Dracula : Father of Modern Kung Fu

Here is Bela Lugosi as Dracula.

I am convinced he was the teacher of other future Kung Fu stars:

The top picture is a classic pose.

Underneath you can see his understudy summoning up supernatural powers too.

 Here we see a modified crane move that his understudy develops decades later - below  ...

Here we see the traditional old school had not approved the use of weapons. (Note the tiger claw).


Below we see tools being OK even for understudies!

Come correctly a-tyred you dummy!

Excuse the pun but it had to be inserted!

In addition to experimenting with inner-tubes I put a wheelbarrow tyre and inner-tube combination on the dummy, too.

In the pictures you can see different set-ups of the spacing of the wheels.

The wheels can be punched hard. How hard depends on the inflation level of the inner-tube. There is a trade-off between 'squish' of an impact and bounce-back . If you want to go 100% all out on this good luck to you, as you need to work out the sweet spot on the wheel, (as it rounded). Also, even when inflated normally a rear cross, or knee, will find a connection to the core of the dummy. You could I think work out a way to counter this with a bit of experimentation with inflation levels.. 

There is a nice bounce-back from the recoil on the kicks and knees. 

You need gloves to punch the rubber as your skin will be taken off by the friction. I had MMA gloves on which also had my middle knuckle covered too, which was very welcome as that too would pick up some skin-scraping.

Conclusion: This beats traditional dummy pads. This would take sticks too and cut out the noise. 

It is harder to manoeuvre the wheels into place as the inner-tube creates friction. Your joints will thank you for this over time.

The Medium is the Message!

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. ;>

These are my training partners.

It is right to give praise to your training partners.
Here are mine.

They know who they are.
A pop star. A chess world champion ... and some slippers.

Mook Yan Jong (Wooden Dummy) Padding under $20

Home made padding for Wooden Dummy

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 !?).

Home made padding for Wooden Dummy

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 !?).

Automated reaction / punch simulator

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!

Note he has an adjustable height for kicks.

Slippers build this for me.

Why Chess is like Martial Arts II

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 ?! 

What is the point : ? 'Searching for Bobby Fischer' Master Certificate (1993)

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.

Making the Low Cost but Effective Wing Chun Dummy MK.II Video - Khai Tuo...

This is an excellent revision to the previous video  below. Some good thinking in here, which deserves  merit. Thanks for sharing this! 

wingchunoctopus

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 ?!

I think this is a good idea.

Autumn Dummy 2012

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).

Innovation - look at other sports

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

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/19910528

In this account he states even a 100 changes to make a 1% improvement is worth it, at elite level.

One memorable game I can remember, is the second[half of the 1995 FA Cup final, Everton vs Man Utd.

Man U, threw everything at Southall in goal, to get back into the game and Southall did everything to stop that! 

Making the Low Cost but Effective Wing Chun Dummy By Khang Tuong Nguyen

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.  

Skipping like a girl?

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.  

Pushing Body & Mind: Richard Gomm Making the Most of the Micro Jan 1983

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.

Excercise .. a re-think!

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.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17177251

and

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01cywtq

(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.

I will explore the related academic paper soon:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/h774562781l24jq0/

BBC 4 radio program on Kung Fu

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'.

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01c7rgs


Also, in here they interview an academic from Cardiff, who has an interesting blog, too:

http://theorizingbrucelee.blogspot.com/

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.

Review of the year

Review of the year

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 ....

Theory - what is it good for?

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.