Ci — Cec TTBS RTH CE (ny PTION SUTRAS ay There was fighting before Ving Tsun, and there was Ving Tsun before there was ‘Chi Sau’ so when did ‘Chi Sau’ take the place of real fighting skill? An even more obvious question would be exactly how many of Us started our martial arts journey to learn ‘Chi Sau? The Pree eee nod ee Rn era Ving Tsun community has been lured into a deceitful ttle omen a Rg ere en Ny Ree eer eke Reece ete nme reat hie ccna Ree aor Ree Cham a Me aera meee Tes eager area ee PA ere ec eed oie ciara ete aeons ete Seas ee ne RT de eee Re ees OL one te ra cura CCCs RC wearer iene ad Ceo eet es aut eid RU ee Ram Ng religious zealots by the great tales of the heroes of yester- ieee A ie a La — Iwas enamored by the promise of simplicity and real world application that was plastered all over the Ving Tsun bro- Cg Opera ener training with many of the so-called “elite exponents” of this supposed practical art, one very painful fact keeps popping its ugly litle head up: ‘or all the delusions of grandeur these eT eee cence info our ears, not a single one of them is producing measur- Peace ence a ea eum a cy emo cera ena ts "yes-men” sheep. Sadly, even more obvious is that none of them are producing resuits even remotely close to the local Caria Being intelligent, non-emotional men and woman, if we peel ERC ene een Reo ag cee el ae wise clear thinking, ifwe remove the stories that are at best fee uae ee eis ons TN ce Re mC eae eR ye) a ee otFor tho ions of people spacing countess ois roling arms, ying anc ntying knots, preaching elbowstfore- c 1 trmalurst pushin, paling, har his, sof tha majrty are uten lot in font of a decent jab, an average thigh kde ofa tra!nes shoot, and the minority wi can deal wilh these most base attacks have usualy cfoss trained ot are naturally abetic. This i a simple tth hat any logis 5 thinker cantot deny. We need to honesty address the siva- tion and ask ourselves why isthe the case, and how can we remedy these short comings? First, we need to define our goal: to hit the bastard hard in the most economical and practical way and provide a built in recovery system that alows us to hit again or to escape. ay) lb ‘The goal is not to achieve some sil Siu status, ite, level cerifcation of any kind, but rather to develop veal world Skil for the average person. So, let's look at the core basics. well can you hit, and how well can you contol your spaceldis~ tance, your delivery system, and your recovery system? ¥ ‘As Ving Tsun practitioners, we have decided that linear at- {tacks and triangular structure based on frontal facing are our tools of eholea, and the ground s our power source fo utlze this, We also heed correct leverage and freedom of mation to release force and to not tobe stuck, jammed, pressed or held in Ying Tou te tus cul of hs ats ou punch not Chi Sau’. How well do you train your ‘bread end butter ‘weapon? If we wre look at boxers the most power. =~ {ul stnkers in the world — we would see that they never si6p ‘raining thelr five punches (8. jab, 08s, hook, over-hand, ‘ and uppercut). From their very frst day until ther very last day, no matter beginner or pro, no matter fighter or coach, they never stop taining herr core took In Ving Teun we only have one basic punch. How many hours to you pt mo mastering and making tan eee {ive woapon? Hom wall can you hi, recover end use yoUr {Bolwort to et up the most effocive positon? Without these ‘Undamenta|skile wel waned and constant refined, why waste valuable tine wiring arme, playing tg and lear empty Chisatl leks? Wel goed fs your BaetiJutt ape Palduan Saulete you are rot basing tem of ofan honest Strike? Wh cares who gets there fastest or htt you can notinfictenough pain of damage Wo ether slop your oppo- nent or bay yourset time to run? ‘Ask yourself, is your version of Chi Sau’ cultivating balanced linear force, the correct personal space for optimal triangular structure, and the live footwork necessary to enable you to maintain your space for powerful sinkes and escape if neces- sary? Ifthe answer is no, then why not?‘Are you using positive or negative lines of force? A positive line of force uses the body's neutral balance of weight being distributed evenly across the whole body (i.e. not leaning back, forward, left or right) and the natural leverage line of an elbow driven punch (i. elbow not iting up or pressing down, and not flared out or squeezing in too close to center). Posi- tive lines of force maximize our abilty to generate concus: sive/explosive force without adding unnecessary resistance. Since balanced triangular force is our primary goal in Ving Tsun, then we need to define and cultivate the alignment that allows us to utilize the body's naturally strongest points to generate power and disburse pressure. The knees, hips; and elbows are our key links to achieve this goal. The cor- Fect sequencing and alignment of these three joints aimed al ur target produces the most “positive” line of force with the least resistance. Misguided use of the shoulders, wrist, uppé back, and incorrect facing equates to bad balance, resis- tance, non-economical motions, and ‘negative’ lines of force.\| Once we define what we need to build on and what we need \ to minimize, we can then map out a blueprint to cultivate ‘what is positive (ie. correct facing, knees/hips/elbow position-| ing, balanced triangular force, and recyclingirecovery) and avoid the negative. I've also introduced the term “recycling/ recovery.” This just means that in the process of clearing the path we habitually return to neutral, and not get stuck as so many do by sacrificing their own balance by holding, press- ing, sticking or reaching out after the opponent. | have found that in all my travels the majority of Chi sau IM SY ne OE) devotees are chasing hands (Le. trying to stick to, suppress, or manipulate an opponents arms) and the rest who claim GacenwaMatucra wats | MCL ORR RiiGecwne santa oe er problem with this is they're both creating resistance which impedes the delivery and effectiveness of the blow. Wherein’ thy shoul be seal poaliondl Rescomn fo ectiova ax mum wansir of striking foroo and no Tessance, mare com | METHODS HAS THEM Tmonly they end up maf “ociopus arm wreeting Ror Rak - ‘This bs because they lack carly and direction what proper Al DESPERATELY Thettods hes them desperately beleving Chi SauyGweh thos fas lewng Ch SaurGwr Sau’ in some sad way a form of ightirg, BELIEVING CHI So far we have identified the primary falling of ‘Chi Sau’ as a {raining tool for so many Ving Tsun practitioners and exposed the falsehoods surrounding the training methodology. In addition, we have also identified what should be one’s goal ‘when training in Ving Tsun and participating in ‘Chi Sau’. In part two of this article we will further examine how dangerous ‘Chi Sau’ misconceptions can be, and address how and why ‘Chi Sau’ can be useful if trained properly. SAU/GOR SAU IS IN