Good to be back!

Hi Gang,

Well it's great to be back! I've been out of the Wing Tsun loop for the month of May due to my work demands. Things have been settled and went smoothly and I'm eager and ready to bring WT back into my regular routine...

So the latest UFC Fight (Machida vs. Evans) really put karate back on the map. More importantly, it's put the concept of purist martial artists back into the MMA territory. It's about freaking time and I'm glad to see it. I think this is the point that many martial artists/street fighters have been trying to make all these years during the rise of MMA. The idea of a purist martial artist can be an effective fighting machine, but it will take lots of training and adapting your current arsenal to the new found elements of an MMA fighter.

I look forward to the future of MMA now and I would not be surprised if MMA will evolve again into another form of fighting, but one of a more purist foundation. No more are the days of the wrestler, the brawler, nor the "typical MMA". To come, hopefully, will be your karate guy who's not afraid to go to the ground IF NEED BE. Or the kung fu who's not afraid to go to the ground IF NEED BE.

Makes for more exciting fights too.

Until then.

Unleash Hell

There's nothing more that changes the fight and its intensity as "unleashing hell" unto your opponent. This is a primitive and incredibly powerful source of untapped energy that many of us have a hard time in expressing - especially in the kung fu school setting.

We train bong sao, we train killer strikes to the neck, and we train how to attack the groin - but how often do you train the ability to 1) unleash your inner beast and 2) control this so that you can maximize your wing tsun ability rather than just swing wildly at your opponent.

Unleashing this animal is like a backup battery pack - its limited in energy but its packed with juice.

Even during sparring, we usually suppress this emotion as to not let things get out of hand - but this shouldn't be confused with allowing the killer instinct emotions come into play.

In class, we train this during the two partner drills. We are encouraged to fake it until you make it and to not be shy. it is not easy. But man, when u are in that zone (usually for only a few minutes for me), the sweat pours and the legs are shaking...

Until then.

NOTE; I won't be back on until June! Mark your calendar!

Game 4

For those of your following the NHL playoffs, in particular the Vancouver Canucks, I have to talk about Game 4. The Canucks had the opportunity to take a series lead of 3-1 that night. The strategy, after a one goal lead however, was to play defense. Although fairly well executed, 3 minutes left into the game, the Blackhawks score to tie and the Blackhawks win the game in OT. 

I swear, these guys should try to integrate wing tsun principles into their game! The Canucks have to play aggressively. That's how they win and that's when they win. Offense, is their best defense - much like how us wing tsun practitioners fight. It's all about pressure and lots of it. What good is it to stand there to deflect, block or evade attacks all day long and not hit back??? Eventually, one gets through. Mentally, that fuels confidence for the attacker and doubt for the defender - this is not the momentum one would want.

ARGH. So frustrating. No need to be a kung fu guy to see this, but it's amazing why they would've resorted to this tactic. It's playoff hockey, it's go time people.

Until then.

The Deadliest Warrior

Have you seen this show, The Deadliest Warrior, on Spike TV?  This is an extremely entertaining show!

The premise here is that the show answers those "what if" questions we are all DYING to know, such as:

Who would win in a fight? 

1) Gladiator vs. Apache Indian Warrior

2) Ninja vs. Spartan

3) Viking vs. Samurai

So how do they answer this? Well they bring experts in each field and allow them to demonstrate the system's long range weapons/tactics, medium range, short range and one special weapon. They measure factors such as damage, kill factor, speed, etc. and input all of those variables into a computer program.

The computer system spits out a value that ranks it's killing effectiveness. But does the show tell you the number? It does one better - it shows you, in a choreographed fight scene, using all the different weapons, the victor.

Very entertaining I must say! 

Check it out.

Until then.

At Chapters..

I was at Chapters the other day, thumbing through the martial arts/sports section. I like to do this once in a while, you do find some interesting gems like "How to be a Ninja." Like, REALLY? The whole ninja fad is over and done with! But, of course, I had to take a look. Great topics such as digging yourself a fox hole to hide in to surprise the attacker was very entertaining. 

Anyway, I took a look through some reality-based self-defense books. Many of these, in my opinion, is re-packaged karate in street clothes with the attacker bearing a knife. Really nothing new. One interesting thing I came across in the book is using everyday tools or objects such as keys or a water bottle as a weapon. 

I agree that these can be handy..to a degree. I mean, even if you have a key, you gotta know how to get the key from point A to point B.  If you really can't do that without a key, what little chance do you have with a weapon? Perhaps the key empowers us, but that's about it..for that split second.  

I think it's a mistake for the defender to think they really have an upper hand if they bear a weapon (pepper spray, stapler, keys, etc) because, utlimately, the mechanics to make them effective are pretty much the same as not having these weapons and if you don't have that down, your weapon is useless.

Of course, this is the extreme. Better to have a weapon than none at all, but don't be too cocky...physically nor psychologically.

Until then.