Injury

Injury

I am just coming back from a horrendous knee injury which has laid me low for nearly a year so I am just starting to get back into my training:

Wing Chun: I train the Sum Nim Tao every morning and do some work on my wallbag, I am horrendously unfit owing to a year of not being able to run so just a few minutes on the wallbag is usually enough to leave me huffing and puffing!

Yin Style Bagua: On mornings I don't feel like training Wing Chun (maybe my knee is not feeling up to it) I train in Bagua usually just static standing just going through the postures with some static striking too usually sticking to sweeping strikes or smashing strikes.

Bujinkan: I was at a bujinkan class when I got injured so I am not currently doing anything from this system. I will start to introduce some of the stretching in the coming weeks.

This is my first wallbag training for nearly 10 months!

Koto-ryu Koppojutsu

"Tiger Knocking Down School"

This school is most famous in the Bujinkan for its koppojutsu (unarmed techniques that attack the body’s structure). It is based on precise and effective punches and kicks and uses short distances with fast and direct strikes - koppo - which break the opponents' bones. It teaches an unusual and unique biken (sword) style of fighting as well as Muto dori. It has strong historical connections with Gyokko Ryu. These schools complement each other: Koto Ryu using short distances and Gyokko Ruy using long distances. Koto Ryu techniques are quick and straight to the point - Gyokko Ryu techniques are more complex. Koto Ryu concentrates on striking - Gyokko Ryu on locks and throws.

Trained in this for the first time this wednesday was very interesting all the locks and strikes, very similar in substance to bagua. I found the point striking particularly interesting. They form a fist either with the thumb sticking out or with it clenched on top to create a point. Alot of the locks use these point strikes as openers to get the drop on an opponent to enable them to perform the joint lock/ throw.

Very interesting and painfull!

Taijitsu - May 2011

I have recently been going along to my local Bujnkan School in london. I normally don't like Japanese styles that much having developed a loathing for Shokatan Karate in my youth.

I had found my interest in Wing Chun waining as in this association you are only allowed to progress through various gradings that are held once a year, and to learn new material you have to wait until you take this grading, which in my case would not be until September. Which initially I was ok with and concentrated on training hard for it, but after months of going over the same material week in, week out I found myself loosing interest and finding excuses not to train.

I also missed weapons training, when I trained in Yin Style bagua, the thing I liked was that you have weapons taught alongside the empty hand forms, as both can help you in the other. So initally I was looking around for a weapons art to supliment my Wing Chun, I went along to a very good school called Boar's Tooth in London which trains western martial arts such as the long sword and the rapier. I really enjoyed this, but as time went on I would have to my protective clothing and armour (not unlike Kendo) which really would increase the cost beyond my budget, so with a pledge to return one day I left in search of something else.

Next I tried Iaido at a school called Hagakure in london, which I did not like at all I was not impressed with the teachers all the students except a few. So I tried another sword school and enjoyed this but this was around the time I was loosing interest in wing chun, so I was starting to look for a school that would include weapons and empty hand training for both monetary and time considereations.

Years ago I bought a book on ninjitsu by Masaaki Hatsumi, and although I never had that much interest ninja's themselves I found the techniques interesting as well as the attitude and philosphy. Its purely for self defence, nothing else matters, no contest no point scoring, do anything to survive. I liked this as this what I feel is missing in a lot of modern martial arts.

So I went along to the class of Bujinkan London (http://www.bujinkanlondon.org/home.html) which is very near to where I live I enjoyed the lesson and thought the instructors excellent. So I shall keep going here for the moment and see how I progress.

New Training 2011

Part of my New Years resolutions was to get into wing chun in a big way.

Unfortunately illness and work and social commitments have really pushed Martial Arts out of my mind. But now I am really back into the rythym of the thing!

I have a new journal in which I will keep a record of all my sessions and I will make a note of them here

Chi Sau

I had my first introduction to Chi Sau the other day and I loved it

for those who don't know Chi Sau is the Wing Chun method of training reflexes and reactions for use in combat. It also trains you to feel your opponents force and thus get some indication as to what his next move will be (see left Bruce Lee and Yip Man doing Chi Sau).

It was an introduction for beginners to it, and unfortunately my partner was not as experienced as I (despite the fact he was several grades ahead of me!). And he kept struggling to form the correct shapes, but we got there in the end and we had a nice flow going.

I am getting fed up with my Wing Chun school the association as a whole is excellent but our particular teacher talks to much and we don't do enough during class. I've been to another school which is slightly further away, which has a far more serious/better attitude to training

Siu Lim Tao

I've been trying to learn the first form of Wing Chun for a while now and am starting to have some success. I love how there are common elements with the Bagua I already now Wing Chun for example has an inward sweeping strike very like that from the Lion System in Yin Style Bagua.

What amuses my Wing Chun colleagues though is still my tendancy to circle walk when sparring, I will always seek to take the outside gate and step away, something my Wing Chun instructor is constantly trying to stop.

One thing I found interesting that I do not like about this school of Wing Chun is the chief instructor like his students to spar at full power. I for one don't like this, I been doing various martial arts for over 15 years and throughtout it all has been emphasised the idea of control particularly when sparring with a colleage as you are both here to learn and not injure each other. In this session (of full power) I saw two broken ribs one concusion, and alot of blood being spilled. Some people may argue that this is good for overall body conditioning to train you body to be able to take a beating and still be able to function. I however take the view that its more likely to result in serious injury and put people off (there are already some beginners expressing disquiet at this). Conditioning is an important part of martial arts, my time doing Hung Gar I have very hard arms which almost never bruise now and opponents hate blocking, but that conditioning was built up slowly over time not all at once in an orgy of violence.

Bagua

Went along to Bagua training on Saturday something I've missed for too long due to the trains not running properly.

It was very interesting, some of the group had just returned from Beijing having trained with He Jinbao. What has been the focus in recent years has been training in the Lion System of Yin Style Bagua, which would lead to the most development and is (supposedly) the easiest to pick up. However this focus seems to be shifting now hopefully culminating with us being taught some of the Unicorn System (the most Yin of the animals).

What we were learning on Saturday was a 4 move sequence with a backstep. Starting with a rising sweeping strike, slapping down a block and then followining with an inward sweeping strike. This is also blocked which then leads to two different transformations (very Yinish) which flow with the back step to follow up with another inward sweeping strike, finishing with a capturing chopping strike at neck height.

The two different approaches to the block really show the different animals character one just moving around, the other flowing and wrapping (from the snake system). Anyway this June promises to be interesting!