day 39: drills & palm change 4, side A & B

concepts:

• movement

forms:

• 2-hand drills, moving
• 2-person drills, palm change 4
  

class began somewhat spontaneously today, with a group of us arriving early and going through stances and hand drills. John Eagles served as the primary lead, taking us through stances, 1-hand drills, and then the 2-hand drills. we finished just as Sifu arrived.

2-hand drills, moving

Sifu started us with the hand drills again, with the difference being that he observed us as a group and made individual corrections as we went through the list of 2-hand drills:

• front (left & right)
• side (left & right)
• hawk chasing sparrow, along front of leg (left & right)
• hawk chasing sparrow, along back of leg (left & right)
• rear (left & right)
  

once we finished these, Sifu announced that we needed to begin adding another layer of complexity to the drills: movement, as in stepping with the lower body. he proceeded to guide us through each of the 2-hand drills in concert with movement. each drill had its own respective footwork:

front (left & right)--this was connected with sideways movement along an imaginary line, such that each shift of hand (from left to right, or right to left) coincided with a step. Sifu said that the drill could be run with 1 step left for each change of hand or with 1 step right for each change of hand.

• side (left & right)--this was synchronized with a step forward of the rear leg to the front with each change of hand, so that the drill becomes a gradual progression following an imaginary line, alternating right leg/right arm leading with left leg/left arm leading. the step forward is supposed to result with the legs in 70/30 stance, from which the lead hand can then extend with the legs going into bow-and-arrow, after which the hands change and the rear leg steps forward to 70/30 stance to begin again.
• hawk chasing sparrow, along front of leg (left & right)--this pattern is the same with the side drills in terms of footwork, with alternating right leg/right arm leading and left leg/left arm leading progressing along a line.
• hawk chasing sparrow, along rear of leg (left & right)--this is the same in terms of footwork as hawk chasing sparrow along the front of the leg.
• rear (left & right)--this was matched with a circular stepping footwork following the hand by stepping backwards with the corresponding foot (e.g., if the right hand was going back, then the right foot would go heel-first and backwards in the same direction as the hand). this was actually the same movement as big serpent coils its body from the 3rd palm change, except that the hand moved in the direction of an imaginary line running left & right from the starting position (Sifu stressed that in the drill the hand uncoils in the direction of the line, while in the palm change the hand uncoils perpendicular to the line). this footwork did not lead to alternating progression along a line, but rather a back-and-forth rhythm of turning clockwise and counter-clockwise along a line.
  

once we finished performing the drills, Sifu instructed Phunsak to guide us through the 2-person drills for palm change 4, and then left to work with the baji students.

2-person drills, palm change 4

we proceeded to learn the 2-person drill for palm change 4 using the same method from the previous weeks, with 2 lines facing each other, so that opposing sides formed pairs with 1 partner acting as side A and the other acting as side B. we went through several iterations to allow each person to have a turn acting as side A for left & right sides, and then side B for left & right sides.

after awhile, Phunsak called a break. but a few of us kept working (i worked with Richard), since the 2-person drill proved to be much more awkward than the others.

there are a number of complicating factors for the 2-person drill for palm change 4: for side A, there is the 360-degree turn from the initial reach going into the dragon stance, followed by the forward steps of grab the yellow bird by the throat; for side B, there is scissors-kick movement of lang tsu kicks the ball which then goes into the backward steps of shiny snake coils its body. the end result is a multiplication of the various points in which spacing between the partners can be affected and changed: by differences in arm and leg length, differences in arm and leg extension, differences in stepping length, and differences in height. this made coordination between partners dramatically more difficult compared to the previous 3 palm changes.

Phunsak had warned us about this just after we had done the 3rd palm change and we had discussed the 4th, and he was right.

the 2-person drill for palm change 4 in shown the following YouTube video (from the YouTube channel for this blog: "jonathanonapath"):


if the video doesn't work, the direct link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWEkDR-v1pI

Sifu came back and asked us to perform the drill in pairs in front of the class so he could critique us sequentially. Sifu pointed out a number of things:

• i needed to extend more, and take more aggressive steps, since i tended to huddle into my stances
• the actions of side A in the palm change is not about trying to hook side B's kicks, but simply to deflect them, and that i needed to keep my palms open
• for side B's backwards steps of shiny snake coils its body, the hands and arms should not be seen as simply striking an opponent's grabs to the side. instead, they should be applying the principles from the hand drills of sliding along opponent's arms, trapping them, and then redirecting them.

after awhile, Sifu left us again, and asked us to continue practicing. i worked with Kieun, and he ended up making the same points as Sifu, except that he added that it was important for the 2-person set, since i actually needed to extend my actions enough that so a partner could have something to respond to for their techniques--with my curtailing for movements, i was limiting my reach and denying my partner something to work with.

Sifu eventually returned and called class to a close, and then dismissed us for the day.