“What would need to happen for me to be able to use this thing out in the wild”?
This is another YouTube video, but it is an important conversation so read on.
Sooner or later we all fall for the Kung Fu fantasy of astonishing deeds for no effort, and the prime example is the One Inch Punch.
Like a great many things in Wing Chun, this is an exercise about the whole IDEA behind our thing, that at its heart is about every time we make contact, with any strike, from attack or defence, it is about understanding the dynamic of force and what is needed to manifest it.
My Sifu was amazing at this, and I have been on the receiving end and it is very, very real, at least in the non-chaotic, passive interaction that is a demonstration event.
But like everything we do, or see, we should ask…
“What would need to happen for me to be able to use this thing out in the wild”?
We soon realise that this training exercise has very little to do with performing a one-inch punch.
But if we can ignore the Circus, this is an excellent exercise with meaningful learning objectives.
But unfortunately most Wing Chun students just love the Circus.
If ever we had a contender for the best example of the “Finger pointing at the moon”, this will have my vote.
Wing Chun Sydney, Australia 