I went to Vale Tudo the other day after a break of many, many months. I did this because I don't attend any clubs anymore and this was a gathering of people I knew semi-formally.
One bad habit I had that was revived was trying to deal with low kicks with my hands and arms. This is a really hard habit to break. I thought I had broken it but its come back.
I had a think and I believe its the dummy form that encourages this. When moving across the dummy, there are double garn-sau to kwan sau transitions. The double garn saus must be in there affecting me. I need to erase this but may have to drop the double garn saus [these are pictured in the DVD cases in posts below - it must be dramatic or something].
Why doesn't the Yip-Man lineage dummy form include knees or leg blocks to kicks ? Only the one performed by Randy Williams includes some knee and leg defenses. I must transplant some of these into what I do and / or drill them. (He has a bong gerk type move to the lower dummy arms too - if I recall).
Also whats not in the 116 movements are elbows. Why arn't these in the form ? You don't have to strike the dummy but can simulate. Space could be made for this by removing the tok sau moves that are over-represented, (be honest do you envisage using double-tok sau in a confrontation ?!)
Is this heresy ? Does it matter if you mess with tradition ?
Also while I am at it all my Wing Chun stuff goes out my head when in Vale Tudo. I would have to consciously tell my self 'I know some wing chun shapes' to use them. This is funny because when not doing Vale Tudo - say if I am frightened by something then wing chun shapes emerge. I wonder why this is.
Actually one wooden dummy move does look like a Vale tudo move. The circling hands of the 116 form (kau saus ?!) do look like pummeling for under-hooks in vertical grappling.
I go through ups and downs in faith in my dummy / WC skills. I don't think I would last that long in a traditional WC method vs Vale Tudo style approach. A skilled player can close the range so fast they are chest to chest straight from boxing range - with no in-between it seems. And then they dive to a lower level like a U-boat. Some fast footwork must be needed to counter this to keep the range or something.
3 comments:
After about 6 months sparring about 1 to 2 times a week or so I had learned some lessons.
Left side forward and I could not implement any Wing Chun inspired shapes. Right-side forward I could.
Right side forward I was more mobile but less powerful I felt. I neglected my left cross when punching and left Thai kick. For some reason I had no faith in them. BUT it was useful.
I would sometimes switch stance. Left side forward felt really static. I gave over most my time to this at fist but gave up. I managed a few times sticky leg ideas for capturing low Thai kicks - this was a novelty and came from Hune Bo on the dummy form where you circle in on the leg and pull back in a sweep. In JKD its a shelf that traps the leg (I think).
I also learned to stop turning my head away. That was a poor initial habit. Covering is better.
Oh yes straight blast gets people out of your face even defensively. I hadn't seen it been used when your under pressure but I had used it to confuse people. Even if you dont connect I had people covering.
The straight blast or chain punching isnt in Yip Mans dummy form or Randy Williams lineage (which is ???), but is in the Pan Nam form. Yay !
Oh also forgot to mention I got hit more left side forward ! The trade off was : power left side forward but got hit more and less mobility Vs Right side forward and less strong hitting but more mobile and being less of a target (I got hit less).
Mmmmm.
Something I do know from Bob Orlando's web site is people tend to hit strongest side. So if you are in either stance you hit with your strongest tools anyway. That reflects my experience. So I would according to him use my right all the time no matter.
I have been using my left arm to hit pads recently and think I have made it stronger than my right now as I have paid it special attention. Need to see if I can get my brain to know its a powerful tool now !
All of the elbow techniques you could ever need are in Biu Jee form. In our style we have footwork forms and bong gerk yap gerk are contained in the CK form. I don't see the point in having recursive techniques in the forms. In our dummy form all the techniques are brand new novel ideas from previous ones. Of course none of it makes sense without knowing the chi sao sections that show you how to put it together.
It's good to know your own blind spots and train the side that is weaker or less coordinated.
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