Wing Chun Dummy notes day 1

I just recently decided to start a blog about Wing Chun training here in the Philippines and Japan. As a friend and I thought about what to write in the blog, we came up with an idea that is 1) good for me and 2) will help other on training tips in Wing Chun. Once one reaches a certain level of understanding of wing chun as an art, the need for training partners isn't quite the same as when one first starts out. Now that I've been practicing Wing Chun for quite some time now, I've decided to keep a record of my training notes here online in the form of a blog. This will help me remember what I've learned in teaching and training on my own.



Day 1 notes
The best training partner around 24/7 : the Wing Chun dummy
Day 1

When practicing on the Wing Chun dummy, just doing the form over and over again gets really boring so its good to expand your creativity while maintaining the basics of the form. If you notice, all movements in the form flow together, so its easy to change up the movements as long as one move flows into the next. When doing the Kau sau, it doesn't always have to be done with both hands on the outside of the top arms of the dummy. Kau sau can be done on the inside as well, between single arms, with fluid movements that flow from one to the next. In application for sparring or training (Chi sau) this is good because it breaks the rythm and patterns of movement that forms get your stuck in. When dealing with a real person, they are not going to follow the form so its good to change things up and be creative. In my opinion, Wing Chun is not a pattern based martial art, like Karate or Taekwondo, it is a template. The moves in forms are designed to teach you what your body can do with series of coordinated movements. Think of them more as templates of movement rather than "forms".

In Wing Chun, flow in continuity are more important than power. If you are practicing Wing Chun on your own, like I am when I film the video notes, its good to make sure that your movements are defined and flow together. Pay close attention to hand positioning and make sure that your hands never come more than a shoulder length apart.

When doing kicks in a small space, the move or movements you perform before the kick have to adjust your distance BEFORE throwing the kick. Using a lower Bong Sau or Gaun Sau is good for this. If you break contact with the dummy or adjust your distance as you are kicking, this will throw you off balance in a chi sau or when you try to do this in a real situation.