It is highly unlikely that the Bad Guy has a plan, so any plan we have is a step up from them.
The video footage with this post is of the senior guys working on developing an understanding of the ‘Concept’ of Simultaneous Attack and Defence.
Apart from ‘Simplicity’, it is this concept that is paramount to functionality.
The body text of this post is another way of ‘EXPLORING’ the ‘BIG PICTURE”.
Wing Chun, in its purest representation, has no techniques, no patterns, and no set strategies, to non Wing Chun people this is its biggest weakness, but to those of us that understand…
… it is its greatest strength.
But like so much of Wing Chun’s Fist Logic, this is so counter intuitive that very few students give it enough time to sink in.
The above statement does not mean that we go in eyes closed and Brain on pause, it is more that we care little about what the Bad Guy wants to do, and focus mainly on what we want to do.
To start this thought experiment let’s open with two questions.
Q. 1. Why is it that highly skilled, highly trained martial artists with many years of experience get their asses handed to them by “Punks in Pubs”?
Q. 2. Why is it that completely untrained people can be so effective when it comes to fighting?
The majority of non-competetive martial artists tend to overthink the situation, underestimate their own ability, and go way to soft with their opening , while untrained people just do not know enough to be worried and so go in full bore without fear of reply.
The default position for Wing Chun is that we are being attacked, as a result we are always starting in second place, so we cannot afford to hesitate when it comes to ‘Go Time’, we need clear plan, and we need to implement it with extreme prejudice.
Now you may ask “How can we have a clear plan if we do not know what is happening”?
And that would appear to be a fair question, except we do know what is happening, we are being fronted by someone that wishes to hurt us, and we also have a plan, counter-attacking using simultaneous attack and defence.
This may sound like a vague even half baked plan, but it is enough.
Something many people struggle to understand is that no plan ever works, whatever we plan to do will need to be changed, on the fly, so we can go in with anything, and the simpler that anything is the better.
It is highly unlikely that the Bad Guy has a plan, so any plan we have is a step up from them.
If we have set ourselves up correctly, physically, mentally, and emotionally, our attackers options are far fewer than they think, and even though we may think we are starting in second place, if we have a correct Wing Chun set up, such as CRAZY HORSE, we are pretty much in pole position.
I cannot express strongly enough how important our state of mind is when we are navigating a violent situation.
Something to be wary of is if we loose our ability to think on our feet we will rapidly become overwhelmed.
If we become overwhelmed we will at the very least hesitate, quite possibly just shut down, no more movement, then it is curtains.
If being overwhelmed prevents us from moving, then the reverse should also be true, that moving will prevent being overwhelmed.
A positive state of mind and a clear plan of action, and free and easay movement is all that is required to prevent ourselves being overwhelmed.
This is what our training should be focused on and what we want it to provide.
OVERTHINKING: THE ART OF CREATING PROBLEMS OUT OF SOMETHING THAT WAS NEVER THERE.
BATMAN.
Wing Chun Sydney, Australia 