day 30: lei tai training (part 2 - 04/29/07)

concepts:

• blocks: up, down, left, right
• kicks: in, out, down, swing

agenda:

• quick qi-gong
• 4 fists: lion, hawk, grand palace, big bird
• 4 kicks: circle in, circle out, heel, forward swing
• drills: stepping, 2-person drills
• simulated rounds

i missed the 2nd lei tai training day because of Ironman Arizona. so today's Sunday session was a bit of a catch-up.

there were fewer people compared to the first day. there were just 3 baji students and 4 bagua students. Ching-Tszieh made a surprise appearance, saying she wanted to give it a try.

quick qi-gong

we began with Sifu teaching us quick qi-gong. he introduced it as something Liu Yun Chiao had taught him as a useful version of qi-gong that could be done in moments of little time. it integrates all the 8 mother palms that are involved in normal bagua qi-gong, and is very short, taking probably less than 30 seconds to complete. but it is functional. Sifu had us repeat it several times to become familiar with it, and then watched us as we went through it.

drill: steps

we proceeded to do the step drill from the 1st lei tai session, taking turn trying to step on each other's foot. this time, however, we made a greater effort to employ bagua footwork (ko and bai, as well as walking flat-footed). in addition, Phunsak said that we should try to act as if we are dealing with an opponent, and so place our feet in a way which places us in a position to launch an attack or defend ourselves.

Phunsak made an important point regarding the combat application of bagua: in real situations, we rarely, if ever, walk a circle around an opponent. circle walking is just a training technique, just as much as walking a square or a triangle. as a result, circle walking just helps students learn how to place feet, and acclimates them to moving in directions different from a linear line into the opponent. in comparison, bagua in real-world usage involves movement on whatever path is necessary to disrupt and confuse an opponent, and may mean an arc enclosing an opponent, a line perpendicular or tangent or parallel or leading to the opponent, or a geometric shape around them.

the step drill is supposed to alert us to this reality, and so train us to move in new and changing ways more consistent with the random, chaotic, fluid nature of bagua in combat.

fists and kicks

next, we did with a quick review of last week's fists and kicks. Phunsak had told me there were 4 of each. Sifu said that this was really all we needed to know, since 1) in the speed and fluidity of tournament rounds we wouldn't have time to recall anything else, and 2) these sets were reasonably complete in terms of dealing with the major directions for strikes (up, down, left, right), whether launching or parrying.

the 4 fists were from the standard bagua stances: lion, hawk, grand palace (the standard starting posture for most of 64 Palms), and big bird. out of these, big bird was modified so that the off-hand (away from the opponent) was now forward, with the hand guarding above the shoulder of the forward hand (towards the opponent). Phunsak showed us how to switch from right to left postures for each fist. each fist has its own direction in terms of where force is meant to be directed, either for attack or defense:

• lion: force is projected forward, but at an angle upward (in attack this directs force forward and up, while in defense it counters a high strike)
• hawk: force is going up in one arm, but down in the other arm (in attack this launches an upper and lower strike against an opponent, but in defense the upper arm first allows the defender to direct an opponent's high strike up and then grab it down, and the lower arm pushes an opponent's low strike down)
• grand palace: force goes forward and down, with a slight outward direction (in attack this launches slightly down and outside, while in defense it redirects an opponent's straight strike down and outside)
• big bird: force goes forward, with a slight outward direction (in attack this goes forward, while in defense it redirects an opponent's strike outside)

the 4 kicks are all low, towards the shins and ankles. the 1st 2 involve slight (i.e., small) circular movements of the foot, with 1 having the foot following a swift striking circle to the outside (e.g., for the right foot, this would be clockwise), using the forward outside edge of the foot as the striking surface; the other has the foot following a circle to the inside (e.g., for the right foot, this would be counter-clockwise), with the forward inside edge of the foot as the striking surface. for both, the intent to strike an opponent's ankles. the 3rd kick is a linear, decisive kick forward of the heel, into the opponent's knee, shin, or ankle. the 4th kick integrates a forward swing of the leg and body, with the forward foot being the pivot and the rear foot rotating forward

drills: 2-person standing and circling

immediately after the review, Sifu had us pair off to 2-person drills using the 4 fists we had reviewed. essentially, partners face each other, legs in 70-30. they then perform each fist in each other's direction, alternating left and right postures, and close enough so that the forward arms make contact with each other. one partner does them with open palms, the other does them with fists, and after some period of time they can switch roles.

for example, with hawk (the stance from the 70-30 stance), partners face each other at an angle (either both with right foot leading, or with left foot leading), with the upraised arm's forearm being the contact point between the partners. if the right arm is the lead arm, then both partners will have their right arms raised and their left arms down, with one partner using open palms in an act of parrying the other partner's fists. keeping the same foot position, both partners would shift postures so that the left arm is the lead arm and the right arm would be down. this would repeat in a constant, quick rhythm.

after doing the set of 4 fists standing, Sifu then had us repeat the drill walking in circle with our partners. the drill is largely the same circle walking, except that when switching postures, each partner is expected to perform an inside turn (planting foot ko, shifting weight, moving torso with limbs in fire-and-water, and then walking in the opposite direction).

Sifu had us do this drill, switching not only postures and direction of the circle, but also switching partners. at this point we had 5 people, so we had 2 pairs walking their own circles and the 5th person walking a 3rd circle around the other 2. at random points, Sifu would call "switch circle," whereupon we would break from our partners and try to find another partner and the 5th person would try to intercept and find a partner.

Sifu didn't say it, but i suspect the purpose of this drill is to help the student:

• become familiar with the proper spacing relative to an opponent
• switch from left to right postures effortlessly
• condition the arms to intercepting and re-directing opponent's strikes
• condition the mind-body connection in reacting to opponent actions
• condition our peripheral vision to multiple opponents and multiple approaches of attack

simulated rounds

we finished the day with Sifu conducting simulated rounds. while not exactly tournament-rules, they still offered us a chance to go full speed against live opponents. each round was 90 seconds (with Sifu using a stopwatch), and the objective was to use all the fists and kicks we had learned, integrating the step footwork we had practiced earlier. in addition, he wanted us to feel the nature of tournament fighting, with the changes in rhythm, engaging and disengaging, and constantly varying methods of attack and defense.

Sifu wanted each of us to go through multiple rounds, with each round having a different partner. this was meant to let us get experience against different opponents. i ended up going 2 rounds, with 1 against Ching-Tszieh, and another against Jonathan.

this was very useful, since it really gave a feel of having to use bagua techniques in combat, and of the stress of tournament fighting. although, i can tell that everyone needs more conditioning, since it was clear that people were getting tired at the end of each round.