| "So, what's the new dance step you're doing, | | | | that your mobility gets hampered. Now, I know, |
| Yoshi?" | | | | everyone who does martial arts has heard about |
| Yeah, I hear that all the time. Even from people | | | | this stance, or that stance. And unless you're |
| who should know better. You probably do as well, | | | | working in front of a mirror, you'll do the sloppiest |
| particularly if you do footwork for Wing Chun. | | | | stance you can get away with without your |
| Wing Chun, or "Chinese Dancing" is a soft style | | | | sparring partner kicking you a new one. What I |
| with a strong philosophical bent to it. The name | | | | found interesting about Wing Chun is that the |
| originally came from the ideograms for "Ever | | | | form drills (San Sik is what they're called) REALLY |
| Spring", and it's appropriate. I was getting tired of | | | | emphasize fluid motions. Let me tell you, doing it |
| walking with bruises and pulled muscles, and | | | | right - you're going to sweat. And the muscles in |
| needed to switch to a softer style while I was | | | | your quads and hams are going to burn...but my |
| recovering. I like Kung Fu styles, so learning Wing | | | | word, is the end result worth it. Those forms |
| Chun was like falling off a log. Only without as | | | | become second nature, like they're learned by |
| much falling, or as many punches to the sternum. | | | | your knees and hips, and you just do them - |
| Though the joint locks did remind me I was doing | | | | once the pain has gone away. |
| a real martial art. (One piece of advice - anyone | | | | Of course, everyone will be talking about your |
| who says "Hey, let me show you a joint lock!" is | | | | new dance steps, but Wing Chun footwork pays |
| a sadist. Just say "no". Really.) In some ways, | | | | for itself nicely - since going into it, I've been |
| Wing Chun is like the early forms exercises you | | | | much more conscious of how my bent knees |
| do for Kung Fu, only carried to their logical | | | | increase my reach with punches and elbow |
| extreme, rather than used as the fundamentals | | | | strikes, and it's been a lot harder to throw me to |
| of a hard style. | | | | the mat in Jiu Jitsu. The parts I've had to |
| What drew me to Wing Chung, aside from the | | | | compensate for from the footwork I've learned |
| sprained wrist on my primary punching hand, was | | | | have been in mobility. It's sometimes possible to |
| the fluid footwork that its practitioners had. Well, | | | | "plant" too hard - which makes it tempting to |
| OK. It was the fluid footwork that I saw in Jet Li's | | | | break stance to give pursuit, particularly when |
| movies, while waiting for the cast to come off. | | | | you're flowing from a down block and trying to |
| Even so, just from watching the movies, I could | | | | transition into a kick - at that point, the Wing |
| see immediate uses for Wing Chun footwork in | | | | Chun footwork has to kind of "skip a beat" while |
| my repertoire of techniques once my wrist | | | | you move back to a harder Kung Fu kick. |
| healed. Wing Chun footwork focuses on balance - | | | | Either way, I'm glad I took the time to learn this. |
| more so than with a strong kicking style, which | | | | It's given me a good base to work from, and a |
| can leave you very exposed trying for a circle | | | | few more tricks to throw into sparring matches. |
| kick. | | | | Particularly fun is when someone makes fun of |
| In particular, the footwork demands that you | | | | the dance steps and then comes up to me and |
| settle in a low stance, but not one that's so low | | | | says "How'd you do that, Yoshi? |