Drunken Monkey

i say, keep doing what you're doing until you feel like there is nothing more you can be 'taught' and you are just developing what you know. then, when you expose yourself to more things, you have a good frame of reference. i mean, after another year, you will have a reasonable idea of how one way deals with things.

i always thought the sup gee sau is a little form.... or is that the sup yee sik? too many forms.... anyway, did you mean after the 'drawing of centre+marking upper and lower? after the 'drawing' we just do a centre punch, cirlce, close withdraw, left hand then right hand. back to the stances i think pan nam's wing chun has a slightly wider stance. from what i've seen, they open theirs 4 times (if that makes any sense) where as we open twice. also, their knife form is nothing like yip man's. same goes for the dummy form. fascinating to watch....

i was forced to do horse stance for half hour with weights.... then afterwards we used to work on moving in low stances. it was 'special torture'. anyway, if you're out of breath then i would say you are 'forcing' your breathing. not sure if you should. try relaxing your breathing and try to breath from your lower abdomen region... (haven't i said this before somewhere?)

not again....

well, i have driven big engined/high powered cars and of varying characters. under my driving belt i have a ferrari 355, tvr griffith, lotus esprit, evo 6, 911 GT3 (the new one) as well as a plethora of 'hot-hatches'and yes i agree, the power rush is a fantastic thing. (but then the engines in these things aren't really the same as the 'typical' american V8 in terms of refinement ). it could just be that i'm not that great a driver but i never really felt like i was in control of these things, except the evo and strangely, the GT3. with the others it kinda felt like i was either not using what i could or struggling to keep it together. it might be to do with our mentality. i prefer to feel like i am pushing the car to it's limits and i find it easier and safer to judge in a 'smaller' car. the thrill i got from doing two and half spins in a 355 wasn't the same as the thrill i got from going sideways for 50 yards in a nissan micra (albeit in rally trim..). the difference was 'what the fu...' compared to 'whoooooooo' like i said, that's just me. anyway, back to the elise. the exige has different skirts, bumper and a nice big wing on it. i think most 'standard' elises destined fot the us will have the optional hard-top (complete with little gull-wing openings in the roof) included (or optioned) they are fabulous things. my local dealer (also the local subaru dealer....) has about 20 of them on permanent display, from the S1 through to the newest. i can't explain why i like them so much. i think it's because of the purity of it. nice light car. nice light engine. able to use everything it has. no excess, no fuss. hmm, sounds like wing chun....

190 is the top spec model that's just released here. it's also the one you guys will be getting. not sure if you'll get the exige (a closed top elise with more downforce and race oriented set up...) though, even though it has the same engine.

just curious now. in basic punching from bow and arrow with left leg in bow, do you switch into horse stance (see ping ma) when you punch with your left hand then back to bow and arrow for punch with right hand? or do you remain in bow and arrow for both punches? or have i totally lost you....?

sorry, in my attempt to be brief and to the point i totally missed how my last post could've been seen to be rude... i apologise if you, or anyone read it in this way. as most people here know, i'm a wing chun guy and i'm always fascinated by how different people teach wing chun, how they structure their class, etc etc. that is why i asked. not because i was suggesting any form of criticism. anyway. we usually start our class with warms ups with sets of punching. depending on how many people turn up, this would mean anything from 500 to 1000 cycles. after this, as you can imagine, ou arms are always shaking. this also makes chi sau interesting as after the forms and drills our arms are absolute jelly. bong/lap drills hurt and poon sau feels like our arms are not our own.... believe it or not the best way to stop the shaking is to well, relax. what i mean is, relax your breathing. concerntrate on your breathing and concerntrate on keeping your breathing steady and deep, from your stomach (hate to say it but from your dan tien region...) don't forget to drop your shoulders. remember, one of the five wing chun uses of energy is to 'lose' energy so release everything from your shoulders, your stomach, your back... can't really comment anymore cos i'm not entirely sure what you'll be tested on, nor am i sure that we are even taught the same things in the same way.

i talk about amazing chassis set up and the *typical* american guy talks about horsepower and engine size.... no offence intended but why do most americans like to talk of big numbers in their cars? i don't get it. here, there is a culture of guys who have their average cars who enjoy taking them to their very limits, using every single last horse power the engine can muster, teatering on the edge of what is possible for the car. in seems like the american way is, if you want to go faster, forget driving skill, get a bigger engine.... i'm pretty sure this isn't the case but sometimes, it really seems like it is. i once had a conversation with a guy who insisted that if he gets an elise, he would find a way to fit in a small block V8 so that it would be faster... why??? honestly, i am fascinated. why does every american car fan i talk to have the same answer for the question, 'how can i go faster?': stick a V8 in it... pah! my little yaris only has 69 bhp on a good day but i've had my fun at 100+mph with M3s and 911s on the A12 new road/M25 towards lakeside/dartford/bluewater!

actually, i was only really after the name yuen kay san or sum nung cos that would've answered all of my questions. hmm, so that would mean you have the 'sup gee sau' as part of your training, right? i also see what you mean by use of different, more classical stances

no thoughts on the school but i would say that maybe you should give what you're doing a bit more time to settle in first. from what i can tell, the new place seems to be teaching jkd style concepts (as well as the recognised jkd system itself), i've always felt that these systems best serve those who already have an extablished base as the concepts they teach are often, 'high' theory from some of the more 'classical styles' (i.e wing chun bil gee concepts...). if you go straight into this without first getting your own base sorted, you might ignore the need for said basics (because of what you are being shown....) i've seen this happen. the student got so hung up on the instant 'lap sau' and punch that he didn't actually realise that before you can do this, you need to know how to receive... the very short and cliched answer would be. don't try to run before you can walk.

oi, don't slate the fiesta. the last one before the focus style redesign was actually quite fun to punt around. let's not forget that the chassis was the basis for the supurb puma (which you guys never got in the states....hehe....).

think about the much vaunted 'martial spirit'; to do your best and be the best at what-ever you chose to do. i think it's safe to say that he and his team are probably the best (if not then one of the best)martial arts stunt teams in the world. i don't care what styles, what belts, what ranks, whatever. the fact that they make things seem easy gets my respect. if you've ever tried to make your own fight scene, you'll know what i mean....

i would say check out the first 'once upon a time in china' film (directed by tsui hark), the other 5/6(?) aren't that great... just so you know, it isn't a 'trilogy' by any definition of the word.

and if they DON'T let you sit in a class or give a free taster, well, most of the time, that means something...

just curious. what does your club define as 'third degree'? what are the other two?

*edited a typo* maybe i should've kept my mouth shut... in any case, i'm pretty sure most of you here know my stance on what traditional chinese styles are and what they can or cannot do. hmm, i guess my sifu must be low level sifu then cos he keeps telling me, 'who gives a monkey's, just hit the *ucker'

i like babe cos it does things differently. i like the way the chapters are nicely represented. i like the way the animals' characteristics are portrayed (i guess much of this is about the book really...). but on a technical point of view, it has some really nicely done shots and nicely paced scenes. it's just nice.

currently a toyota yaris, original 998cc cdx. i'm still pushing for 120mph! see here <------ need to find a road long enough.... i'm sure the final 1000rpm before the red can take me there! my current dream car is either an origianl lamborghini countach lp400 or a ferrari 365 gt4/bb. both in perfect condition would cost about £40,000 but i've seen both for about £25,000-£30,000. money no object? it would have to be a ferrari 288GTO.

Are Nuchukas legal to carry for self defence in the UK the short answer, no. you are allowed to carry them but they have to be a suitable case and out of site (i.e useless for self defence use cos it would take too long to get them out) generally, you can carry most martial arts weapons as long as they in a proper case and not obviously identifiable. this only really matters if anything does happen and you are stopped for any reason. i.e if you're going to a class, then its kinda ok. if you're walking down the high street with a pair of nunchakus in your pocket then....

seven i know you weren't really asking me but i'll give you my answer.... developed specifically to counter longfist styles kinda true but not the whole story, so to speak. as i said before, longfist as well as being the name for a particular form is also a name for a type of style (and its training) longfist forms tend to be long and complicated, teaching to the best of its abilities, every possible combination of movement (attack +advance, attack+shift etc etc). i'm pretty sure you've seen wing chun forms and training and should have noticed that the training of hand techniques are as good as separate and is up to the practicioner to combine them as he pleases. this is one way in which wing chun counters longfist (training). also, again to do with the forms. in longfist, you would tend to learn the form (after basic stances, steps punching) and then learn applications. in wing chun, you are taught everything (kind of) at the same time. before you are shown the first form, you are already practicing basic movements that are in the first form and you would be doing basic contact using these movements. then as you are shown the form, you are kinda just adding techniques as well a way of practicing them by yourself. really messy explantion. hope you understand but another way that wing chun counters longfist. also, i again refer to the intended areas of use (i.e the alleys) where the longfist guys are limited whereas wing chun is not. there are a few more ways but the best way to explanin them would be for me to show you as they are slightly more in depth and concern the way techniques work (like a comparison of use of similar techniques).... hope i've made some sense here.

the things you mention seem to translate into (and i am reading them in pinyin, into very bad mandarin, and translating back into english from CANTONESE...) 'horse stance training changing into attack stance centre punch' (then i can't think of what the 'shang bo' is...). it sounds like (what i would call) a 'simple' movement. y'know, position, step, hit, step kind training. what we in the wing chun class call a 'one hit break' i.e one hit then break and start again. just so you know, i did these as well. this was treated as basic training that we did before actually going into the forms training. i.e they were to teach us how to move the shaolin way. in a way, they were more like exercises rather than proper training. well, it actually sounds about right, as you are still a relative beginner too, right? maybe when you get further into the training, it'll be more recognisable to me (i didn't learn shaolin as an absolute beginner) i really have to be there to see.

as every curry addict here will tell you, lager is the natural cure for too much chilli. the scientists will tell you otherwise but ignore what they say. they work for the yoghurt companies!

but le mans isn't the same since they got added a little chicane at the end of the mulsanne.... admittedly, it has made it safer but still, actually seeing cars take off was kinda fun.

like i said, 'legend has it...' anyway. i have to say it's never interested me enough to make me go and find out how he got killed. in my mind, a person is either alive or dead. how or why doesn't really interest me and doesn't really have much relevance to the person. the only thing i need to know is that he died in an accident on set. that's enough for me.