Sharp Phil
05-04-2004, 07:38 PM
Sifu set me up.
Seriously.
It's not my fault.
After an auspicious evening that began with me taking and passing my blue sash test, we did some of our usual warmups and chain punches only to be treated to an object lesson on the importance of proper structure in the reciprocating vertical punches that are one of the primary weapons of Wing Chun's arsenal. Sifu Anthony offered a five-foot bo tp the assembled students and asked who'd like to take a swinging strike at a couple of "rebreakable" plastic boards set up on phone books on the floor.
I, of course, volunteered. I consider myself no slouch when it comes to weapons technique.
Sifu used another staff to limit my windup in order to make his point. I struck the boards -- I didn't realize there were two stacked up until afterward -- and succeeded only in transmitting shock to my left hand.
Sifu then, using only two fingers, used the staff vertically to break the boards with little effort. The lesson in structure and physics was obvious. Chain punches, to be effective, must be delivered straight -- not in an arc, not looping over or under.
Then he set me up. "Here, Phil, you'll want to redeem yourself," he said, handing me the staff again. "Wind up as much as you want." I lifted the staff to the ceiling and took a mighty swing, intent on blasting through the boards with tip of the staff as I brought it through its arc.
I'm told the look on my face was quite something to behold.
http://www.themartialist.com/images/brokenbo01.jpg
http://www.themartialist.com/images/brokenbo02.jpg
"I knew that was going to happen," Sifu told me when I stopped sputtering.
Seriously.
It's not my fault.
After an auspicious evening that began with me taking and passing my blue sash test, we did some of our usual warmups and chain punches only to be treated to an object lesson on the importance of proper structure in the reciprocating vertical punches that are one of the primary weapons of Wing Chun's arsenal. Sifu Anthony offered a five-foot bo tp the assembled students and asked who'd like to take a swinging strike at a couple of "rebreakable" plastic boards set up on phone books on the floor.
I, of course, volunteered. I consider myself no slouch when it comes to weapons technique.
Sifu used another staff to limit my windup in order to make his point. I struck the boards -- I didn't realize there were two stacked up until afterward -- and succeeded only in transmitting shock to my left hand.
Sifu then, using only two fingers, used the staff vertically to break the boards with little effort. The lesson in structure and physics was obvious. Chain punches, to be effective, must be delivered straight -- not in an arc, not looping over or under.
Then he set me up. "Here, Phil, you'll want to redeem yourself," he said, handing me the staff again. "Wind up as much as you want." I lifted the staff to the ceiling and took a mighty swing, intent on blasting through the boards with tip of the staff as I brought it through its arc.
I'm told the look on my face was quite something to behold.
http://www.themartialist.com/images/brokenbo01.jpg
http://www.themartialist.com/images/brokenbo02.jpg
"I knew that was going to happen," Sifu told me when I stopped sputtering.