Using Kata in a Fight - Keep It Simple

[Shorin Ryuu]

You have no idea how "chinese" osae sounds in your description. Have you ever seen Fukian White Crane or Southern Mantis forms? You, being a traditionally trained Shorin Ryu guy, would be surprised at what you see.

I might not be incredibly shocked, given that the name "Shorin" was meant to be a tribute to "Shaolin", although the kanji was slightly changed to signify the unique Okinawan nature of the style.

All the same, I haven't seen practitioners of White Crane or Southern Mantis display osae in the way we understand it. Granted, I've only seen one clip of both, so I can't speak with authority about them.

[mantis.style]

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.