day 45: lei tai training (part 7 - 7/8/07)

concepts:

• column gate
• leg, hip, torso, shoulder
• turn
  

agenda:

• entry
• strike

today's lei tai session turned out to have only 3 people--Phunsak, Jonathan (the baji one), and me. there ended up being no sparring. instead, Sifu spent the day concentrating on having us learn a specific technique that he said was important to know, either in knowing to expect it or in applying it.

the technique was an entry move, with a beginning involving knocking down an opponent's strike using fists (with the fists targeting the wrist and upper forearm) in conjunction with a step forward so that the leg, hip, torso, and shoulder all made contact with the opponent, from which point the technique called for a turn from the waist synchronized with a punch into the opponent's sternum. the technique is supposed to result in the opponent falling away, either from the impact of the leg, hip, torso, and shoulder or from the explosive strike into the sternum.

ideally, the move is supposed to be effective without too much effort, with power being generated from the energy of the forward step, the turning of the waist and hips, and action of the hip, torso, shoulder and following strike.

Sifu made a number of points about the important points of this technique:

• you are supposed to aim within a narrow column, so that your hip, torso, and shoulder are all directed into an imaginary narrow vertical gate about a forearm-length width aligned along the opponent's center of gravity. it helps to imagine that you are literally sending your torso into a column gate. this helps prevent your shoulder and torso from turning away from the opponent and misdirecting the force vector (robbing you of power)
• the knee, thigh, and hip should all be making contact with the opponent. this is supposed to be a closing entry movement, and you need to move into the opponent, to the point you are going through them
• the strike into the opponent's sternum is supposed to come from the waist and hips. it should not be a push, but rather a punch with the off-hand (e.g., if you went in with the right shoulder, the right foot is leading and the punch will be with the left hand) connecting the power of the legs with the target.
  

i found this move deceptively difficult--it seems simple, but it's not...at least, in terms of being done right.

my major problem was the strike into the sternum: either i kept turning into a push, or i found myself striking with no power. i was able to generate force from the turn, but only a few times. i think the cause was my inability to synchronize my hips and waist with the turning motion. this is a continuing problem, and one that i've been working on during the time i've been in the bagua class, and something that i see i'm going to have to continue working on so that the hip and waist become more integrated into my movements.

we spent most the of the time learning this move, and spent the hours dissecting it and trying to figure it out. Phunsak and Jonathan also seemed it find it awkward.

Sifu noted that when he learned it, Liu Yun Chiao expected it to result with the opponent on the floor within the period of time between 2 hand claps. Sifu demonstrated this by clapping his hands twice, with an interval of about 1 second. he then showed how to apply the technique within this time. he told us to practice this, with 1 person clapping hands and the other 2 acting as opponent and practitioner.

we took turns swapping roles. Sifu, when he noticed a problem, would stop and correct us, and if necessary demonstrate the difference between what we were doing wrong versus what was right.

by the end of the session, i think we were all trying to figure this move out. Sifu advised us to continue practicing, and that we would give it a try again in the next class session. we ended with that, and a reminder of meeting next week.