mantis.style

I have never had a black belt; mainly because I don't belong to a school that use them now or in the past. I do have people that have asked me to "teach" them though. In a similar vein, I am no instructor nor am I qualified or experienced in my styles to really teach. But these people felt that I could show them things. Should I teach or not? This, I think, is a more important question. What makes a person qulaified to teach. I mean, we all know that black belt means little. In the best cases, it means that the studenr have finally learnt the basics and can now get on with learning how to fight but does that mean he can teach the basics if you take into account that they in all likelihood have little experience in using those basics?

Don't know about you but when I flinch, I do tend to go into a guard hands. This doesn't target the incoming but aims to cover myself to get my hands where I am more able to do more with them once contact is established. So it isn't really a block; it's more or less sticking my hands out in front of me but in a slightly more useful manner to me. It's a very slight difference in principle in that you don't block the incoming, you cover yourself from whatever might come in but it makes a lot of difference. We describe it as not seeking the hand.

Sorry about this but why should it make a difference whether or not he comes in at you hard or not or whether or not he is "controlled" as you put it? Either way, it is your job to deal with it. If he is uncontrolled, then shouldn't he be easier to beat or force into overcommiting?

You can learn to fight the old fashioned way by going out there and fighting. Don't bother looking at books and trying to do what you see because if all you want to do is fight, then that would be next to useless and do you more harm than good.

can't say that I've ever had anyone come into any class that I've been part of with the intention of starting trouble. I also can't say that my knowing or practicing martial arts is the topic of many conversations. As a result, I don't get people asking me to show them anything. I do train in public places sometimes though but most people have more sense to ask a bunch of guys smacking each other around to "show them what they've got".

The real problem is that many traditional schools don't teach traditionally. Traditionally, kung fu students did the full spectrum of exercises from simple running to weight lifting to more specialised training with specialised equipment. ALso traditionally, training involved fighting. How many schools these days even talk about weight training? How many schools advocate going out to test yourself against others?

No idea about healing but for old school fighting, the Chen style is famous for being more fight orientated and is a lot more upright as a result. On the other hand, proper traditional Wudang Tai Chi is you can find italso has a heavy fighting slant, it being closer related to older longfist fighting styles. There is another more obscure school of tai chi that has a heavy application base to it but I can't remember the family name. Off the top of my head, I'm tempted to say it might be "Lee". Early training emphasises applications of basic ward offs. All three "fight" in very different ways though.

I find it a little worrying that guy training in wing chun would say that a pak sau/slap hand defends very little, especially considering that it is one of the core movements in the style. The fact that it can be used across the centre in both directions, with a short bridge or a long bridge, inside gate and outside gate, above and below bridge, it can be used to press and it can be used to cover and to top it off, be performed without having to move your elbow from a defensive position says a lot about what it can do. When I was training in my wing chun, one of the things that I learnt is that pak sau can even be performed without having to even move your arm. Pak sau as a technique is ranked second only to the tan sau in terms of just how much it can cover without having to adjust. If you want to learn how to fight, pak sau, tan sau and punch is all you need.

Interesting that you mention tiger elements. Someone once showed me their dummy form from the Pan Nam school and there are some interesting non HK school type moves in there that seemed more like some of the older dragon and/or eagle claw styles. In fact, when we started to trade moves, we found a lot of similarity between what he does and certain white crane and certain (southern) mantis style movements. One over-riding similarity is that things are done more or less how they are performed in the forms which makes comparing them a lot easier. Your profile says you are based in London. I'm currently in the London area but only for the next two months, then I'm out of the country for a bit. If you're interested, I'm always up for a friendly crossing of hands. PM if you want to.

For the most part, Martial Arts in China is not good, unless you are after acrobatics. There a few places where you can find virtually untouched styles but the majority of what is out there, is Modern Chinese State organised Wushu.

In our school of Wing Chun we are told not to blink either. I suspect that this is true with many martial arts, especially the ones that stress close range fighting. Don't see a lot of non Yip Man wing chun. What can you tell me about yours? Any website to look at?

Never been hit in the balls? I guess you haven't been training that much. Try doing the first section of the dummy form blocks only, with a partner. The Low Bog Sau (from Kwun Sau) to Tan Sau (from Tan Sau+strike to face) and every other time you'd be brushing each others bits. Also, in wing chun training, when it comes to drills, there is no difference in aiming for the centre of mass, solar plexus or face; the Wu Sau should take care of it. In any case, if you are able to hit her, then that means her Wu Sau isn't there. In that case, she needs more training. If you're worried about touching her, then be glad you don't do something like a Southern Mantis, White Crane or Short Bridge Dragon Style; in those, you spend a lot of time stroking each others' arms and tracking up the arms.

Well, for the record, I've never had any problems. Also remember that doesn't mean you won't have any problems. People are different, styles are different and how proficient you get in a style depends on lots of things. The best answer that I can give you is that for me, mantis has been sufficient for my needs. I should also add that it isn't the only style that I have ever practiced and it's not like I haven't been doing this sort of thing for coming up to 10 years now.

I should add that I'm a big fan of letting two kids who have issues with each other take care of it themselves. I really can't stand the attitude and mentality of "my big brother will get you" that seems so common these days. If I had a little brother, the furthest I'd go would be to make sure that it was fair and that it doesn't go too far.

Remember that self defence isn't always the same thing as fighting.

No one mentioned it so far but the biggest factor that got a reaction from the two lads is that is that it was someone clearly more senior told them to back off. The fashion in which it was carried out doesn't carry half as much clout as the fact that it was a MAN that warned them. If you had done the same, it wouldn't have the same effect, even if you were twice the size of them.

I say: Don't push it. You don't need him there to do it yourself and well, the kid's only 11. Give him a little time to find some things for himself. You never know; whatever path he chooses might lead back to karate.

I'm pretty much certain that anyone who's done the red ink knife edge testing will know that when a knife is involved one of the certainties is that you will get cut. The teaching of idea that you can 100% avoid getting cut is a very dangerous thing.

Another question that is hard to answer without knowing what it is you do and how you do it. All I can say is that you have to remember that things are not doing in isolation and that more than one thing happens at the same time. If I am moving to make a block or parry, I am at the same time moving forward, stepping off at an angle meeting the attacking arm and possibly making a strike towards you or covering your second arm. In practice and execution, this might end up looking very similar to what a boxer does when he closees in and covers up or it might looking look how a thai boxer throws a jab to keep your upper body away or it might look like textbook wing chun pak sau, gum sau, punch.

This is something that will be hard to give a catch-all response to without knowing a few details. What are you wanting to ask? Why are you wanting to ask? What kind of reply do you get? Example time. If I were teaching you x and you kept asking about y and z, I would tell you to concerntrate on x. Teaching something that is fluid, dynamic and dependent on previously known and fully absorbed things such as it is in martial arts, there is no point knowing more if you don't actually know the things that go before. Remember that there is more to things that simply being to perform a move. Advancing in a martial art is much more than knowing form x,y and z. If you can't even do a basic move properly and insintinctly, what's the point in teaching you more?

It's hard to see in videos because as habit, White Crane and Southern Mantis only really perform one form openly. In the case of White Crane, it will be Three Battles and in mantis, it will be Three Step Arrows. Those who know how these two forms sound in chinese would also notice something interesting. In both of those forms, the pressing is most evident in the motions when the arms are held out; there is no retraction and every movement is short, sharp and if you can feel it, heavy. But I digress. In the chinese styles that I have practiced, there is a constant element of what I can only discribe in english as forward pressure; that is your limbs do not ever drop or consciouslydo nothing. If there is nothing in their way, they should be wanting to go forward. That is not the entire story though but for now, it is enough to dedscribe what it looks like. The result of this is that every action is performed somewhat deliberate, controlled and even possibly slow when you compare it to what you normally see in sparring. When you are in stance, you are as if you are expanding and when you move it is precise and controlled. Effect over appearance as it were. In order to get this effect of constant forward pressure, which should be present even if we are standing still, you have to be in perfect structual postition at the moment of execution. Perhaps this is where we differ slightly. You sound as if the prssure is always on. To us, the pressure is there when you want it to be. Of course, in a sparring situation, it is very nearly on all the time. This is where you get the original hard/soft idea from; that at any moment, you can turn on this forward pressure without physically going forwards. I used to train with a few guys from a Tai Chi class just for the experience of it and they used to always comment on my heavy arms or my excessive use of energy but I couldn't explain to them properly that I wasn't using any energy and that I was just standing there. In wing chun, that is the real secret of a good tan sau; it because of the constant forward pressure that a simple90 degree turn of the wrist from a natural ready position can be an effective interception technique. I only wish I could be there in person to physically demonstrate and to experience your demonstration as I too am probably not doing a good job of describing what and how we do it.

they are slicing weapons and their origins are another of the unknowns in CMAs.

i question the whole story

not a technique but an ideal - to be able to switch from one thing to another with no hindrence

If you really want to perform in martial arts movies then go to a wushu school. If the wing chun school you looked at doesn't have sparring of a semi-serious nature then skip it.