This place discusses uses of the Wing Chun Wooden dummy; its non/classical uses, debate, share tips and everything dummy related.
(I have diversified however, when I see other things that are of value).
You do not have to have a teak wooden dummy to do dummy moves. Any medium can work. It is the angles that matter. The dummy is often said to be a protractor - i.e. it encourages you to move and face certain angles and not others.
The arms are open to different media. Here are a selection of pics of the types of materials I use on my dummy.
[Example 1 out of 6]
First pic is of some arms I picked up recently with glossy wooden arms. These are lovely to work with and are now my first choice. They make a lovely clacking noise, very crisp. And the wood is slightly lighter than my other beechwood arms, which creates a different feel. The offset nature of the back end of the arm is more pronounced, too.
[Example 2]
I even used my new nunchuks in there to be a de facto arm. The stubby nature is what can be expected but the rubbery nature of the 'arm' is interesting. Gum & Bong sau is possible in this low down position, at least.
(NB yes - if you are wondering you can strike the dummy with the heavy rubber nunchaku. It does not make marks, as far as I can see that are deep or permanent. The recoil is the worst enemy. Use 'witik' strikes then if you are not certain of what the recoil will be like).
< A silencer! If you are up in the very early morning, or late at night and do not want those clacking noises then the rubbery edge connectors of those child play mats can be slotted in.
These 'give' a little when pressed and offer a different feeling.
Should have thought of this years ago. A pick axe handle offers something new. Distance.
(Some people think this is heresy, as you are fooling with tradition. I say Bruce Lee led the way - and that happened any way when the Pole was added to the Wing Chun inventory).
The reverse side shows the flared ending being of use too.
< 'A' for effort. The wheelbarrow inner-tube was a good try but you cannot expect to use this for heavy punches. The air just gives way to the force and moves elsewhere. If you were to pump this up to take the force then the tube would be bloated to exploding point, I bet ?!
This picture shows a yoga mat plus inner tube. It is different. Now the softer inner tube adds something to the mat alone. The tube also stops the mat unravelling, as I have not cut squares into it like the YouTube suggestion below.
I suspect sharper readers of this blog will see an uncanny resemblance to the Emperor Dalek below from Dr.Who. ;>
This person has an excellent idea for bespoke padding for the dummy. This idea of wrapping a yoga mat around the body and few times, taping it and then cutting an 'X' shape in the arm squares is clever.
This idea means you are not just restricted to the high and low areas, where traditional pads are inserted. You have access to mid-range, and even behind - should that be relevant. Maybe even weak knee strikes could be used.
He mentions the give in the arms are affected as the mat adds distance, now, so maybe the peg is redundant. (Just don't lap sau in a straight line then, pull down with the lap sau to avoid it pulling out !?).
This person has an excellent idea for bespoke padding for the dummy. This idea of wrapping a yoga mat around the body and few times, taping it and then cutting an 'X' shape in the arm squares is cleaver.
This idea means you are not just restricted to the high and low areas, where traditional pads are inserted. You have access to mid-range, and even behind - should that be relevant. Maybe even weak knee strikes could be used.
He mentions the give in the arms are affected as the mat adds distance, now, so maybe the peg is redundant. (Just don't lap sau in a straight line then, pull down with the lap sau to avoid it pulling out !?).
This person has really thought about this device. I really think this idea is worth perusing. The foot pedal idea adds an uncertainty to the release of the strike that makes the reaction less predictable.
I wonder what his ideas are for curved 'hook' angles!
Here is another aspect to chess culture that is like martial arts. The evaluative side. 'Which is the best system' debate. These often crop up.
At the moment the best PR in the martial art world goes to cage fighting systems. See the Straightblast Gym and Matt Thornton for the 'delivery systems' that draw upon Thai boxing and Brazilian ju-Jitsu for these. Anything else is seen as probably less reliable, according to this orthodoxy. 'Look to the results' in professional fights, is the basis of this debate.
This debate is similar to chess :
I play this line called the Alekhine Defence. It lets white chase black's knight to the edge to create an asymmetric unbalanced position.
On another forum someone commented on the same system:
'Playing the Alekhine is like driving a Ferrari without the speed. You're doing way more work than the others and you aren't really doing much better with it. It's tricky in that you put yourself in awkward situations to imbalance things. Anyway I'm sure anyone under master can use it. The real question is whether it's even worth it...'.
----
This type of insight hurts, as you put investment into this and it could be in vain. Is the solution to try harder and make these positions work for you. In other-words play from these sub-optimal positions as Black and work it .... work it .... work it .... until you are expert? Or just find positions that are equal in the first place, and then work from that platform, via an orthodox chess defence in the first place. (I do admit to being drawn to Petrov's Defence). Yet at armature level reading the board is hard. I played white today vs Alekhine's Defence and still I came unstuck - AND I know this system as Black! The shapes are not normal and keeping tabs on the ideal placement of pieces chasing the theoretical advantage in an irrational context of a time-pressured game is not easy. This has happened a few times. I want to avoid the system I know which is 'bad', as I cannot cope with it ?!
This clip has many meanings. For me it shows why chess sub-culture can relate to other cultures that involve learning 'apprenticeships'.
The novice wants validation of progress. What is 'progress' is the knowledge ... but something physical is needed to demonstrate that - a 'token'. Here a young Josh Waitskin, when he was a chess prodigy, like many children I suspect wants a certificate to boost his self-esteem and show 'progress'.
The mentor played by Ben Kingsley is trying to show that the token of progress is not the goal ...
This trap to fall into is easy at martial art level. In Josh's book, The Art of Learning, he has an epiphany and later decides chess is not for him and becomes a Tai Chi master. During his 'journey' there, he notices people who become 'form collectors' , people who pick up sequences of moves, for its own sake, rather than the understanding and the slow graft to understand these moves authentically. Belts can do this, too. The desire for belts to show progress can represent tokenism, where the belt becomes the object of desire not the understanding and the graft and the intrinsic merits of the activity. (This relates to process vs outcome orientated goals - in a post I made below, a couple of years ago).
Moving learners to become appreciate of process goals, rather than outcome related goals, can increase their adherence to a tasks, should set-backs occur. They become resilient.
Here in this clip, the trainer - is expelled from the house but he tries to justify his reasons to both Josh and his Mother. He has a point. The McDonaldisation idea of him reproducing the standardised certificates does link to a McDojo, type feel, of the 'token' being meaningless ultimately. The way he dishes out the certificates is like a photocopier, or a machine stamping out beef burgers. There is no craft behind the certificate that way.
Josh does not know that, however, as he is too young to be able to have any experience to judge progress. This applies to any learner, who is new to a craft. How do you know you have made progress, if you cannot judge for yourself, as you are not experienced to judge for yourself? This sea of doubt goes with any learning territory like chess martial arts, starting out on a degree etc. You have to ride it out and over time changes occur, that become visible to yourself. You do things, think new ideas for yourself without being shown. < This for me is an example of validation.
This is a really good video as it shows some innovative thinking about the Wing Chun dummy.
There are some arms added, which makes the practitioner re-consider footwork patterns.
Randy Williams talks about the 'V' shape footwork and how the 2 extra arms affect the drills / partner relationship.
Also, what I liked is that he kneels down to use the dummy. I have not seen anyone else do that before, as it makes you think about height-levels in a new way.
Some of the comments to the video think the extra arms could teach bad habits as you could be tempted to reach to the extra set of arms rather than step to them or pivot into them ?!
In keeping with the odd seasonal picture .... I took this.
The red tree had shed some Autumn leaves and it looked like a red carpet. I went in to get my camera. There will be a cold snap soon, so the leaves will fall off, shortly.
We did some triangle footwork in training the other day, and I nearly posted a picture of an apple turnover to signify the 'V' shape but thought better of it. (You cannot dispute the loveliness of apple turnovers, however).
This link here shows insights from Neville Southall, Everton's goalkeeper in the 80s and 90s. He was a well respected keeper and thought of as best in the world, for a time, in the 80s.
He talks about how he sought to improve, using alternative ideas.
For example:
Dressing in black to make himself look larger
Wearing the cheapest plastic boots, rather than the sponsor's top range shoes
Getting to the ground earlier than everyone, to familiarise with the surroundings
This seems like a viable design for a wooden dummy. I like the way the body can be moved up and down the post for variable height. That is very useful. Notice in the video where his Dad, got the idea from for the body - Sushi rolling mat-thingy.
The arms come from a table leg - that is interesting. The design they have for the legs could be simpler, as it has groves in but that is not inevitable.
I would like to see him use this, to see what type of force it can take. I like to see what they would consider doing about a leg for it.
I wish I could skip like this girl! I bought a skipping rope a few weeks ago and went to use it now the weather is warm and I can go outside where there is space to skip.
First thing. I cannot skip!
Second thing. It does test your co-ordination. This video did say that.
I had to set myself a realistic goal, therefore, to adhere to the task.
For me just getting the rope to go over my head without mangling up on my body was that goal. (I did manage one skip however, a few times) But I called it a day, as that was enough.
Today, I managed 5 skips, before it got mangled up. I could feel myself getting all light headed when a pattern started and as soon as I was conscious of that .... rope gets mangled.
My next goals will be to build up the number of skips and then once I am automated in that , learn some other skipping footwork.
This video is very inspiring because it shows someone pushing their body and mind. The two are linked.
Richard was studying for a PhD at the time of this program shown late at night on Mondays on BBC1. (Look at his book shelf, when the camera scans it).
The program was called 'Making the Most of the Micro'. This person is probably one of few who really had learned to program and use their computers for productive purposes, too. He says he had to teach himself to create new programs to help him. (The signature he creates, is made of full stops joined together - very cleaver - and adds a personal level to the communications he makes).
He passed his PhD and there is a book about his life, written by his Mother. I want to get that.
Exercise ..... mmmmm.... a hard cardio work-out I mean ... I love to exercise -- the burning lungs ... the sweat ... the feeling you are going to collapse .......yuk yuk yuk, don't be silly.
I see the cardio side, as a chore a lot of the time. The dull repetitive tasks are not far off working on an assembly line. And like the latter you only do it for the outcomes - the benefits being health related.
Ways around the repetitive nature of exercise in martial arts, can be to do moves and drills that also look like the moves you do in your art and there is overlap. < This is what I do now, with my mini-weights.
But to do these moves burns up the energy store you have. In training with my colleges Slippers and Sleeve, you can see after a 3 minute round the effects hitting a pad has on you. Pufff, pufff puff. (Sometimes the sensation to vomit). This is why cardioid-exercise is a necessary evil for self-defence. No engine, no gas ... can't run off even!
This web page on the BBC and the supporting Horizon program, really fascinated me. It shows how individual differences in people will affect the responsiveness we have to exercise regimes. Blanket advice is 'exercise is good for you'. The implications of the program are - types of exercise need tailoring to types of people whose genetic makeup makes them responsive to some types of exercise, not others.
(If you are outside the UK in theory you cannot see the program - but there are ways).
What interested me is the short intensive exercise of 3 x 20 second all-out bursts on a bike..... And that is it! I had been told about tabata exercise before - is this that ? Look at the evidence for the benefits given. See also what did not change.
Here is a link to a BBC Radio 4 program of the impact of Bruce Lee and Kung Fu in the 70s.
He is seen as the catalyst in diffusing martial arts to the West.
The program is called 'In Living Memory - Kung Fu'.
I liked the way in the radio program they mention how the film 'Enter the Dragon' (1972), promotes Lee like a James Bond character. Also, noted is the representation of the Orient in this type of genre (thinking David Carradine's series Kung Fu), which uses stereotypes of Eastern philosophy which are just not realistic outside a California beach. This type of representation is a form of 'othering' that sets apart people as being distinct. (In the blog above there is a picture of Chinese characters in English pantomimes - have a look for that). The program ends saying that the martial art shown in the film is 'a fake' simulation not authentic martial arts. A film's symbolic construction.
This year I made some advances in the forms / Jurus I have because I used my own private language to make sense of the moves to me. It was no good someone saying to me 'show me juru 3 left side' - sorry I don't think in numbers I am not Leibnitz. Breathing. A problem was identified in that I was holding my breath in my drills. Had to overhaul the way I breath in and out now and be really conscious about it slipping into a mismatch between movements and breathing. Towards the end of the year I started using small weights and these have made some physical difference to me. They are not heavy enough to affect my joints or make me like Arnie, but I can feel a difference in my muscle composition. I will keep this up to see what long term affects this has. I can root myself better now, as I can sink like a sack of potatoes more readily, rather than remain standing up straight. Like the breathing, I knew you are supposed to do this, but it is becoming automated, more so now. Found more ways to do silat moves on the dummy. This is not really hard, but you need imagination. Got a camera to record myself on the dummy and shadow boxing. Been meaning to do this for ages. It does show you finesses to adjust and change. E.g. leaving the centre open and having 'chicken wings'.
Maybe I ought to have some New Year resolutions ....
Here are two videos of two disparate activities: chess and martial arts. You do often get comparisons between the two but these are not always that detailed.
Here is one similarity - reverence for 'the center'.
In chess, if you can occupy or control the center, then, you take space away from your opponent. Also, you can swing your pieces left or right, or crash through more economically - i.e. take less moves to make more threats.
In Wing Chun, the center too, is important to defend and attack down, at the same time. If your hands occupy the center you can deflect on-coming attacks from the left, right and center economically, as your arms do not have to move as far, as if they were parked on the edge of your body. Also, if you occupy the opponents center then, you can enter more easily to create threats on them.
So what? The point is the role of theory is to simplify and explain things. In chess you have a forest of possible moves and things to do. The role of theory and, here - 'the center' for instance - is to simplify your task and make meaning of the game and where you should put your pieces. Same for Wing Chun. The theory gives you something to think with and about. I.e. where should I defend and where should I attack? What should I be doing with my arms. This simplifies the choices to be made when interpreting a scuffle.
Theory is not actually to complicate. It is to simplify, that is why in academic courses such as social sciences effort is made in introducing learners to theory, to actually show how it is a tool to make meaning of a messy world by focusing on just a few prioritized ideas. You do not have to come up with novel ideas why things operate, or how they operate. You take the theory off-the-shelf, as someone else has done the spade-work.
The last theory we looked at was Beck's theory of 'the risk society'. I am not going into detail about that - but will say it gives us a focus on a few ideas to make meaning of why modern life offers anxiety and paradoxically decreased trust in experts, but yet also a reliance on experts in the modern age, as the threats we face are invisible and we need their help.
A theory I was learning about was 'existentialist counseling'. There the theory focuses us to realize what it is like to live life and understand it is not pre-determined, but we have freedom - i.e. choices to make. The weight of these choices is crushing upon us - and causes anxiety. Anxiety is part of life, which we need to embrace and according to Nietzsche we need to love our fate. If we can do that we live life authentically and not in bad faith. The issue of freedom and the problems it gives us is the core of this type of counseling. It has its principles in its theory to make meaning out of troubled lives in the counseling setting.
The theory is 'the center' then to be focusing on here, and also showing us what to ignore in doing your thinking. It is a simplification, but it speeds up analysis time in any of these activities when you think with these precepts, and take them as a given.
After training, the other day, I had a discussion with Sleeve and Slippers, my training partners. The discussion orientated towards the value of PST and what can be expected out of it. One moment of the talk focused on a hypothetical point about Mike Tyson and how PST could or could not help his opponent. One of my training partners was skeptical as Tyson's skills are untouchable and out of the equation. PST would not be of value here. (I hope this reflects the point being made).
I tried to counter saying that PST would be of value to the practitioner in achieving their potential, in order to maximize their chance against even world class opposition.
I sensed the debate was talking in parellel as there were different standards being applied here to the point or 'needs' of the althetes using PST.
Maybe these concepts help: In terms of goals, it is possible for an athlete to be outcome orientated. That is be just concerned with 'win / loose' scenarios.
Winning and losing is the point in sport and this is fair. It has been said that this type of outcomes only type goal causes pre-competition anxiety. And is not the best goal to have alone. Better is to include or replace this with ....
Process orientated goals, where the 'doing' of a specific skill is perfected - as you can be in control of this; and the same for performance orientated goals- where you seek to maximize your behavior in competition - so Sleeve gave the example of a personal best time for a runner.
The point is these latter two goals are in control by the athlete but the outcomes oreientated goal is not controllable, as the opposition has something to say about it and want to mess up your chances.
Slippers once told me that you have to be in control of yourself to be in control of others. In this last respect maximizing and optimizing your performance is a valid focus for training *IF* removal to mental barriers to performance exist. [We all have off days in training, where we leave that jab out - but do not normally, or get tired sooner than usual etc.].
Examples of where practitioners are not in control of themselves is in choking, where they underperfom and that memory of a missplayed technique haunts them and reurfaces in their play to mame other skills and the vicious cycle continues. That is the self - defeating the self - not just the competition. A way of controlling choking is needed, to eliminate bugs in the software.
In the video link above, you hear about techniques such as
self-talk or
pre-competition routines
These serve some value for practitioners to be in control of themselves in their question to optimize their performances.
Weinberg and Gould (2007) in their book, do note studies that show that the more successful athletes do practice PST, than those who are less successful, who don't.
The issue is PST is a skill and like physical skills, it needs repetition to hone as you are mastering the way the mind is habituated, which is as hard as a physical skill. Plus, training the mind to learn new ideas and new routines is not something that we are taught at school or easily picked up without some help. Adhering to acquiring these skills is as hard, I assume, as keeping up the physical training.
I was training with Slippers a few months ago, hitting pads and doing drills. One drill we were doing looked potentially dangerous and I was slighlty worried I may hit my partners teeth.
To protect teeth we usually use mouth guards, but they need to go in early in the routine or else you loose momentum and flow in the training, in order to take a time-out, to fit them.
I told Slippers "This is dangerous and I may hit your teeth".
Slippers replies " Don't say that you will jinx it".
I was surprised at that reply, as Slippers is part of the Enlightenment moment and subscribes to science and reason and all things the Renaissance, too, brings in.
Yesterday when reading my sports psychology book on 'concentration', I came across a related idea, that may link up with this idea.
Apparently research called 'ironic processes in sport' has shown that trying NOT to perform X, actually incites the chances of move X actually occurring. The reason for this is, when you say or are told 'don't do X', your brain can conjure up the idea of X - that it knows how to do, as it is in the detail of the command. (Source Weinberg and Gould 2007,p.380).
This means that a jinx can be based on probability then, in this context.
Does this tally with anyones experiences in their activities ?
I know when I am making notes in my book and I start over-thinking how to write my idea, (e.g. in a limited space at the bottom of the page I need to squeeze in a sentence), more than likely the sentence is messed up and I have to cross out and re-write the sentence and there is even less space now than before.
According to the chapter I read, this is possibly because an automated process, (writing), when elevated to a conscious level, labours the brain and chances for errors increase. The chapter mentioned, this is how an aspect of gamesmanship can work: complement your opponent on his technique "great follow through" - which is automated ... and you provoke the move to become propelled, instead, by the conscious part of the brain and over-control the move. (This may also take away the brains capacity for performing or analyzing other tasks).
When learning a move you want to be consciously controlling your body but when reviving the move in performance in competition, for example, conscious thinking is not optimum. The brain needs to be looking and analyzing other variables such as external context - where are others stood - what will be the best person to pass to, etc. The narrow focus of move performance is a distraction, or rather, a miss-matched attention style to what is needed.
Beyond mood, jurus and forms could be of benefit is related to the link between exercise and mental health.
Here is an extract taken from a report: Physical Activity and Mental Health: the role of physical activity in promoting mental wellbeing and preventing mental health problems - An Evidence Briefing May 2008, (Whitelaw et al. 2008).
"The notion of there being a range of possible explanatory mechanisms that explain the nature of the association between physical activity and mental health was introduced in outline earlier. In more detail, these are:
•
biochemical & physiological: improved mental health is linked to increased core body temperature; increases in endorphins; changes in the serotonergic systems and effects on neurotransmitters;
•
improvements in fitness and weight loss: improved mental wellbeing is associated with the feeling that the body is fitter or more ‘toned’;
•
‘mastery’: effects are linked to increases in self worth and personal control that come with the mastering of new physical activity tasks;
•
‘distraction’: positive outcomes are associated with the tendency for physical activity to take us away from stressful parts of our lives;
•
social interaction and sense of belonging: mental wellbeing benefits can arise from the collective experience of being active as a group38;
•
social and cultural value: physical activity is largely seen as socially and culturally ‘virtuous’ and therefore has the potential in itself to increase self-esteem"
Generally when I train solo, I feel better for it.
A reason for this is a change in mood state. This link between exercise and mood has been noted in the sports psychology and exercise literature and I wanted to share one or two points I came across.
Rhythmic abdominal breathing: Both aerobic and anaerobic can be useful here. (Previously only the former was seen, as beneficial). This means thinks like Tai Chi swimming and yoga count here ! The particular juru, that I use, emphasises breaking in for some moves and out for other moves. This may explain why I feel better in my solo training. The rhythmic effect of the breathing is at play. (NB not much in the Wing Chun literature emphasises breathing patterns during the forms. One notable exception if Randy Williams' work - he does place emphasis on this in his videos, I recall).
Rhythmic and repetitive movements. This is tied to the above as well. It is obvious forms and jurus rely on this. My book says this frees the mind to focus on more important issues - but I am not totally sure I do this in forms. Although, going for a 'walk in the rain', is often an activity cited when inverters have eureka moments. The rain clears the air from dust and maybe purer oxygen gets to the brain ? (Same in the shower ?).
Closed and predicable activities : where the environment is controllable (in the exercise activity) distractions can be ruled out and you have control over your circumstances. You can pace yourself. The jurus are contained activities and no novelty enters into this. 116 movements too on the dummy - same thing. No novelty involved in that cycle of rhythmic repetition.
(Source: Weinberg and Gould 2008,p.404. Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology).
I suspect the New Year has brought in many 'must do' and 'things to do' promises for people.
Gain muscle, lose weight, run faster, pass that grading, start that philosophy or sports fitness course etc. These are all worthy goals but will people stick to the regime of work to achieve these ends ?
This post is about adhesion and sticking to your path of activity. I am doing a sport psychology unit and this diagram comes from one of the models of adhesion we looked at. It really caught my eye, (I will say later, why). To achieve the new goal we have to behave in a new way.
"Figure 8.3 shows how an individual goes through a cyclical series of stages when they change a behaviour. They may start off having had no thought or desire to change their behaviour (precontemplation), but then something may cause them to think about changing their behaviour (contemplation), which will lead to a period of preparation followed by action, which, if sustained, will in turn lead to maintenance. However, the individual may not sustain their changed behaviour, which will lead to the termination of that behaviour".
Rea,S. (2010) 'Adherence and group dynamics' in E233 Sport and exercise psychology: a case study approach, (2010). The Open University.
I can map this model onto my own 'journey' in martial arts, (and other activities that involved behavioural investments).
So precontemplation is when I did no martial arts but way well have been aware of Karate from playing computer games and films. Contemplation is when you start toying with the idea of doing the art but it is in the 'things to do / nice things to want to do list'. Here I saw someone at church who new Wing Chun give me a demo. He was Chinease and I was under the assumption this was a magic power he had, as his sticking hands and blocks were of good quality and he showed me the theory that underlies what he was doing. (Theory is the blue prints to any activity - get your hands on that to make your life easy - from academia to chess etc.).
'Preparation' for doing some martial arts came from buying books and borrowing library books. I wrote the British Kung Fu association for a local group. (note the singular here this was the 80s and there was not that much available that was not Shotokan). Note too, this is actual activity that is compatible with my goal. I am doing something not just mental. This is 'work'. But it cannot stop here.
Action. Doing it. I took JKD lessons. I could not believe I had actually rung up someone and had the courage to do this. I remember when I had committed myself to the first lesson thinking 'what have I done now'. But I did it and had more lessons and did another martial art when I left home. I was stretching and drilling in private. Etc. This was maintenance work. BUT after a few years things stopped. no training partners or classes even. This was a relapse.
Then the cycle began again from 2002 onwards .... where I think it would be a good idea .... and we are back to contemplation again.
This shows us how adhesion is not linear but like the tide, comes in and out.It is cyclical.
The processing of getting and using the wooden dummy is very similar. The contemplation stage lasted about 9 months. I have not relapsed in my use of the dummy. I have never stopped for a long passage of time, just weather affects me sometimes.
The model is useful as if you can plot yourself / others on the cycle then you can find interventions that will modify their behaviour relative to where they are. So if you want to provoke contemplation for a weight loss regime you may want posters of tubby people versus a slim person, (often the same person), laying about. This plants a seed in their mind, 'what if'. Someone who needs help with maintenance would need a different form of intervention - maybe a study buddy, or training partner, as a poster would not be of value there.
All 3 of the named pilots, in the title I give here, were elite pilots or 'aces'. They were all, therefore, highly skilled and survived as they knew and adhered to principles that kept them going in stressful circumstances.
BUT that is not what I am focusing on, for their common ground. Rather, they all died as they broke basic rules. Target fixation & flying in a straight-line too low to the ground:
"...Richthofen's behaviour after his injury was noted as consistent with brain-injured patients, and such an injury could account for his perceived lack of judgment on his final flight: flying too low over enemy territory and suffering target fixation.[48] There is also the possibility that Richthofen was suffering from cumulative combat stress, which made him fail to observe some of his usual precautions. It is noteworthy that one of the leading British air aces, Major Edward "Mick" Mannock, was killed by ground fire on 26 July 1918 while crossing the lines at low level, an action he had always cautioned his younger pilots against. One of the most popular of the French air aces, Georges Guynemer, went missing on 11 September 1917, probably while attacking a two-seater without realizing several Fokkers were escorting it.[49][50]"
(Source: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_von_Richthofen : accessed Jan 2011).
My point is ... if even these elite pilots get into trouble and break laws of 'the basics' then we will. It must be a question of probability that is the question here. Basic rules and skills, therefore, will probably be forgotten on some occasions no matter how expert you are.
(The Barons article is interesting. I accessed the Lancet to read the paper they mention. He had taken a bullet to the head the year before but still carried on. The sense of duty even when brain damaged increased his chances of being killed. He should not have been up in that plane at all. All of them should have been retired and passed on their skills not burned out like this).
I chose pilots as an example, as I know the 'OODA loop' is being used from fighter pilot tactics as a way to think in self-defence. That is an ideal method to employ - but does not mean it can be implemented every time. The knowledge of that would increase your chances, and chances involve probability. In other words luck can be involved in foiling that scheme or just bad judgement in it's deployment.
This is a very short review of an academic paper published in Journal of Sport Behavior; Mar'98, Vol. 21 Issue 1.
It is called 'Phenomenological meanings of martial arts participation.' by Rice and Columbus.
This means the focus of the paper is to understand what martial arts participation and practice means to the participants themselves. The researchers asked participants :
"Please describe in writing your experience of an everyday life situation in which you realized that training in a martial art is, or would be, a worthwhile activity." Also "Participants were further asked to make their descriptions as detailed as possible so that someone else could understand exactly what was experienced before, during, and after the event".
The study was small scale but had 10 male and 7 female martial art practitioners from a variety of arts including Tai Chi and Karate.The results were analyzed for patterns and 4 themes emerged:
Criminal Victimization, Growth and Discovery, Task Performance, and Life Transition.
[Criminal Victimization]
The first category involves the issue of protection. Participants either
experienced threats or 'near misses' and a 'what if' scenario emerged.
This prompted motivation to practice martial arts as it gives a plan of
action of participants. The fear experienced had created a sense of 'vulnerability and powerlessness". Victimization was described in scenarios where people felt' always' scared' for example - even if it was just a perception, such as fear of dark streets.
[Growth and Discovery]
This dimension differs from that above. The category above on victimization is about others who seek to cause harm with confrontations with them. Here this category is about confronting themselves and self-improvement through private challenges. The above category is physical, where this category on growth and discovery is mental, arguably, becuase of the improved 'awareness' mentally. There is however a body dimension where people became more linked to their own physical presence. The teacher and the class are important 'others' in meeting this need of learners. The class are seen as like-minded participants who share the same goal and the sense of co-operation between them was beneficial.
[Life Transition ]
This category I found interested personally. I can see the above 2 fitting in with peoples needs and wants list from a martial art practice and it is what is actively sought after. Here, in this category turmoil in life events causes an change on us: divorce, moving college, financial debts. Life beats us up ! Here martial arts are a way of seeking control and purpose in the overall life-course we are going though. A way of managing crisis.
[Task Performance ]
While reading this paper, I can see Karate Kid I's story fitting these dimensions (above) - (for what that is worth): New school / crisis in life / victimization and growth via Mr. Miyagi. Bruce Lee's scenario is not much different, if we believe the biography that is presented about him and his journey to Jeet Kune Do.
I don't know if this category, here, meets this 'popular culture' type of insight, I note. Maybe it does and I am not thinking enough - tell me in the comments! Here the motivation is intrinsic. It is solving goals - this could be grading, badges or belts. To achieve these needs mastering skills and overcoming uncertainties and worries associated with this from anxiety.
[Overall]
The big pattern throughout these categories is a 'compensatory' or
'emancipatory' theme. Martial arts practice makes up for something missing or deficient, in the former. Or, it allows a new freedom from self or environmental constraints. Therefore it is a lack vs a gain scenario. This, I find very succinct and insightful way of looking for the 'big idea' in these peoples accounts. So a compensatory use of martial arts is to obtain skills to defend oneself and counterbalance weakness such as being in debt via a lack of discipline even. The emancipation can be seen in overcoming mental obstacles in learning a new skill or finding a new way of looking at the world. On this latter point, and this is something you do not see covered in a psychology journal maybe, is that emancipation is sought in many arts where colonial rule is experienced. If you look at Capoera or Silat, these histories support stories of what the art mean to a collective of disadvantaged ethnic groups.
A few years ago when returning from the West Country I was on the train from Reading and started to read a biography on Bruce Lee. It was written by Bruce Thomas, a bass guitarist for Elvis Costello and The Attractions.
Thomas writes in the book favorably of this teacher, Derek Jones, who taught him Wing Chun. What I find ironic is Thomas does not credit Elivs Costello himself for his stance ! I must confess, if you google images of Costello, you will see him in this stance quite often. THIS IS NOT DUE TO CHANCE.
Below is a dialogue from a comedy called Blackadder (1983), it is set in the Middle-Ages.
[In meeting room, Harry is holding a council with various lords].
Harry: My Lords of the Council, we face today the gravest crisis this country
has known since the Roman invasion.
All: Hear hear!
(an officer enters, carrying a helmet)
Harry: Therefore, I propose--
Officer: Your Highness, the King has stirred and calls for you.
Harry: Ah. (swallows nervously) Very well. (removes his hat; stands) Gentlemen,
I must leave you. (takes the helmet from Officer and draws his sword,
preparing to meet the deranged King) Prince Edmund is in charge!
(Percy begins to bang on the table in approval, but all the lords
mutter "Oh shame..." so he stops. Harry and Officer leave. Baldrick
brings Harry's notes to Edmund.)
Edmund: Er, yes, right. Gentlemen, right... (reads from Harry's notes) As you
know, today we face the gravest crisis this country has known since
the Roman invasion.
(They all make sounds of protest: "Nonsense!"; "Rubbish!"; etc.)
Lord 1: What about the Viking invasion?
Lord 2: ...and the Norman invasion?
Angus: ...and the Swiss invasion?
Edmund: Er, well, the greatest crisis for some time.
Lord 2: And we all know why!
Edmund: Why?
Angus: Because the King is possessed!
Edmund: What?!
Lord 2: True! True! The land is full of omens of bewitchment. Only last week
in Cornwall, a man with four heads was seen taking tea on the beach;
and two women in Windsor claimed to have been raped by a fish!
Lord 1: I, too, have heard such tales. In (Harrigate?),
it rained phlegm; and
they do say that, in Edinburgh, the graves did open and the ghosts of
our ancestors rose up and competed in athletic sports!
Percy: ...and a friend of mine had this awful pimple on the inside of his
nose!!!
Edmund: Percy, shut up, for God's sake.
(There are mutters of "Witchcraft!")
Angus: ...and a farmer in (Rye?) heard a cow reciting Geoffrey Chaucer; and
a young woman in Shropshire saw Geoffrey Chaucer in a field, mooing
and suckling a young heifer!
Edmund: Gentlemen, gentlemen, surely we aren't the sort of people who believe
in this sort of thing. I mean, next you'll be telling me is
that washing your hair in bat's droppings stops you going bald.
Lord 2: But it's true! I couldn't find enough bats, and look what happened!
(removes his hat to show his baldness)
Iput this script in here (which can be seen on youtube, if you search about), as it shows the issue of authority really well.
Authority is where you can get people to behave in a certain way – even if they like it or not – and you don’t have to resort to force to get them to do that, as your right to do so is recognized and not contested.
In this example Edmund Blackadder has no authority – or rather it is not recognised, but his elder Brother's authority was. See how the group of Lords start to question the very same statement made, once Edmund takes over.
In martial art teaching the search for authoritative knowledge is a big battle. Who can we belive, what knowledge counts as ‘true’ or not is a big source of anguish for many. Some use tradition and brand names of teachers to derive the legitimacy of knowledge claims.
I remember when I did JKD. The teacher put me in charge of a newcomer to do hook-kicks. Theythe kicking shield and started the demonstration. When it was their turn to go, I started to ‘correct’ them, in the style of what our school did. The newcomer said ‘oh, no – this way is much better’ – and proceeded to do what they wanted to do.
I wondered what to do. They weren’t really listening to what I had said – or been shown myself as 'correct'. So I called over a trainee instructor, and thought if the newcomer does not believe me, then they will believe him. But then what happens is yet another way to ‘hook-kick’ is shown. And the newcomer adopts that way, as they recognised the authority of that insight over mine. THEN, the teacher comes over and says ‘ why are you not doing this kick the way I showed it, and was I [me] not doing as we were told’.
I was really annoyed at this, as this was in fornt of everyone. I tried to explain, but the teacher said I am in charge and it is down to me. I looked a the newcomer and wanted to slap him ! And I wanted to slap the trainee instructor for just hiding away there – as we had reverted to his method.
My point is, authority as a basis for learning and basing belief upon needs questioning all the time. Sometimes the boundaries of authority are like a parental figure an they need to be there to like a walled garden to stop people believing what they want to believe and do what they like. Sometimes authority does have to be questioned, (bats dropping for baldness ?). The grappling movement has been good at this, for provoking a rethink to approaches in traditional martial arts that do not question their premises and training methods.
My example was from a more micro-social example. If ‘I’ said I had seen a cow reciting Geoffrey Chaucer, no one would believe me. If the Bruce Lee had said that – I bet some would believe, due to his authority !
Of books that are on the wooden dummy, this is 'up there', with Randy Williams' work. That means if you are interested in the 4th form of Wing Chun, you should own this book.
This book talks about the authors acquisition of knowledge about the dummy, his source of knowledge and examples of sketches and notes he made from his interaction with Ip Chun, (Yip Man's son). Insights gleaned for instance relate to the meaning of some moves, such as the upward slapping hands - tok sau - movement that separates the sections. The book reveals this could have been just a re-calibration move to make sure the arms are in place, before the next section.
What is more important, however, is the books delivery of the form. It achieves this well by it's attention to detail in the written comments. The sections are broken down and verbally explained well. I am focusing on the words - not the pictures alone - which are detailed and in colour, as well. The written description tells you where your force should be going and which direction. This is really vital and pictures alone could not deliver this information. No YouTube video can deliver that, either.
The book uses bullet points well to zero-in on core ideas and mistakes and this draws the readers attention well to the essentials. 2 novel aspects in this book, (which Rawcliffe also uses in his other book on Wing Chun), is to have 2 sections written by a physician, offering physiological insights into what the moves mean for the body, and how the body adapts itself. And, there is a section on learning and how drilling works - using the types of learning styles, (kinesthetic, visual, auditory etc.). This is novel - relative to other books - but again Rawcliffe does this too, in his other book, as he gets a teacher involved to write that section - good.
Problems with a book are the constraints of publishing - space. The pictures and the descriptions are not always on the same page and you will have to flip over, to co-ordinate them. Also the Chinese terms may not be the same terms you know / use for the shapes you have at your club / school, (remember to translate is interpretive). Yo umay have to put your own mental translation in. Finally, if there was space for foot-patterns then this book would be the best book ! Because Wing Chun is a positional art, in that you need optimal angles to maximize forces and achieve the claims this art makes for it's effectiveness. To do this, then, you need to know you are stood in the right space, the right angle etc.etc. Foot patterns would help here.
Finally, now in an internet age, the 116 moves are no longer a secret. You can use this book in conjunction with online video too, to see moving interpretations of this form. Some practitioners are hard, some are softer in their use of energy on the dummy - even within the same lineage. In fact, that is one area that needs to be noted. Interpretation. The dummy form has been interpreted and modified in Wing Chun_s < Plural intended. A comparison of these interpretations would be very useful.
One extra aspect worth mentioning about the 'arts' in the Martial Arts, is the issue of performance. This does have an aesthetic aspect, that means, what you look like will be judged by an 'appreciative community'. That is there is a value or 'beauty' that is given to your moves, that others assess. This could be a brutal effective aesthetic, it does not have to be flowery and pretty and dainty - that is no the point. My point is that there is a social basis to judgment.
If you look at youtube posts, watch how comments ... and stars are given to judge the performances of people doing their moves. The formal arts have this too. There is a culture of critique and judgment of fine art or performance based art - such as ballet. Sports have this aspect of performance in too, this is where demarcation of sports / arts blurs. Look at ice-skating for this. But even talk about football games are judged for their quality of performance and 'entertainment' values enter into this, as well.
Modern 'combatives' is a genre of martial arts that is not exempt from this if we focus on performance and its social basis. It is by default judged on criteria by 'experts' and this is no different from other 'arts' (both broad an narrow meanings given to that).
So what ~?
This is useful in knowing why we do what we do, when 'doing martial arts'. Where is motivation and what powers it. There is a performance aspect to this that feeds into our behavior, if you like it or not. We use it to judge ourselves and our identity - how we see ourselves. But is also a resource, involved in how others see us. And this affects our status, too. We are motivated to improve our performances in training.
I am arguing that in conjunction to functionality there is also performance, too in here, that some may want to deny but it is in here. Don't confuse aesthetic and performance with kata and finesse. See performance as valued activity that is judged subjectively by others. The boundaries of the performance is policed by a community too. Go watch on forums how opinion forms to verify if this or that move is effective / valued ; or if this or that performer is doing it right. This social activity could easily be confused to these 'X' Factor type programs. Ok - one is entertainment driven and the other is self-defence but the root is performance. It is social in its basis. You meet the criteria of positive feedback from these appreciative communities and that buzz and self-worth increases just the same whatever domain you are in.
Ah ha ! I was training today in the spring-like weather and realised what this is all about !
Have many tulips in the garden now and the colours are really vivid. All I need is a cherry blossom tree next to me and doing the 108 movments etc. etc. [OK.. I will stop this as it is getting a bit sickly].
This is my favorite illusion as the 2 images are so opposite. You love one image, and hate the other. BUT they are the same thing.
This is the same effect looking and seeing forms & jurus have on me. When you look at the strange shapes in a form they look
silly
exotic
mystical ...
Take your pick. (I showed my mother once, the stance from Wing Chun's first form and she started laughing. Picture that stance and the fuk sau and you get the idea). Then you make a breakthrough and you 'see' what you have been looking at. This is one way the illusion metaphore works. But this isn't the point of this blog entry.
The other aspect is interpretation of the martial arts by practitioners. One aspect of the 'arts' and I am thinking about high art - picasso and such like. See how that needs interpretation for some works. This is the 'art' side I am thinking of for the martial. I am thinking that half the work involved is not in following physical patterns and mimicking them but interpreting them. In this next picture by Duchamp a work of art is created out of a urinal. He calls it 'the fountaine'. He is being cheeky but the point is interpretation gives this meaning.
"The creative act is not performed by the artist alone; the spectator brings the work in contact with the external world by deciphering and interpreting its inner qualifications and thus adds his contribution to the creative act."
My point is watching experts do their moves is not enough. You have to be active in its interpretation to give and extract meanings out of the martial art shapes. I watched and re-watched forms DVDs and struggled with their interpretation ... and like the pictures above, sometimes you get a snap and you seeeeeeeeeeeeee the idea hidden away in there. Sometimes you don't and you aren't taken in by 'la fountaine' like avant-guarde luvvies.
Sometimes the forms need a leap of faith to interpret and you need much effort like this picture .... 'Nude descending a staircase'. This picture and its type (as above), only makes meaning in relation to a theory. Once you have base ideas in place the picture has value and meaning. Otherwise it's
silly
exotic
mystical
This is why the same thing looks different to 2 different martial art practitioners. Culture also serves to affect what we see. it may not be possible for some practitioners from other traditions to see what you see. They don't share the theory that lets you see.
Here is Duchamps self-portrat. He gave up art for chess. The art side of that is in the interpretation of shapes on squares. He was on the same track if you ask me.
This is a great demonstration of 'wooden' apparatus. This way of using the pole means he gets balance into his feedback from the pole. The way he does his push hands is like chi sau (a bit) and there is value there, as there is some resistance from gravity. The way he recovers the pole once it has hit the floor is very good. Well worth looking at how he does that / inverts the pole / throws the pole and mimics headlock [?] / partial sweeps or leg trap. Foot work is intricate as he turns his back in a judo throw like way. His arm shapes are like tan to bong transitions.
You 'could' do this on the main pole of the wooden dummy for wing chun, if your design is a plug into base type. Take out the arms, but that would be one heavy pole. If your structure is correct your tan to bongs would work, but the throws on that, plus recovery from the ground would be like a sandbag drill. I wonder ....
I went on the dummy for the first time for ages maybe since November last year. The snow had kept me off, as the ground was too mushy. The picture is proof. (I went to pak sau the dummy and palm the body of the dummy expecting the snow to fly off. Errr ... no ... nothing happened. What an anti-climax).
So it's March and I get going on the dummy and what do I do ? Punch a bit, then put the arms on and see what I can remember of the 108 moves. I can do the 1st part seamlessly, then the second part has this funny kick in it, while your arms are also blocking too, (Peng Nam, now not Yip man). My head thinks 'I have modified this and don't need to do it, like this', but also my heart says 'no' this is the real and authentic move. You must stay true'. I compromise and do the kick separate from the arm moves.
This got me thinking that to keep the whole form going in my memory and replay it and maintain it over time, is quite a tax. Is it worth it? I think Bruce Lee's idea of splitting up the form into segments and using the parts you want from it in various orders is better. It is a 'drill/form' then. Also put in elbows for punches in that form, knees for kicks, punches for palms and palms for punches is more likely to arouse the brain than just recall alone, as you are being creative. Doing the whole form in the first place does introduce you to the variety of moves that are out there, however and an honest attempt at them, is beneficial.
The ideas I was using on there intending for sparring went out of my head the next day too. Something I would like to do is to use the dummy in a social context. I.e. have more than one practitioner around. This could be to act as another set of eyes, to see my footing. It could be to offer up new ideas to drill with, it could even be to represent a 2 on 1 situation !? All I have been doing is solo dummy training, with the rare video seen by someone else for feedback. I have never compared notes with someone on the dummy, who is also a practitioner too, and argued through merits of using it this or that way. Have yet to use a wall mounted dummy either - but have used on mounted in a trellis that is supported. It can be chased left and right.
Can't think of direct dummy applications for ground work in guard or mount that are sensible. Maybe you could lye the dummy on the ground and aim for token arm bars ?! You could not have that dummy on you in guard ! (could you ? NO - stop it. Way too heavy).
If you go against the 'done way', 'tradition' or the 'orthodox' then expect to be confronted by someone like this man in this picture:Return of the Body Snatchers remade around 1978 is one of my favorite films. The idea that others are not as they seem, or just not 'aware', or others cannot see what you see is quite provocative. The film is almost an allegory. I had a conversation the other day, with learned colleague who recalled a situation where he advised someone to punch with gloves to avoid a pain in their arm. Person with pain-in-arm related advice to Sensei. Sensei didn't agree. So no change in the scenario and .... pain got worse. This is a martial arts application. It could apply to differences in 'the Yip-Man' 108 which is a sacred form for some people. It could apply to your company or society, whatever. It can actually benefit you to be not part of a crowd and to step out or change company to get a new perspective. A new set of analogies. A new set of phrases to think with - whatever. This poor chap, above, in the film did at least try but he succumbed. (Actually this picture was animated and had the man shaking his finger at you, like in the film, but its 'been lost in translation').
Wow, watch this practitioner doing the 108. Doesn't matter if you approve of Wing Chun or not. You can't fail to see this practitioners short range 'fa ging' power being snapped out. This is the 'snake style' ,I feel, coming out in her expression of Wing Chun. Those side-kicks she does come out of no where and are really angled nicely. Lovely dummy too - can't fail to want to own that piano black object. When she does combination of strikes she doesn't pause between them to admire her handy work. she blasts them out, as If they were musical notes they would be triplets, (one beat sliced into 3). You can learn from her, whatever discipline your into, as she has good form. Someone one the youtube web site said watching her is like a view of what Beautiful Springtime must have looked like ! IN the comments she replies she has been doing this 40 years ! OMG - she looks 20.
I even used my new nunchuks in there to be a de facto arm. The stubby nature is what can be expected but the rubbery nature of the 'arm' is interesting. Gum & Bong sau is possible in this low down position, at least.
The reverse side shows the flared ending being of use too.
< 'A' for effort. The wheelbarrow inner-tube was a good try but you cannot expect to use this for heavy punches. The air just gives way to the force and moves elsewhere. If you were to pump this up to take the force then the tube would be bloated to exploding point, I bet ?!
