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Wing Chun Fancy Footwork - Not Chinese Dancing!---------- How's that new dance step youre trying, Yoshi? I hear that all the time. Even from people who really should know better. You probably do as well, particularly if you practice footwork for Wing Chun. Wing Chun, or Chinese Dancing is a soft style with a strong philosophical tendency to it. Originally, the name came from the ideograms for Ever Spring, and it is appropriate. I was getting tired of walking with contusions and sore muscles, and I needed to switch to a gentleer style while I was recovering. I enjoy Kung Fu styles, so studying Wing Chun was like falling off a log. Only without as much falling, or as many punches to the sternum as most King Fu styles. Though the joint locks reminded me that I was performing an actual martial art. (One piece of advice anyone who says Hey, let me show you a joint lock! is a maniac. Just say "no thanks". Seriously.) In some ways, Wing Chun is like the early forms exercises you do for Kung Fu, but carried to their logical extreme, rather than used as the fundamentals for a hard style. What drew me to Wing Chun, aside from the sprained wrist on my primary punching hand, was the fluid foot movements that its aficionados had. Well, OK. It was the fluid footwork that I saw in Jet Lis films, while I was waiting for my wrist to finish healing. Even so, just from watching the films, I could see definite uses for Wing Chun footwork in my list of techniques once my wrist was better. Wing Chun footwork has a focus on balance much more so than with a strong kicking style, which can leave you quite exposed attempting a circle kick. In particular, the footwork requires that you be in a low stance, but not one thats so low that your mobility is hindered. Everybody who does martial arts has heard of a myriad of stances. And unless youre working in front of a mirror, youll do the easiest stance you can get away with without your sparring partner kicking you a new one. What's great about Wing Chun is that the form drills (San Sik is what theyre called) REALLY emphasize fluid movements. if you're doing it right you'll definitely sweat. And the muscles in your quads and hams are going to burn but, is the end result worth it! Those forms become second nature, like theyre learned by your hips and knees, and you just do them once the pain has faded away. Everyone 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 parts Ive had to compensate for from the footwork, Ive learned have been in mobility. Its sometimes possible to plant too hard which makes it tempting to break your stance to give pursuit. Particularly when youre flowing from a down block and trying to transition into a kick - it's at that point, the Wing Chun footwork has to skip a beat while you move back to a harder Kung Fu kick. Author: Yoshi Kundagawa Previous article: 21 March 2007 | Home |
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