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Bruce LeeOn form, no - form
Too much horsing around with unrealistic stances and classic forms and rituals is just too artificial and mechanical, and doesn't really prepare the student for actual combat. A guy could get clobbered while getting into this classical mess. Classical methods like these, which I consider a form of paralysis, only solidify and constrain what was once fluid. Their practitioners are merely blindly rehearsing routines and stunts that will lead nowhere.
I believe that the only way to teach anyone proper self-defence is to approach each individual personally. Each one of us is different and each one of us should be taught the correct form. By correct form I mean the most useful techniques the person is inclined toward. Find his ability and then develop these techniques. I don't think it is important whether a side kick is performed with the heel higher than the toes, as long as the fundamental principle is not violated. Most classical martial arts training is a mere imitative repetition - a product - and individuality is lost.
When one has reached maturity in the art, one will have a formless form. It is like ice dissolving in water. When one has no form, one can be all forms; when one has no style, he can fit in with any style.
On efficiency and flexibility
In primary freedom, one utilizes all ways and is bound by none, and likewise uses any techniques or means which serves one's end. Efficiency is anything that scores.
Efficiency in sparring and fighting is not a matter of correct classical, traditional form. Efficiency is anything that scores. Creating fancy forms and classical sets to replace sparring is like trying to wrap and tie a pound of water into a manageable shape of paper sack. For something that is static, fixed, dead, there can be a way or a definite path; but not for anything that is moving and living. In sparring there's no exact path or method, but instead a perceptive, pliable, choice-less awareness. It lives from moment to moment.
When in actual combat, you're not fighting a corpse. Your opponent is a living, moving object who is not in a fixed position, but fluid and alive. Deal with him realistically, not as though you're fighting a robot. Traditionally, classical form and efficiency are both equally important. I'm not saying form is not important - economy of form that is - but to me, efficiency is anything that scores. Don't indulge in any unnecessary, sophisticated moves. You'll get clobbered if you do, and in a street fight you'll have your shirt zipped off you.
http://www.josephleewingchun.com/PienSanWingChun.jspGulao (Pien San) Wing Chun
Pien San (Side Body) Wing Chun originates from the village where Dr. Leung Jan retired after leaving Fatshan. Gulao was his home (a small village in Hessian province). Traditionally in Chinese culture the leading Kung Fu master of the village would teach the village youngsters in order that they would be able to protect their village from bandits and raiders who were prevalent at this time and would prey on the weaker villages. Like all styles of Kung Fu this teaching had two purposes, one was to provide a practical fighting system that would allow the youngsters to defend themselves and their loved ones. The second was to promote health in mind and body to allow the youngsters to live long lives. In addition with the ability to deal out deadly techniques, there must be some responsibility so the Master must teach the youngsters to be mature, responsible people.
Leung Jan therefore taught a method of Wing Chun that was different from the stylized approach he had previously taught in Fatshan. It was quick and easy to pick up being made up of separate techniques (San Sao). That the beginner could repeat in order to strengthen his body and use very quickly in a fighting situation. Yet there was a lot more to Leung Jan's teaching than mere body movements. At a more advanced stage the student would realize that these San Sao actually encompassed all the under-lying principles that make up Wing Chun. Once this was realized the student would be able to apply them with ease to any situation - including fighting with sticks, pole and knife.
Many people today fail to realize that Wing Chun is primarily a set of fighting principles. The basic movements taught are merely a vessel to focus these principles. Today many instructors teach like this, the move must be done this way, rather than focusing on the principle behind the move. This will allow the student to learn much faster, and allow Wing Chun to become a part of themselves rather than a set of foreign movements that a student must repeat with the hope that they may one day assimilate them. This, I believe, was the original intention of Leung Jan.
yat_chum wrote:Yee Sup Yee San Sao (Twenty Two Separate Hands)
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=tSLsEshcASo
yat_chum wrote:What is your lineage? Could you tell us a bit about your training.
RyzER wrote: The Koo Lo (Gu Lao)villiage stuff (the vid you posted)on You Tube is a perversion and commercial version of True Dr. Leung Jan Pin Sun as told to me my Master Mui (when I PRESSED the issue on him 2 weeks ago). It contains no POWER footwork--merely waist generated power as is clearly seen. He said to me that it was "Public and Commercial". The evidence is in the footwork!
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