Martial Arts Technique Review (Part 2)

On our last session, we covered a few new techniques that delve a little more into the real nuts and bolts of gung fu. One thing we covered was Non-Telegraphic Motion (NTM). NTM is a hugely important aspect of this system because it is something that very few people actually train in. This means that with proper training in NTM, you will have a great advantage when dealing with any combative opponent. As I demonstrated, simply raising the shoulder an inch or so, allowed my secondary to quickly enter a defensive stance. In that same instance, he could have thrown a punch or dodged or done whatever he wanted to do because of my inefficient movement patterns. However, when I controlled my body and refined my movement, I was able to strike him every time, no matter how hard he tried to block me.

This has a lot to do with how our minds subconsciously guard themselves. We have been told through movies and T.V. and every other combative media (or even personal experience) that a punch comes from the shoulder or that to punch hard, you have to wind up. Of course, this is not the case, but that's what our brain is looking for when in front of an attacker. It's watching for that shoulder, or the twist, or the lean back, or the chambered leg, or the sudden inhalation, or the tightening of the neck muscles... anything that says "I'm about to punch you in the face." So when you train those tendencies out of your system, you are left with an efficient, fast, and powerful strike that is very difficult to block or dodge.

The quick draw is where we use the most refined technique because the quick draw is so versatile. It can be used to close a gap, to strike the eyes with a Biu-Jie, it can turn into a Chung Choi or a back-fist, it can Fook-Sao or Lop-Sao. All of these uses makes this movement completely essential to your training.

The other aspects we are starting to dip our toes in is Trapping and Flow. Trapping, as I said before, is any technique that controls an opponents motions. Fook-Sao is the first trapping technique you've learned and it is a great definition technique. When you properly Fook an opponent, their balance shifts completely in your favor: Their body turns on a transverse plane, making them unable to strike with the free hand. Their body turns on a frontal plane as well, simultaneously putting them on their toes, bringing the lead hand down, and jolting their chin forward for the open strike. For that instant, they are completely at your will.

Though less dramatic, the presses that we perform in Flow Drill #1 are also trapping maneuvers. Your energy is pressing on their arm, sensing the direction and intensity of their energy and keeping them in check. You'll find as you go along, that the palms of your hands and all the thousands of nerves in them will be your best sense of the fight. As long as you can maintain that connection with the proper spring energy, you will feel their movements and react before they can. You can even feel when a kick is coming by holding on to the persons forearm; you don't even need to have your eyes open to sense it.

The aspect of flow is kind of the cousin to trapping. Trapping controls your opponent, flow controls your self. The prerequisite to flow is relaxation. If you are tense and stiff, any energy that an opponent exerts on one part of the body will also effect other parts of your body. Take a basic strike for instance. If you punch at someones face, and you are tense, chances are they will see you coming from a mile away (lack of NTM) and they will block you. If they catch the arm you are punching with and push it to the side, your stiffness will allow them to change your center line by using your arm as a lever. This takes the control of the fight away from you and gives it to your opponent.

On the other hand, if you're loose and relaxed with the strike, chances are you will hit them because of your NTM. But if on the off chance they DO catch and push your arm away, your looseness will allow you to immediately bend at the elbow (Immovable Elbow Technique) and maintain your forward energy and square center line. This allows you to feel the opponents energy and react to it in whatever way is necessary, be it to roll around, Biu-Jie through, or perform a trapping technique, footwork, etc... You will be able to go from one movement to the next with no stopping or hesitation. This is flow, and it is prevalent all throughout Gung Fu.

Lastly, we covered the Startle. Simply put, this is taking the thought out of movement. When someone punches at you, you don't want to have to consider every aspect of that moment. You don't want to say "Well, he's angry and he's pulling his arm back to hit me in the face. Okay, that punch looks like it's a hook, I need to perform a Taan Sao. First I need to get in a good base... crap I just got punched."

All that thinking stuff is for class, when you have the time to slow down and teach the technique to your body. Through lots of repetitions, the movements become ingrained in your nervous system and they become what's called muscle memory. The startle is simply getting out of the way of your movements. A startle can be fast and ferocious or simply slow, instantaneous motion, the point is that you are not thinking or second guessing yourself.

So when I tell you to startle, I want complete reactionary movement. If you do something wrong in class, so what? That's what class is for. Don't get caught up in it and keep rooted in the moment. Step out of your own way and let the body do what you have trained it to do.