Discover Wing Chun Fancy Footwork - Not Chinese Dancing!
Wing Chun Foot Motions - Not Really Chinese Dancing!
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So, whats the new dance step youre doing, Yoshi?
Sure, I hear that often. Even from guys who should know better. You probably do too, particularly if you do footwork for Wing Chun. Wing Chun, or Chinese Dancing is a gentle style with a strong philosophical bent to it. Originally, the name came from the ideograms for Ever Spring, and it is appropriate. I was fed up of walking with bruises and sore muscles, and I needed to switch to a gentleer style while I was recovering. I like Kung Fu styles, so learning Wing Chun was so simple. Only without as much falling, or as many punches to the sternum as most King Fu styles. But the joint locks did remind me I was performing a real martial art. (Some advice anyone who says Hey, let me show you a joint lock! is a sadist. Just say no. Trust me.) In many ways, Wing Chun is like the early forms exercises you practice in Kung Fu, then carried to their logical extreme, rather than used as the fundamentals for a hard style.
What attracted me to Wing Chun, aside from the sprained wrist on my dominant punching hand, was the flowing foot motions that its aficionados possess. Well, I'll be honest. It was the flowing footwork that I saw in Jet Lis films, while waiting for my wrist cast to come off. But still, just from watching the films, I could see definite applications for Wing Chun footwork in my repertoire of techniques once my wrist healed. Wing Chun footwork has a focus on balance much more so than with a strong kicking style, which can leave you dangerously open doing a circle kick.
In particular, the footwork requires that you get into a low stance, but not so low that your mobility is hindered. Everyone who practices martial arts has heard of this stance, or that stance. but unless youre working in front of a mirror, youll take the easiest stance you can get away with without your sparring partner kicking you a new one. What I found great about Wing Chun is that the form drills (San Sik is what theyre called) REALLY emphasize flowing motions. Let me tell you, doing it correctly you will break a sweat. And the muscles in your hamstrings and quads will be burning fortunately, the end result is certainly worth it. Those forms become second nature, as if theyre learned by your knees and hips, and you will just do them once the pain has subsided.
Everybody will be talking about your new dance moves, but Wing Chun footwork pays for itself nicely. Since applying it, Ive been much more conscious of how my bent knees increase my reach with elbow strikes and punches, and its been much harder to throw me to the mat in Jiu Jitsu. The things Ive compensated for from the footwork, Ive learned have been in mobility. Its possible to plant too hard which makes it tempting to break stance to give pursuit. Particularly when youre flowing from a down block and trying to transition into a kick - at that point, the Wing Chun footwork has to skip a beat while you switch back to a harder Kung Fu kick.
Anyway, Im glad I took the time to learn this. Its provided me an excellent base to work with, and a few more tricks to throw into sparring matches. Particularly fun is when someone teases me about the dance moves and then says "How the heck did you do that, Yoshi?".
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About the Author: Yoshi Kundagawa is a freelance journalist. He covers the
mixed martial arts industry. For a free report on Wing Chun Wooden Dummy Trainingvisit his blog.
More articles by faliaprivate@hotmail.com
Print Article | Download PDF | 107 views | Mar 20 2007
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