SHAPES THAT WORK, AND MOVE.

“this is the thinking, this is the shape, plug and play”.

This is a short clip from a private session I had with my student Rick.

Rick is new to Chum Kiu so it presented a perfect opportunity to change my methods from traditional approach of…

“this is the Chum Kiu Form, learn it, study it and in 10 years you may be able to use it”

…to how I think it should be taught from the perspective of Sports..

“this is the thinking, this is the shape, plug and play”.

If we can separate the primary aspects of a sequence and see them simply as “Shapes That Work” transitioning from one shape to another in any way that feels natural, instead of trying to make it look like a FORM, results in power and speed.

In Sports if we are trying to learn the motor function of an action it is broken down into shapes we should be in at certain points in the progression/sequence.

Think of FORMS as throwing a Discus or Swinging a Bat to hit a Ball.

If we practice progressing the shapes of

1. Neutral stance {Crazy Horse}

turn left into

2.Huen Ma {Cat Stance}

from here pose

3Hanging Horse Stance {Crane Stance}

step down into

4. extended Huen Ma {Reverse Lunge}

square up into

5. Huen Ma {Cat Stance}

turn back into

6. Neutral Stance {Crazy Horse}

Rinse and repeat in the opposite direction.

Make the transitions in any way that feels comfortable and in any direction that takes your fancy, this covers just about all moving possibilities we may need in any environment.

WORK ON THE SHAPES.

DO NOT STRESS ABOUT THE TRANSITIONS.

We will work on this for the next few weeks.