Hitting the bag part 2

Now to continuing of my last post...

Hitting the bag isn't just about hitting the bag as hard as you can. Sure it's fun and all, but it does provide some very key tidbits of information:

1) Fatigue - not just in your arms, shoulders, triceps, but also your abs, back and legs. You're muscles aren't just experiencing fatigue from performing the move, but from meeting resistance and yourself having to maintain structure and to implement force into the opposing target.

2) Changes in body dynamics - once you start hitting the target, your body moves differently. The muscles you call on to hit through that target are different than when doing it in chi-sao or on your own in a drill. When hitting something, you get fixated on the target and your body starts to move differently. Sometimes it's the exact wake-up call that your body needs and was probably to shy to call for when doing solo drills or chi-sao.

3) Things get sloppy - yep, your positioning gets sloppy, your stance gets sloppy, you over extend, your weight is on the front leg, your elbows go up, etc. This is a good thing - to realize how and where your sloppy form is coming in. Ain't it funny how it reveals itself just by hitting a non-moving target? Imagine hitting a live opponent. No wonder these wing chun guys on youtube are getting their asses wooped. If you can't hit a focus mitt without opening up, then how do you expect to do it against a live opponent?

4) Your body gets tense - the mitt is there for you to hit. So people hit the target. Problem is, they only do that. They forget to hit THROUGH the target. And then you tell the guy to hit through the target and the target becomes the end point and then their jaw clenches up when the hit, their fists get tight when the hit, their forearms get tense and their stance gets stiff and they lean into the target. Why? it's just an object to practice on. it's not the end of the world - it's ok if you don't hit it hard the first time. Just work on hitting through the target.

Once in a while, I like to give the guys a chance to work on pad hitting. it's best when they're senior or intermediate students. In my opinion, when it's too early, the student's have no awareness of the above situations and will have a harder time fixing those issues. Those that can hit hard aren't implementing wing chun mechanics - just karate with wing chun movements. Hitting the bag might seem easy to do, but you wanna do it with wing chun mechanics, structure etc. It was great to train this with the senior guys.

Until then.