Settling in.

Right, so first standard class tonight after inadvertently turning up to the advanced class last night.

We went through things much more appropriate to my level which was really cool and got instructed by a few of the senior students/junior instructors so I got to speak to a few different people with different opinions and teaching methods which was good.

Started on the first form (Siu Lim Tau?) which was really interesting. Just trying to get used to where everything is and what it comes before and after to start, with a bit more focus on the elbow energy as we got further on. I'm finding it really interesting how Wing Chun deals with energy. The idea of turning "off" until it's absolutely needed, the best example I can think of is with the punches. They're completely different to punches I've known before. So instead of putting all of the power in the whole of the punch and following through like I've been shown previously, in order to get that extra speed needed you have to relax until the very last second. I can even feel myself getting slower when we're doing the starting chain punches, I lose my place, have to start trying to count, I tense up and then end up slowing right down. I'll get the hang of it though. I just need to remember to count the back hand. 2 for 3, 3 for 5, 4 for 7 and 5 for 9. I think that's it anyway, (I'll have to check with Sifu or maybe someone reading this can let me know?).

We did the Bong Sau turn too which is another really interesting move as when you see it the first few times it looks deceptively simple but I managed to get it so wrong the first few times it was insane. Bring the bong arm under the guard, make sure your guard is on centre, use the space between your wrists as a "cross hair" as the instructor was saying, remember the 70:30 split of weight to your back leg, keep the stance wide enough but not to wide, turn on the heels. Just so much to take in, the drilling will help though, I just have to keep going over it until it become habit.

The kicks is where I really struggled tonight, I think it was a combo of it being the last thing we did so my legs were exhausted and my knees giving in a little bit but I think I'm getting the hang of it. I started bringing my foot too far in to get back to Yi Gi Kim Yan Mar (sp?) so then I over compensated and sent it too far out. Such a delicate balance as with the rest of the style art.

Got a bit further into stepping drills too, a bit faster and with kicks added, again, I need to remember about the weight distribution of 70:30, one of the instructors told me that he'd spotted that I'd been too close to having it 50:50, it just means that my kicks are going to be predictable as I'll shift forward and telegraph them.

I'm having a spar with my friend Kyle tomorrow at lunch time so I'm going to try and apply some new Wing Chun techniques. Kyle said today that "Every punch landed against you is a lesson to learn". After tomorrows spar you can start calling me Einstein.

dòjeh jóutáu