| "So, what's the new dance step you're doing, | | | | low that your mobility gets hampered. Now, I |
| Yoshi?" | | | | know, everyone who does martial arts has |
| | | | heard about this stance, or that stance. And |
| Yeah, I hear that all the time. Even from | | | | unless you're working in front of a mirror, |
| people who should know better. You probably | | | | you'll do the sloppiest stance you can get |
| do as well, particularly if you do footwork | | | | away with without your sparring partner |
| for Wing Chun. Wing Chun, or "Chinese | | | | kicking you a new one. What I found |
| Dancing" is a soft style with a strong | | | | interesting about Wing Chun is that the form |
| philosophical bent to it. The name | | | | drills (San Sik is what they're called) |
| originally came from the ideograms for "Ever | | | | REALLY emphasize fluid motions. Let me tell |
| Spring", and it's appropriate. I was getting | | | | you, doing it right - you're going to sweat. |
| tired of walking with bruises and pulled | | | | And the muscles in your quads and hams are |
| muscles, and needed to switch to a softer | | | | going to burn...but my word, is the end |
| style while I was recovering. I like Kung Fu | | | | result worth it. Those forms become second |
| styles, so learning Wing Chun was like | | | | nature, like they're learned by your knees |
| falling off a log. Only without as much | | | | and hips, and you just do them - once the |
| falling, or as many punches to the sternum. | | | | pain has gone away. |
| Though the joint locks did remind me I was | | | | |
| doing a real martial art. (One piece of | | | | Of course, everyone will be talking about |
| advice - anyone who says "Hey, let me show | | | | your new dance steps, but Wing Chun footwork |
| you a joint lock!" is a sadist. Just say | | | | pays for itself nicely - since going into it, |
| "no". Really.) In some ways, Wing Chun is | | | | I've been much more conscious of how my bent |
| like the early forms exercises you do for | | | | knees increase my reach with punches and |
| Kung Fu, only carried to their logical | | | | elbow strikes, and it's been a lot harder to |
| extreme, rather than used as the fundamentals | | | | throw me to the mat in Jiu Jitsu. The parts |
| of a hard style. | | | | I've had to compensate for from the footwork |
| | | | I've learned have been in mobility. It's |
| What drew me to Wing Chung, aside from the | | | | sometimes possible to "plant" too hard - |
| sprained wrist on my primary punching hand, | | | | which makes it tempting to break stance to |
| was the fluid footwork that its practitioners | | | | give pursuit, particularly when you're |
| had. Well, OK. It was the fluid footwork | | | | flowing from a down block and trying to |
| that I saw in Jet Li's movies, while waiting | | | | transition into a kick - at that point, the |
| for the cast to come off. Even so, just from | | | | Wing Chun footwork has to kind of "skip a |
| watching the movies, I could see immediate | | | | beat" while you move back to a harder Kung Fu |
| uses for Wing Chun footwork in my repertoire | | | | kick. |
| of techniques once my wrist healed. Wing | | | | |
| Chun footwork focuses on balance - more so | | | | Either way, I'm glad I took the time to learn |
| than with a strong kicking style, which can | | | | this. It's given me a good base to work |
| leave you very exposed trying for a circle | | | | from, and a few more tricks to throw into |
| kick. | | | | sparring matches. Particularly fun is when |
| | | | someone makes fun of the dance steps and then |
| In particular, the footwork demands that you | | | | comes up to me and says "How'd you do that, |
| settle in a low stance, but not one that's so | | | | Yoshi? |