day 75: more combat concepts (universal laws of energy)

concepts:

• energy

forms:

• bagua, palm changes 1 & 2
• contact drill

today was an extension of last Saturday (reference: day 73). we spent the entire class today learning how to apply the combat concepts from last week.

bagua, palm changes 1 & 2

Sifu had us begin with a short review of palm changes 1 & 2 (sides A & B). after we did a refresher, he had us go through a couple of iterations of the 2-person form.

but after doing this, he stopped us, and had us observe that the techniques in the forms are not fixed. in particular, he showed us each technique in the form can be modified to fulfill different purposes. confirming my thoughts from last week, he pointed out that the techniques are not really techniques in the sense of being strict patterns of movements, but really more just guidelines expressing principles. Sifu says this means the following:

• fighting is really about principles, and only superficially about techniques.
• techniques should be modified to match the conditions of the fight, meaning that they need to be adjusted according to 1) what the practitioner wants to do, 2) what the opponent(s) is(are) doing, and 3) the nature of the opponent (body type, skill level, demeanor, etc.).
• techniques have many different permutations, but they all preserve principles.
• there is a wrong way and right way to modify techniques or use permutations. the wrong way violates principles, the right way preserves them.
• techniques should never be done without an understanding of the principles, otherwise they risk being applied in ways that are ineffective or inappropriate.
• fighting is a fluid environment requiring equally fluid actions and counter-actions by the practitioner. this requires fluidity and a smooth continuum of variations in technique--something that can only be done in the high-speed context of a fight using principles (as opposed to techniques)
• don't get married to the form. Art said that one of Sifu's first students had told him this when he first started, but it took him awhile to understand that this means that a student should never cling to techniques or forms--it can work, but not as well as understanding principles, especially against a skilled opponent.
• don't obsess over knowing many techniques, but focus on learning the principles. knowing the principles allows a practitioner to develop any number of techniques they want--and this will always outnumber any amount learned by memorization. i'm guessing this is akin to the idea that creativity and critical thinking is always better than rote memorization, because the former allows adaptation to any challenge, whereas the latter is just an algorithm that will fail anytime it confronts variables not within its formula. which goes back to Sifu's constant emphasis on developing imagination...i'm guessing this is why they say fighting is an art.
  

in terms of learning principles, Sifu said to develop an analytical approach, so that we can breakdown and recognize the physics of movements in the forms and techniques. he noted that it took him awhile to develop this, but it is something inherent in all masters--to the extent that they often don't mention it because it is so natural for them.

he reminded us about the concepts of "root" and "center of gravity", and how so much of tai chi is directed by these principles (i.e., breaking the opponent's root to disrupt their stability, making it easier to manipulate them, and locating your center of gravity under theirs so as to break the root). he noted that it's no different than any other form of fighting, and that these kinds of concepts are the same.

to demonstrate this point, Sifu showed how different techniques in bagua, tai chi, and baji actually end up serving the same function, and that they are really just different expressions of the same principles producing similar results.

contact drill

Sifu said we needed to start developing an intuitive feel for applying principles. returning to the combat concepts from last week, he showed us a 2-person drill involving the ideas of yin & yang force (yin being no force or yielding, and yang being force or projection), whirlpools, tangential force, energy, and relaxation.

the drill starts with 2 people facing each other with limbs in contact. the starting position doesn't seem to matter, with the partners beginning from any stance or position (we began at first from palm change 1, but then repeated the drill from tai chi push hands and also shuai jiao starting positions) so long as they have physical contact.

the drill commences and continues with the partners attempting to throw each other, but trying to maintain physical contact of some form the entire time. in the process of trying to throw each other, they're supposed to try and do the following:

• move between yin & yang states of force, while manipulating their opponent's yin & yang states (apply yin to yang, or yang to yin)
• feel the differing yin & yang states in the various parts of the body (not just the 2 partners as a whole, but actually within each hand, arm, torso, leg, foot, etc.)
• learn to yield and apply force
• learn to move in differing directions, so that the yielding and applying of force is utilizing the vectors of whirlpools and tangents to re-direct force in ways helpful to you
• learn to recognize the energy between you and the opponent, and to move in ways that manipulate the energies (the energy of the system of both of you, the energy in you, the energy in the opponent) that serve to disrupt their stability and scatter their energy (Sifu noted that in terms of physics, this goes back to recognizing how you can manipulate a body to change its center of gravity, making it easier to break their root...or their ability to generate force)
• energy can mean different things. center of gravity. root. force and power vectors. level of calories providing endurance. quickness in reflexes. mental focus. state of relaxation. composure. demeanor. whatever affects the outcome of the fight.
• relax. relax. relax. a body in tension loses sensitivity and impedes movement, slowing you down and requiring more energy to move. i see an analogy of a car engine--the greater the amount of friction in the engine parts, the harder it is for the engine to move and the greater the inefficiency in energy usage, meaning greater consumption of energy with less velocity.
  

this was a GREAT drill. really tiring. really hard. but i learned a LOT. it seemed to be more a mental exercise than a physical one, because it forced me to constantly concentrate and focus on what i was doing, what my partner was doing, and what was going on with us together. it also forced me to think about how to adjust and change techniques in response to what was going on, and to adjust and change the principles in the same way.

awesome.

i told Sifu we need to do this more often.

i tried this drill with Phunsak, and then later with Art and Eric. i found major differences between them. i mentioned this to Sifu, and he said that this is why it is so important to train with different people--people are different, and there are different personalities and different body types producing different ways of movement and different physics with different energies. he noted this is also why techniques have to be adjusted depending on the opponent and your intent, and further why it is so crucial to focus on learning the principles...because the quickest and safest way (imperative in a fight) to adjust techniques is through understanding and preservation of the principles.

Sifu went on to tell us that this drill is actually just a basic contact drill, and that there are more advanced levels. he informed us that the basic level involves maintaining close physical contact (i.e., almost close enough for wrestling), the next level places the partners farther away from each other (i.e., at the range of fist-fighting) while still maintaining physical contact, and that the highest level involves no physical contact. essentially, he noted this means that you're gradually increasing your sensitivity of the energies, until you can move and manipulate the opponent in both the near and far gates.

i asked him if this was similar to the push hands in tai chi and the contact hands drills in wing chun. he said the underlying purpose was somewhat the same, and that there are drills like this in many fighting styles, but just with different manifestations.

we ended the day with that. i skipped the usual post-class lunch to prep for my dissertation defense.