day 105: ongoing refinement 64 palms

concepts:

• contact
• distraction
• movement down
  

forms:

• 64 palms

i got to class early today to review the pao quan and kuen wu jian forms. i'm starting to get to the point in forms that if i don't review them on a regular basis, my memory starts to become spotty. i had to ask John Eagles for some help in remembering them, but he had some uncertainty himself, so we ended up working with Phunsak.

after this, we figured we might as well keep reviewing things with the Yang long form that i've been learning in the UCLA class. Phunsak knew this already, and led me, John, and (by now) Art through this--although, here too, it turns out there were a couple of points where Phunsak and Art had to discuss things.

an administrative note i should make here is that there's been some update on the deer horn knives. apparently, we found dealers with quality products, but the issue is that the dealers don't stock anymore than 1 or 2, and don't guarantee that they can get the required number we're looking to get. Art said he's going to try and contact a friend of his in Japan, since Japan tends to 1) have more serious martial arts manufacturers, and 2) a better ability guarantee quality and quantity.

64 palms, palm change 6

Sifu had us review palm change 6 in the circle today, with the theme of continuing the refinement of 64 palms. we did this for a number of iterations, and once Sifu returned from the baji students he observed us. at a number of points, he stopped us to make comments, as well as demonstrate alternative combat applications and watch us practice them. i'll summarize his comments as follows:

• green dragon soars in sky--while we've had this as a mechanism for trapping the arm while turning into an arm bar or throw, Sifu noted that it's also a means of establishing contact with an incoming strike, and so a way of "sticking" to an opponent. in addition, it also allows you to move your hands to distract the opponent's attention while doing so.
• the transition from purple swallow skims the water to unicorn spits out book of knowledge can be interpreted to show a response to an opponent's counterstrike. to begin, purple swallow's leading hand indicates your attempt to reach the opponent's tailbone, to basically set up a throw using both hands. however, should the opponent stop the lead hand and attempt a counter-strike of their own, you can still use the leading hand to redirect the counter and set-up a follow-up strike of your own. again, the point is that the leading hand, even if defeated, can still serve to maintain contact and allow you to "stick" the opponent.
• black bear probes with its paw--Sifu noted here that 1) the kick, while waist-high in the form, can just as easily be a kick to the attacker's knee, inner thigh, shin, or ankle, and 2) the kick should not be done alone, since it is very easy for the opponent to block, but should instead be done in conjunction with the hand, which is meant to distract the opponent's concentration.
• black bear turns its body--here, the point is to direct your energy down. this should force the opponent to fall without having to use the hands. Sifu pointed out that the hands act as insurance, but not because they exert force, but because they maintain contact with the opponent in a way that prevents them from stepping out of the technique.
• big serpent coils its body--Sifu noted here that the arms, while a prominent feature of this technique, don't actually supply the power. the arms break the opponent's structure, and disrupt their center of gravity, but the power in the technique comes from the legs, which move in a grinding fashion in and out of bow-and-arrow stance (similar to tai chi).
  

we took some time to practice the combat applications for these, switching off partners whenever someone became tired. i worked mostly with Phunsak and John Eagles. again, i notice a distinct difference in difficulty between the two, in that i find it much easier to disrupt John's center, even while his structure is more solid. with Phunsak, his structure is more pliable, but i find the physics aren't quite as consistent in terms of manipulating his center. this is odd to me, since i find they're both roughly the same height, and so would still exhibit the same center of gravity. i'm still sorting this one out.

we finished the day with that, and called class to a close and went to the usual post-class lunch.