Pak Sau Basketball

Today’s video deals with the many different ways to utilize the Pak Sau movement and how to practice it with a partner or with a basketball!

Hawkins Cheung likes using basketball as a way to explain certain concepts and movements. I wanted to share one of his analogies with everyone today to help develop a good Pak Sau to stop an opponents low groin kick and continue to “medium range”.

practicing this way will also improve your understanding of the pak movements in your siu nim tau form and teach you how it should “feel” when performing the action during practice.

dribbling a basketball while adhering to the concepts and principles that i keep repeating will help you to realize how  the pak sau should “feel”, instead of just knowing what the pak sau should “look” like.

this reminds me of the scene in “Enter the Dragon” where Bruce Lee approaches his student after a side kick, Bruce Lee says “how did it feel to you?”, the student replies, “let me think”. That’s when Bruce Lee slaps him on top of his head and says, “don’t think…feeeel!”

how a movement should “feel” is one of the hardest challenges of an instructor to teach their students. i hope you enjoy and grow from this video.

26 Responses to “Pak Sau Basketball”

  1. Saj says:

    Hi Jin,

    Really interesting analogy! I

    When first teaching us two handed chi sao, my sifu made us hold a rugby ball (amercian football) with both hands and roll. the slant on the rugby ball denoted the forward energy, rather than sideways energy and the size of the ball meant that the student realised the two palms must be closely aligned.

    Anyway, good sifus have good analogies and i like you style as always.

    Take Care Saj

    [Reply]

    Jin Reply:

    rugby ball, nice, i like that. keep it up, Saj!

    [Reply]

  2. itsAme says:

    Hey Martin!
    here is my mail, “alex.loch@gmx.at”

    if we have luck and we are situated nearly we can come together

    greetz

    alex

    [Reply]

    Jin Reply:

    great to see you guys getting together to train!

    [Reply]

  3. Aletifer says:

    Thanks again Jin, great video. :)

    We do variations of this kind of thing with sparring; one guy throws just kicks and the other guy practices getting in.

    …problem is, I get kicked more often than I would like. I think my timing and ability to work with a straight kick isn’t as good as with punches. Any advice as to how to improve on that? I keep practicing with folks in my class but I feel like there’s something I’m not getting.

    Anyway, really liked the explanations and ideas here, and if you decide to expand on kicks and so forth I wouldn’t mind. :)

    [Reply]

    Jin Reply:

    focus more on maintaining the proper range, which is half step outside of kicking range. once you can do that, then closing becomes much easier.

    [Reply]

  4. ejay says:

    wow sifu jin this will really help a lot cause a lot of filipinos are really into basketball (including me) so thank you very much, have a merry christmas and a happy new year!:)

    [Reply]

    Jin Reply:

    nice!

    [Reply]

  5. Josh (Yieldingbamboo) says:

    Great lesson Sifu Jin!

    Will this work at really close range if you pak just above the knee as it comes up?

    lol “Just keep eating his face.”

    I think if everyone kept he drilling/center-chasing principle in mind, they would do really well In a fight and not have to worry about all the fancy stuff they spend so much time learning. This is why I love wing chun.

    [Reply]

    Jin Reply:

    lol..you answered your own question, nice! keep training and keep growing!

    [Reply]

  6. RnR says:

    Serious I am supposed to be, grateful.

    [Reply]

    Jin Reply:

    you’re welcome!

    [Reply]

  7. Dallas says:

    Jin you never cease to amaze. I was NOT using my body structure along with my pak. During Sil Nim Tau or otherwise. In your debt once again.

    You must be back to 100% because there wasn’t a trace of flu during the video.

    [Reply]

    Jin Reply:

    glad to hear you’re improving through the Tutorial! and i’m finally back to 100%, yay! =D

    [Reply]

  8. David says:

    Okay…I have a question regarding the strategic value of the Pak over the Fuk. When speaking of the Fuk sao, I got the message that you didn’t want to be “hard” because that would rebound against you, but when doing the pak and seeing you do the pak it seems pretty “hard”. I also remember you talking in regards to not banging your bridge against the other person because that would rebound against you as well. My questions are these…is Hawkin’s Short Bridge “soft” or “hard”? Are there “hard” elements that have their place? What value would there be in having “energy” rebound back against you? Will that rebound only happen if you are tense? If the three triangles are done properly and the elbow and shoulders “heavy”, with the third stick soft as a blade of grass, is it the body weight itself “dropping” the pak rather than musculature “pushing” it out?

    [Reply]

    Jin Reply:

    hmm..it could look “hard” since i just finished weight training before shooting this video. but yes, you are right, you should not meet force with your own force, or muscle with muscle. always rely on the “body structure” to do all the movements which includes pak sau.

    [Reply]

  9. imHereSinceTheBeginning says:

    Thank you jin.. After months, still waiting for those kicking videos.. u said they were on your magic list.. :’(

    [Reply]

    Jin Reply:

    it’s coming! patience…

    [Reply]

  10. Thanks. Just glanced through your post. did not have the time to read the whole thing. I subscribed to your rss feeds and looking forward to more.

    [Reply]

    Jin Reply:

    glad to see you’re enjoying the Tutorial, take care and peace!

    [Reply]

  11. David says:

    Jin,
    In this tutorial you stated that a Pak can be done in any direction. I have two questions…First, if moving your right hand Pak toward your left side, I am assuming you do not want to cross your centerline, is this true? And second, if moving your Pak from high to low how is this different from Chum?

    [Reply]

    Jin Reply:

    if you pak across your center, then make sure your other hand attacks or occupies the centerline. also don’t get caught up too much with names of each move, focus on the movement and every position of the “clock”.

    [Reply]

  12. Maurice says:

    “Whatever comes in your centerline get rid of it” …I will apply that everytime I train. Very informative, as always. Thankx Jin.

    [Reply]

    Jin Reply:

    no problemo!

    [Reply]

  13. Marko says:

    What if i get a knee in the balls when im in short range?xD

    [Reply]

    Jin Reply:

    then that means you haven’t taken your opponent off balance by completely taking over his “space”.

    [Reply]

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