Wing Chun Sydney, Australia

… training is training, and violence is violence, and ne’re the two shall meet.

Let’s talk about engaging the opponent.

Here is the thing, as far as training goes, that is all anyone can do- talk about it, because there is simply no way we can simulate the emotional and physiological changes that we will experience when facing violence.

This is not a Wing Chun thing, it is not a Kung Fu thing, it is not even a Martial Art writ large thing, it is simply what is…

… training is training, and violence is violence, and ne’re the two shall meet.

In my first 20 years in martial arts, I was involved in combat sports, and even the most robust sparring session pales in comparison to an actual bout for the same reasons.

Variables in our mindset, emotions and physiology.

Every experience of violence is one of a kind, but there is a constant, and that constant is ourselves, and that is where the work needs to be done.

On us being the best us we can be and working hard to maintain it.

Engaging the opponent comes in two flavours, imaginary and real.

The imaginary we can work on, while the real we can only ever experience.

Working on the imaginary is, of course, a mental practice, a thought exercise where we build a scenario and look for possible solutions, which we will then use to direct our physical training.

BUILDING THE SCENARIO.

Are we defending or are we attacking? 

Keep it simple: who throws the first punch and why?

I have helped hundreds of people with their training, and the consensus is that the other guy throws the first punch, often after a heated argument that boils over.

Think about this situation, it does not begin with the conscious thought of engaging in violence, even if it goes south quickly, this was not the aim, in fact, we may not have even started off arguing, just exchanging opinions, so when the violence happens, there will be some measure of surprise.

It is dealing with this surprise that will determine the outcome far more than any Kung Fu training.

What does surprise do?

First up, we have an Adrenalin dump, [the consequences of which are many and varied, so do some research], our heart rate will instantly jump to somewhere north of 200 b.p.m.

This is why this data point is important.

For a deeper dive, check this out, 

This is quite a headful, so I will leave it here for the minute, but it should be obvious that if we are surprised, we may not get over it.

On the brighter side, if we do not get surprised and can turn the tables on our attacker, you can bet the house that he will be surprised.

More to come, stay frosty.

THIS CREATES A DIFFERENT APPROACH, WHICH CREATES A DIFFERENT UNDERSTANDING.

How well we perform any act is never a reflection of the level of our training; rather, it is a direct representation of the level of our understanding. 

The last post was the first instalment of a packet of information that, if delivered in one shot, would more than likely miss the target, if you did not read the last post, read it before this, then take a break and read this when the dust has settled.

If we digest the content of these two posts before Thursday evening training, it will leave more disk space, more R.A.M. and more processing power for the work we will do on the night.

Previous post.

We want to get the thinking done before training because we will be hitting things throughout training.

To our missing brethren, if you are thinking of coming back to training, even if it is just for a catch-up, this would be the week to choose.

What is a ‘Theoretical Physicist’?

Very few people, myself included, have a deep understanding of what they are, what they do, and how they do it, most of us ask ourselves, ‘Do they just make shit up out of thin air’?

This is a tricky one to answer for a layman, while they do make shit up, it is not out of thin air, they make shit up from an atmosphere that is thick and deep with well-established and accepted facts.

And what they come up with, these new IDEAS or CONCEPTS are constructed from elements of that atmosphere and are measured against that atmosphere.

Before they can come up with something new, they must know and understand everything old.

As Carl Sagan humorously pointed out “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.”. 

 When we are only ‘THINKING’, we need to build a solid environment in which the thing we are thinking about exists, even if we only build it in our heads.

How does that relate to this thing we do?

Like it or not, we need a complete and concise understanding of the physical nature of the environment before we can approach the non-physical aspects of that same environment.

This is the bit that all students, and I do mean ALL STUDENTS, because, at one point in time, everyone that became involved with Wing Chun was that guy, get the wrong IDEA.

The environment we need to understand is not the physical aspect of Wing Chun, and therefore, the non-physical aspect becomes the non-physical aspect of  Wing Chun.

The environment we need to understand is VIOLENCE.

To a very large degree, Wing Chun is the non-physical aspect of violence.

The reason statements like this can be a bit difficult to deal with is usually because we approach them with the wrong Mindset.

The most important thing to understand about Mindset is that different Mindsets bring about different patterns of thinking, IDEAS that make perfect sense in one Mindset makes no sense at all if we adopt a different Mindset.

Thinking that Wing Chun is a fighting style creates a different Mindset than thinking Wing Chun is a Self-defence system.

This creates a different approach, which brings with it a different understanding.

The work is the same, but the goal, and frequently the results, are very different.

HOW WE FEEL CHANGES WHAT WE THINK.

WHAT WE THINK CHANGES HOW WE FEEL.

THEY BOTH CHANGE HOW WE ACT.

What message are we sending ourselves if we are trying to engage an opponent at medium to long-distance?

Hi Guys, and visitors.

This coming Thursday i want to go over the place of kicking in Wing Chun and the place of kicking in a self-defence situation.

This post is a few years old but it does the job I want it to do, and in accordance with Wing Chun’s Principal of “Economy of Movement” it is easier than writing a new post.

As you guys all know I believe that the most important attribute for a Martial Artist is honesty.

So honestly…

…does kicking have a genuine place in a Close – Quarter Combat style such as Wing Chun?

Let me clarify this when I say kicking I am talking about using our leg or foot as a primary attack weapon.

My teacher, Jim Fung {Chuen Keung} was an astonishing kicker and I witnessed some spectacular demos of his ability over the 17 years I trained under him, refer to the picture above to get some idea.

The thing is that kicks like the one above are, by my Sifu’s own admission, NOT Wing Chun.

He did them for the show, to attract more business because it was the type of thing new students wanted, and he always wanted new students.

Kung Fu Movie stuff.

But he was good at it.

Without starting a ‘Bun Fight’ over what is or is not Wing Chun kicking, because it really does not matter in the bigger picture, only results matter, surviving street violence is not an Olympic sport, no one is keeping score or awarding points.

However, if we claim to be doing Wing Chun then we should train Wing Chun.

Because ultimately it is not about Wing Chun kicking, it is about understanding the thinking behind Wing Chun kicking.

Those elusive ‘CONCEPTS’, that ‘Little IDEA”.

If, as we all repeatedly say, Wing Chun is a Concept Driven Fist Fighting style {KUEN} our theatre of operations is, at most, where we play Chi Sau, touching distance.

What message are we sending ourselves if we are training to engage an opponent at medium to long-distance?

I have always believed that Wing Chun is a ‘clever’ Martial Art, so let us take a clever approach to {sic} ‘Kicking’.

The video below was originally intended as the intro to a larger discussion on the merits of kicking, but I think that it is a good enough thought exercise to be viewed as stand-alone information, as a primer for the bigger picture of what is to come regarding how Wing Chun people use their legs in a violent situation.

As always, Y.M.M.V.

WHEN IT COMES TO ASS-KICKING, BE SURE IT AINT YOURS.

Even when all the ammo is gone, a rifle becomes a club and a pistol a hammer.

This post is still about Wing Chun and us.

 Things to keep in mind, and relevant to ourselves, are that all Militaries in the world teach unarmed combat, and that, in my opinion, the Navy and Air Force represent our legs, and the Infantry represents our hands.

Sometimes taking a very “Big Picture” view can really help us with the small details.

Before the creation of any Martial Art of any shade, there was a bunch of guys with no training looking to do no good.

This minor detail is important; it is beneficial if all the guys fighting together fight the same way, to the same end. The specifics are slightly different for different environments, but at its core, it is all the same.

This is the genesis of ‘Basic Training’, and initially, this is all there was: pick up a sword, swing it like this and off you go.

War was the ground troops/infantry of one country vs. the ground troops/infantry of another country.

And often they would march miles and months to do this.

The first really big leap forward was when someone put troops on boats to get them further faster and arrive in better shape, and keep the supply lines open.

And as Naval warfare evolved, soften up the enemy troops in advance of the Infantry/Marines landing.

As awesome and terrifying a thing that Navies have evolved into, this is still the most valuable asset in a war, to put “Boots on the ground” and keep them supported.

Legs and Hands people.

The advent of the Airoplane, for all intents and purposes, put the Navy into the Air and did the same job.

Think of WW2, despite all the bombing runs, it was the ability to drop thousands of Paratroopers /ground troops deep behind the front lines that brought Germany to its knees.

And of course, the airdrops, open supply lines meant never running out of ammo or food, which after all is what did poor old Rommel in down in North Africa.

Bringing it back to “Legs and Hands”, as powerful and varied as kicks may be, their job is to keep our bum off the floor and set up the final attack from the hands.

Killer kicks that can be seen, stopped, or even worse yet, countered, are a bit like dropping bombs on our own men.

We will cover this in training this week.

Back to big picture stuff.

Wars are fought by large groups of men with basic training and a couple of basic weapons, a rifle, a pistol and a knife, for instance.

We could think of this as our generic ‘Bad Guy’.

As the war continues and evolves, the training uses small adaptations or improvements of the basics to reflect the changing situation; no one learns two sets of methodology.

As the groups get smaller,  the training becomes more specific, and the weapons get more numerous, the smallest groups would be ‘Special Forces’, five or six-man teams that are highly trained in many disciplines, very heavily armed, usually the team will have at there disposal an underbarrel rocket launcher, machine guns, sub-machine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, various pistols and hand grenades, knives, axes, garrots, and some secret agent shit.

And yes, they are trained and capable of killing unarmed, but why would they? 

We will get to this in a minute because this is us.

Firstly, take a minute to think about this: has there ever been a war, or even just a battle, even just a skirmish, where everyone was unarmed?

Was there ever in history a siege where the defenders did not take up anything and everything as a weapon, even olive oil and human feces?

Has anyone heard of any pirates leaping from ship to ship with nothing in their hands except perhaps their dicks?

No one in any man’s army ever goes on an active combat mission alone or unarmed, so why is any soldier/warrior trained in empty-hand fighting?

Even when all the ammo is gone, a rifle becomes a club and a pistol a hammer.

Why ‘Empty Hands’?

Because everything has gone to shit.

They have lost their mates, lost their weapons, support is not coming, and they are more than likely deep in Indian Country.

This is where we need to think like true soldiers/warriors.

If we are unarmed, it is about survival and escape, not domination and definitely not winning.

And if we are behind enemy lines, in deep shit and on our own, we cannot afford to be nice or take prisoners.

The takeaway from all of this, and what we will work from, is, as amazing as our kicks may be, they are only there to support our hand work, defence or attack.

Also, the ‘Empty Hand’ martial arts styles are for getting out of trouble quickly, decisively, and effectively without any hesitation; it’s not fighting.

Hoping to achieve relaxation by thinking about relaxing is just an “Are we there yet” moment.

I have just finished an interesting solo with Saleh, like all of us before him, he does not quite realise his own skill level, that’s OK. After all, once we develop it, the skill is there whether we know it or not.

A question we all ask from time to time is “will this work out there”?

Why won’t it?

If we spend a minute to think about this, what we are really asking is “will I be able to behave ‘OUT THERE’ the same way as I do in here, so it is never about our skill level.

It is about learned behaviour, about composure and control.

The paradox of training for composure.

This is a bit of a brain twister and may need to be read more than once, if we are actively training for Composure then at that moment we are not composed, {if we are composed why are we trying to achieve it}and as such we have already failed and have zero chance of success because we have tricked ourselves into thinking that maintaining this state of non-composure will somehow lead to being composed.

If this does not make sense re-read it until it does.

Just like being relaxed, being composed is an end-state and not something we can engage in.

We become composed or relaxed due to other actions which, due to how we use language, especially English, appear to deal with the opposite condition.

Until we get this we will think that everything we are being told or asked to do is completely backwards from achieving the end state and find it difficult to engage in.

This can and often does bring about a level of cognitive dissonance.

We all know by now that if we are not mentally involved in the action we are doing we will struggle to get the outcome we are after.

Relaxation is the result of releasing, or at the least diminishing tension, as counterintuitive as it sounds, if we are not mentally connected to, and thinking about tension we will not become relaxed.  How can we release tension if we are not thinking about tension?

Hoping to achieve relaxation by thinking about relaxing is just an “Are we there yet” moment.

We need to build the correct mental architecture for the condition we wish to be in, which in this instance is composure.

As a starting point, it should be a given that we would only work on being composed if we think we are not composed.  DUH!

If we are thinking of being composed we will automatically measure our present state against our desired state, and no matter how close we are to our desired end-state not being there will create stress, which will just eat up whatever composure we have at that moment.

Here is where everything sounds backwards, If we are in a dangerous situation the only way we can remain composed is to not think about the danger we are facing, and the only way we can do that is to think about something else.

It is a bit like ‘Fight Club’.  The first rule of ‘Fight Club’ is not to talk about ‘Fight Club”.

Training for composure is Multi-tasking, it is about doing one thing and being completely involved with that thing, with the ‘intention’ of achieving something else, while also doing sometimes many other things.

This is not as weird as it sounds, there are many ways we do this every day, we do it when we are driving, for instance, and we do it when walking through the crowded city shopping district window shopping.

We fail because we are trying to turn these subconscious actions into conscious actions.

We need to think backwards, we need ‘Fight Club’ thinking.

The first rule of training for composure is that we cannot think about composure.

If you can unscramble this egg, it will make the work so much easier.

HOW DIFFERENT DOES SOMETHING NEED TO BE BEFORE IT BECOMES SOMETHING ELSE?

Whenever there is a shooting in the U.S.A., the gun lobby invariably comes out and tells us that “Guns do not kill people, people with Guns kill people”.  The implication being that the gun is just a tool.

As annoying, self-serving and banal as this statement is, there is a certain correctness to it, and as such, we are forced to consider that Kung Fu does not save the day; it is people using Kung Fu that save the day, just as the Gun is a tool, so is our Kung Fu.

Let’s be honest, nothing we do in training is what anyone would use in genuine trouble. Everything needs to be adjusted to fit the situation, which means we will be doing something similar and based upon our training, but essentially not the same; it will be different.

How different does something need to be before it becomes something else?

Before it becomes something we have not learnt?

How long is a piece of string?

So why does any training work?

Why does it improve our chances of a good outcome? Which it does.

What are we really doing when we think we are doing Kung Fu? What are we trying to Master?

This is going to sound like a bit of a Homer moment, but it is our old friend…

… CONTROL.

But what are we trying to CONTROL?

Let’s have a thought experiment.

Imagine a “BAD GUY” attacking you, picture it, feel it, make it real; it could be something from a lived experience, a movie, or even a fantasy Jason Statham moment.

This IS a thought experiment, so things do not need to make perfect sense.

The “BAD GUY” moves, we flash forward, poke him in the eye and knock him to the floor.  Game over, we win.

O.K. Perhaps you do not buy that one, how about…

The “BAD GUY” moves, we flash forward, initiate a Tekken or Mortal Kombat-style, 7 punch, 5 kick combo.  Game over, we win.

Still not happy? A bit O.T.T? How about…

The “BAD GUY” moves, we flash forward, Pak Sau and punch, latch and strike, hook kick, followed with an Elbow finisher.  Game over, we win.

Most people will take this.

The first option was too simple, the second too complex, but the third was just right – the GodlyLocks choice. A big plus is that we can work on this in training.

But they all have the same chance of failing; they are the same piece of string, just different lengths.

Another piece of string is when we start at Sil Lim Tao, progress to Chi Sau, onto the Dummy, then Sparring and ultimately into a real, “Violent Situation”.

What are we doing here? What are we trying to learn? What are we trying to control?

For the first few weeks of this year, we will be looking at the work from this perspective, pretty much the same practice, just a different connection.

Onwards and upwards, 2026 begins on Thursday.

That is the problem right there, in the “Not Knowing Zone”, there is no thinking going on.

Due to the extreme heat wave that we are currently experiencing here in OZ, we do not start 2026 training until the 14th, so here is a bit more Head Food.

The purpose of all posts is to change how we think about our training, because at the end of the day it is UNDERSTANDING that gives the “GREAT LEAP FORWARD” much more so than practice.

I finished the last post with the message that “all training is task specific”.

This means we only learn what we are doing, essentially,  if we are learning to swim, it does not teach us how to ride a bike, but in saying that, neither are optimal actions if we are falling out of a tree.

If, as I assure you it is, all training is task-specific, what TASK are we trying to complete?

With regards to the whole “training kicking in” scenario, what training do we want to kick in, and what comes next once it has kicked in?

This is where things slip into the “Twilight Zone”, if some aspect of our training “Kicks In” by definition it will not be a conscious choice, we will not have any knowledge of what action was chosen and as such we can have no IDEA about how to follow it up.

We are in the swimming, riding, or falling out of a tree zone, the “Not Knowing Zone”.

I have had this conversation with many students over the years so I know that someone will be thinking, “I will automatically choose an appropriate action”.

That is the problem right there, in the “Not Knowing Zone” there is no thinking going on.

Do we really understand what is happening when we find ourselves in the “Not Knowing Zone” 

The ONLY reason we would need our training to “Kick In” is by being surprised.

If we are awake and aware of what is going on, we would consciously choose an appropriate response and not be standing there with our thumb in our mouth, hoping our reflexes will save the day.

The “Not Knowing Zone” is a brief window of time, just an instant, we are pretty much not present, vacant, A.F.K. and our attacker is making any move they wish unhindered.

Something I can affirm from personal lived experience is that if our opponent lands a decent strike while we are A.F.K.  There is no coming back from it.

Instinctively, we know this to be true, hence the dream of the “Automatic Pilot”.

Falling out of a tree trying to swim on a bike.

FEAR MANAGEMENT OR DANGER MANAGEMENT

Back in the day, the most respected martial arts influencer and competitor in the U.K. was Geoff Thompson, who once opined that…

Boxers (or any combat Athlete) train to manage danger, while Traditional Martial Artists train to manage fear.

Do not be intimidated by the descriptors, and above all, do not try to pretend that somehow you are different.

When a Boxer trains to deal with a Jab or a Hook, when a Muay Thai player trains to deal with a Head Kick or a Clinch, when Judokas train to deal with throws or when Ju Jitsu players train to deal with Takedowns, this is danger management because not only do they know that these things will definitely be thrown at them they usually know where and when and by whom because fights are arranged weeks if not months in advance.

 The “Bad Guy” is a REAL person, but that person will be restricted to using a limited variety of well-known attacks set out by the rules of the sport.

Being physically and mentally in optimal condition is every bit as important as fighting skill. An average fighter in optimal condition will often beat a great fighter who is out of condition.

Traditional Martial Artists, which is anyone of any style that does not engage in competition, are training to deal with what?

We do not know what will happen, when it will happen, or who will be doing it, let alone what type of attacks we will be facing.  Our BAD GUY only exists in our imagination; they are a phantom that most of us will never meet. But this phantom is not limited in its attack choices; if it can be done, we must prepare for it, every technique of every style and any combinations of new creations.

There is a very good reason to be fearful of this situation.

Can we be honest with ourselves? Can we identify the real danger, and how do we deal with this newly identified problem?  

Solving the problem we identify is the Specific Task we wish to complete, and is what our training needs to be oriented toward, so that if some aspect of the work does “Kick In” it helps us resolve the situation.

Something else I know from my own lived experience is that Competition Fights are way more complex and demanding than most students think, while Street Violence is way more straightforward and easy to handle than most students think.

Finally, when you watch any YouTube video, ask yourself what Specific Task they are trying to accomplish?

If there is no single, Task-Specific action to a genuine act of violence being shown, then they are just playing and not training, because…

…” ALL TRAINING IS TASK SPECIFIC”.

Think on these IDEAS, and we can expand on them once we are all together.

We only need to “Think outside of the box” when the content of the box fails,

Hi guys.

We are back at it again as of this Thursday, so here is something to think about to get the juices flowing.

A continuation of the question , “Are we playing or are we training”?

First up a couple of seed thoughts to stick in a corner of your head and allow to grow.

#1. When we do not remember something, for that moment in time we do not know it”

#2. All training is task-specific.

When we find ourselves forgetting something, it is the same thing as not being able to find a file on our computer; we know it is there somewhere, but no keyword in the search bar brings results.

This is what I was getting at in the last post when I was bringing up “Information Theory”.

How we organise incoming information, “Colation”, and how we store that information, “Memorise”, determines how we recall the information “Remember”.

It is overlooked how important memory is to our training; in fact, it is taken for granted.

Do we understand how memory operates?

When I first researched this topic, it completely changed how I approached all of my training, and instantly improved it out of sight.

Short-term memory is where we hold working information at the time we are doing it. It only holds a very small amount of information, calculated as being as little as 7 items, and then it is shunted away to long-term memory for storage and later retrieval.

How does this impact “playing over training”?

The difference is how we remember the event we were involved in.

When we describe a hectic sparring session to a friend, we will describe it along the lines of it as being hectic, we were all bouncing off the wall, fists and feet flying everywhere, it was insane fun.

This is us remembering a feeling.

However, if we explain to a classmate who missed a session what we did, we talk about specific movements, we talk about applications of the technique, and we talk about physical drills that repeat these techniques.

As a basic yardstick, when we play, we remember the feelings we had while playing, and when we are training, we remember the specifics of the lesson.

If we are hoping for something from our long-term memory, “Kicking in” while we are deep in a shit storm, which one of these memories gives us the best chance of survival?

Playing is important and teaches valuable lessons, but the lesson it teaches is not what people think.

Training is order, training is process, training is repetition, training is setting boundaries, “Thinking and working inside of the Box”.

Playing is everything that training is not; it is chaos, playing is making things up on the run, being creative, everything is original and never repeated, total “thinking outside of the Box”.

We only need to “Think outside of the box” when the content of the box fails, and the real value of thinking outside of the box is not the content of the thinking; it is the freedom from being trapped in the box, the ability to re-orient once the box fails.

But first we need the box.