On Saturday 7th February our teacher Si Hing Ross Sargent came to our Winchester club to give a seminar. Training focused on forms. Our basic level students looked at the first form, the Siu Lim Tao. Our advanced students worked on the second form, the Cham Kiu.
The forms consist of a set series of movements used in combat. Form practice is done alone away from the pressure, speed and force used in sparring. This context gives us the time and space to analyse what we are doing, focusing on correct angles, structure and intent.
The angles at which we hold our bones in a joint dictate how stable the structure created will be. For instance, if you squat down on your legs the top and bottom parts of your legs will be at 90 degrees to one another. This turns your femur (top leg bone) into a long and heavy lever. The muscles operating your knee joint will have to work really hard to support this lever; as a result your quadriceps (thighs) will burn. Most humans walk with an angle of, very approximately, 160 degrees. This creates a structure that offers a good combination of springiness, so we don’t jar our skelton as we walk, and vertical alignment to conduct the weight of our bodies with minimal effort.
This awareness of angles, muscle tone and structure is what separates a person who takes little interest in their body from a kung fu master or any athlete who trains their bodies to optimise them for action. Kung fu training will specialise your body for martial coordination. Of course improved awareness imbues all our activity with vigour and durability!
Si Hing Ross provided expert feedback on our form practise, advising us on the precise structure needed. We trained our forms with focus and then put the applications into drills to hammer in the theory. When we felt confident in the process of the movements we put them into application to experience how they can be used to control a fight.
Si Hing Ross encouraged us to recognise the value of experience in understanding something. Give it a go, train it, think about it, train it some more, make it work. He also spoke about the background to these Wing Chun forms; describing the experience that GM Wan Kam Leung brings to the understanding of martial coordination. Particularly the simple and direct practical application of each move in the forms and how Chi Gung has contributed to the excellent structure they make use of.
Forms allow us to perfect a movement. Extremely well executed movement and exceptional coordination provide a fighting edge.
A big congratulations to our first grade students who all passed Student Grade 1. Our new members have made great progress in the last few weeks and months. All of you bring fantastic diversity and enthusiasm to our club! I look forward to putting you through your passes in SG 2.
We all then went for a social drink and a delicious meal at Charles House Fusion (12 upper high street) which we highly recommend. Big thanks as ever to Si Hing Ross for his teaching. He will be back in the last weekend of May for another seminar. Book your place now!
Charlie 16/02/09