day 33: lei tai training (part 3 - 05/13/07)

concepts:

• moving in multiple directions
• adjusting to change
  
• sensitivity
  

agenda:

• quick qi-gong
• circle walking (forward & reverse, clockwise & counter-clockwise, yin & yang)
• countering kicks (go & gao)
• countering knees
  

today was Mother's Day, and as might be expected turnout was a little low. turnout among bagua students was limited to me, Jay, Ching-Tszieh, and Phunsak, while with the baji students it was Charles, Tommy, and Jonathan.

quick qi-gong

we began with a brief run-through of quick qi-gong taught from the last lei tai session. everyone --including the baji students--joined in doing this. we repeated it several times, since everyone arrived gradually and not everyone (Jay and Ching-Tszieh) were entirely familiar with it.

circle walking

after finishing quick qi-qong (following from the previous post, the "Qi-Gong Express" or the "Liu-Yun Chiao Special"), Sifu told us we were going to work on more advanced levels of circle walking. to date, so far we have learned circle walking involving forward steps leading either clockwise or counter-clockwise on a circle. Sifu said we needed to learn how to walk in reverse.

in addition, Sifu said that so far lei tai training had focused on 4 stances utilizing open palms: lion, hawk, big bird, and grand palace. however, we needed to learn these 4 stances utilizing fists. he said this was analogous to the idea of yin and yang, with the open palms corresponding to yin and closed fists corresponding to yang.

Sifu had us form pairs, with partners facing each other similar to the 2-person drills from the last lei tai training session. this time, however, we were expected to walk the circle with our partners, and also expected to switch hands at random intervals. he instructed us to follow a progression through the various permutations of circle walking, with each permutation being added onto the previous to create a gradually increasing level of complexity:

• clockwise/counterclockwise--this is the usual circle walking pattern we've learned in class, with direction changes involving an inside turn (ko step) that changes not only the clockwise/counterclockwise movement on the circle, but also which shoulder faces the inside of the circle (clockwise, right shoulder; counterclockwise, left shoulder).
  
• forward/reverse--this is circle walking with direction changes involving nothing more than stopping and walking opposite of the way you were going, such that you stop and start stepping without turning (e.g., if you are moving clockwise stepping forward, you stop and then move counterclockwise stepping backward).
  
• yin/yang--this involves employing either open palms (yin) or closed fists (yang) for the stances. combinations can be made of this (e.g., "yang-yang golden palace" while walking counterclockwise means starting with lion stance with the left arm towards the center of the circle, employing the stance with fists, then switching arms (but not legs) so that the right arms is towards the interior, employing fists, and then returning to the original stance.
  

we switched between these various combinations on command, with Phunsak yelling out at random intervals commands to "change" (for change direction), "change forward" (to change direction, walking forward), "change reverse" (to change direction, walking in reverse), "yin" (open palm), "yang" (closed palm), "yin yang" or "yang yin" (switch left and right arm positions, but with 1 side being open hand and the other being closed hand), and "yin yin" or "yang yang" (switch left and right arm positions, but with both sides being both open hand or both closed hand). after awhile, we did the drill without commands, with just 1 partner initiating movement and the other partner reacting.

from what i could tell, the purposes of this drill were several:

• moving in multiple directions--it acclimates partners to walking in different directions (clockwise or counterclockwise) in different ways (forward or reverse) while simultaneously using different stances (lion, hawk, big bird, grand palace) and different hands (in terms of which hand was facing the other partner)
  
• adjusting to change--it acclimates partners to deploying and responding to changes in facing a partner, particular in terms of changes that are random and unknown
  
• sensitivity--it increases the sensitivity to an opposing person's movements, helping partners to improve their ability to read and react to each other
  

i found this drill pretty challenging, but also very useful. i could definitely see it expanding the mind and its instincts in terms of directions of movement, dealing with change, and increasing sensitivity with assailants. i could also see it improving the reflexes and mind-body connection in terms of having the body behave in unfamiliar ways.

countering kicks & knees

Sifu finished the day by gathering both baji and bagua students together to discuss methods of countering kicks. he said we weren't going to spend too much time today practicing how to counter kicks, since we had spent the bulk of class trying to master the additional levels of circle walking. but we were going to take class time to acquaint ourselves with the concepts and motions involved in dealing with kicks and the opponents who employed them aggressively.

he organized kicks into 2 categories: medium/low and high. Sifu pointed out that the most dangerous thing to do against a kick is to step away, since it puts you into a range where a kick is most effective, thereby playing into the kicker's strength and goal. instead, a defender needs to step into the kick before it extends, so as to reduce the kick's moment arm and suppress its power. in addition, stepping into the kick allows the defender to redirect the kicking leg and use it to launch a counterattack to throw the attacker. Sifu this is done in different ways for the 2 categories of kicks:

• low/medium--redirect and catch the kick with an underhand circle motion down and backwards with the arms, and then continue the circular motion so that the arms then move upward and forward to throw the attacker off-balance and backwards. Sifu called the catching movement "go" (sp?) and the throwing motion "gao" (sp?).
• high--redirect the kick with a circular motion upwards and backwards with the arms, and then continue the circular motion so that the arms move downwards and forwards to catch the kick, from where the defender can reverse the direction to throw the attacker off-balance and backwards. Sifu noted that this was a reverse of the action against low/medium kicks, with the pattern being "gao" and then "go."
  

Sifu had us perform a drill using these motions, starting from a guard stance facing an imaginary opponent, and then using the go/gao (or gao/go) motions while stepping forward into the imaginary opponent's kick.

Jonathan (the baji student) then asked about how to counter knees. Sifu said this--in accordance with 6 harmonies (i.e., hands in harmony with feet, elbows in harmony with knees, etc.)--can be done using elbows. he pointed out 3 weak areas in the quadriceps just above the knee, with 1 above, 1 to the side, and 1 to the inside, all corresponding to what appeared to be the divisions between the thigh muscles at the points they connect to the knee joint. elbows to these points are painful. Sifu said elbow strikes to these areas can 1) redirect the knee strike, and 2) hurt the attacker.

we didn't do a drill for this, since class was ending. Sifu just did a demonstration with Phunsak, and then called the class to a close.