First Music Video
Posted on | June 28, 2009
This is my first “music video”. I’ve been curious as to how hard it is to make one of these for quite some time, so I finally decided to give it a shot. The song is Shut Me Up by Mindless Self Indulgence and the footage is all taken from the movie Ip Man(2008). It didn’t turn out great, but oh well. There is a first time for everything.
The Center Line Theory
Posted on | November 3, 2008
I’ve been busy for quite some time, so I haven’t had a chance to post lately, but I want to talk about what I’ve been working on while away. I want to talk about something everyone has: a center line.
Wing Chun highly focuses on the center line theory, and benefits greatly from it. The center line theory is fairly easy to understand, but can be quite troublesome to get the hang of. The idea is that there is a line that runs straight down everyone, from head to toe. That, in essence, is your center line. Everything should revolve around your center line while the opponents center line should be offset or disrupted.
For instance, your center line should always be facing the opponent, and as you move around your opponent, your center line should stay straight and aimed towards the enemy. Your punches should also extend from the center line. This can be hard to understand unless the concept is properly shown, but the reason behind it is quite simple: The shortest distance between any two points is a straight line.
The opponents center line should also be your target, in two ways.
- You should be attempting to disrupt their center line but maintain the integrity of yours. By this, I mean you basically want to off balance them or get to them at an angle. If your center line is facing them, but theirs is facing in a different direction, you’ve already gained the advantage and should make use of it.
- Aim for the center line with your attacks. Hitting your opponents center line will maximize the damage you do to him. Think of it this way: If you hit your opponent in the shoulder, his shoulder will simply give and his body will pivot, which will in effect lessen the damage he takes. But, if you instead hit him directly in his center line, your opponent is forced to take close to all(if not ALL) of your force directly as damage rather than being able to deflect it.
I just thought I’d share a little bit of information about the center line, which is used in many Martial Arts, but more highly focused in Martial Arts like Wing Chun. I’ve been practicing on keeping my center line and controlling or distorting my opponents center line. For the end of this article, I’ll leave you with my own personal example. A friend of mine was over at my place on the weekend and we were free light hand sparring with no pads. At one point, we had stopped and were analyzing a position in which our hands were grappled together and we both brought our knee’s up, but because of the angle of my knee to his, I had the advantage because I maintained my center line but just barely off centered his. His argument was that if it was done in a fast motion, and we both put strength behind everything, that one of two things would either happen.
- Our strength would cancel each other out and we would both remain standing
- Our strength would be close and so if I was able to get him to fall, we’d both fall.
Since he insisted so much that the center line wouldn’t matter and wouldn’t offset his balance enough, I decided to prove it to him. I told him to do the same exact thing we had just done, but only use strength and keep himself up or take me down with him if he had to. And sure enough, he hit the floor hard and I was left standing with full balance, simply laughing. To make sure he fully understood why what I did worked, I had him repeat the same thing on me, with the situation being the other way and what do you know, it worked on me as well.
Just mess around with the center line theory and see what works for you.
Wing Chun – Effective Demonstrations
Posted on | October 22, 2008
Wing Chun is a highly effective Martial Art that a lot of great fighters have had training in for their core foundation. For instance, Bruce Lee trained in Wing Chun from the young age of 13-18 under the teachings of the famous Wing Chun Sifu Yip Man.
The basic premise of Wing Chun is that it is a very aggressive close-quarter combat system. The idea is to use your energy efficiently. Many times people over look Wing Chun as a viable Martial Art style simply for the fact that in a good majority of the demonstrations that are done, and can be found on the Internet, Chi Sao is the demonstration presented. Most people don’t understand the concept of Chi Sao and therefore don’t see the whole picture, or what’s really happening behind the scenes as the demonstration takes place.
Chi Sao, also known as “Sticking Hands”, is primarily used to develop sensitivity. As one develops a greater sensitivity, through excessive practice of Chi Sao, one can begin to feel his opponents strengths and weaknesses which allows him to not only predict the attackers movements, as he goes to make them, but also see the openings(flaws) in the attackers structure that gives him the advantage of knowing when to strike. Chi Sao is NOT meant to be used in a real fighting situation the same way it is practiced, which is why so many people end up confused. Chi Sao is a very hard concept to simply describe with words. Videos are the only way to really show or explain how Chi Sao works, without actually being present. To fully grasp the concept, one must actually practice Chi Sao, even if only for a brief period of time, with someone else to understand how effective it truly is.
In Wing Chun there are three Empty Hand forms: Siu Nim Tao, Chum Kiu, and Bil Jee. Along with the three Empty Hand forms, there is also the Wooden Dummy. The Wooden Dummy is a device meant for alone time practice as it can only be used by one person at a time. The Wooden Dummy is NOT meant to be forcefully hit and punched, it’s meant as a means of learning angles, reflection, positions, footwork, and also body power. The Wooden Dummy is a unique device that should accommodate every Wing Chun practitioners home, if they can afford to give up the cash it costs and the room to store it.
Lately, I’ve been getting more and more into Wing Chun and I am considering getting my own personal Wing Chun Dummy. It’s not final in my mind, as to whether or not I will yet(I definitely will someday, if not very soon), but if I decide to get one then I will definitely post pictures of it with descriptions of how I came to get mine.
Here’s the real heart of this story, the videos:
Tags: demonstration > effective > martial art > Wing Chun > wooden dummy
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