stomach / your legs go to jelly, your arms feel heavy, every thing seems to be in slow motion. This is a fantastic tool to use in a fight situation, this energy can be channelled into your fighting, understanding how you need to incorporate and use this added speed without tensing is one big key to successful use of your choosen art.
Training yourself in the correct manner, and the timing of your progression through a system will greatly enhance these 'Gears'. Within Wing Chun: First learn how to move (techniques), then progress to Chi Sao 'Sticking Hands', Chi Sao is a very important technique to learn, as it firstly brings you closer to your opponent, and secondly and in my view more importantly increases your awareness, as you need quicker reflexes and to be more relaxed in your techniques, because you are significantly closer to your opponent. When learning Chi Sao, you do not want the added pressure of having to learn totally new movement and techniques, you need to be concentrating on learning this feeling, relaxation and reflex improvement. Therefore having a bank of techniques you already can use and draw from when learning Chi Sao is a must.
The same also applies to the wooden Dummy, you need to have learnt your techniques and mastered Chi Sao before being shown the Dummy, as you want and need to concentrate on what the Dummy adds to these techniques you already know. Again as spending time on the Dummy without this prior knowledge draws you away from learning what the Dummy brings to Wing Chun, as you concentrate on learning new techniques as well.
Will these 'Gears' be fully learnt and be able to be used if you do not train in the correct manner, building in gained knowledge so you understand how each new drill such as Chi Sao and the Wooden Dummy create these 'Gears'.Pete Beresford
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