Training vs Application

Traditional training methods are often misunderstood. Some questions

that commonly arise are, "How will standing in one spot for long periods of time help me in a self-defence situation?" or "Why repeat movements in the air all the time against no resistance?" In this post, I hope to clarify a bit about how traditional training, from a Wing Chun perspective, is structured and translates into practical application.

The idea behind Wing Chun kung fu is to change the body - the way it holds itself, moves, reacts, delivers, and receives power. An overhaul of your body to create an integrated internal structure and system to combat the forces produced by another human being. Being a complete overhaul, our ancestors found that this process is best accomplished piece by piece, in stages, and over time (thus the name "kung fu," meaning hard work over a long period of time).

To illustrate how this works and then translates into application, let’s pick one element to focus on - the primary stance, "Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma" (YJKYM). This position is the most basic component to be mastered before you learn other skills. Traditionally, you would stand in YJKYM for long periods of time, but not mindlessly. Although you are not moving, you would be thinking of all the postural requirements, feeling the positions of your body parts, and trying to relax. Over time, you will gain better perception of your structure, making micro-adjustments until you find and sink down into the correct position. Standing like this for long periods enables embodiment of the correct posture, which you discover through this process, and strengthens the muscles (particularly the legs), which in turn allows for longer standing. This promotes deeper embodiment, perception, and study - like a never-ending cycle.

"So why so much effort and focus? I'm not going to stand still when I fight..."

In application, your stance is fluid and mobile - a level of strength and dexterity that can only be achieved by spending a lot of time working on your stance and body. Because of the basic work done on the stance, the posture is automatic, meaning you no longer have to devote conscious thought to utilise it, making your reactions much faster in application. Once it has become second nature rather than forced or strained, it becomes an efficient conduit and maintains your stability, which is directly tied to your ability to deliver or receive force. Since fighting is dynamic and unpredictable, you don't want a structure that relies solely on conscious timing to respond to an opponent’s erratic pressure, but rather one that works as a result of its inherent quality. Automation also frees your mind in training to focus on later material learned in the style.

You continue along the training journey with practices like this to 'build' a body ideal for Wing Chun, piece by piece. Such a thorough approach ensures that in application it is 'airtight' in terms of errors and vulnerabilities. Traditional training is meticulous, taking the natural components of the human body and refining them into a well-oiled machine designed for a purpose. Wood, brass, steel, and fire are all natural elements, but it takes molding, machining, refinement, and polishing to create a functioning rifle. Likewise, sparring under highly intense conditions early is akin to trying to hunt with the raw materials (wood, metal etc.) instead of using the rifle refined for the task.

Realistic sparring, scenario training, self-defence drills, pressure testing, etc., certainly have their place in traditional martial arts. The goal, after all, is to be able to use this art effectively to overcome an opponent. A little bit of exposure to sparring early on can be fun and useful for shedding fear, hesitation, and reluctance toward confrontation - encouraging a kind of comfort under pressure.

However, the primary focus in the beginning should be building the attributes and a body ideal for Wing Chun, which we don’t naturally have. The initial stages of transformation typically take the longest and are the most difficult part of the process. But as the Confucian proverb goes, "先苦後甜 - bitter first, sweet later."