Questions, Theory/General, Shorthand Conventions

Questions

1) L knee gets tired quickly. Not used to using both legs equally, leg muscles are weaker from favoring it.

Answer: will strengthen, will risk injury to joint, or will quit.

2) I keep trying to separate pak and sao into two moves, should be parts of one move.

Answer: stay relaxed and fluid. Also, move lead hand in loop, not back and forward. Loop should not be too shallow. Punch: do not curl lead hand into a backfist.

3) Still have tendency to "admire my shots" and freeze/pose on punch. Partially a perpetual problem for me, and partially from archery/firearms where remaining in stance allows the shot time to get off.

Answer: stay relaxed and fluid, keep trying throwing hands drill to loosen up.

4) S started me on the lop sao drill because I was having real trouble with lop sao.

Answer: Need to be responsive to pak, not frozen and muscling through. Also need to return paking hand to rear quickly. This drill will cure tendency to hang on to arm when paking.

5) Pak sao mistakes (7/9/93): did not move in, moved in too much, let guarding hand drop, did not pull rear foot to follow, too stiff (common), blinking on the close (another common error for me), paking more by pushing away (opens me for a lop) than across (did that a lot), hanging on to paked arm, not driving through with punch, anticipating return punch and trying to block more than punch, leaning forward, too much weight on back leg, etc. Many areas to err in an apparently simple technique, but which appears to be basic enough that it must be mastered before any others.

Answer: practice, concentrate, improve.

6) Still (7/19/93) wooden, stiff, tense, etc.

Answer: continue to practice in order to loosen up.

7) Other people seem to be hurting their hands when paking my punches. They keep paking and catching my knuckles instead of my wrist. My punches are apparently slower than what they've trained for.

Answer: Speed up punches for more realism, but be careful and keep control.

8) I keep blinking when practicing techniques.

Answer: try not to. Concentrate on keeping eyes open. Internet suggestion: put helmet on and have someone beat on it with stick for 5 or more minutes for desensitization.

9) Elbows hurt every once in a while.

Answer: Might be hyperextending. May just need to remember to avoid doing so, or may need to do biceps strengthening exercises (maybe simply retracting punches quicker, which I need to do anyway).

10) I have a control problem in drills (clumsiness, not aggression). I have hit another student once with an elbow, two other with fists. This is unacceptable.

Ansswer: I am not a natural puncher. I need to practice punching more in order to do it right. DD suggested I punch as close as I can at a wall. If I overreach: instant negative aversion therapy!

11) I don't turn enough doing techniques, and I'm still (8/30/93) too stiff, especially the shoulders.

Answer: a) practice choh ma. b) keep loosening up.

12) Need to concentrate on punching higher on punch sets.

13)DD has characterized inability to make both arms do different things as the "Steve Burnett problem". Example: Making a fist w/tan sao arm while punching with other hand, or open hands on both arms.

Answer: If I'd played drums and not clarinet/saxophone might have been better off for this purpose. As it is, just concentrate on it and avoid the mistake.

14) DD ID'd most of my problem on choh ma as shifting w/ feet& hips, but not connecting the torso/shoulders.

Answer: turn as a unit. Concentrate.

15) my 2-handed chi sao sucks. I'm too tense, changes make huge loops which lose contact with his arms, etc. (12/9/93)

Answer: loosen up, keep trying. Work on form, start using the inner tube.

16) Memo: still need to work on shifting, and doing so smoothly. 2nd tan sao of a pair is still weak.

Answer: practice shifting more.

17) jao sao followup #3 - when good/bad time to use?

18) When is a good time/bad time to use gwat sao?

19) Vocabulary: running hand jull sao or jao sao?

20) Spell poon, and is it tan & bong together?

21) Need to start training harder. Have upgraded intensity as of early November, reduced slightly from concern over viability of school. DD does sil lum tao & 1000 punches every morning and night. Need to decide on personal daily training beyond sil lum tao, and stick to it.

22) Speed punches still at a plateau (Jan '94). Still average about 60.

Answer:form is improving on hands, but still need to work on shifting shoulders w/hips. Also, at one point was averaging 64, but not now. Was doing more. To get better at speed punches, need to practice speed punches. late January: 69!

23) Does the "hit upwards if above solar plexus, down if below" apply to fun sao? I thought fs was w/ a downward arcing motion, to be more likely to intercept?

24) Is the blast forward into gon a good idea, instead of circling the hands?

25) P commented when I do sil lum tao that I need to drill forward into the bong sao, not just raise the elbow. Let hand flop from the torque. DD commented (rolling the ball) that I was just raising the elbow on my left arm tan>bong, right looked OK.

Answer: need to work the bong<>tan PT drill.

26) 2/15/94: Chi sao w/student, RM critiqued from his 3 hours on Sunday w/. Go much slower (don't stop, just slow), concentrate on perfect positioning. Bong sao elbow aimed at his face, fook sao elbow in. When practicing w/techniques, do techniques at same speed. Assign offensive/defensive roles: defensive doesn't take shots even if he sees opening. Keep perfect cover.

27) 4/94: have injured L elbow. After being out for a week, remembered rest of body not crippled, especially as I need leg work anyway.

28) After several kwan dao classes, am about 1/2way through the form, have not started working applications yet. However, I am unsure if more than a very little of kwan dao technique will be useful for close-in HtH and adaptable to SCA fighting. Accordingly, am branching out into staff techniques (Demura, kobudo), naginata (ordered video 4/6) and would like to find some discussion of kobudo eiku (oar) technique. Would happily attend a wing chun long pole or shaolin staff class, but they are not currently being offered.

29) (4/9/94) Am considering taking up suburi drills again after my L elbow heals. On the other hand, is suburi training (even w/suburito) any better for me, or not as good as, an equivalent amount of time spent shocking the pole? Maybe incorporate suburi as a secondary adjunct to pole shocking, in order to work SCA greatsword muscles? Might be unnecessary to add suburi to long pole work, but I don't know long pole exercises beyond (out/down/center) shocking, rolling, and thrusting. I do remember after doing 1000 shocks a day for a week, that my double-weight suburi felt awfully light.

30) 4/12/94 "....the stick's focus of attack [is] upon the bony protrusions and nerve centers of the human anatomy, while the knife attacks cutting and slashing veins, arteries, muscles, and tendons of the body". (Echanis Vol.III, p.20). Is this true?

31) Comment from DD (late April/early May 1994): according to him, only two styles have this kind of front kick (front heel thrust kick w/force as a forward step): wing chun and Togakure-ryu ninjutsu (ninpo). Does not imply that ninjutsu founders were, or were taught by, wing chun practitioners, but is interesting. Especially not implied is the idea that, because of one technique overlap, that there are other techniques to be borrowed from ninpo to supplement wing chun; the wing chun system is complete by itself.

32) on pak sao-lop sao as CR showed it 6/13/94, moving elbow forward seems to overextend for a straight punch. Will try working it for a while, then ask.

33) 6/15/94: CR said my pak sao-lop sao was excellent (3/4 speed, circle). Big improvement over last summer, especially as we have not worked that hand much. When working pak wan kuen, am not getting my wan kuen hand above the opponent's punch fast enough. I have a large bruise and swelling on my thumb base where Diogenes kept punching my hand. Maybe need to: pak earlier and pull down to waist sharper, initiate entire move earlier, swing R wan kuen more freely (faster), or something else.

What to do if not attending class on a given day?

1. Sil lum tao

2. choh ma

3. dock lop ma

4. Punch waist-chin, hand strengthening, other power training.

5. Speed punches

6. Punch sets (1,3,5,...)

7. Call others, practice techniques we have in common.

8. CR said 6/16/94 that long Form daily would be an excellent plan, I don't think I have an hour a day extra. Failing that, he recommended 10-20 minutes of the slow portion of long Form.

9. Hand conditioning on the heavy bag ("12 strikes"), especially as I spent the money and own one.

10. The muk yan jong form, visualizing a jong in front of me (until I can afford one).

Do at home every day, after class if get to stay late.

11. The half of the kwan do form I learned.

Need daily workout schedule. Requirements: under 15 minutes, able to do anywhere without equipment. Maybe equipment limit stretched to inner tube/towel/grips.

Will probably vary daily drills/PT for variety, also depending upon current goals or egregiously bad performance.

7/1/94: I am testing a new plan. I have chosen a daily workout routine which is an increase over my current activity level. I will attempt to implement this for two weeks, then evaluate. Two weeks is not long enough to show improvement, but it is long enough to show if I can stick to the plan.

1. Sil lum tao. Assume part of class. Wait until after class to do, in case 1st Form is not done in class.

2. Muk yan jong form - all known sets. I do not have a myj, but can visualize. Currently know sets 1-8.

3. Kwan do form - the half I know can be done in 38 seconds at maximum speed, 45-50 not hurrying if in practice. Since it's short, do twice.

4. Grip improvement - use grip exercisers, can do in car (almost certainly drive somewhere every day, even if not a workday. Commute to work counts as "found time").

Do at least a couple of sets per hand (1 minute's worth minimum).

5. Hand conditioning on the bag ("12 strikes"). Problematic because it is unlikely I can travel with a wall bag, or find the privacy to use it once I do. On the other hand, how many days have I been out of town this year? Very few.

My only problem is the best times I have to do hand conditioning on the bag are around 11PM, and Merrie or the neighbors might object. On the other hand, I underutilize my time before class. 10 cycles of the 12 strikes (both hands) is almost exactly 5 minutes. It is very rare that I do not arrive for class at least 10 minutes early. However, rarely get to work on hand conditioing, as CR always interrupts to have me go work with someone who isn't working out.

6. Any 10 power training exercises. Sit low horse, preacher, X, shoulder lifts, dock lop ma, ankle lifts, squats, speed punches, etc.