Southern Arizona Wing Chun - Articles - SO AZ WING CHUN GUNG FU

Southern arizona wing chun articles

New articles will be added periodically. The most recent are found at the bottom of this list.

Articles in WCI Magazine
Sifu Carina has written articles for Wing Chun Illustrated Magazine.
There is an article in each issue from August 2020 to December 2021.
Check them out here - https://www.wingchunillustrated.com/

Southern AZ Wing Chun Principles - Structure

Basic structural alignment - Ears directly over the shoulders, shoulders directly over the hips, and hips directly over the center of the feet.
Create alert energy with correct amount of natural twisting/stretching tension in each structure and each technique, not too tight and not too loose.
The three body structures when combined and functioning together create one "whole body structure".
Correct structural integration and tension/firmness (energy) is the foundation of your ability to create a strong structure.
Find the neutral point within each structure and in-between each technique.
Adjust the alignment of all 3 structures to ground incoming force and outgoing power.
Proper structure enables neutralizing your training partners force to adjust automatically.

~ Carina and Jim - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 8-9-14

SOUTHERN AZ WING CHUN PRINCIPLES - Position

Arm structure position adjustment.
Torso structure position adjustment.
Leg structure position adjustment.

Important Points -

Upon engagement, adjust positioning of all 3 structures as needed, with balloon function (proper tension/firmness) to keep correct alignment of structures on target (on opponent's center line area) to attack or counter attack, or to keep or regain the attack line.
The controlling edge (cutting edge) - The controlling edge is at the point of contact and gives your structure the hint or signal how, where, and when to respond and adjust the positioning of your structure, according to the opponents actions or inaction.
Understand the terms "Active" and "Passive".
Intent is always on target.
Correct understanding of positioning and staying on target (actually all of the principles combined) helps you to develop heightened Listening/Sensing ability. This is one very important aspect of what chi sau drills are for. To develop the ability to sense or know what your training partner is going to do, even before they do. It teaches you how, where, and when to adjust and respond to attack or counterattack based on timing and leverage. Without listening skills you will be attacking blindly and randomly with speed and force. Attacking blindly is a bad habit that allows your opponent to counter you much more easily. Listen, not with your ears, but with the depth of your entire being.
Understand the blocking line and the attack lines to strike, trap, joint lock, or take down.
Correct positioning allows you to feel when to engage and disengage.
Inside out position to open your opponents structure and outside in position to cross your opponents structure.
Understand your target and learn to see/feel both the upper and lower open gates to gain the most advantageous position to your target.
Understand how superior leverage is created by proper positioning and adjustment of the fulcrum or pivot point at the point of contact.
Correct positioning will give you the best leverage to control your opponent efficiently without using excess force (Economy of Motion). This is a very important concept to understand and is directly related to how a smaller weaker person can overcome a much larger stronger person.

~ Carina and Jim - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 8-18-14

SOUTHERN AZ WING CHUN PRINCIPLES - Distance

Understand the direct relationship of “Distance” to all of the other wing chun principles .
The correct distance for practicing Chi Sau is the foundation for understanding proper distance, which transfers to all other drills and applications.
Know the correct hand, elbow, shoulder, knee, and foot distance from your target.
Adjust your distance from the target by adjusting your footwork/stance.
Don't overextend or collapse your arm structure and don't lean the body in any direction.
Understand the importance of the straight line (shortest distance) between your mother line and opponents mother line.

~ Carina and Jim - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 8-30-14

SOUTHERN AZ WING CHUN PRINCIPLES - Timing

Chair kuen (Basic Pulling Punch)
Forms and solo techniques
Chi sau – Basic self timing development.

Opponent based timing (Based on the motion of your opponent).

Always keep in mind that with everything regarding WC training there are always two aspects of development... (1) self based development and (2) partner/opponent based development. Sometimes the focus of training is primarily on self based development, and sometimes the focus is on countering your opponents movements (partner based development). If you can keep this idea in your mind that there is self based development as well as partner based development in all of the WC principles, it will be easier to keep things straight.
At the beginning stage of developing timing during chi sau motion you are working on self timing. Once that is developed to a certain degree, partner based timing is the next stage.
To develop timing you must have a clear understanding of the WC principles such as structure, position, distance, body-unity, target, control, balance, neutralize etc.
The most efficient time to respond and counter is DURING your opponents motion (or pressure), while they are still committed to that motion.
It is much safer to attack an open-ING line, than an open line.
Do not confuse timing with speed. They are two completely different things. Speed is how fast OR slow you move. Timing is sensing When to move. You must understand the relationship between Timing and speed.
You must be able to control and smoothly adjust your speed.
Correct timing can't be planned, it must be sensed or felt.
For development, the closer you can merge your motion/speed with the speed of your opponent the better.
For development we don't worry about increasing speed and moving fast for the sake of moving fast, we focus much more on developing timing and controlling our speed.
Do not stop after your block. In application, your counterattack follows your blocking motion to become one smooth efficient motion.
Sifu Fong's “1/2-beat timing” function - two motions or techniques within one timing beat. Most often used to open an attack line. Block/attack or adjust/attack.
You should be able to find all the different timings in all WC drills.

~ Carina and Jim - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 8-30-14

What is wing chun?

What is Wing Chun? Here are some answers I hear bandied about: – A Chinese gung fu system – A martial art that emphasizes hand techniques – A stand up self defense art – A martial art that develops fast hands - Bruce Lee's first art – A martial art that has limited kicking techniques – A method of health and self improvement - A close range fighting system - A martial art that has no ground game – A street self defense system, not a sport art – The most awesome martial art ever.

Every wing chun practitioner’s answer to this question will be different and it will (or should) change over the course of your years of training as you explore and learn. My thoughts on this question have changed and evolved over time, and after over two decades of consistent wing chun training, this is my opinion – First and foremost Wing Chun is a Martial Art, a method to develop skills of combat and self defense.

Through the process of learning martial skills, over time it becomes clear that wing chun more specifically, is a method of self-research and self-development in 3 distinct areas of our lives; the physical (body), the mental (mind), and the spiritual.

Through rigorous development of our forms, many solo drills, and extensive partner drills, our goal is to develop:

Our bodies to become fit, coordinated, strong, balanced, and well skilled.
Our minds to be aware, calm, focused, and alert.
Our spirit to be peaceful and respectful.

If you look at wing chun holistically, through the development of the wing chun principles and our in depth method of training you will develop a complete range of combat skills, while at the same time improve your overall physical and mental health and well being for a lifetime. If you limit your focus of wing chun to only fighting skills (yang), OR only health benefits (yin), you will be missing out on the much bigger picture that wing chun has to offer and the result will be incomplete.

Study wing chun from this perspective, and there is no end to what you can learn and develop. If you look at it solely in a way listed in the first paragraph, you will be severely limiting your view. Keep an open mind and don't limit yourself to preconceived ideas of what you think wing chun is. The possibilities of what you can learn and develop through wing chun are limitless if you approach it with this mindset.

Don't be tempted to put wing chun into a box. It can not be contained as one thing... it is everything! If the principles of wing chun are thoroughly developed and understood, it can allow you to adapt to ANY situation. Wing Chun is a martial art and method of self-research and self-development. In order for wing chun to remain alive and intact for generations to come, it must continue to evolve, develop, and adapt, while at the same time staying true to it's roots, principles, and traditions (yin/yang balance).

~ Carina Cirrincione - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © April 15, 2016

fight

“FIGHT” What does that word mean to you? Here are few scenarios that might come to mind.....
- Did you see that UFC “fight” last night?
- There's gonna be a “fight” on the playground after school.
- I had to “fight” some dude who hit on my girl at the bar last night.
- I was attacked by someone trying to kill me and I had to “fight” for my life.

After nearly 3 decades of martial arts training, these are my thoughts -

Fighting can be broken down to two distinctly different types. One is Sport fighting, a game where there are strict rules which have to be followed in order to participate and do well. Your goal in sport fighting is to score points given by judges. I also place in this category, a street fight where two people are trying to prove how tough they are, but not kill each other. The second type of fighting is for self defense or what I call, survival fighting, where there are no rules and no judges. Just you, facing someone who is trying to kill you.

Within a single martial art, such as Wing Chun, a person can train either for sport fighting or for survival fighting, depending on their goals. The mindset and way of training for these two different types of fighting is very different. At SO AZ Wing Chun we train for survival fighting, not sport fighting. I will never fight to prove how tough I am, or to make someone submit, or to teach someone a lesson. The only time I will fight is if someone is trying to kill me, and in order to survive I must kill them first or die trying. Fighting is ugly, dirty, and vicious. No judges, tapping out, or rules. This, in my opinion, is true self defense.

There are many different styles of martial arts that teach fighting skills. On the surface they seem to focus on different techniques or methods of training. Punching, kicking, throwing, joint locks, grappling, weapons, etc. it's easy to be distracted by the outward techniques of a system of martial arts and fail to see what is truly behind them, the Principles. The principles of every martial art system are the same, how they are expressed and developed looks different. To clarify what I mean by the word “Principle”; principles are the concepts such as structure, position, distance, timing, balance, body unity, control, etc. that you are trying to develop and improve every time you train.
In the Wing Chun system that we study and teach, the beginning stages are focused on learning basic techniques that teach the beginner how to move, build their foundation, and introduce them to the basics of the principles. Sport fighting is very technique oriented and a basic level is all that is really needed to start participating in sport fighting. Many people stay at this level because this is the level that interests them the most . There is nothing at all wrong with that. Sport fighting can be a lot of fun and very rewarding.

If you choose to develop your art (whatever your art is) to higher and higher levels, eventually you will come to realize that the techniques learned and honed in the beginning stages are simply vehicles to understanding the higher principles of the system. As the principles become more developed, the techniques become much less important and the development of the control of your body as a whole, in any scenario or position; standing, sitting, lying the ground, with weapons or without, takes over. Any martial system that is complete will be based on developing principles, skills that can be applied in any situation, against any type of enemy (there is literally an infinite number of survival fighting scenarios and variables). Your training methods MUST be very well rounded in order to develop the full depth of these skills. This is precisely why we say that training is not fighting and fighting is not training. Training is a method of progressively developing specific skills which over time will become second nature. Fighting is applying those skills to the best of your ability when your life depends on it. Some martial artists can come to this level of development after diligently studying and exploring one system for decades, while others can come to the same level of development after studying multiple systems for decades. There are many ways to skin a cat (no offense to cats).

When we talk about “fighting” we have to be on the same page in order to communicate our thoughts and opinions clearly. We say, “when you “fight” you should always play your own game”. This concept holds true in both survival fighting and sport fighting, but at the same time there are differences. To me there is a huge difference between boxing with a boxer vs fighting a boxer. In other words, if I am going to box with a boxer, in order to do well at that game I must study boxing. If I am going to grapple with a grappler, I must study grappling so I know how to play that game. BUT, if I “fight “ a boxer or a grappler, (for some reason a boxer or grappler is trying to kill me on the street) I do not need to know boxing or grappling. In that scenario, I will play my own game, and fight to survive with the skills I have developed through Wing Chun. This example is life and death, not a game. On the street you will have no idea what the background of your attacker is. Conversely, If you enter a tournament or a competition, you are purposefully placing yourself in a game of sport fighting and in order do well at that game you must train for that game, and know it's rules very well, and develop your own game within that game. If you are more interested in self defense skills, as I have described above, you're better to focus your training on survival fighting. You must decide what your goals are so that you can make the most of your training time and have the correct mindset for development. (I have my own experience regarding sport fighting which is what I base this on, which I will write about at a later date)

Don't get me wrong, I have absolutely nothing against sport fighting. I enjoy watching UFC, boxing, kickboxing, etc., and to see incredible athletes play their game. No different than watching the gymnastics of wushu forms completions. I appreciate the skill and athleticism but neither sport fighting nor wushu is survival fighting. The first two are games... the third is no game. Keeping them separate can be difficult. They seem to blur together because on the surface they can look very very similar to untrained eyes. With more and more training, the differences can not be missed or ignored. This does NOT mean that sport fighters can't defend themselves in a survival situation on the street... of course they can. But their success will be determined by the their ability to translate skills bound by rules, for which they spend day after day training, to a situation where there are no rules.

Simple common sense dictates that in any type of fighting situation, be it sport or survival, the person with the best developed skills will have the upper hand. You must have no delusion. In a sport fight or a survival fight, no matter what style of martial art your opponent or attacker trains in, the bottom line is that if their skill level is higher than yours, your chances of coming out on top are diminished, and if your skill level is higher than theirs, your chances of survival are increased. There are no guarantees, no magic martial art styles and no secret techniques. Just a lot of very hard work. You've either developed the principles and skills to survive the situation, or you haven't. That is why I will never stop training, developing, and exploring my Wing Chun. If you can be creative and think and train outside the box, the sky is the limit when it comes to how much you can learn and develop in Wing Chun.

~ Carina Cirrincione - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © February 23, 2016

What does "using too much muscle" mean?

“You are using too much muscle!”.... Every student of Sifu Fong has heard him use this correction at one time or another, but what does “using muscle” or “using too much muscle” mean? Everything we do requires the use of our musculature, so what is he actually telling us? This is a very common question and the answer is multifaceted but I’d like to interpret this with a few points -
(1) Mastering the Wing Chun Principles is THE key to efficiency.
(2) Don't move against the force or structure when blocking someones attack and don't force your way in when you are attacking.
(3) Learn to neutralize force or pressure correctly at the moment of interception.
(4) Understand structure and move with body-unity. Don't block or attack with just your hands/arms. Block and attack with correct structural alignment and body-unity. In other words, the body always backs up and supports the hands. This will allow both incoming and outgoing forces to be transferred to and from your feet to the floor more efficiently which will result in using less muscular strength. Your strength should be the result of proper alignment of the body, not muscle strength alone (brute force). Of course we have to use our muscles but Wing Chun teaches us how to increase and maximize the efficiency of not just our musculature but our bodies as a whole (see our note on body unity).
(5) Learn how to develop and maintain correct tension throughout the body (potential elastic energy) and how to keep your intent directed to your target, regardless of what position you are in (see our note on structure, positioning....... well all of them actually!).
(6) All wing chun students use “too much muscle” in the beginning. As you train and improve your skills and understand how to develop the principles, you will eventually begin to use less and less improper muscular strength.
(7) Stating it simply, “using too much muscle” means you are moving incorrectly and not according to the guidelines of the principles. If one or more of the principles is compromised... if your structure or positioning or distance are off for example, you will have to compensate for that defect by using more muscular strength.

Here is one simple example - This would be easier to show than to write (we need to make some videos) but if you look at the basic drill of closing the gap with pak da for example, from the attackers point of view, the gap is closed (bridged) with your footwork (don't reach and chase the hands which will make you loose your triangle structure and target). Your structure and positioning should be focused on your target (on your opponents center line area). Once at the correct distance, the pak da is started with the power being generated with full body-unity from your legs not just the hands (part of Sifu Fong’s hammer and nail function). If the other person does not attempt to block (no interception) then the attacker just goes straight in to the target...BAM! BUT your training partner is not going to let that happen, everyone will try to block an attack one way or another, SO, and this is VERY important... When you start your pak da, as SOON as you feel the instant the other person starts to intercept your attack and your attack line to the target is now even slightly blocked or intercepted, you MUST switch the power for that attack from an attacking function to a controlling function (dynamic to static) and instantly and smoothly switch to a different attack, which will be based on how the blocker is blocking. In other words, if your attack line gets intercepted you DO NOT want to just force through his block... EVEN if you are stronger and you can. You will still be going against the blockers interception which IS “using too much muscle!” (or going against the force). Trying to blast through someones block (or move their block out of the way) will take a tremendous amount of power out of your attack, EVEN if the attack makes it's mark. To attack efficiently with maximum power, find the path of least resistance and every time interception from your partner crops up, use their interception and motion to adjust and flow into another path until the target is reached... and destroyed (2 to 3 moves at most). Easier said than done but that's why we spend so many years training.

If you look at the same drill from the blockers point of view, the exact same concepts apply. Neutralize the attack with structure and body-unity (the technique used will vary, based on how the attack comes in). DO NOT try to stop the attack. If you develop the ability to use all of the wing chun principles together and neutralize correctly, the attack will be deflected so you can immediately counterattack. If you stop the persons attack and then try to find an attack line for your counter, #1 you will have completely missed the correct timing to counter, and #2 stopping the attack requires going against the force which again is “using muscle”! Your counterattack should happen DURING the attack and blocking motion, not after it has stopped. But don’t be confused... When we do drills, we need to make sure that we develop the block correctly and the block is clean and correct before we counter, so in some development drills we pause after the block to make sure everything has been executed correctly, but in application that pause is so small it is imperceptible. This is precisely why chi sau and gor sau drills have to be cooperative, at first, in order to develop these skills. Then the drills can become random and full speed without loosing the principles being developed. If the principles become compromised; loss of triangle structure, chasing hands, being one sided, going around the line, moving against the force, ect. then you know it’s time to slow the drills back down. This is how we progressively increase complexity, speed, and power over time.

If training partners do not invest in loss, the drills become a tight sloppy mess and development of these skills will NOT be possible. Remember, gor sau is not fighting and it's not a competition, it is a drill to develop your skills (principles) and to help your partner to do the same. To go into the explanation of how this is all developed is an extremely vast subject. It's not as simple as, “just use this technique or that technique”. You need to work on many many drills to develop ALL of the principles in depth to really understand and learn how to maximize your potential, while minimizing the “force or muscle” needed to do so. There is a lot more to it than what I can write here, but I hope that helps a little.

~ Carina Cirrincione - Southern Arizona Wing Chun © 7-22-16

CAN YOU BE A CLONE OF YOUR TEACHER?

No of course not, nor should you want to be. No two people move exactly alike, or think exactly alike, or learn and process information exactly alike. Of course as students we try our best to learn as much as we can from our teacher, spending decades attempting to replicate their movements as closely as we can and try to understand the concepts of the system as completely as we can to our teacher's instruction. Sifu Jim and I teach together at our school and even though we've both been studying Wing Chun with our teacher Sifu Augustine Fong for over 30 years (35 for Jim), we don't move exactly like each other and we don't explain things to our students in exactly the same way. We naturally differ from each other and from our teacher in some ways. No one can be a clone of anyone else, no matter how hard they try. We teach the same information and many of the words we use to describe things are the same, but sometimes the words are different. There are many different ways to say the same thing and some explanations will resonate with some students and other ways of explaining concepts will resonate with others. For instance, when explaining the concept of rooting your power, instead of using the word rooting, you could also use grounding, or bracing, or supporting. Some people will prefer one word over another, but all 4 words can mean the same thing. We look at these differences in teaching methods and explanations as an asset, not a detriment. The most important thing is staying true to the system and passing on correct information while expressing what we've have learned in our own words (as much as possible).

Students of Fong's Wing Chun may have noticed that the Southern AZ Wing Chun Principles seem to differ slightly from Sifu Fong's 13 principles. (Fong's Wing Chun 13 Principles = Structure, Position, Distance, Timing, Power, Control, The way, Adjustment, Aggressive, Decision, Reaction, Conserve, Guts.) All of Sifu Fong's 13 principles are covered in the So AZ WC principles, we have just organized them differently. In recent years in addition to Sifu Fong's 13 principles, he has also developed and listed many concepts/functions alongside his 13 principles. If you read through the definitions of the So AZ Wing Chun principles, you will find that all of Sifu Fong's principles and functions are included and explained. We have simply rearranged the structure of the information. We have not added anything or taken anything away.

To us “principles” are the concepts or ideas that you are trying to develop in your training, every single time you train. Instead of simply regurgitating what our teacher says, which anyone can do, we would rather interpret what we have learned and digested over the last three plus decades in our own way, while at the same time staying absolutely true to what our teacher has passed on to us, which is crucial.

Sifu Jim and I will continue to refine and develop the way we teach and explain things, hopefully for the rest of our lives just as our teacher is doing. Sifu Fong is constantly evolving his teaching methods, drills, and words he uses to explains things. He is our inspiration for our own continued growth and development. Many years ago Sifu Fong actually had more than 13 principles, but over time with his vast experience and the unceasing refinement of his system, he narrowed them down to 13. Even the names of some of the 13 have change over time to words he believes better describe the principle. For instance when I started learning wing chun from him, the principle he now calls “structure” used to be called “posture”. He decided the word Structure more clearly described the concept he was trying to teach. Many refinements like this have been made over the years.

A couple of the principles we have listed such as “Balance” and “Target” are not included in Sifu Fong's 13 but they are concepts he includes in his Wing Chun "functions" that he talks about and teaches constantly, which is why I listed them as principles. His principle “Conserve” is not listed as one of our principles, but I have covered “Conserve” under the principle “Power” because what you are conserving is your power, with the explanation that you do not want to use 100% of your power so that you can always maintain the ability to automatically adjust and counter every move of your opponent, so that you do not “overshoot” and loose control and balance.

Sifu Fong teaches his students to not simply copy what he does and teaches, he encourages us to think for ourselves and teach our own digestion of what we have learned from him. Every instructor must eventually teach their own way. Trying to be a clone of your Sifu will only get you so far. Even Sifu Fong does not teach exactly the way his teacher taught him. His methods reflect the immense knowledge he learned from his teacher and he honors his teacher by developing his own unique style. As Sifu Fong has said many times, he teaches us to be number one of ourselves, not number two of him.

~ Carina Cirrincione - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © April 15th, 2017

“The study of Martial Arts is a way to refine your heart”

"The study of martial arts is a way to refine your heart", is a quote by our SiFu Augustine Fong. This is my interpretation of the meaning of that quote -

The study of martial arts is not only to develop physical attributes and the ability to defend oneself, it is also the study of the spirit and how to conduct oneself respectfully and honorably in all aspects of life. Developing how to control yourself physically and mentally are equally important. One without the other leaves the martial arts student incomplete and unbalanced, either rude and arrogant on the one hand, or too passive on the other. The cultivation of deadly physical abilities coupled with respect, tolerance, and compassion for others, should be well developed by the time a student reaches the highest levels of martial arts training. How you conduct yourself inside the training hall, as well as outside in the real world, shows your true character as well as your level. If you are a student, look for a teacher who possesses these qualities. If you are a teacher, guide your students along this path.

This martial code of conduct is displayed on the wall of our school and we ask that our students follow these standards to the best of their ability. Something we as teachers continuously try to improve on:
The Dao of a Martial Artist - Code of conduct to develop character of the highest quality.

Moral Integrity (honor, decency, honesty, accountability)
Humility (balanced ego, down to earth, humble)
Benevolence (courtesy, grace, kindness, mercy)
Perseverance (dedication, continued effort)
Confidence (pride without arrogance)
Respect (for self and others)
Discipline (self control)
Loyalty (commitment)

~ Carina and Jim - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 8-3-17

Southern AZ wing chun principles - power

Always keep in mind that what you are developing every time you train are the principles. All of the principles are linked together and are always adjusting together. So Az Wing Chun Principles: Structure, Position, Distance, Timing, Power, Control, Balance, Body-Unity, Target, Neutralize, The Tao, Mindfulness, Fierceness.

POWER - Basic overview

Types of Power in relation to your structure: Steel bar (hard), Elastic (soft), Rattan (spring).
Types of Power for application: Explode (fajin), Connecting, Bouncing, Long bridge, Short bridge, Sticking, Listening, Drilling, Chiseling, Direct, Indirect, Guiding.

Important points -

There are three aspects of power that need to be developed. (1) How to generate power (all the various types), (2) how to release power, and (3) how to deal with the rebounding force at impact.

Power in Wing Chun comes from proper alignment of the bones and joints, the elasticity of the tendons and ligaments, rotation of the body structures, and mental intent, not from the strength of the muscles alone. Muscles are needed for movement, but power is not generated by the muscles directly.

It is important to learn how to properly ground your outgoing power, as well as the incoming force of your partner, with correct structural alignment (positioning), footwork, and body-unity.

Basic chi sau motion and drills teach how to direct your power (energy, intent) to your controlling target (on the mother-line of your training partner).

To release power and also to receive the rebounding force at impact, in a punch for example, learn to feel and develop the relationship and alignment of all three structures and the correct path of energy.

Learn how to maximize your potential striking power by correctly adjusting all principles.

When your line of attack has been intercepted, learn to feel when and how and to switch (adjust) your power and attacking function to a controlling/connecting function, so that you can neutralize and counter that interception with clear precise timing.

Power is adaptable moment to moment adding or subtracting as necessary. Your power is never turned off. Like a dimmer switch, power needs to be adjustable. Increasing to control, connect, or strike, or decreasing to neutralize and move with your partner's motion, momentarily until you can take over.

Control your power. Conserve and use only what is necessary to do the job. Never use 100% of your power so that you can always maintain the ability to automatically adjust and counter every movement of your opponent, so that you do not “overshoot” and loose control and balance.

Know the difference between true power (developed from the concepts above) and forced strength. True power is achieved by correctly embodying all of the Wing Chun principles efficiently and simultaneously. Moving incorrectly results in having to use forced strength to compensate for the lack of developed skills.

~ Carina and Jim - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 10-31-14

Southern AZ wing chun principles - control

Develop your skills progressively from slow to full speed, and from simple to complex so that you can perfect your form and body mechanics. With a solid foundation beneath you, as you slowly increase the pace and complexity, the principles you are trying to develop will remain intact, building good habits that will become completely natural over time. When this level is achieved, full speed will seem slow and complex will feel simple. This is the dao of development.
In training always focus on developing precise controlled motions. Avoid any unnecessary and nonessential motion.
The concept of “control” must be applied to every other principle.
When we use the word “control” in relation to controlling your power, we are not talking about the absence of full power or full speed. Learning control is developing the ability to govern what happens with that power and speed. Anyone can hit. To develop very precise control of your body under pressure takes a tremendous amount of training under the guidance of someone who knows how to teach these skills.
Don't let momentum carry you away. Develop the ability to pause with control at any point during a motion. Uncontrolled momentum will pull you off center and destroy your structure. Controlling momentum is a balance between controlling body stability and mobility in the respective appropriate areas.
Feel the steadiness/stillness within all motions (techniques).
Feel and control the neutral space in between every motion.
It is very important to understand that in Wing Chun training we develop the basic concept of one hand controlling while the other hand simultaneously attacks.
When your line of attack has been intercepted, learn to feel when and how and to switch (adjust) your attacking function to a controlling function, so that you can neutralize and counter that interception with clear precise timing.
Understand the difference between static and dynamic control and know how and when to apply them.
Learn how to make all motions smooth and balanced.
Control yourself physically (intent and movement) and mentally (intent and thought).

~ Carina and Jim - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 10-31-14

Southern AZ wing chun principles - balance

Physical and mental balance.
Gravitational balance (center of gravity or staying centered).
Yin/Yang balance.

Gravitational balance (center of gravity) -

Feel how to adjust your body to stay balanced and centered all the time; during forms, single person drills, two person drills, chi sau, gor sau, etc. Understand how staying centered relates to body-unity.

Basic weight distribution:
- Side to side - keep your body 50/50 (or close to it) between your feet; to stay centered, to stay potentially mobile in any direction and to have the ability to rotate on your central axis for issuing power and to receive incoming forces.
- Front to back – It is also important to stay centered on your feet front to back. Do not rest your weight on your heels, in doing so your weight will be shifted too far back and you will loose the ability to properly adjust. It is important to pivot on the heels so you can stay centered, but do not shift your weight back to your heels.

It is important to understand that when your body COG is 50/50 (or close to it), as you adjust and rotate your legs and center, the PRESSURE on your feet will not always be 50/50.

Another aspect of weight distribution relating to balance and body-unity is moving your whole body in one direction at the same time. When you use rotation instead of shifting to execute a technique, you maintain balance by having a yin-yang balance of equal and opposite motion. If you shift your body weight without rotation to execute a technique, moving your whole body in one direction at the same time, your center will shift and you will be using momentum instead of rotation which will result in weak structure, loss of control, and being unstable.

Understand that there is a difference between developing and adjusting your own COG when you are doing solos drills, and adjusting your COG to your partner when you are doing partner drills (both stationary and moving footwork drills). Both are vitally important to develop.

Understand and develop the Balance of “Passive and Active structure and positioning” in your own body -

In your own structure and energy - Learn to adjust the balance of passive and active (yin/yang) between all parts of the body structures. Balance between both arms, both legs, and the relationship and balance of the arms to the legs and vise versa, etc. Feel the balance OF all your triangle structures and BETWEEN all of your triangle structures. Always adjusting the balance between the passive and active structures, of your body, and to your target.
Be aware when an individual muscle feels tight, in your shoulder or back for example, and figure out where the imbalance is that is causing that muscle to act on it's own and/or overreact. Could be caused by a problem in your structure, or positioning, or tension, or distance, or moving against the force instead of neutralizing (following) etc.
Understand and develop the Balance of “Responding motion and Initiating motion” with a training partner.
Every physical motion should be balanced to its opposite.

Balanced does not always mean Equal -

One simple example: in chi sau, the pressure on the points of contact at the wrists will not always be the same on both sides due to the structure of the positions (yes at times they are equal, but not always).
Understand the Difference between “balanced” and “equal”. As an example; (A) 50% and (B) 50% are balanced to 100% and equal to each other as both A and B are the same number. In comparison, (A) 75% and (B) 25% are also balanced to 100% but UN-equal to each other as the numbers are not the same. I realize this is an abstract concept, but try to understand how this idea of being balanced but not necessarily equal, applies to your body and how you should always be adjusting to stay balanced to your target.

Yin/Yang - The best image to explain balance is the yin/yang symbol. It is not statically half white and half black. It is an image representing the never ending flow of yin becoming yang and yang becoming yin. Perpetually flowing in balanced adjustment with one another where there is always some yang within yin and some yin within yang. Understand how this concept relates to how you are constantly adjusting and controlling the balance within your own body (responding/initiating, following/leading, static/dynamic, passive/active, etc). Study this image well and it will reveal insights to many wing chun questions.

~ Carina and Jim - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 11-17-14

southern az wing chun principles - body-unity

Body-unity (whole body power) is the integration of all of the elements of each body structure, so they all function harmoniously with maximum efficiency and strength.
Correct relaxed stretching and twisting tension throughout the body must be developed in order for full body unity to function. Your legs, torso, and arms should be be firm yet flexible and grounded yet yielding (Alert energy). Balanced, natural, twisting tension with the correct amount of stretch, not too tight and not to loose. (Sifu Fong's “Twist and connect/linking function”)
To understand body-unity you must also understand body separation. This is the yin-yang balance of body-unity. The whole body does NOT move as one single unit all locked together at the same time in the same direction. All three body structures are linked together and each segment within each structure moves independently, flowing together in the correct sequence. Each part of the body has it's own job or function and executes it's function at it's own precise time which in effect unifies the entire body system. At the same time there is a yin-yang balance of equal and opposite forces and directions throughout the body. When part of the body is moving, another part of the body remains static, when a part of the body moves left, another part moves right, when a part of the body moves upwards, another part moves down. This can be internal and not always easy to see by an observer unless the motion is exaggerated. This is precisely why the first section of siu lim tau is practiced slowly, so the proper movement can be felt and developed. Once this body control is developed, the forms can then be practiced with increased speed and power. Chi sau and gor sau drills are developed the same way, from slow at the beginning to increased power and speed over time.
Body-unity requires correct alignment of the three body structures to ground the power (incoming and outgoing). With correct alignment of your structures, the incoming forces and outgoing power will be supported to the floor. This requires constant adjustment moment to moment. (the basis of what Sifu Fong calls, “hammer and nail function” with the body backing up the hands)
The instantaneous rebounding force from your attack follows this same path but reversed. To neutralize an opponent's force, the path is also the same but reversed starting from the point of contact and ending through your feet.
You must have full body-unity to Neutralize incoming force correctly.
Utilizing body-unity allows your motions to be balanced, efficient, smooth, fluid and much more powerful. The result is efficient and maximum physical potential.
Correct understanding and adjustment of body-unity is required to keep your structure, position and power always directed to your target.
Understand the yin/yang balance of body-unity in relation to: (A) The balance of static and dynamic motion. Understand which part of the body needs to remain static and which parts are dynamic. This is always adjusting and changing moment to moment, in forms, solo drills and chi sau drills. (B) The balance of equal and opposite motion. Every motion or action needs to be balanced to its opposite.
The breath - Learn how to integrate correct breathing to enhance body movement. Full body-unity includes coordinating breath with movement.
The mind - The mind is also an important part of full body-unity. Your intent is always focused on your target and on what you are doing. Where your mind goes, the body will follow.
Maximum power generation is a result of correct body-unity.
If body-unity is developed properly, your ability to be able to meet the force of your opponent and have the tools to respond and adjust with that force automatically, without planning or having to rely on strength, will be greatly increased.
Bio-tensegrity is an aspect of body-unity and another way to help explain and understand it.

~ Carina and Jim - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 11-5-14

southern az wing chun principles - the tao

The natural holistic way or path.
Universal law. The underlying natural order of the universe.
All motions come from your heart.
Mind, Body, and Spirit are in balance.
Develop your skills progressively from slow to full speed, and from simple to complex so that you can perfect your form and body mechanics. With a solid foundation beneath you, as you slowly increase the pace and complexity, the principles you are trying to develop will remain intact, building good habits that will become completely natural over time. When this level is achieved, full speed will seem slow and complex will feel simple. This is the dao of development.

~ Carina and Jim - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 11-15-14

southern az wing chun principles - target

Mother-line = Central vertical axis of rotation.
Center-line = The line (vertical plane) from your mother-line to your partner's mother-line.
Controlling target = Your training partners center of gravity/COG. (Blocking line)
Attack-line = The precise target on your opponent (primary or secondary) that is attacked (or manipulated) at the appropriate time.
Primary target = On your training partner's center-line.
Secondary target = Off your training partner's center line (arm or leg).

Important points -

The Primary striking target area is on the mother-line of your training partner. This target is not a spot or a thin line, it is the central core or axis of rotation of the partner's body, from the top of their head to their groin, and can be viewed 360 degrees all the way around their body.

In relation to you, the line or plane from your mother-line to your partner's mother-line is called the center-line.

The controlling target or center of gravity (COG) is located on this central core just below the navel (tan tien). This is one very important aspect of what you are learning to feel and connect to in chi sau motion and drills. Know and control your own cog to control your partner's cog.

Your Primary striking target is somewhere on the center-line, but while in motion it constantly changes depending on the situation moment to moment. While you and your partner are in motion, you can not plan where your attack line will be, but rather you must always be feeling/sensing where the attack line opens up moment by moment.

Secondary targets such as an arm or leg are located off the centerline. These targets are used for manipulations such as trapping, joint locks, or strikes, and should ultimately be utilized to get back to, control, and destroy your primary target on the center-line.

In Wing Chun training we develop the basic concept of one hand controlling while the other hand simultaneously attacks. The controlling hand is not just controlling what it is touching, the partner's arm for example. The controlling hand is controlling the partners COG, THROUGH the touching point of contact. You are not just trying to control the point of contact. The foundation of this skill is developed during basic chi sau rolling motion.

During the basic rolling motion it is critical to feel, sense/listen, and develop the connection from your feet through your body, all the way to the touching points on both wrists, your power or energy connecting to your partner's cog. This happens towards the end of the drill when the elbows are backing up the contact points, just before the completion of each roll, before transitioning to the beginning of the next roll (the motion doesn't actually end or make a hard stop, but that's a deeper subject). During the compression phase of the roll, before the release and transition to the next roll, is where this connection is developed. You're not pushing towards your partner, rather you are drilling/stretching/directing the structures of your body (legs, torso, and arms) to guide your power or energy in the correct direction into your partner's center, through both points of contact equally and simultaneously. All 13 principles must be functioning precisely in order for this to happen.

Attacks and counters are introduced into the chi sau motion so the controlling function and attacking function can be developed together. This is one reason why chi sau is such a vitally important training drill for correct wing chun development.

The Mind on target - Your mental intent stays sharply focused on your target and guides your physical intent.

The Body on target (body-unity) - The alignment or position of your structures should always engage the controlling target (partner's COG) whether touching through the controlling/cutting edge (beginning level) or touching anywhere or not touching at all (advanced level).

The difference between the “Controlling Target” and the “Attack target” (also called the blocking line and the attack line) must be understood. They are not the same thing, although they are both on the center line.

Your physical intent always remains either to or from your controlling target, whether you have the attack line or not. There are often many attack line options at any given moment.

To make your partner “stick to you”, you must understand how to properly adjust your positioning to maintain your structure and connection to your target, and continuously adjust to "fill the gap" and stay on top (to pin) or underneath (to uproot) so to speak.

Never chase hands. Instead, focus on and connect to your partner's cog.

Don't go around the attack line or blocking line. The most direct path to the target is best.

Staying on target correctly is one of many skills that enables you to feel and sense how and when to keep or regain your attack line by adjusting smoothly and automatically without using force and with the best possible timing and leverage.

When practicing solo drills and forms, always have an imaginary target to focus your intent on.

~ Carina and Jim - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 12-6-14

southern az wing chun principles - neutralize

To neutralize an attack do not resist or move against your opponent's incoming force, but rather, Receive their incoming force.
By receiving the incoming force at the moment of interception, you can move with it, neutralize it, and manipulate it, by simultaneously adjusting your position and structure with body-unity, and staying on target.
If you adjust WITH the force and neutralize correctly, the pressure at the point of contact will remain the same (equalize). If you neutralize correctly your opponent will have no solid ground to land their force on. Conversely, if you find that the pressure increases or decreases after the initial contact, neutralizing has not been executed correctly. Mistakes can be caused by many factors. Your goal is to neutralize their motion and adjust the positioning of your structure to your target area which will have the effect of redirecting or deflecting your opponents motion and structure giving you the timing to control and counter. You must also have a clear understanding and separation of the blocking line and the attack lines.
Learn to feel the precise moment of interception.
Neutralizing correctly, without loosing your structure or connection to your target, will enable you to deflect/redirect the intercepting force to counterattack efficiently and smoothly.
Neutralizing correctly requires a deep understanding of full body-unity.
Merging - Merge with your opponents movements with body-unity and staying on target. Your motion becomes my motion.
During gor sau, if your opponent is in motion (attacking or blocking) or giving you pressure, you can neutralize their force and move with them with your controlling hand (dynamic control) which will cause their intended motion to be redirected, giving you the attack line. If your opponent is NOT moving, then you should move yourself to take the attack line (static control with the controlling hand), think wooden dummy training. If you meet force or resistance (at the moment of interception) don't try to move it or force through it. Slip around solid ground. Solid ground is your fulcrum or pivot point to apply the most efficient leverage to get to and control (strike or joint lock or take down) your target.
The ability to neutralize correctly is the foundation of bo lay ying, “Glass shadow” (or glass technique). In order to develop the ability to neutralize effectively you MUST develop ALL of the other principles to a very high degree. When you can embody all of the wing chun principles naturally without thinking or planning, when your ability to adjust to your opponent and merge with them is as natural to you as breathing, This is “bo lay ying”. It's not mystical or magic, it just takes many many years of dedication, hard work, and consistent correct training.

~ Carina and Jim - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 12-12-14

southern az wing chun principles - mindfulness

Always keep in mind that what you are developing every time you train are the principles. All of the principles are linked together and are always adjusting together. So AZ Wing Chun Principles: Structure, Position, Distance, Timing, Power, Control, Balance, Body-Unity, Target, Neutralize, The Tao, Mindfulness, Fierceness.

The principles such as structure, position, distance, timing, etc. are considered physical principles in the beginning levels of practice. When training in wing chun it is important to understand that to make your training complete you are also developing mentally simultaneously with the physical training. The mental principle I am going to outline here I'm calling mindfulness. Certainly nothing new but I want to outline what that means as related to wing chun practice and development. Many people have this mental training idea in mind when they are practicing the first section of the siu lum tau form, but it is critical to understand that the mental training is a very important aspect of ALL wing chun training drills. Mental development helps the physical development and the physical helps the mental. They can not be separated. All of the principles, physical and mental, are developed together. On a deeper level, after learning the basics and the development of your foundation has reached a certain level, you will come to realize that all of the wing chun principles are both mental and physical (or internal and external).

Mindfulness - Basic overview

Mental “intent” leads the physical “intent”.
Cultivate awareness of every part of your body at every moment in time.
Focused alertness - pay close attention to what you are doing at every moment. For example, to pour hot tea into a very small cup you must focus on what you are doing so as not to spill a drop. This is the kind of focused alertness you should maintain while training.
Listen not with your ears, but with the depth of your entire being. Listen to yourself and to how everything around you, effects you.
Mindset - Train with the correct mindset. Know how, why, and what you are doing and what you are trying to develop and learn.
Mindfulness develops increased awareness of self (body) and space (outside of yourself).
If you are not sure what skills you are trying to develop, your training can not be mindful. If you are not training with your full concentration and physical abilities, your training can not be mindful. If your skills and understanding do not improve, your training can not be mindful. If your training challenges you and reveals your every weakness and forces you to learn and grow and improve, THEN your training is mindful.

Sifu Fong's 4 aspects for developing mindfulness:
Emptiness, stillness, sinking, and softness.

~ Carina and Jim - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 1-10-15

southern az wing chun principles - fierceness

Always keep in mind that what you are developing every time you train are the principles. All of the principles are linked together and are always adjusting together. So AZ Wing Chun Principles: Structure, Position, Distance, Timing, Power, Control, Balance, Body-Unity, Target, Neutralize, The Tao, Mindfulness, Fierceness.

Fierceness - Basic overview

Controlled Intensity (fierce on the outside/calm on the inside) - Courage - Confidence.

Fierceness is a Wing Chun principle that is developed as a result of correct long term training. It is the energy (intensity) and confidence required during a real self defense situation, to maximize your potential and ability to survive. Elements of fierceness are developed in all levels of Wing Chun training. Within this fierce energy is calmness and control and the ability to see very clearly and act with precision, which results from years of rigorous correct training. Untrained fierceness is wild and uncontrolled which will lead to mistakes and a decreased chance to respond correctly. Developing courage and the ability to respond with controlled fierceness can not be forced, it is the natural result of proper development over time.

~ Carina and Jim - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 12-20-14

foundation of the wing chun torso structure

In my previous writing regarding the Wing Chun principle Structure, I gave a brief overview of the 3 structures that we develop which are: the stance/leg structure, the torso structure, and the arm structure. I would like to now go over the correct hip/pelvis position and spine stretch for Wing Chun practice and how that relates to the torso structure. Our overall goal is to create natural relaxed stretching tension/taughtness and alert energy in the entire body, and maintain a balanced center of gravity, which will enable us to adjust efficiently to our own movement as well as to incoming external forces.

How -
Gently stretch the spine downward from the base of the spine at the pelvis, and upward from the top of the spine at the neck, at the same time. This creates equal and opposite stretching in both directions. When getting into yee gee kim yeung ma, or any other wing chun stance, when the knees are bent, the pelvis should gently tuck (rotate) under at the hip joints creating a slight posterior pelvic tilt and lightly sinking/stretching of the spine down (do not push hips forward). While at the same time, pull the shoulders down and gently stretch the head up at the crown and pull the chin in a bit to slightly stretch the neck. The spine is kept gently stretched this way throughout all of your wing chun training. We are not trying to literally “straighten” the spine. It's important for the spine to maintain it's natural curvature. However, the stretching of the spine does create a straight line of energy through your central core or axis of rotation. DO NOT force or strain the pelvic rotation or the neck stretch. Over rotation, squeezing, or forcing is incorrect and will cause misalignment, muscle strain, and tightness. The correct posture should feel very comfortable and natural, with just enough tension to hold the position.

Why -
- To link the torso structure to the arm and leg structures.
- To maintain a balanced center of gravity.
- To secure and naturally firm up your core.
- To enable your body unity to be able to transfer your energy from the floor to deliver power, and to the floor to receive and neutralize external force.

For correct structural alignment when standing in yee gee kim yeung ma with your knees bent, your ears should be in line with your shoulders, your shoulders should be in line with your hips, and your hips should be in line with the center of your feet. All too often we see Wing Chun practitioners pushing their hips forward instead of rotating their pelvis under. It's also common to see practitioners shift their body weight off center and too far back to their heals. These are easy mistakes to make, but should be avoided. Pushing the hips forward and/or shifting the weight to the heals will throw off your balance in a big way by placing your shoulders behind your hips. Any incoming force will now make you tip backward and or step backward instead of having the ability to compress and rotate your center to neutralize properly and maintain your target. If your balance and structure is off before you even engage with your opponent, your ability to adjust correctly upon engagement will be severely compromised.

The attached diagram I found shows an example of correct pelvis rotation on the left and incorrect hips pushing forward on the right. Unfortunately, the diagram does not show proper knee position which should be bent instead of straight, and the lower spine is shown too straight, but for the purpose of this discussion it helps to give a visual for the correct pelvis rotation.

~ Carina and Jim - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 10-26-15

thoughts on traditional martial arts and their modern offshoots

This video is a very good example of how the emphasis on sport competition can transform a traditional martial art into a game, in this case of speed tag, where most if not all of the original swordsman's martial skills development has simply disappeared.

In and of itself there is nothing wrong with the development of this sport, but one must be careful and understand that it is an offshoot of Traditional fencing and can no longer be called “fencing” or “swordsmanship”. What they are using to tag each other with are nothing more than wires with handles and the true swordsmanship skills required to participate and do well in this sport are very few. The participants need to have agility, speed, strength, stamina, and timing like any athlete, but the swordsmanship skills development, and the equipment needed (a real sword) to be able to defend against an actual attacker, whether it be in a duel or the battle field, are not needed or developed. The participants in modern sport “fencing” repeatedly exchange tags and whoever tags first and the most wins the points. (it's more complicated than that, but that's the gist of it)

As well as modern sport fencing, there are many other modern offshoots of Traditional martial arts systems today such as Tai Chi, MMA, BJJ, JKD, Professional Wrestling, etc. In the case of modern Tai Chi Chuan, it's roots as a martial art and system of self defense training have been removed leaving it as an exercise for health and meditation, of which there are many benefits. The modern version of Tai Chi coexists with it's root, as Traditional Taijiquan is still practiced around the world as well. However, the modern version has overshadowed it's roots to the point where most people today don't realize that modern Tai Chi is an offshoot of a traditional version that was developed as a fighting art. I'm thankful that the traditional art of Taijiquan still exists today, as a result of the hard work and perseverance of Martial Artists dedicated to keeping Classical Taijiquan alive.

In the case of MMA and other modern competitive sport fighting systems, they too are offshoots of Traditional Martial Arts and once again have moved away from the development of real life martial survival training. They have gone in the opposite direction of modern Fencing and Tai Chi and have become sport fighting games. The exchange of blows or tags and strict adherence to the rules of the game is part of the game and part of the training. One negative consequence of sport fighting is the high incidence of injuries, not only during the competitions but also during training. These injuries can be and often are life long injuries which very often force participants to drop training and participation, sometimes temporarily and other times all together. Contrary to popular belief, injuries do not make you tougher or stronger, they make you much weaker over time. With every concussion, you are susceptible to more concussions and serious brain injury. With every wrenched neck, knee, shoulder, elbow, broken bone, etc. you become more susceptible to further injury over time. Learning how to AVOID injuries makes you stronger and tougher over time. This is just common sense. Trying to tell this to a 20 year old is futile, I know... I get that. I was invincible myself at one time, Lol! Training needs to be progressive, vigorous, and challenging in order to continuously improve your skills, while at the same time it is important to learn how to stay controlled and avoid injuries. The brutal truth is that beating the crap out of each other serves no constructive purpose and will leave you with less skills, a broken body, and diminished ability to defend yourself when your life is on the line in a real situation.

The link below shows behind the scenes of MMA and UFC that no one wants to talk about or admit. These brain injuries along with many other injuries happen at every level. Not only in competition but during training as well. This is not limited to MMA or UFC fighters but any full contact fighting and training. You must know the consequences of your decision to train or compete this way.
http://www.lowkickmma.com/UFC/10-harrowing-stories-of-mma-stars-suffering-memory-loss/

Training for sport is not the same as training for life/survival. Knowing this difference, in my opinion, is very important for martial artists to understand so they can make informed decisions and best use of their training time. If you want to train for sport, that’s fine do that, but understand that it is a sport not a Martial Art. If you want to develop a traditional MARTIAL art, then you must stick to that in order to fully develop and reap all of the benefits of the system. In today’s world with the need for instant gratification, the excitement of sport fighting, like the flash of something shiny, is dominating peoples attention.

I believe it is only a matter of time for people to once again realize how important Traditional Martial Arts training is for the development, not only of survival martial art skills, but for life long health and fitness, overall well being, and countless other benefits of this type of training, which can be practiced from youth and on into very old age. Traditional Martial Arts training is a life long journey, not something to be discarded once it's excitement and usefulness has passed.

The offshoots of Traditional Martial Arts have their place. Not to replace traditional arts, but to offer alternatives for various purposes. Competitive sport fighting does have its place and is constantly evolving. Human beings are inherently competitive and there needs to be constructive outlets for that. My point here is to try to help people to see the difference in training and outcome between modern systems and Traditional Martial Arts, which is where the modern versions came from. They are oftentimes two completely different animals, one being born from the other. Everything has it's pros and cons and nothing is perfect. There are many differences, results, and consequences to consider when choosing a path of personal development.

~ Carina Cirrincione - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 6-11-17
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The article below is written by Rodney King, a BJJ Black belt and instructor at Team Monkey-Jits/Machado Academy Randburg Australia. I thought his words coincided well with many points in my article above. More food for thought on training for any martial artist.

Article By Rodney King
A while back I wrote some articles about the long term affects of both sparring hard and fight competition in general.

As I noted in those articles, we are only seeing the beginning of the fall out of training and fighting that way. I have noted as well, my own personal struggle with the aftermath of decades of hard sparring, and knocks to the head (pre-CMD).

I believe more and more we will see MMA fighters unable to cope with the everyday world they live in. Some will struggle more than others, but very few will emerge unscathed from the trauma both to their bodies, as well as their heads.

The truth is some people will put themselves in harms way and at risk - even if they know the consequences (think of smokers). That's really their call. If people want to go down that road, that's totally up to them. It's not really my place to say otherwise. But in the end, all the money in world, all the fame in the world, is meaningless if you cant even remember any of it anyway.

In the end as a coach, especially for the hobbyists that train with me (which is pretty much everyone I train these days), I don't want them to think this only happens to the pro fighters. Concussions and even mild ones happen all the time in so called light, technical, sparring. In fact, sometimes the hobbyist is more in danger of getting hurt, because they come in a couple of times a week, and then think they are Rambo for an hour.

Just this week I had a pro fighter come to my gym completely broken. Anxious, jittery, and not even realizing it, he told me a recent story of a beat down he received at a gym he trained at during what he was told would be technical sparring. He ended up telling me that same story more than a dozen times in the same conversation. That's real trauma right there and he didn't/doesn't even realize it.

I didn't know any better a decade ago. I thought, the only way to train and to be good at this fight thing was to go all out, all of the time. Two decades later, putting my body, and mind through the grinder, I feel way older than I should. It's really not worth it in the end. No one is fighting all of the time - but we are living all of the time. Being able to live fully off the mat, outside of the ring, is far more important than a moment of high in that ring.
As I noted earlier, there are people out there, even if they knew the risk would go for it anyway. Each to his own. But for my students, who do this 'fight' thing, as a hobby, as a life performance vehicle, there's no need to put yourself through that grinder - and yes, you still will have enough game when it matters most - if you ever have to defend yourself.

Be Smart!!!!!

#crazymonkey #forlife the only way to train and remember your name at 80!

martial arts systems - to mix or not to mix, that is the question

This is a complex and multifaceted issue so the answer is not simple. There are many aspects to consider and paths that people take:

Stick with one art for life.
Train one art for a period of time and then switch to another art/s but keep them separate.
Train one art for a period of time and then switch to another art/s and combine them all.
Study multiple arts at the same time and keep them separate, or combine them.

On one hand, some of the traditional martial art systems that have survived the test of time and are practiced today, were actually created by very talented martial artists who were able to effectively combine elements of 2 or 3 other arts, either out of necessity or choice. The problem comes when people try to combine arts when they don't have the understanding, skills, or knowledge to do so. And worse, when they don't know that they don't have the understanding, skills, or knowledge to do so, but they think they do.

You can look at martial arts like languages. If you try to mix English, Chinese, and German... a word here and a word there, it won't make sense and it won't work. A person would be better served to stick with one language until they know it very well before they start learning another language. Very few people can learn 5 languages at the same time but with martial arts, people try to do this all the time and they end up with a very limited skill set because, and this is critically important, what they have failed to learn is the deeper aspect of any one art, which are the PRINCIPLES of that art. People very often confuse “Principles” with “Techniques”. They are NOT the same thing.

The Principles of all systems of martial arts are the same. What I mean by that is, all martial arts systems must teach the student how to develop the Principles which include; structure, positioning, distance, timing, power, control, balance, body unity, etc. These are the fundamental principles that any and all martial art systems MUST have in order for them to work. The way the arts EXPRESS those principles however, is different. The principles are expressed through the TECHNIQUES of that system. Techniques are the outward visible expression of the art, that contain the Principles within. Techniques are vehicles to learn the principles. If a person understands this point they will see for example, the arts of Wing Chun and Judo look very different on the surface. The way each art is expressed and developed, as well as their techniques, look quite different, but if you look deeper, the Principles that both systems are teaching are the same. They both must teach and develop structure, positioning, distance, timing, power, control, etc. etc. I believe if people understood this point they wouldn't hop around so much from art to art chasing techniques. People must understand that it is the Principles that must be chased so to speak, not the techniques. If a student can find a good teacher of any style of martial art, who understands this and teaches the Principles of a system, the student has found Gold!

Realistically it takes a good ten years for a diligent student to digest the foundation of any one system of martial arts if the student is focusing on mastering the principles of the system. And when I say ten years I mean ten years of training consistently at least 4 to 5 days per week face to face with a competent qualified teacher. It takes another ten years to digest that foundation to a higher level to become proficient. Compare that to learning the techniques of a system. Techniques can be learned in a matter of months. There is no comparison to someone who is proficient with the Principles compared to someone who has only learned techniques. Techniques are often a huge distraction for beginners because in the beginning development stage, the techniques are all that the student can see. It takes some time to begin to feel the principles within and behind the techniques.

Our teacher once explained it like this – If you start on a path with the goal to climb to the top of a mountain, and every time you start the climb you turn around and switch to another mountain, and you repeat this process over and over, after many years of this all you will have accomplished is seeing the bottom of many mountains. A person who starts out on one mountain and puts in the time and effort to reach the top, will not only see the top of that mountain, but from there they can see the top of every mountain.

Unfortunately the answer to the question, to mix or not to mix, is very subjective and depends on the person. Could be good..... could be bad. I have seen people who study one art for many many years and not reach a high level. Maybe it's because the art didn't suit their natural abilities and they should have chosen something else, or they didn't pay attention and put in the time, or they had a bad teacher.... the list of reasons can go on and on. I have also seen people who study one art their entire lives and are truly Masters. I have also seen the flip side where someone has started at a young age and spent ten years developing one art and after reaching a proficient level gone on to spend another ten years learning another art. They are then able to compartmentalize the arts and develop each to a high level. And as we have all seen, there are people who dabble in many arts and never become proficient at any of them.

Ultimately the path of martial arts development is very personal to the goals and natural ability of each individual. If you focus on developing martial arts Principles, you can stick with one art to reach a high level or you can study multiple arts and reach a high level, so long as you are not chasing techniques, but instead are focused on development of the Principles. If the art is able to survive the test of time it will be proven successful. Dabbling with techniques of many systems may seem fun for a while, but proficiency will always be out of reach.

So, I guess the simple answer to the question to mix or not to mix is...... it depends.

~ Carina Cirrincione - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © June 21st 2017

should you sacrifice your brain for martial arts training?

The answer should be NO of course not!
CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) is brain injury and damage from repeated blows to the head and it is real folks. Repeated hits to the head whether from football practice or competition, boxing practice or competition, or martial arts practice or competition will cause damage sooner or later. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but eventually. A hit to the head is a hit to the head, and you do NOT need to be knocked unconscious or have a concussion for the damage to occur. All it takes is repeated hits to the head over time. The more hits to the head you receive in your lifetime, the more easily you will get knocked out, AND the more chance you take of developing CTE and other brain degenerative disorders. You do not need to take hits to the head to improve your martial arts skills. PERIOD. The study of martial arts should be beneficial to your self defense skills, health, and well being for a lifetime. Injuries and self destruction caused by poor practice methods do not mean that you are tough, it just means you are not very smart... sorry to be so blunt, but I do not wish to see any of my brothers and sisters in arms have their martial arts careers cut short buy something that is completely avoidable. Please train smart people.

NFL player Aaron Hernandez suffered from the most severe CTE ever found in a person his age.
Click photo to see the story.

What is CTE? Watch this short video

Here are a couple more videos on the subject of CTE

Having made that point, I need to clarify that I am not anti sparring in martial arts training. What I am is anti INCORRECT sparring. Sparring, just like any wing chun training exercise, can be done incorrectly resulting in bad habits, poor skills development and/or injuries. To be clear, I have seen people do their WC forms incorrectly which results in bad technique but I am not anti forms. I have seen people doing chi sau drills incorrectly resulting in bad habits but I am not anti chi sau. I have seen people doing gor sau incorrectly resulting in bad habits and poor skills development but I am not anti gor sau. The same holds true for sparring. If sparring is done correctly, just like any other drill, it can be a very important asset and skill building tool for the Wing Chun practitioner. The problem does not lie with the drills and exercises in and of themselves, the problem lies with being taught and learning how to do them all correctly, so the result is the most efficient skills development with the least amount of bad habits and injury.

If people think of sparring as two people putting on gear and beating the crap out of each other, they have a misinformed idea of what sparring is. To ME that is not sparring, that is simply a waste of training time... no different than doing any other drill incorrectly. The most important factor here is to learn and understand what sparring is and what sparring isn't. Sparring is a training exercise, it is not fighting. Sparring is a drill of attack and defense with controlled hits, using fists, elbows, knees, or feet, etc. either full force but stopping just before touching, or controlled/not full force touching, depending on what you are working on. It also includes controlled take downs, traps, joint locks, submissions etc. depending on your focus of training that day, always to develop martial arts skills. If the target of a strike is to the head we do not make contact, the same with the groin and neck. Striking these areas simply makes no sense, and is completely unnecessary for skills development. Sparring can be done empty handed or with weapons. Western boxers train with gloves because they wear gloves when they compete in the ring. We do not train with gloves because we do not fight with gloves. We believe you should train the way you will fight. Sparring is not fighting, only fighting is fighting.

Gor sau is a very important wing chun drill and it can be done many different ways depending on the practitioners skill level and what they are working on at that moment. Gor sau is not fighting, only fighting is fighting. Sparring is no different. It can be done safely and correctly many different ways depending on what you are working on. It is not a free for all, that is called a brawl or a fight. Sparring is not fighting, only fighting is fighting (I will repeat this as many times as it takes!). In martial arts sparring there are rules and principles to adhere to just as in ANY other training drill. If you look at it holistically gor sau IS a type of sparring in that it is random with realistic power, speed, and energy, but there are still rules and principles to adhere to and develop.... which is the entire point of wing chun training and all martial arts training for that matter. So remember, the only time you are really fighting is when you are really fighting, everything else is training, so train smart!

~ Carina Cirrincione - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 11-11-2017

How relaxed is too relaxed?

In recent years it has become common to see WC practitioners practicing forms, punches, and chi sau drills with overly relaxed floppy wrists. I'm not sure where the overly loose hand phenomenon in WC came from. I don't remember seeing it 20+ years ago, but we didn't have YouTube back then (and sometimes that is a good thing ;) ) Seems to me it's more of a recent occurrence. I can only hypothesize that a teacher or teachers had students who were overly tight and/or ridged in their movements, so they told the students to relax, hopefully with the intent of creating the correct amount of tension/firmness over time, rather than remaining too relaxed or too stiff. The result though seems to be an over-exaggeration of relaxation in the wrists and hands that has stuck and been passed on.

It's human nature to take things to extremes instead of searching for yinyang balance. Too tight is too extreme and too relaxed is also too extreme. Balance is the key. It is important to be relaxed, but somewhere along the line the words “totally” and “completely” were added as a prefix. We like to use the term “alert energy” as an idea of how the entire body should feel (including the wrists and hands). It is an abstract term, but when you are alert, you are ready for something... to move, to react, to listen, etc. and you need a certain amount of tension/firmness to be alert, but not too much... and not too little. If you are totally or completely relaxed you are not in a “ready” state. A coiled rattlesnake that is ready to strike is an example of efficient alert energy and correct tension. A snake that is prepared to strike is not totally relaxed nor is it tight and ridged (By the way, Sifu Jim took the cool foto above). Sifu Fong uses the term “balloon function” which simply means if the tension/firmness in your body structures is correct, the structures of your body function like a properly inflated balloon (or car tire is another good example). Not to loose (too relaxed) which would be under-inflated, and not too tight, which would be over-inflated. Both extremes are inefficient and cause incorrect body mechanics.

When practicing the WC punch in the air there will be some natural vibration when stopping suddenly when you express power but the fist and wrist should be firm... Not too tight and not too loose. Balance is the key. Think of your fist like an arrowhead connected to the shaft of an arrow. When an arrow strikes a target, if the arrowhead is loosely connected to the shaft of the arrow it will break on impact. The same goes for your wrist if it is too loose and not firmly connecting the fist to the forearm. Too tight is no good but too loose is no good either.
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This alert and ready state is not static. It is the “energy” or tension you have in your body at all times during training that is created by correct positioning, proper alignment of the bones and joints, elasticity of the tendons and ligaments, stretching and rotation of your body structures, and mental intent. As they say, the devil is in the details. All of these important details in body control develop the ability for your muscles to remain relaxed, flexible, and ready but not limp. “Alert energy” should never come and go, it should be developed to be consistent...during forms, solo drills, and all partner drills. This is precisely what the WC forms and all other drills and exercises teach you how to do. Development of the perfect balance between too tight and too relaxed is just one of the many goals of WC training.

~ Carina Cirrincione - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © 11-24-17

My thoughts on learning Wing Chun

There are two main factors in learning the Wing Chun System:

The very first factor is the teacher -
The teacher should have the very best intentions for each and every student, to help the student grow as a whole; mentally, physically and spiritually. A teacher should have good character and practice what they preach. A good teacher should be able to learn what a student needs to work on to improve these qualities in order for a student to progress on the right path. To do this a teacher should keep in mind the differing types of learning styles.
According to one model there are four types of learning styles:
1) Visual learner: Visual learners need to see how you do something. Give them demonstrations of drills that they can easily see how and why you are doing the forms and drills.
2) Kin-esthetic learners: This type of learning needs a lot of hands on, doing the forms and drills is most beneficial.
3) Auditory learners: This type of learning needs a very good explanation of the drills to truly understand how, what and why they are to do the forms and drills.
4) Abstract learners: This type of learning needs to be able to read the information, training manuals, notes and other written information on how, what and why they are doing the forms and drills.

Most people may have an easier time learning with one style or another, but most people usually use a combination of these to understand what is being taught.

The second Factor is the student themselves -
The students mindset is the most important part of learning Wing Chun or any system for that matter. A student must truly believe in the system they have chosen and be dedicated to learning from their teacher. Wing Chun has many lineages and thoughts on how, what, and why it should be taught. If a student has any doubt in his or her teachers ability there will be conflict in the students mind, between them and their teacher and very little progress if any will be made at that point forward by the student. Having faith in ones teacher and self discipline is a great start. For a student to learn Wing Chun they will need to learn not just forms, but also lots of drills to develop various skills. I have had a number of people tell me drills don't teach skills that will work in reality, what you need to do is spar a lot. Don't get me wrong, some sparing at a later time can serve a purpose, but early on sparing can create many problems and bad habits that can be hard to break. Let me clear the misconception about drills, a drill is defined as a repetitive exercise as a means of learning and perfecting a skills and to infuse knowledge of a skill. Correct repetitious instruction is key. Therefore if the skill and knowledge you seek is how to apply your Wing Chun in real application and you have a good teacher, then the skills and knowledge you seek should be able to be imparted through well designed drills. Drills are a safe approach to learning real combat application without the lengthy layoffs due to injuries, otherwise the military units from around the world would not use drills either. This relates back to the importance of correct mindset... The mindset of a student is a very important part in training. Without the proper mindset one can easily get off the correct path. A student should remember that they are training and not fighting. This concept seems to get overlooked a lot, when a student thinks they are fighting instead of training they lose out on most of their training and development. I've heard things like, "I've got to do what it takes to block and hit" and, "but when I'm fighting I've got to block and hit". When this happens the student is now it fight mode and can't see their own mistakes let alone keep all the principals of the drill in mind.

I hope this information will be helpful to anyone looking to start training.

~ Jim Dees - Southern AZ Wing Chun - January 1st 2013

What is the difference between Techniques and Principles?

People often confuse “Principles” with “Techniques”. They are not the same thing, but they are both critically important to martial arts development. Techniques are the vehicles to learning the principles that lie within. Techniques and principles of a martial art must be developed before any mastery can be achieved.

The Principles of all systems of martial arts are the same. What I mean by that is, all martial arts systems must teach the student how to develop the Principles which include; structure, positioning, distance, timing, power, control, balance, body unity, to name a few. These are the fundamental principles that any and all martial art systems must have in order for them to work, be effective and survive the test of time. The way the arts express those principles however, is different. The principles are expressed through the techniques of the system. For example in WC we have many techniques; hand techniques such as tan sau, bong sau, and lop sau, different punching techniques, various footwork and stances, as well as elbow, knee, and kicking techniques, trapping, striking, joint locking/breaking and take-down techniques just to name a few. Each technique has it’s own unique purpose which must be properly developed (purpose is different from principle). The techniques are the outward visible expressions of the art that contain the Principles within.

As an example, I think most people would agree that a punch is a very important technique for any striking art. I think most people would also agree that a punch without structure would be easily countered, a punch without positioning would miss it’s mark, a punch without distance would be ineffective, a punch without timing would be useless, a punch without power would be weak... and so on, and so on. Developing techniques AND the principles that make those techniques work, is the only way to progressively improve your skills.

The arts of Wing Chun and Judo look very different on the surface. The way each art is expressed and developed as well as their techniques look quite different, but if you look deeper, the Principles that both systems are teaching are the same. They both must teach and develop structure, positioning, distance, timing, power, control, etc. etc. I believe if people understood this point they wouldn't hop around so much from art to art chasing techniques. It must be understood that it is the Principles that must be chased so to speak, not the techniques. If a student can find a good teacher of any style of martial art, who understands this and teaches the Principles of a system, the student has found Gold!

Realistically it takes a good ten years for a diligent student to digest the foundation of any one system of martial arts if the student is focusing on mastering the principles within the techniques of the system. And when I say ten years, I mean ten years of training consistently at least 4 to 5 days per week face to face with a competent qualified teacher. It takes another ten years to digest that foundation to a higher level to become proficient. Compare that to learning only the superficial techniques of a system. Techniques can be learned in a matter of months. There is no comparison to someone who is proficient with the Principles within the techniques compared to someone who has only learned techniques. Techniques are often a huge distraction for beginners because in the beginning development stage, the techniques are all that the student can see. It takes some time to begin to feel the principles within and behind the techniques. However, without the techniques, the principles can not be learned... yin yang balance.

So in the beginning stages of development, take the time to fine tune every technique you are taught and pay close attention to every detail. You will eventually begin to feel how every principle is contained within each and every technique.

Carina Cirrincione - Southern Arizona Wing Chun Gung Fu © June 27, 2017

How and why we train the way we train

Wing Chun training includes many solo development drills which must be learned, such as empty hand forms, weapon, and wooden dummy forms, solo technique drills, and footwork drills etc. but this article is to focus solely on Wing Chun partner training and development.

The three phases of progressive Wing Chun partner training -
Wing Chun partner drills include chi sau, lut sau (man sau & san sau), gor sau, and a vast array of other two person drills to develop footwork, hand, elbow, shoulder, knee, and kicking techniques as well as joint breaks, and take downs. All Wing Chun partner training is designed to develop the principles of Wing Chun (structure, position, distance, timing, power, control, balance, body unity, target, neutralize, the Dao, mindfulness, and fierceness). Learning and training are progressive. From simple to complex, from slow to full speed, and from totally cooperative to controlled competition. The amount of time a student stays in each phase of training will vary from person to person. Many factors effect a students rate of growth and understanding. The process is not linear from one phase to the next. The student will always continue to practice and refine each level they are at as well as all the levels learned earlier. Each level is meant to be added to the skills already developed to progressively add complexity to each layer of skill, to hone and develop skills to higher and higher levels. When a student reaches level 6 they will still be refining and developing level 1. This process/journey never ends. The depth of learning is proportional to the time and effort the student is willing to dedicate themselves to.

Phase #1 – No resistance, low intensity, prearranged drills.
Cooperative partner drills. Training partners help each other to perform the drills correctly and focus on the principles being developed. No competition at first, that will come later. Techniques at first are big and exaggerated. As skills improve and the wing chun principles are developed, the body adjustments become more refined, precise and smaller. Correct motion is developed first, and then power is added. In the beginning the focus of training is to control yourself (your motion). In partner drills, if you can actually make your partner do the drill correctly, you are developing a very high level of control of your own motions. You are controlling your partner by controlling yourself. Then later you can adjust your timing very slightly and you will be able to counter smoothly and with less effort. This will be accomplished only AFTER the drills can be performed cooperatively correctly. In the many drills that we practice, if the student can not do the drill free of mistakes with their partner being cooperative, then there is no possible way they will be able to do the drill correctly when their training partner is trying to Not let them do the drill. This is learning "Investment in Loss", and this investment is worth it's weight in gold! In this phase, training partners are learning how to have a physical "discussion" as opposed to an "argument". In a discussion there is a learning opportunity, where in an argument there is no learning.

Basics and your foundation must come first. Anything built on a weak foundation will be weak. If you are building a structure such as a house and the foundation is poorly made, attempting to build on top of it is a complete waste of time because the structure will be weak and fall apart. Spend most of your training time building a strong foundation (basics), and everything you build on top will now be supported and strong. Can you build a house starting with the roof? Of course not... start with building a strong foundation and over time everything will settle into place.

Phase #2 – Medium resistance, medium intensity, prearranged drills.
Once a drill in phase #1 can be practiced regularly correctly without difficulty, begin to add complexity and energy, etc. but still help each other to train correct motion and stay within the parameters of the principles.

Train at the speed of no mistakes. If the principles are sacrificed, slow back down and smooth it out. Train to move smoothly, precisely, controlled, and balanced. Not jerky, sloppy, forced, or struggling.

There is a direct similarity between martial arts training and learning to play a musical instrument. In both areas, the end goal is to enable the practitioner to execute complex motor skills under high levels of stress. If you are learning how to play the guitar and you try to play fast and keep making mistakes, that is a signal to practice more slowly, at a speed that you can play without making mistakes. Then take the time to build your speed up progressively. Wing Chun skills are developed the same way.

Feel how the attack comes in, learn to neutralize it correctly, progress to countering with precision and control, and then feel the timings to counter the other person's counter with endless variations. Slowly and planned at first, progressing to random with full speed and power, while always refining the principles of structure, positioning, distance, timing, control, target, balance, body unity, neutralizing, etc. It is very important that every motion have purpose, to strike and counter-strike your target with precision and the utmost control of yourself. Repeat each drill at a relatively medium pace so you can perfect your form and body mechanics, so as the pace of the drill is increased, the principles you are developing will remain intact.

Large gross-motion training (gross-motor control) to fine motor control and smaller more precise movements. For example, a punch from chi sau - Start slow and controlled to learn the proper body unity (legs, torso, and arm) and relaxed power generation. Once this is developed, explode power can be added without getting tight. Power added too soon will make the punch tight, slow, and weak. Maximum potential will never be reached if the idea of power is in the mind too soon. First learn how to move properly, then learn how to add power properly.

Phase #3 – Gor sau (Wing Chun sparring) - Realistic resistance and complexity, high intensity, full controlled power, free flowing.
We have developed a variety of progressive gor sau drills to help instill gor sau skills. We practice various levels of controlled competition that allow the student to try to make what they have learned work, while still not deviating from the principles being developed. In order to do gor sau correctly, you MUST be able to feel and know when you have an attack line and when you've lost the attack line, when you have been compromised, when any of the Wing Chun principles have been lost, when you are fighting against your partners force, when you've collapsed or stretched out your structure, when you're chasing hands, when you are one sided, etc. This is where and when you put everything you have learned to that point to the test, of course still without loosing any of the principles you are trying to learn.

In gor sau we do not use full power when applying joint locks, breaks, or strikes. We do not pull the strikes, we control them and either stop a hair distance before making contact, or make controlled contact. For the locks or breaks we take them to the point that our partner can feel the technique. This is another very high level of self control training. As stated in Phase #1, training is an investment in loss because you are not training to win, you are training to learn. This investment is priceless. Training is a give and take with your training partner in a productive situation where you can both learn and help each other develop to higher and higher levels of skill, while avoiding injuries at the same time.

Gor sau is like improvised jazz music... nothing is planned, your years of training allow you to flow naturally. A beginner musician or martial artist who tries to improvise will fail miserably because they do not have the foundation, experience or skills to flow naturally. During gor sau training you are free to use all of the various techniques you've trained in phase #1 and #2, but now in a free-form manner... hand striking, kicks, knees, elbows, shoulder attacks, footwork, joint locks, sweeps, take downs, etc. Using the correct timing and response to what ever your training partner presents you with.

Even at this level we are still not fighting, we are training. What may look like competition is actually cooperative. Why? Because we are not actually trying to kill or even harm our training partner. Real fighting is applying everything you have learned in a true self defense situation when your life depends on your skills. Training is the development of those skills. We try to make training as realistic as possible but training can never be real. Only real is real. Training is not fighting and fighting is not training... you must know the difference. Train to learn, Fight to win.

More details on Wing Chun progressive training -

Train for realism -
Gor sau is Wing Chun's method of sparring. Most striking sport fighting systems train with some sort of gloves to protect the hands and also to prevent your knuckles from causing your training partner or competitor to bleed. In a street survival situation there will be no gloves, so to keep training as realistic as possible and to develop finer and finer motor skills, we do not spar with gloves. In Wing Chun the hands are not only trained to be used for striking but also for finer motor skills such as joint locking, trapping, and other manipulations with your hands. Of course on the street you may also have the opportunity to grab a weapon to aid in your defense. You can not train these various skills while wearing gloves. One of the primary aspects of Wing Chun training and fighting is that two hands are always working together. One example is, when one hand is controlling while the other is striking. Another would be, both hands are controlling while executing a kick or knee strike. If while one hand is punching and the other hand is not doing anything, in Wing Chun we call this being one sided. This is where the Wing Chun triangle concept comes into play. In order for a triangle to be a triangle it must always have three sides functioning. The torso (shoulder to shoulder) and each arm form the upper triangle structure and all three side must always be functioning and working together. Watch closely when many people spar with gloves and you will see that both hands are not working together which goes against a very fundamental Wing Chun principle. This is where training with gloves can impede Wing Chun development.

In gor sau training when your skills are at a high enough level, you can spar with your training partner at full speed and power with complete randomness. Control your hits (do not pull your hits, controlling and pulling are two completely different things) so as not to cause any injuries while exploring and developing the principles of Wing Chun. We train to control our hits (which are primarily to vital areas of the body) much the same way we control our joint locks and breaks, and for the same reasons, so that we don't break our training partners. In our school, if you break your training partner, you don't get another one. If I can punch to your throat with full speed and power and stop on a dime, a hair distance from your skin, while at the same time controlling your COG, while at the same time controlling my own balance, I am then developing very fine motor control. This development is missing if the majority of your training is sparring with gloves and tagging each other, repeatedly exchanging blows. If I can learn such a high level of control to stop with precision at a very close distance from my target, then I am developing the very fine motor control to stop where and when I want. Which means if I want to make contact I will, and if I don't I won't, my choice. This is how we avoid injuries and the habit of playing tag by not exchanging heavy blows. Gloves, no matter how big, do not protect the person being struck from head trauma. Our actual striking training is done on a wall bag, heavy bag, and pads. We have no need to hit each other with power.

Our method is no different from knife or sword training. You do not need to cut your training partner, or be cut by your training partner in order to learn knife fighting skills. You do however need to know how to cut with a sharp knife or sword. So part of your blade training has to include using a live (sharp) knife or sword and test cut targets. As an example, you may have seen Japanese Kendo artists cut tatami mats (tameshigiri). For an art such as Wing Chun, the bags and pads serve this same purpose. You can not just punch or kick in the air and expect to be able to learn how to generate power, deliver power, and deal with the rebounding force at impact. You must hit something to develop these skills and we simply believe your training partner should not suffer the consequences of that skill development. That is what the bags and pads are for.

What is that I hear you say? You must learn how to take a hit? If you are training for sport fighting, I would agree to some extent. If you choose to train for sport fighting then yes of course, you need to train with the same gloves and other equipment that you will be using during competition. In sport fighting you will be exchanging blows with your opponent for a set period of time which is determined by the sport being played. But, you will NOT be receiving blows to vital areas of the body that are illegal to hit; the groin, throat, back of the neck, and knee for example. These are precisely the targets that we train to strike in traditional Wing Chun during our controlled striking drills. In a live confrontation where I am fighting to save my life, I need to end the threat as quickly as possible. A kill or be killed mindset. Every technique I train is to maim, break, and kill. That must be my mindset in order to survive a threat to my life. We control our contact in training so we can avoid injuries and also develop a more advanced level of control of ourselves with the development of fine as well as gross motor control. Many smart sport fighters as well, do not train by letting their training partners hit them very much, if at all. Developing the ability to “take a hit” is simply a fallacy. Getting hit repeatedly makes you weaker over time not stronger even in sport fighting. It also encourages flinching. The way we train with control allows you get very used to someone coming at you at full speed and full power and developing the ability to keep your cool and respond with precise timing without flinching. This has been my personal experience, for myself and many others I have trained with during my two plus decades of developing this way.

My personal experience -
Early on in my Wing Chun career (about 1994), I was naive just as many beginners are and I wanted to “test” my skills in a sparring competition. My Sifu does not encourage or discourage sparring competitions. He teaches Wing Chun for self defense and self preservation, not for sport fighting but he knows that some beginners may need to explore this avenue to discover for themselves how they want to train. He even supplies sparring equipment at his school for this purpose. There was an upcoming martial arts tournament in San Francisco that myself and three of my Si-hings decided we wanted to compete in. So for about a week or so every day after our regular Wing Chun class we donned the gloves and trained for the tournament. I was in my late 20's at the time and I had been training in Wing Chun for about one year (so total beginner) and I will say that it was fun and I learned some things from the experience, but after the competition, which I did well in, what I learned the most was that if I wanted to continue to compete this way I would have to train for sport specifically which would take me away from developing the incredible real life skills my Sifu has, which is what I really wanted to learn. According to the judges I lost the bout, but technically I won. What I mean by that is, after the bout when the judges called my opponent as the winner, I as well as most people watching were pretty confused because I dominated the fight. So I asked one of the judges why I had lost. He said, and I quote, “You clearly dominated the fight, but all you did was straight punches”... wait what?!? So I dominated the fight, but the judges wanted to see more of a variety of techniques. I literally chased my opponent down the entire bout with straight punches. We were not supposed to hit to the head, this was a point sparring competition not full contact, and I did accidentally hit her in the head twice. A third time and I would have been disqualified. I really tried my best not to hit her head, but even after only one year of wing chun training in which the head and throat are primary targets, it became an ingrained habit that was hard to break for the competition. I didn’t have the level of control then as I do now.

Glove sparring and competing is much easier (but much more damaging to the body) than the skills development my Sifu teaches, but the skills he possesses and teaches are far superior for real self defense applications. Some people say that if you don't spar with gloves a lot and get hit a lot, the first time you do get hit you will quit and not be able to take it. Well I can say from experience that during my first competition I got hit, but with all that adrenaline pumping those hits didn't stop me or slow me down one bit. My chi sau training, even though I had only been studying for about a year, prepared me well for that sparring competition.

There are many skills that can be gained by training for sport fighting such as footwork, timing, and especially cardio, and at first your skills seem to develop much quicker. However, in the long term there is much greater depth of development in traditional martial arts training. It seems to take longer, but there really is no comparison when it comes to the vast benefits of traditional training vs the body and brain injury caused by sport training and competition. My biggest take away from that experience was that the way I learned how to train for self defense by my Sifu who teaches a traditional martial art, was different from the way you must train for sport fighting competitions. In order to be good at any game you must train for that game and ingrain habits that conform to the rules of that game. You have to decide what your goals are so you can train to reach those goals. If you want to train for competition, find a good coach and follow that path. If you want to train for self defense and self preservation, find a qualified Sifu and follow that path.

#1 Rule in our Wing Chun training... Do No Harm -
The end goal of each training day is to finish the day with improved Wing Chun skills while avoiding injuries. Traditional (or classical) martial arts training teaches self defense skills which can also be looked at it as a way of learning self preservation skills. To me, if I am supposed to be learning how to defend myself and to preserve my life if the need arises, and in the process of training I am getting hurt with head injuries, broken bones, joint and soft tissue injuries, am I not completely going against the idea of self preservation? Sounds more like self destruction training. If I leave the training gym with injuries and someone attacks me in the parking lot, I have just placed myself at a severe disadvantage. There is also the pitfall of down time in your training if you have to spend time recovering from your injuries. This type of training goes against the core goal of improving self defense and preservation skills. So, Rule #1 in Wing Chun training is, Do No Harm.

Understanding Timing and Speed -
Do not confuse timing with speed. They are two completely different things, but their relationship is important to understand. Speed is simply the rate at which you move, how fast or slow. Timing is understanding and developing WHEN to move. Quickness will be the result of correct timing, proper body mechanics, reduction of unnecessary muscular tension, and body unity. If developed properly your motions will become smooth and efficient and you will use the least amount of force to get the job done. The speed of your response should be in proportion to your opponents motion. Move with their force correctly, not against it. Your motion becomes my motion. I allow your motion to move me directly and automatically to my response to neutralize and counterattack. Do not try to simply move as fast as you can. Raw speed leads to over-extension, over-commitment, and loss of control. Raw speed can also be damaging to the untrained body because explosive speed applied to the joints is only safe when body mechanics have been correctly developed.

Similar drawbacks occur when too much strength or power is applied without properly developed body mechanics. This leads to clumsiness, slower response, ridged movements, a weaker counter attack and potential injuries. Strength is good, skill is better, strength applied skillfully is best.

Slow to be smooth and controlled, and smooth to be quick and precise, the same as learning to play a musical instrument. It's hard to fix and undo bad habits. If you speed up too soon you become sloppy, inaccurate, stiff, and jerky. Cultivate proper body mechanics and muscle or body memory and increase energy, complexity, speed, intensity, and power, over time.

You must be patient and progress in the time required. If this path is not followed not only will your skills suffer, but injuries can also be a result. The body must be developed progressively to be able to withstand increased speed and power generation. Muscles and soft tissues support the joints which are the weakest links in the body. The shoulders, elbows, knees, neck, and spine are vulnerable to injury if body mechanics are off while too much speed and power are used. You can also easily injure your training partner if you can't feel and control your power and motions. You don't want to be that guy/gal in class that always hurts everybody. If this happens, no one will want to play with you anymore.

Moving slow for too long is no good either. If you train techniques slowly for too long you will not develop the fast twitch muscle fibers that need to be developed to express or explode your power at the correct time. This will make your timing to execute too late and you will be easily countered. Slow at first to be smooth and controlled but don't stop there, smooth to be quick with precise timing must be developed next.

Avoid struggling during training -
While training it is important to remember, every time you fight force with force you are wasting precious training time and only reinforcing old unskilled habits. To build new skills you must go to a place within yourself that may feel uncomfortable at first. You will be vulnerable to losing the attack line while you are learning how to stay relaxed and let your body learn how to adjust correctly by going with the force and not against it. Your training partners Will get in on you, you will Not be able to block everything and you will Not be able to attack whenever you like, but if you are able to stay calm, keep your focus on your own body and learn how to adjust your whole body positioning to stay connected to your target, eventually your structure will begin to grow stronger and stronger. Your timing will slowly improve and little by little you'll be able to feel how to move and control yourself very smoothly and fluidly. But EVERY time you allow yourself to tighten up and struggle, you move yourself backwards instead of forwards.

Untrained fighting vs trained fighting -
How you train will determine how well you learn and how high your skills can become. Competition in training too soon will only reinforce and ingrain unskilled untrained fighting habits. Everyone, even children, can ball up their fists and swing at an opponent. A strong unskilled person can easily overcome a weaker unskilled person, but a person with some trained skills will change the outcome of a confrontation very quickly to their advantage. If you just want to fight to prove how tough you are, don't bother wasting your time and money and your classmates time joining a martial arts school, just go out and fight. If you want to learn sport fighting then you must find a gym that focuses their training on sport fighting skills. If you want to learn life-survival self-preservation skills, find a qualified traditional martial arts school. Traditional martial arts instruction teaches how to control yourself in a very specific way. It takes time, persistence, effort, patience, perseverance, dedication, humility, and usually monetary payment.

Train Hard and Smart -
Skills development won't happen if you just train hard or train for a long period of time. In order for your training to help you develop your skills to higher and higher levels, while preserving your health and fitness for a lifetime (not just a quick Rambo fix for an hour on the weekend) you MUST TRAIN SMART.

~ Carina Cirrincione - Southern Arizona Wing Chun © 7-31-17

drill progressions

Drill progressions are a vital component to martial arts development regardless of style. Progressions can be clearly seen in the video below. (1) develop an initial attack, (2) the partner learns many ways to counter the initial attack, (3) the initial attacker learns to counters the counter, and so on.

Try to see beyond the techniques here. This demo, being performed slowly, allows you to clearly see the principles behind the techniques. Look for correct structure, positioning, distance, various timings (to counter and counter the counter), power (where it is originating), target (whether the line of attack is regained or lost, connection to the other persons center is always maintained by both partners), body control, balance, body unity. The principles are all very clear and easy to see.

The techniques are secondary, it's the principles that are primary in any system. Wing Chun techniques may differ from what you see in this video, but the principles are the same. Learning to see (and feel) the principles within the techniques is an important skill to develop in and of itself.

Carina Cirrincione

the importance of correct body ALIGNMENT

In order to feel balanced throughout your body and to feel the rebounding force of your partners motion/power, you need to be able to direct your opponents force directly through your body to your feet. This requires not only the tension throughout your body to be correct, but also correct alignment of each structure. Without proper alignment of your 3 body structures, the tension can't be correct and balanced.

Using a position from dan chi sau as an example -
When you are moving, your alignment is in a constant state of adjustment. When you are doing basic dan chi sau (single stick) you are not moving your feet, so this simplifies things a bit. So with your position in fok sau on your partners bong sau, the intention of your elbow and shoulder must be down. Your opposite arm, which seemingly isn't doing anything, must have some tension in it (shoulder down and elbow pulled back) to balance out your upper triangle structure. Tension/stretching in the spine must be correct with no leaning in any direction. Head pulled up. The pelvis must be rotated and held in a posterior pelvic tilt. This is THE most common place for most people to loose their correct alignment and the power from the opponent usually can not get past the hips (the shoulder/s being up instead of down is another common weak spot). If the pelvis is not rotated properly there will be no connection of the upper body to the lower body and the legs will not be able to support the hands. This causes the hands/arms to be too active and become tight when it's the legs that should be active while the arms are more passive. The knees should be bent, and your body centered between both feet. The Pressure on your feet will not always be 50/50 but your body should always be centered 50/50 between your feet. You want to prevent your body from shifting to one side, or too far forward or back.

Generally speaking, if your alignment is correct, the tension in your body will be balanced and correct because the power transfer will be able to be direct and automatic. This is not easy because you have to be aware of your entire body from head to toe at all times to be able to make constant adjustments. Keeping this awareness when someone is attacking you is very difficult, which is why cooperative drills are so very important in order for this to be developed. If the alignment is off in any one place, you will feel unbalanced tension in your body and the power of your partner will "land on you" instead of go through you so that you can use it.

Understand this mentally so that you can practice it physically.

~ Carina Cirrincione

The gears of southern arizona wing chun (basic overview)

In SO AZ Wing Chun training you are developing the main structures of the body (legs, torso, and arms) to function like gears. This is how we receive the force of another person, and also the way we develop power and torque to generate and release our own power whether it is a strike, joint lock, or take down.

Looking at the function of a single gear, the source of the power is the rotation of the central axis of that gear. The center does not shift or move, it must rotate in place. The teeth of the gear are passive. If the connection between the central axis of the gear and the teeth is firm, the power and torque generated from the rotation of the fixed center will be directly transferred to the teeth of the gear. This results in the teeth of the gear being able to deliver tremendous power and torque.

When looking at all of the gears that are working together as a unit, the drive gear (the one gear that is the source of the power) is active and all of the secondary gears, which must all be interconnected, are passively moving (driven by the drive gear). When the drive gear rotates, all of the gears rotate, which is the basis of body-unity. When one part moves all parts move, sequentially when referring to the human body.

In wing chun the gears or structures of your body (legs, torso, and arms) must be firmly but flexibly interconnected and you must know which gear is the driver or drive gear. As an example, in a WC turning/rotational punch (standing in a forward stance or YGKYM) the power is transferred to the fist by the rotation and torque generated by the drive gear, which in this case is the driving leg (foot to hip joint) and then sequentially through all of the other gears of the body including... pelvis, shoulders, and elbow, to the fist.

For beginning students this skill is first developed in the basic turning punch drill. In this example if the punch is with the right fist, looking at the rotation of the legs the right leg is the drive leg, although both legs are rotating together. This makes one leg active (the power source) and the other leg passive (supporting the active leg) which creates yinyang balance between the leg gears.

The gears of the legs are connected to the gears of the torso by the gear of the pelvis/hips. In the rotation of the torso it is important that you do not turn at the waist (the area above the pelvis and below the ribs)... the pelvis and the shoulders must stay together connected by the bending of the knees, posterior tilt of the pelvis, slight crunch action of the core, pulling down of the shoulders, and stretching of the head/neck upwards. If the pelvis and shoulders aren't working together there will be a complete disconnection of the gears that drive the power from the legs through the torso and to the arms, resulting in weak structure and loss of power.

The gears of the torso are connected to the gears of the arms by the gears of the shoulders. The shoulders must be down and firm but flexible to link the rotation of the torso to the rotation of the punching arm and finally out to the fist. The receiver of that punch will feel power from the fist but that power didn't come FROM the fist. The source of that power came from the drive leg (drive gear). The fist is actually the last passive link in the gear chain, so to speak, but it is able to transfer much more power to the subject it is striking with all of the gears/body structures behind and supporting it, than it would be able to all by itself.

Of course it should go without saying, that you must control the rotation of your body structures so that you do not over or under rotate any of them. This concept of gears/rotation of the body structures, in conjunction with compression and expansion/stretching, is the foundation of the coiling action of the Wing Chun principle, Body Unity. If this skill is developed correctly, you will be invincible......... wellll okaaaaay no one is invincible, no matter how high their martial arts skills are, but you Will have super chi powers........... wellll okaaaaay there is no such thing as super chi powers either. So truth be told, if you can develop these abilities you will simply have really good WC skills... no magic and no super human powers, sorry..... just really good WC, which is truly a great feat all in itself... and it feels amazing :)

Carina Cirrincione - Southern Arizona Wing Chun © Aug 16, 2018

Shifting, turning/rotating, and pivoting

Different WC lineages and even people within the same lineage use different terms to describe what they are doing. We differentiate between the terms shifting, turning/rotating and pivoting. We consider shifting as something completely different than the other three terms. To us shifting is done when you shift (and or lean) your body weight either to the left or right leg, or forward to the toes or back to the heels.

We shift our weight to one leg when we are kicking and sometimes when we are stepping. At times when we step, our weight has to shift to one leg for a very brief moment until the step is complete, but there are also other ways we step where no shifting is necessary. When stationary (when you don't have to step) we avoid shifting our weight or leaning as much as possible to remain centered 50/50. We turn/rotate during the execution of a technique (blocking or attacking) by maintaining our center and rotating around a central axis that does not move in any direction and only rotates in place. In this way we stay balanced and can make quick adjustments in any direction at any time. If the body weight is shifted to one side (70/30 or 60/40) only the unweighted leg could be moved in that moment. We consider this shifted position as making your body unbalanced and stuck. If your opponent feels you are off center, he can take advantage of your weakened position. The hips and shoulders should remain level and facing the same direction. If one shoulder dips down we consider that leaning which will also result in unbalanced structures and the need to use more muscular strength, because structural strength will be compromised in this position. Structural strength is what we are developing in Wing Chun. When we rotate during the execution of a technique we are developing power through body unity, timing of the “snap” at the completion of the rotation, and the resulting generated torque of the structures. Power generated by shifting body weight and or leaning is a result of swinging momentum and isolating muscular strength. These are just a few reasons why we avoid shifting any of our weight to one leg or leaning. All necessary body adjustment in space ie moving left or right or forward and back is done with quick footwork and staying centered, not by leaning or shifting weight.

When we rotate/turn the body we pivot on the heels the majority of the time. There are times that the rotation is very slight and the feet do not need to move at all, just the legs and torso slightly rotate. Whether the feet pivot or not, always make sure the toes and knees face the same direction. If the knees and toes of the same leg are not kept in alignment, there will be damage to the soft tissues of the knees over time.

When we rotate/turn to release power in a strike or to receive incoming forces, we ground that force to our bracing leg. We don't weight the bracing leg by shifting our body weight to it, but the pressure on the bracing foot will be heavier than the other foot as a result of incoming forces OR outgoing power when executing a technique. So the body stays 50/50 but the pressure on the feet is not usually 50/50.

The terms shifting, rotating/turning and pivoting can be confusing in the context of WC development and applications. A clear understanding of these terms is required for clear understanding of the concepts being taught.

Carina Cirrincione - Southern Arizona Wing Chun © 2018

grounding forces

In order to have the ability to generate maximum power and to adjust to counter your partners motion/power, you have to understand how to ground these forces. We achieve this by developing body unity and learning how to (1) Generate power originating in the legs and (2) Direct your opponents force through your body to your feet. We call this grounding (or rooting or bracing). The ability to ground your own outgoing power (for a strike for example) as well as the ability to ground the incoming force from an opponent, requires not only the tension/firmness throughout your body to be correct, but also the correct alignment (positioning) of each structure focused on your target must be in place. Without proper alignment of your 3 body structures (arms, torso, and legs), the tension and structural strength won't be correct or balanced.

When you are moving your feet, your body is in a constant state of adjustment. When you are stationary and not moving your feet, this skill is easier to develop and feel at first. The following drill is the very first phase of a much more in depth drill focusing on how to ground incoming forces. Stand in YGKYM with your hands in front of you in jong sau (ready position) forming your arm triangle (This drill can also be done with the palms touching together to make it easier if need be). Have a training partner stand in front of you and push constant pressure on one of your forearms with the pressure going to your center. Not so much pressure that would make you have to move your feet, but just enough to feel some pressure. Let your body structures compress slightly but do not rotate yet (that will come later) and do not push against the incoming force. Maintain your structure aimed at your target, which is the center of your partner standing in front of you. If your body alignment (positioning) and tension (balloon function) is correct you should be able to feel the pressure given by your partner slightly compress your structures and go directly to your opposite foot (the foot opposite the forearm being pushed).

Important points for this drill:

The intention of your elbows and shoulders must be down. Your opposite arm, which seemingly isn't doing anything, must have some tension in it (sinking shoulder and elbow down) to balance out your upper triangle structure.
Stretching of the spine must be correct with no leaning in any direction. Head pulled up. The pelvis must be slightly rotated and held in a slight posterior pelvic tilt. This is THE most common place for most people to loose their correct alignment and the power from the opponent usually can not get past the hips. If the pelvis is not rotated properly there will be no connection of the upper body to the lower body and the legs will not be able to support the hands. If you shift your weight to one side or lean to one side, your structures will be unbalanced and you will not be able to ground any forces.
The shoulder/s being up instead of down is another very common weak spot. The shoulders must be pulled down by the lats and remain level.
If the connection between the upper and lower structures is not secure, your legs will not be able to receive the signal for how to adjust properly to the incoming force. This causes the hands/arms to be too active and become tight when the pressure is applied, when it's the legs that should be active while the arms are more passive. If power is not grounded correctly, the need for muscular strength will result. In Wing Chun we are developing structural strength which is why understanding grounding is so important.
The knees should be bent, and your body centered between both feet. If this is done correctly when the pressure is applied, the pressure on your feet will not be 50/50. The pressure on your bracing leg will be heavier. Your body should remain centered 50/50 between your feet.
Prevent your body from shifting to one side, or forward or back, and no leaning.
If done correctly you should feel a slight compression of all three body structures. You do not want to rigidly fight against the pressure applied by your partner but rather feel the slight compression coupled with correct alignment and tension and focus on your target to allow the pressure to be directed to your opposite foot.
Rotation of your body structures and the way to use the rebounding force from your training partner is the next phase of this drill which I will go over at a later date.

Generally speaking, if the points above are done correctly, the power transfer to the feet will be direct, automatic, and natural. This can be difficult because you have to be aware of your entire body from head to toe at all times to be able to make constant adjustments. Keeping this awareness when someone is attacking you is also very challenging, which is why cooperative drills are so important in order for this skill to be developed. If the alignment is off in any one place, you will feel unbalanced tension in your body and the power of your partner will "land on you" instead of move through you so that you can use it. Once this skill is well developed you should be able to feel the same function happening at all times whether you are stationary or moving around. All of the many solo drills and partner drills that we train help to develop this skill.

Carina Cirrincione - Southern Arizona Wing Chun © 2018

A Tip for Fong students

Study and understand yin-yang theory (yam-yeung in Cantonese). When Sifu Fong is discussing Wing Chun theory and concepts he is always talking in terms of yin-yang, even when he is using alternative English words. Do not think in terms of yin AND yang, it is yin-yang.... a whole component that is comprised of two interconnected parts that are in a constant state of adjustment, with one always containing some amount of the other within, to maintain balance. Seemingly opposites but actually combining in a complementary manner. Yin-yang explains the relationship between the parts that make up the whole.

When discussing power or movement or action, Sifu often uses the terms; active/passive, on/off, live/dead, etc to describe what is happening. He is not using the English dictionary literal definitions for these terms, he is using these as English terms for yin-yang. Active always has passive within, passive always has active within, on always has off within, off always has on within, live always has dead within, dead always has live within. He is always always ALWAYS talking about yin-yang relationships........ always. Even equalize/neutralize are simply the two components of one action.

It can be confusing, so the better you understand and digest yin-yang theory, the easier it will be to understand these teachings. Hope that helps.
~ Carina
Jan 10, 2019

Train to learn - fight to win

Train to Learn / Fight to Win #1
The #1 Rule in our Wing Chun training is... Do No Harm - The end goal of each training day is to finish the day with improved Wing Chun skills while avoiding injuries. Traditional (or classical) martial arts training teaches self defense skills which can also be looked at it as a way of learning self preservation skills. To me, if I am supposed to be learning skills to defend myself and to preserve my life if the need arises, and in the process of training I am getting hurt with head injuries, broken bones, joint and soft tissue injuries, am I not completely going against the idea of self preservation? Sounds more like self destruction training. If I leave the training gym with injuries and someone attacks me in the parking lot, I have just placed myself at a severe disadvantage. There is also the pitfall of down time in your training if you have to spend time recovering from your injuries. This type of training goes against the core goal of improving self defense and preservation skills. So, Rule #1 in Wing Chun training is, Do No Harm.

Train to Learn / Fight to Win #2 - Understand Timing and Speed, Part 1
Do not confuse timing with speed. They are two completely different things, but their relationship is important to understand. Speed is simply the rate at which you move, how fast or how slow. Timing is understanding and developing WHEN to move. Quickness will be the result of correct timing, proper body mechanics, reduction of unnecessary muscular tension, and body unity. If developed properly your motions will become smooth and efficient and you will use the least amount of force to get the job done. The speed of your response should be in proportion to your opponents motion. Move with their force correctly, not against it. Your motion becomes my motion. I allow your motion to move me directly and automatically to my response to neutralize and counterattack. Do not try to simply move as fast as you can. Raw speed leads to over-extension, over-commitment, and loss of control. Raw speed can also be damaging to the untrained body because explosive speed applied to the joints is only safe when body mechanics have been correctly developed. Similar drawbacks occur when too much strength or power is applied without properly developed body mechanics. This leads to clumsiness, slower response, loss of control, ridged movements, a weaker counter attack, and potential injuries. Strength is good, skill is better, strength applied skillfully is best.

Train to Learn / Fight to Win #3 Understanding Timing and Speed - Part 2
Slow to be smooth and controlled and smooth to be quick and precise. In your development of Wing Chun, if you try to speed up your movements too soon you risk becoming sloppy, inaccurate, and out of control. Cultivate proper body mechanics and muscle or body memory and increase energy, complexity, speed, intensity, and power over time. You must be patient and progress in the time required. If this path is not followed not only will your skills suffer, as it is difficult to fix bad habits, but injuries can also be a result. The body must be developed progressively to be able to withstand increased speed and power generation. Muscles and soft tissues support the joints which are the weakest links in the body. The shoulders, elbows, knees, neck, and spine are vulnerable to injury if body mechanics are off while too much speed and power are used. You can also easily injure your training partner if you can't feel and control your power and motions. You don't want to be that guy/gal in class that always hurts everybody. If this happens, no one will want to play with you anymore. Moving slow for too long is no good either. If you train techniques slowly for too long you will not develop the fast twitch muscle fibers that need to be developed to express or explode your power at the correct time. This will make your timing to execute too late and you will be easily countered. Slow at first to be smooth and controlled but don't stop there, smooth to be quick with precise timing MUST be developed next.

Train to Learn / Fight to Win #4 - The WC Training Network - Solo Development
The Wing Chun Training Network includes solo training and partner training. Solo training and partner training each develop a specific skill set that when integrated together in a training network, make a complete and balanced system of development. Wing Chun training includes many solo development drills such as empty hand forms, weapon and wooden dummy forms, and a vast amount of solo technique drills to develop footwork, hand, elbow, knee, and kicking skills. All Wing Chun solo forms and drills are designed to develop the principles of Wing Chun (structure, position, distance, timing, power, control, balance, body unity, target, neutralize, the Dao, mindfulness, and fierceness). The focus of solo training is to develop all of the WC principles by yourself, without the external forces and influence of a training partner. This allows you to focus on developing your own structure, positioning of your structure to an imaginary target, self timing, power generation, control of your balance and the balance of each structure of your body during movement, body unity (how your body structures are working together) and so on. The better your solo foundation is, the easier it will be to develop and progress in all of the various partner drills that we practice. Solo drills force you to visualize your target and intent which helps to develop your mind/body connection and strengthen and enhance your understanding and feeling of how your body is moving and adjusting. This training is the foundation of building strong and functional body mechanics. In the beginning stage of solo development the drills should be executed slowly with control and focus on what you are trying to feel and develop. Later, after the body mechanics are sound, the student should progress to full speed and power development of all the solo drills. The other obvious benefit of solo drills is that you can still train even when you don't have a training partner, anywhere at any time. But remember, solo training is only half of the WC Training Network. Without partner training, Wing Chun can not be fully developed.

Train to Learn / Fight to Win #5 - The WC Training Network -
The three phases of progressive Wing Chun partner training, Introduction.
Wing Chun partner drills include chi sau, lut sau (man sau & san sau), gor sau, and a vast array of other two person drills to develop footwork, hand, elbow, shoulder, knee, and kicking techniques as well as joint breaks and take downs. All Wing Chun partner training is designed to develop the principles of Wing Chun (structure, position, distance, timing, power, control, balance, body unity, target, neutralize, the Dao, mindfulness, and fierceness). Learning and training are progressive. From simple to complex, from slow to full speed, and from totally cooperative to controlled competition. We have devised three phases of WC partner training as listed below. The amount of time a student stays in each phase of training will vary from person to person. Many factors effect a students rate of growth and understanding. The process is not linear from one phase to the next. Students will continuously go back and forth between phases depending on what they are working on, the ability of their training partner, as well as the need to go back to phase #1 each time a new drill or exercise is being introduced. These phases are designed to build up pressure testing in a progressive manor.

Train to Learn / Fight to win #6 - The 3 phases of WC partner training -
Phase #1: Low resistance, low intensity, prearranged drills.
Cooperative partner drills. Training partners help each other to perform the drills correctly and focus on the principles being developed. No competition at first, that will come later. Techniques at first are somewhat exaggerated. As skills improve and the wing chun principles are developed, the body adjustments become more refined, precise, and smaller. Correct motion is developed first and then power is added. In the beginning the focus of training is to control yourself (your motion). In partner drills if you can actually make your partner do the drill correctly, you are developing a very high level of control of your own motions. You are controlling your partner by controlling yourself. Then later you can adjust your timing very slightly and you will be able to counter smoothly and with less effort. This will be accomplished only AFTER the drills can be performed cooperatively correctly. In the many drills that we practice, if the student can not do the drill free of mistakes with their partner being cooperative, then there is no possible way they will be able to do the drill correctly when their training partner is trying to Not let them do the drill. This is learning "Investment in Loss", and this investment is worth it's weight in gold! In this phase, training partners are learning how to have a physical "discussion" as opposed to an "argument". In a discussion there is a learning opportunity, where in an argument there is no learning. Basics and your foundation must come first. If you are building a structure such as a house and the foundation is poorly made, attempting to build on top of it is a complete waste of time because the structure will be weak and fall apart. Spend most of your training time building a strong foundation (basics), and everything you build on top will now be supported and strong. Can you build a house starting with the roof? Of course not... start with building a strong foundation and over time everything will settle into place.

Train to Learn / Fight to Win #7 - The 3 phases of WC partner training -
Phase #2: Medium resistance, medium intensity, prearranged drills.
Once a drill in phase #1 can be practiced regularly correctly without difficulty, begin to add complexity and energy, etc. but still help each other to train correct motion and stay within the parameters of the principles. Train at the speed of no mistakes. If the principles are sacrificed, slow back down and smooth it out. Train to move smoothly, precisely, controlled, and balanced. Not jerky, sloppy, forced, or struggling. There is a direct similarity between martial arts training and learning to play a musical instrument. In both areas, the end goal is to enable the practitioner to execute complex motor skills under high levels of stress. If you are learning how to play the guitar and you try to play fast and keep making mistakes, that is a signal to practice more slowly, at a speed that you can play without making mistakes. Then take the time to increase the pace progressively. Wing Chun skills are developed the same way. Feel how the attack comes in, learn to neutralize it correctly, progress to countering with precision and control, and then feel the timings to counter the other person's counter with endless variations. Slowly and planned at first, progressing to random with full speed and power, while always refining the principles of structure, positioning, distance, timing, control, target, balance, body unity, neutralizing, etc. It is very important that every motion have purpose, to strike and counter-strike your target with precision and the utmost control of yourself. Repeat each drill at a relatively medium pace so you can perfect your form and body mechanics, so as the pace of the drill is increased, the principles you are developing will remain intact. Large gross-motion training (gross-motor control) to fine motor control and smaller more precise movements. For example, a punch from chi sau - Start slow and controlled to learn the proper body unity (legs, torso, and arm) and relaxed power generation. Once this is developed, explode power can be added without getting tight. Power added too soon will make the punch tight, slow, and weak. Maximum potential will never be reached if the idea of power is in the mind too soon. First learn how to move properly, then learn how to add power properly.

Train to learn / Fight to Win #8 - The 3 Phases of progressive WC partner training -
Phase#3: Gor Sau (Wing Chun Sparring) - Realistic resistance and complexity, high intensity, full controlled power, free flowing, non-prearranged attacks and counters.
We have developed a variety of progressive gor sau drills to help instill gor sau skills. We practice various levels of controlled competition that allow the student to try to make what they have learned work, while still not deviating from the principles being developed. In order to do gor sau correctly, you MUST be able to feel and know when you have an attack line and when you've lost the attack line, when you have been compromised, when any of the Wing Chun principles have been lost, when you are fighting against your partners force, when you've collapsed or stretched out your structure, when you're chasing hands, when you are one sided, etc. This is where and when you put everything you have learned to that point to the test, of course still without loosing any of the principles you are trying to learn. In gor sau we do not use full power when applying joint locks, breaks, or strikes. We do not pull the strikes, we control them and either stop a hair distance before making contact, or make controlled contact. For the locks or breaks we take them to the point that our partner can feel the technique. This is another very high level of self control training. As stated in Phase #1, training is an investment in loss because you are not training to win, you are training to learn. This investment is priceless. Training is a give and take with your training partner in a productive situation where you can both learn and help each other develop to higher and higher levels of skill, while avoiding injuries at the same time. Gor sau is like improvised jazz music... nothing is planned, your years of training allow you to flow naturally. A beginner musician or martial artist who tries to improvise will fail miserably because they do not have the foundation, experience or skills to flow naturally. During gor sau training you are free to use all of the various techniques you've trained in phase #1 and #2, but now in a free-form manner... hand striking, kicks, knees, elbows, shoulder attacks, footwork, joint locks, sweeps, take downs, etc. Using the correct timing and response to what ever your training partner presents you with. Even at this level we are still not fighting, we are training. What may look like competition is actually cooperative. Why? Because we are not actually trying to kill or even harm our training partner. Real fighting is applying everything you have learned in a true self defense situation when your life depends on your skills. Training is the development of those skills. We try to make training as realistic as possible but training can never be real. Only real is real. Training is not fighting and fighting is not training... you must know the difference. Train to learn, Fight to win.

Carina Cirrincione - Southern Arizona Wing Chun © April 2019

the heart of a gung fu school

(creator of original image unknown)

The strength of a gung fu school comes from its heart. The heart of a gung fu school is Honesty and Respect.
Honesty and respect in a gung fu school is a two way street. A teacher/sifu must be honest and have respect for their students. A student must be honest and have respect for their sifu, and students must also be honest and have respect for their fellow classmates.

No one person in a gung fu school family is more important than anyone else. Each person may have a different role or function but no one has any more importance than anyone else. Every person is dependent on every other person in order for the family to grow and prosper.

The sifu may seem like the most important person but actually, in order to even be a sifu the sifu needs students. Without students the sifu has no one to pass the art on to and equally important, without students the sifu will not be able to increase their skills to deeper and deeper levels, which only comes from the process and experience of teaching.

It should be obvious that a gung fu student needs a sifu/coach. It is impossible to learn gung fu from videos or books. These can be learning aids, but a student must learn hands on with a qualified sifu in order to develop the depth of any martial art.

Students are also dependent on their classmates to be able to practice develop and grow within the art. Without anyone to practice with, development is impossible. You can't do it alone. In order to learn all of the principles of the system you must have training partners, preferably as many as possible. It's very important for students to train with classmates at higher and lower skill levels than their own. Students need to train with classmates who are at a higher level for many reasons, including so they can feel what the drills are supposed to feel like and be corrected when needed. Students need to train with lower skill level students as well for many reasons, for example, so they can learn to feel others mistakes and either help with corrections or learn how to capitalize on others mistakes. And of course it's important for students to also train with classmates who are at the same skill level. In all of these scenarios students are building each other up and in the process, developing their own skills to higher and higher levels.

It should go without saying that a sifu should always be respectful to their students, students should always be respectful to their teachers, and students should also always be respectful to their classmates. We are all dependent on one another. All families gung fu or otherwise sometimes have their dysfunction, no family is perfect, but with Honesty and Respect at it's heart the gung fu family will be strong.

~ Carina Cirrincione - Southern Arizona Wing Chun © April 2019

Footnote:
When I originally wrote this article I used the word "loyalty" in place of "honesty". It later dawned on me that there can be vastly different interpretations of the word “Loyalty”. To me there are many characteristics of loyalty or what it means to be loyal which include; honesty, support, caring, integrity, reliability, trustworthiness, sincerity, and bonding. I practice two different martial arts and I am 100% loyal to them both. No matter how large my gung fu family becomes I am loyal to each individual in the family. But for some people, the word Loyalty has a different meaning and take the word to imply obedience and submission to a single person or art. This is absolutely NOT what I mean when I use the word loyal. So because the word “loyal“ can be interpreted in different ways, I decided to change the wording and replace the word Loyalty with Honesty to hopefully make my intent more clear. Although for me, the word "loyalty" is perfectly suitable if it's defined as I stated above.