The transition from Wing Chun Sticky Hands to Tai Chi Chuan Pushing Hands should be an easy one. Of course, a fire drill is always easy, until one has to fight a real fire. Thus, to understand this transition one must make a few adjustments in the way they view things.
The Sticky Hands of Wing Chun is commonly done with a certain springiness in the limbs. Someone pushes on your structure, and you give away enough to manipulate them, and then spring into the opening created. This is a generality, and there is a lot more to the exercise, but it is what we must focus on to make our change.
The pushing hands of Tai Chi Chuan is actually a misnomer. It should be labeled 'emptying the whole body,' simply, one must give way until the opponent over pushes and thus is unbalanced. This defining of of Pushing Hands is quite simple, but, again, we are attempting to cross from one exercise to another, and this is our focus.
Now, we go from giving way with a certain 'springiness' inherent in the movement, to a giving way (emptying of) with the entire body. One drill is giving way with the arms, and the other is to absent the whole body from incoming forces. Thus, if one can take the 'springy' quality out of the arms, and just concentrate on emptying the arms and the rest of the body, the transition can be accomplished easily.
When an attacker strikes and you feel that the springing quality is inadequate for the situation, or you just feel like translating into Tai Chi, match the velocity of the incoming hand, turn the waist, and guide him past. It goes without saying, that he should not feel you guide him. It should be a manipulation not of flesh to flesh, but of hair to hair. Your touch should be so soft that he accepts it without protest.
At this point you should be able to question whether you are doing the art of Wing Chun, or the art of Tai Chi. The only difference, you see, is in the depth and height of stance. You may be standing in a two legged stance (goat riding) or in a single leg stance of some height, versus being in the deeper shifting stance that is common to Tai Chi Chuan.
So we come to the heart of the matter. Give way in sticky hands and let the attacker fall through. Or give way in Tai Chi and then use the spring back quality of Wing Chun to strike.
We are not really talking large differences here, merely small deviations that are, truth be told, already in either drill should one take the time to study with a correct eye to the possibilities. The whole point of this article is to help people who have been trained in one art to adjust to another art, and to a different type of awareness. That is how you make the transition from Wing Chun Sticky Hands to Tai Chi Chuan Pushing Hands.
The Sticky Hands of Wing Chun is commonly done with a certain springiness in the limbs. Someone pushes on your structure, and you give away enough to manipulate them, and then spring into the opening created. This is a generality, and there is a lot more to the exercise, but it is what we must focus on to make our change.
The pushing hands of Tai Chi Chuan is actually a misnomer. It should be labeled 'emptying the whole body,' simply, one must give way until the opponent over pushes and thus is unbalanced. This defining of of Pushing Hands is quite simple, but, again, we are attempting to cross from one exercise to another, and this is our focus.
Now, we go from giving way with a certain 'springiness' inherent in the movement, to a giving way (emptying of) with the entire body. One drill is giving way with the arms, and the other is to absent the whole body from incoming forces. Thus, if one can take the 'springy' quality out of the arms, and just concentrate on emptying the arms and the rest of the body, the transition can be accomplished easily.
When an attacker strikes and you feel that the springing quality is inadequate for the situation, or you just feel like translating into Tai Chi, match the velocity of the incoming hand, turn the waist, and guide him past. It goes without saying, that he should not feel you guide him. It should be a manipulation not of flesh to flesh, but of hair to hair. Your touch should be so soft that he accepts it without protest.
At this point you should be able to question whether you are doing the art of Wing Chun, or the art of Tai Chi. The only difference, you see, is in the depth and height of stance. You may be standing in a two legged stance (goat riding) or in a single leg stance of some height, versus being in the deeper shifting stance that is common to Tai Chi Chuan.
So we come to the heart of the matter. Give way in sticky hands and let the attacker fall through. Or give way in Tai Chi and then use the spring back quality of Wing Chun to strike.
We are not really talking large differences here, merely small deviations that are, truth be told, already in either drill should one take the time to study with a correct eye to the possibilities. The whole point of this article is to help people who have been trained in one art to adjust to another art, and to a different type of awareness. That is how you make the transition from Wing Chun Sticky Hands to Tai Chi Chuan Pushing Hands.
About the Author:
If you liked the data in changing from Wing Chun Sticky Hands to Tai Chi Chuan Pushing Hands, check out Five Army Tai Chi Chuan. Head on over on over over to Monster Martial Arts.
No comments:
Post a Comment