China Boxer

Outside Gate

The four “outside gates” or four corners, are basically the shoulder line and the hip line, forming a rectangle around the front of the body. the understanding of the “gates” can be a bit confusing and is a difficult concept to teach. usually because it seems to contradict the basic wing chun concept which is “always go straight”.

in this video, i try to explain how i view the “outside gate” concept, without contradicting any other wing chun concept that we’ve covered so far. this is by no means an easy task, but hopefully by the end of the video, you get a basic understanding of my interpretation of it. we will be delving deeper into this subject in the future to help give us a better understanding of this often misunderstood concept. always remember, my goal is to teach wing chun concepts without contradicting myself. a concept is only valid if it is adhered to always!

hopefully you also start to understand the often spouted saying in wing chun “chase the center, don’t chase the hand.”

Brandon’s Journey (part 2)

today, Brandon and I go over part of the first form and also the mechanics behind the straight punch. watch to see if you are also making the same type of errors that he was making and make sure to correct them during your training.

Brandon’s Journey (part 1)

Brandon is a subscriber from Seattle and visiting for two weeks, he asked to join us and train during his stay. He is in many ways just like all of you, and probably has many of the same questions that alot of you folks have, which is why i thought he was perfect for this mini series called “Brandon’s Journey”.

Pinning The Shoulder

in a previous video we talked about “Turning The Shoulder Off”, if you haven’t seen that one, please go back and review that video as well.

this time we go a little bit into more detail on how to “Pin The Shoulder”. This is one of the most difficult concepts to get not only for beginners but also for intermediate and advanced practitioners. But is the key to being able to utilize your “body structure” and also maintain your “root”.

make sure to include this concept in your forms training! i also practice this concept when i wait in line for coffee, practice makes perfect! =D

Chi Sau Basic Strategy

today, we take a look at what to do after you learn the basic sensitivity drills such as bong/lop, dan chi and double hand chi sau. instead of trying to add more “technique” to the drills, you should keep things simple by focusing on the concepts and applying them into your drills.

by “touching hands” with many different types of people, you’ll start to figure out “tricks” to achieve your main goal. and that should be to get your body structure into your opponents space while attacking his center and defending your centerline in a safe and efficient manner.

have fun figuring out your “bag of tricks”!

Passing The Basketball (part 2)

this is a continuation of “Passing The Basketball” video, where i talk about different ways to apply and practice the “inch worm” movement, and the difference between “front wheel drive and rear wheel drive”.

always remember that there are two ways to practice and perform wing chun. first is the “young man’s way” which is “half beat faster”, when you practice this way, it’s primarily based on speed and athleticism and works good if you are bigger, faster than your opponent. if you practice this method, then you want to enhance your “visual timing” to avoid getting any connection with your partner.

the second way is “old man’s way” which is “half beat slower”, which is based on sensitivity and “kinetic timing” which means that you have to maintain contact with your opponent to slow them down.

neither is better or worse than the other, it’s all up to you, but just remember that as you get older, it gets harder and harder to maintain your athleticism and your physical attributes, so it behooves you to practice both ways.

Passing The Basketball (part 1)

now that we’ve trained to develop the “body structure”, the next step is learning how to properly use it. this concept in the video is extremely vital to learning Hawkins Cheung’s method. this movement is not easy to do and even harder to master. practice, practice, practice! because it is the key and the driving force of every movement. so get out there and grab a basketball! =D hopefully this gives you a deeper understanding of your training and improves the quality of all your movements.

Wing Chun and Boxing Comparison

I get asked alot about the differences between Boxing and Chinese Boxing, so i thought i would do a basic side by side comparison of the two. There isn’t much “new” information in this video, but there is alot of important information and reminders to everyone. This will also help you answer the same kind of questions when others ask you the same thing.

They say that “repetition is the mother of all skill”, which is why i keep repeating some of the same concepts and principles over and over again. hopefully, you are starting to see them and making sure that you apply them to your training.

Medium Range Concept

today, we go over how to use the “swinging gate drill” to get us into medium range and also how to use the swinging gate drill in your sensitivity training.

3 Beats in Training

This concept of 3 beats in training, is IMO at the heart of all the bickering in the wing chun community. The younger, faster chunners see wing chun as “offense is the best defense”. but the older chunners see wing chun as “defense is the best offense”. because of these conflicting differences, they argue amongst themselves as to which is right.

what they don’t realize is that they are BOTH right. that’s why i am always saying “if it works for you, then keep doing it!”.

Today’s lesson is about how I as an instructor have a duty to show you “both sides of the coin” and for you to decide which you wish to pursue. It’s one of the most difficult challenges as an instructor, to set aside my own personal preferences, my likes and my dislikes, and to show you from an unbiased position, so that YOU can make your own decisions along YOUR journey.

hopefully, after seeing this video, you understand that training on a “half beat” or “full beat” or “one and a half beat” is all up to you and they are all right as long as it works for YOU, but just because it works for you, doesn’t mean that the same beat will work for someone else.