Thursday, January 31, 2013

ARTICLES: Personal Protection: Concepts for survival in the street



Personal Protection

Concepts for survival in the street

by Andrew Williams, Rolf Clausnitzer and David Peterson

*** Published Australasian Martial Arts' magazine (NZ) Vol 6/issue 6, 1999/2000 and Vol 7/issue 1, Feb/March 2000 ***


Personal Protection is a relatively new phenomenon in the field of self defence. In fact, it represents a radical departure from the somewhat limited vision presented by most traditional self-defence systems.
It is inspired by and based on two major influences:
1. The work done by two very respected and experienced (in terms of both tournament performance and real life confrontations) British martial artists, Geoff Thompson and Peter Consterdine; and
2. The highly efficient and practical Chinese martial art of Wing Chun Kuen which, interestingly, Messrs. Thompson and Consterdine acknowledge in their video series, “The Pavement Arena”, as having had a major influence on their own self protection philosophy and methods.

Wing Chun is a major Chinese martial art or system that is unparalleled in its suitability for today’s urban environment. It is radically different in its general approach from that of most traditional martial arts, as it is not reliant on strength, balletic poise, acrobatic movements, or a complexity of often flamboyant techniques. Instead of being technique oriented and requiring students to learn by rote an endless variety of movements (which often result in a mental “log jam” in real life situations), Wing Chun is based on a clear understanding of fighting concepts and strategies, expressed via a minimal number of techniques which meet the basic criteria of simplicity, directness and efficiency.
Although widely believed to have been founded and developed by a Buddhist nun, Ng Mui, and her female pupil, Yim Wing Chun, about 200 hundred years ago, Wing Chun has evolved over time via a process of “natural selection”, with a continual discarding of superfluous, complex and ineffective techniques and movements. It is the system that the legendary Bruce Lee used as the foundation of his own combat philosophy of Jeet Kune Do, and has become the most influential style of Kung Fu, allowing even traditional Karate and other Kung Fu practitioners to reappraise and enhance their own skills and techniques.
Successfully tested in real “no-holds barred” fights against numerous other styles in Hong Kong in the 1950′s and early 1960′s by outstanding students of Grandmaster Yip Man, such as the late Sifu Wong Shun Leung and Sifu Wang Kiu, Wing Chun is considered to be one of the most, if not the most practical and efficient martial arts for use in today’s increasingly violent environment. In simple terms, Wing Chun is the “Science of Street Fighting“, designed solely for the purpose of surviving an attack by being a better attacker than one’s assailant. Hence it forms the perfect basis for the concept of Personal Protection.
It should be made clear at the outset that this document is only a basic guideline, not intended to be, or taken for, a comprehensive and definitive work. For example, it does not purport to supply the reader with an in depth examination of an attacker’s psychology. Nor is it a typical “how to” manual, detailing specific, complicated self-defence techniques in make believe, often unrealistic situations. It is certainly not intended to lead the reader through a sequence of events culminating in the inevitable limiting solution.
It is the sincere wish of the authors, however, to encourage readers to take a closer and more realistic look at the concept of personal security, a good understanding of which, under the guidance of an experienced and competent instructor, can provide a sound basis for developing a practical and effective method of self protection. It should be stressed, of course, in view of the complexity of the subject, that this article is not to be taken as a “quick fix”, ready-made set of rules for instant implementation. Considerable analysis, discussion, and testing are called for, as any one of the main ideas or principles outlined could itself become the theme for an entire seminar. Further, a particular idea may not automatically fit in with your philosophy of fighting or it may need to be modified accordingly.
It should be pointed out at this stage that, as few of us can rely on great physical strength, it is vital that the instructor has a clear understanding of power generation utilising an informed understanding of exercise methodologies and biomechanics, thus enabling the students to realise their full striking potential. An open mind is called for, far removed from the “arm lock” mentality* of many martial arts systems, not only to get the most out of the concepts presented in this paper, but also to get the best out of those inherent in all martial arts.
Personal Protection is not a sport, but a serious approach to preparing oneself for potential real life threats. To quote an ancient Chinese sage, Li Chuan, “War is a grave matter. One is apprehensive lest men embark on it without due reflection”. A skilful fighter is one who is able to triumph over his or her opponent by having a deep understanding of their own capabilities and potential. Therefore, the proper training is essential, training that prepares you not only physically, but mentally and emotionally as well.
As stated at the beginning of this article, Personal Protection is certainly a departure from the countless “self defence” instruction methods, widely depicted, showing attackers in unrealistic, static, even clumsily inept poses, telegraphing their movements, and “allowing” themselves to be handled with impunity by the defender. And it is certainly not an exploration of the dramatic scenario so popular with idealistic and inexperienced instructors in countless martial arts clubs around
the world, where the two antagonists conduct a gentlemanly bout to decide who is the better man, two noble warriors observing a set of rules and a pattern of ritualistic behaviours, who by mutual consent begin a dignified exchange of technique.

*ie: the mentality that many martial artists exhibit, in that they will try to make a technique fit the situation (eg: try to put their opponent in an arm-lock), no matter what, becoming, in the words of Master Sifu Wong Shun Leung, “…a slave to their art, instead of a master of it”
In the street, the classical depiction of a defender representing a particular martial art squaring off against an attacker from another system is seldom, if ever, encountered. Violence can erupt with little or no sign of threat. And this eruption is usually in the form of a vicious, spiteful act, carried out with deadly intent, with no regard for the rules of civilised conduct and little, if any, resemblance to the set piece duel in the dojo or kwoon. In the street, almost every conceivable weapon, from keys and cutting weapons to baseball bats and house bricks, is used to inflict pain, serious injury, and even death. And it is here that you are more likely to be savagely bitten by a crazed attacker than to be stopped by a beautifully executed roundhouse kick to the head.
It should also be noted that few of us these days have the “luxury” of testing our fighting skills in real combat situations. As such, we are usually unable to duplicate the enormous amounts of emotional pressure that accompany a real fight in the practise of sparring or ‘Chi Sau’. Both lack the physical and verbal aggression so often used by remorseless street opponents.

PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS

Attack Scenarios
Most acts of violence and physical abuse are carried out in familiar surroundings, by people one knows. They can be long term, and often occur in the home, perpetrated by a family member or so called friend, and if you are unable or unwilling to confront these cowardly individuals, your best long term defence is to use the laws that are in place to protect you.
Not all attacks, however, occur in the home and not all the perpetrators are known. They are usually carried out by vicious, cowardly individuals and/or people seeking monetary gain. It has been said that 99% of these attacks are opportunistic, ie. they are not pre planned but occur at the time because the “conditions” seem right to the attacker(s).
Environmentally, there are two “basic” ways in which you may be attacked. Firstly, your attacker can strike suddenly from a concealed position, utilising the element of surprise. The object is to catch you unawares and subject you to enormous pressure, mentally, physically and, most importantly, emotionally. The sudden change in your emotional state is effected by the body’s reaction to threat, which is normally experienced as fear. If this reaction is uncontrolled, you will limit or waste your chance to react or retaliate in an effective manner, whether that is to run or to stand and fight. The attacker can use a multitude of situations in which to stage an ambush. This would of course dictate that one needs a highly developed sense of subliminal threat awareness in order to minimise the possibility of being attacked and/or surprised. As it is improbable, however, that one could remain vigilant all of the time, the next best option is to train in such a way as to develop a high degree of control over your body’s reaction to threat. This type of instruction requires a high degree of realism and honesty within your training regime, never accepting a protective technique just because it looks like it would or could work. It requires the continual testing of the limits of your emotional capabilities in a threatening and violent environment.
Another method of attack would be for the opponent to confront you at a very close range, employing psychological tactics. Your attacker needs to be close so that you feel the full force of their aggressive tactic. These tactics can vary greatly, but their underlying purpose is to engage your thought processes and hence control your corresponding emotional reactions in some way, to make you more vulnerable to attack. As in the ambush scenario, fear is a major weapon in the arsenal of the attacker, who may adopt aggressive tactics, where prodding, shoving, abusive and threatening language, and menacing, threatening gestures may all be utilised to create fear and even panic. On the other hand, the attacker may decide to adopt the very different strategy of appearing to be non-threatening, by behaving in a disarming and deceptive manner. He may ask you a seemingly harmless question designed not to upset you, but to distract you in some way, thereby making you vulnerable to a sudden attack because you are in a more relaxed state and off your guard. Here the attacker relies on the ability to launch his attack without you being aware of their intention, and again it is worth considering the distance this is best achieved from.
Distance Management
Amidst the endless variations and combinations of ambushes, surprise attacks, and openly aggressive assaults, it is very important to bear in mind that it is nearly always the attacker who dictates (or intends to dictate) the physical distance at which the confrontation and assault will take place. It is somewhat ludicrous to believe that this distance is the one usually depicted in martial arts movies, or the regimented distance at which sporting competitors begin their exchanges in tournaments. In reality, it is the distance where the victim can be struck with little warning and the full impact of an aggressive approach can be felt. It is the distance where one may engage another in polite conversation, or to stop to ask for directions or the time. The distance is almost, without exception, punching, kneeing, headbutting or stabbing distance. It is only logical, from the attacker’s viewpoint to utilise this range. Afterall, why would you allow someone to have the room to manoeuvre or recognise your initial movement to strike them?
If you accept this notion, and from our personal experience, and from the related experiences of our peers, we believe it to be true, and if you are serious in your intentions to teach or learn practical self-protection, then this is the distance you will base most, if not all of your training strategies, tactics, and power development drills for Personal Protection. It would require enormous discipline to remain fully aware all the time, and the nature of most societies would make it almost impossible to maintain a personal safety area that would inhibit an attacker’s intention to get within striking distance, so the ability to recognise ritualised patterns of assault behaviour is essential.
The Victim Syndrome
On their videotape entitled “The Pavement Arena”, Geoff Thompson and Peter Consterdine say that a booby trap or bomb is deemed to be victim operated. So it is that in many instances an attack on yourself can be said to be victim operated. You can make yourself a victim by your lack of awareness, your meek demeanour and other body language. Once you understand, and more importantly, practise the concepts and strategies of Personal Protection, however, you will be able to project a more positive and confident image. It will enable you to become more aware of someone’s intention to attack you. Put yourself in the attacker’s position, …whom would you attack? Someone who presents a formidable target, or a person who looks like a pushover?

December 1993
I had to return to my car in the dark. The area was renowned for being dangerous at night and I was nervous to be alone. I walked on the footpath close to the road and watched each door and alleyway for movement. I walked into the car park and kept close to the middle of the driveway lest someone was waiting in ambush. I would look over my shoulder as a matter of routine whilst maintaining a steady, even pace. I was about twenty metres from my car when I could make out two people near where I remembered parking my vehicle. As I drew closer, I could see that they were at the rear of my car. One man was crouched and was busying himself with my bike rack which was attached to the car’s tow-bar. The other guy leaned casually on the boot of my car, smoking a cigarette. I was about five metres away when the smoking man became aware of me, and he looked in my direction and said, “G’day mate.”
I was shocked. He seemed so casual and displayed no concern that he and his friend had been caught in the act of stealing. The rest of the conversation is lost to me, so confused by his manner was I that I doubted for a while that it was even my car. It went along the lines of me saying, “Move away from my car”, and him answering, “Yeah right, …f**k off!” This went back and forth a couple of times, whilst the kneeling man working at the bike rack. Confusion quickly turned to fear when the man who had been busy freeing my bike rack rose, turned and moved towards my right. I had no idea as to what tool he had in his hand and realised that my fear was fast becoming uncontrollable. I was unable to make any rational decision. I was aware that I should be doing something when the man leaning on the boot made the decision for me by flicking his cigarette at me. As soon as it left his fingers, he leapt at me. I stepped toward him and punched him twice in the face, knocking him backwards on to the bike rack.
There was a blur of movement to my right. My arm shot out and I contacted the man with the tool’s arm. I heard a crack and experienced a flash of light behind my eyes. I think that he overbalanced, as I was able to step closer and began punching as fast and as hard as I could. I have no idea where or how many times that I hit him, but I know that he hit me at least four times, very hard! He slipped again and staggered backwards. I could see his head and managed to land a few clean blows that had some effect. He continued to stagger backward until he fell into a low hedge in the flowerbed that ringed the car park. As he thrashed around, trying to regain his feet, I was able to repeatedly punch him hard in the stomach and groin. The weight of his body, coupled with his frenzied movement, caused him to break through the branches, and he fell into a sitting position within the hedge. Although he could still raise his hands, there was little that he could do to stop me from punching him in the face. I knocked him into a stupor, then stepped back and stomped on his ankle.
I spun around, expecting his friend rushing toward me, only to see that he was shuffling around, still at the rear of my car, reaching around to his back. I walked over to him, shaking and with no idea of what I was about to do next. As I got to within striking distance, I saw a man running towards us, shouting. I had no idea what he was saying, only that he was waving his hands around, but showing no signs of aggression. His behaviour distracted me and I lost all interest in pursuing the fight. I was physically spent and thoroughly exhausted. Despite an extremely high level of fitness, all my energy had been used up in a few short seconds. The fight was over, the whole thing not lasting more than a minute. I did not sleep well for a couple of weeks after that, I was profoundly disturbed at my inability to handle the situation. In the aftermath, I replayed the scenario repeatedly in my mind, in an effort to better understand how I could have coped with the situation more effectively, and tried in vain to rationalise my fear.
I came to realise that after years of studying the martial arts, I had yet to learn how to control my fear, and that without the ability to control my fear, I was destined to relive and replay my mismanagement of the situation over and over again. I had been involved in many fights before this one, yet I had never suffered the resultant disruption to my thinking or emotions. What seemed to separate those encounters from this one was the need for tactical positioning, a skill that I obviously lacked. This, coupled with the behaviour of the men involved, triggered a progressive evolution of thinking that I was completely untrained to deal with.
Andrew Williams
Emotional Control
Fear is the most overlooked aspect of any attack scenario. That is to say, those who overlook or pay little attention to this aspect of a fight could not have experienced an attack themselves, or are unwilling to admit to feeling fear. Fear leaves one of the most lasting impressions after an attack. The memories and biochemical residues are powerfully evident and profound. The creation of fear in the victim is one of the major goals and weapons employed by a would-be attacker. As such, any self defence system that ignores or plays down this aspect cannot be regarded as realistic. In fact, martial arts instructors who teach self defence tactics that are repetition/technique based, executed on overly compliant partners, and do not take into account the effects of fear in a life or death scenario, are possibly placing their students in a dangerous position. When in a critical situation where fear is a factor, the student can end up with a “log jam” of techniques and find it difficult to apply the appropriate response as well as deal with the physical and emotional effects of fear. This type of techniques based training can also develop an “arm lock” mentality. An example of this occurs when the martial artist tries to fit a technique into an inappropriate situation.

It is interesting to note the lack of understanding displayed by some instructors where they suggest things like “fight like a tiger” or “have the courage of a lion”. This simplistic approach is ignorant at best and extremely dangerous if the student believes that by simply thinking that he/she is a savage beast he/she will magically adopt the level of courage and fighting prowess attributed to the animal.
The attacker uses fear as a weapon. We will aim to rationalise fear and thereby go some way towards negating its influence on the outcome of an attack. In fact, when encouraged in the right manner, one can learn to harness their own fear bio-chemical responses and effects to great personal benefit. Proper consideration should also be given to the control of anger. Aggression can be a useful tool when channelled correctly. However, anger is a sign of a lack of mental control and can blind you to what is going on around you, affecting your own intuitive responses. Needless to say, if there is more than one attacker, you need to be conscious of all that is going on around you. If you are not aware, you increase your chances of choosing an inappropriate action which may have disastrous results if the people with whom you are dealing are serious in their intentions to do you harm.

Control over your emotions is also required if your situation has deteriorated and your fear has become completely invasive. It is useful in such situations to be able to focus your thoughts around an image that will give you the determination not to give in or surrender to your fears and therefore the attack. For example, if you have been knocked to the ground and your thoughts are in disarray and fear is taking control, you could use this image to help crystallise your thoughts, a thought that would prompt you to act, to fight on, or to take flight. It should be an image which has strong meaning for you and one which gives you cause to take action.
What is Effective Personal Protection?
At the core of any good personal protection system are one or two techniques, at most a handful, honed and developed using the principles of simplicity, directness and efficiency. Given the opportunity, these techniques should be applied with the intention of being first, being fast and being ferocious.
Be honest and ask yourself if your system fits these criteria, and if it doesn’t, then maybe it’s time to reassess your approach to Personal Protection. Consider the following definitions:
SIMPLE:does not require analysis or thought processing;
is as automatic as blinking;
does not require balletic poise;
utilises the minimum number of movements.
DIRECT:follows the shortest distance from point A to B;
where possible, attacks the closest target with the nearest
weapon.
EFFICIENT:does not create targets for the attacker;
has minimal effect on balance/stability;
uses economy of motion, achieving the expected outcome with
minimal expenditure of energy.

THE PROTECTION LADDER AND LEVELS OF AWARENESS

Levels of Awareness
It is the ability to constantly monitor your surroundings that affords you the greatest level of protection from attack. As with most things of value, the functional levels of protective awareness take time and effort to develop.

Colour Coding
One technique that can be used to help develop a better understanding of the different levels of awareness is a visualised colour system. Such systems have been utilised with great success in combat pistol instruction and are easily applied in the realms of self-protection. It is also a system that Thompson and Consterdine have tailored to suit their own protection method and has proved inspirational in the development of our model.
The colour guide can be seen as an ascending ladder (see next page) and has been prepared to help readers to understand the various levels of awareness, or the “colour condition” that they are in, in relation to a threat, the form and content of these threats, and the likely consequences.
Levels of Awareness (in summary)
Condition White: Condition White can be seen as the level of awareness that is dangerously low. Unfortunately, it is the condition occupied by most people most of the time. To be in Condition White means that your chances of being aware of any threat to yourself are greatly reduced. The resulting inability to perceive a threat, for example, as a result of being mentally distracted, will dramatically increase the chances of being taken by surprise, with little or no chance of avoiding an attack or issuing a counter-attack.

THE PROTECTION LADDER AND LEVELS OF AWARENESS


CONDITION RED

FIGHT OR FLIGHT
THE PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKE

CONDITION ORANGE

RESPONSE TO THREAT
MAKING A DECISION

CONDITION YELLOW

BASIS FOR PERSONAL SECURITY
AWARENESS – EVALUATION – AVOIDANCE

CONDITION WHITE

LACK OF AWARENESS
THE VICTIM SYNDROME
Condition Yellow: By developing a calm, subliminal awareness, not paranoia, you will be aware of a change in the environment and have time to adjust. Being “quietly alert” is another way of putting it.
Condition Orange: When a change occurs and you are aware of it, you give yourself a chance to avoid or counter a threat. In practical terms, you will be able very quickly to evaluate the threat and put in place strategies and tactics to avoid or otherwise deal with the threat in an effective and efficient manner.
Condition Red: Fight or Flight the moment of truth. If you have to fight, be first, be fast and be ferocious. It is far better to be pro-active than reactive. Seize the initiative before it is too late.
Visualisation
It can be useful to get a visualisation of the awareness levels in your mind, using the colour code as outlined above. When applied correctly, this will enhance your decision making process.

NB: Condition Red must not be visualised as, say, a red flashing light overlaid with words like “emergency” or “battle stations”. That would presuppose that there is still time left to prepare for action. Instead, Condition Red should be seen as an automatic, virtually instant trigger for full blooded, totally committed action.
Levels of Awareness (in detail)
Condition White – Having little or no awareness
Attack can take numerous forms, eg.:
  • Murder
  • Rape
  • Assault
  • Robbery
  • Abduction
All these can be inter related and the threat posed by a thief should not be thought of as less serious than the threat posed by a rapist, as a thief can easily become a rapist or murderer. Therefore every and any threat should be taken seriously and dealt with following the method which forms the basis for developing a sense of personal security (see Condition Yellow). For example, if you are unaware, your attacker can use two major weapons, fear and surprise, against you. In fact, your lack of awareness has the potential to turn you into a target. Condition White (being unaware) must therefore be avoided at all costs, and at all times.
Condition YellowForming A Basis for Personal Security
To attain Condition Yellow, you need to have developed a subliminal level of awareness (it must be stressed that this is not to be confused with a sense of paranoia). Subliminal awareness can be developed in a number of ways, however the most accessible of these is a standard technique used in training advanced tactical drivers. It is called “commentary driving”, and is a procedure whereby one has a conscious recognition of the changing environment. The same can be done whilst walking. The idea is to verbalise your changing surroundings as you move along, noting as many things as possible, such as the traffic conditions, weather, scenery, people in your environment, areas that could be used for concealment, and so on. By using this simple technique, and depending on your seriousness, it can take from one to four weeks to develop a conscious, continuous and accurate recognition of your surroundings. Once this is done, there is no need to verbalise anything, it will occur naturally on a subliminal level.

There are a number of complementary drills which can be used to develop and enhance your subliminal awareness. These include:
  1. Peripheral awareness drills
  2. Photo retentive recognition drills
  3. Recognition of threatening body language (static and dynamic)
  4. Recognition of pre-fight rituals (verbal and physical)
  5. Victim recognition/threat evaluation drills
  6. Immediate threat recognition drills
  7. Development and testing of a pre-plan
  8. Development of acronyms, eg: ‘KEYS’
  • Karefully
  • Evaluate
  • Your
  • Surroundings
The ability to maintain cognitive awareness is indicative of Condition Yellow and is of vital importance. It provides a strong foundation from which you can develop your personal security through:
Threat Awareness
Threat Evaluation
Threat Avoidance
It is important to note here that a tactical evaluation is only valid if the appraisal of your part in the scenario is realistic and honest.
At this stage, it may still be possible to walk away from the threat or danger, and Threat Avoidance may be your best option. However, you may not be able to control the situation and may find yourself in a position where your level of awareness is heightened to Condition Orange.
Condition Orange – Threat Escalation / Making the Decision
This is in some respects the most crucial condition that you will find yourself in. Having come from the personal security basis of Condition Yellow, with the understanding of threat awareness, evaluation and avoidance, you are now faced with making the decision!

Threat Evaluation and Avoidance
This is a tactical situation and requires a critical assessment. If your training has led you to believe that you will somehow be able to control yourself and the situation without your training ever having placed you in harm’s way, then you have been misinformed. To truly understand how the pressure of a confrontation (or the potential of a confrontation) can effect your decision-making process, you need to duplicate the pressure in the dojo or kwoon. There are vast differences between sparring in an institution where you know that a fight will not deteriorate to the point where your opponent is going to bite you or stab you after you are knocked to the ground, and when these things become a very real possibility.

Psychological Tactics
Attackers often perform patterns of behaviour before they commence their assault. If you can identify these patterns you may even be able to implement your own psychological tactics and gain better control of the situation.
Whether they know it or not, your attacker will probably employ one of the following ploys when approaching you:
1. Disarming / Deceptive (eg. asking for the time or directions, etc.) When using this ploy your attacker is not only trying to lull you into a false sense of security, but also attempting to draw your attention away from his “line up” (ie: his intentions, and the position/posture from which he intends to launch his attack). If successfully executed, where you are taken by surprise, the effects can be devastating. Not only will you be unprepared physically for the attack and most likely receive the full brunt of the blow, but, more importantly you will be unprepared emotionally. Here, fear is your enemy, and to now be able to bring the resultant rush of adrenaline under control will be extremely difficult. There are, however, methods of training that can bring about the spontaneous control of adrenaline and, consequently, you will be more able to fight from this disadvantageous position.

2. Aggressive (using verbal and/or physical threat behaviour) There are many ways to display aggression. Understanding patterns of behaviour is extremely important. Verbal aggression (whether your attacker understands it or not) is a means whereby your attacker can engage your mind, resulting in a multitude of effects. These range from a general feeling of unease all the way through to blind panic, thus disabling one’s ability to react instinctively. Physically threatening behaviour is perhaps the most frightening and potent weapon that the attacker can employ. While many of us have been in a verbal argument, most people have not experienced the type of physical contact that may be a precursor to a full-blown assault.
Of course we can talk about how we could cope with such a situation, but unless you practise and develop strategies to deal with physical and verbal abuse as part of a pre-fight ritual, your skill in dealing with this scenario will be lacking. The fight can be won or lost before the first punch is thrown, yet this often discussed aspect of fighting goes largely unpractised. For instance, how do you maintain the optimal distance to launch your own pre-emptive strike without moving into kicking or grappling range? How do you maintain a tactile reference that allows you to subtly monitor your assailant’s intentions as well as controlling a bridging arm? If there is more than one attacker, how do you maintain or even attain a superior tactical position if your attackers are not compliant and/or mobile and aggressive? The answer is probably, “You cannot!”, unless it is a skill that you have developed and practised under pressure. Another idea to keep in mind is that you can gain some understanding of your enemies fears by recognising the means he uses in an effort to frighten you.
Armed and Aggressive
If it were suggested to you that the opponent you were about to face was carrying a concealed weapon, that the attacker had every intention of using the weapon (let’s say that he has a butcher’s boning knife), do you believe that you would then proceed in a similar fashion as you would if you were in ignorance of the weapon? You would be well advised to treat every attacker as armed, whether a weapon is in evidence or not.
Have you been in a threatening situation where people around you were unknown to you? If a fight had started could you discount the possibility that those around you would not join in with an attack against you? Just as weapons can be concealed, so can your potential assailants. Treat every attack as a multiple attack.
The above would suggest that fighting should be avoided because of the incalculable and hidden variables, however if you have to fight you should dispatch your attacker(s) as vigorously and quickly as possible, with little remorse. Avoid going to the ground because once there, it is difficult to get up if you are outnumbered. There is now a huge increase in the popularity of grappling arts. There can be no doubt as to their effectiveness, but arts that seek to take their opponents to the ground at the earliest opportunity may place the practitioner at a disadvantage, especially if those who are attacking them are prepared to do so with absolutely no consideration for gentlemanly fair-play, and no regard of the consequences.
Remember, any tactic that the assailant uses is designed to engage your conscious thought process. You are left vulnerable if this is allowed to happen and must guard against such tactics. By being aware of these psychological tactics you can also employ similar and additional counter tactics to engage your attacker’s thought processes. You too can be:
  1. Disarming / Deceptive (eg. asking a counter or nonsense question)
  2. Aggressive / Demonstrative (“call their bluff” through the use of verbal or physical intimidation). Remember where ignorance is common, arrogance is king.
  3. Submissive (this is an additional tactic, ie. a “pretend” submissiveness to lull your attacker into a false sense of security by switching off his adrenaline).
Fear Control
The methodology of Fear Control which is presented below is based on experience and research, and we would encourage the reader to research their own experience, and that of their peers, openly and honestly. Central to any discussion of the response to a perceived threat is to understand the physiological responses that the body has when a potential menace is recognised. One of the first things to realise is that your thinking stimulates the physiological reaction, and that it is your own thinking which can therefore control and harness this response. “Fear is in the mind of the beholder.
Fear is experienced as a sudden release of adrenaline (a combination of two chemicals, Epinephrine and Norepinephrine), followed immediately by the associated physiological responses. If left uncontrolled, these responses can have a devastating effect on both the body and the mind. Most of us have been conditioned to associate the effects of these adrenalines with fear, rather than as a means of providing a biological “overdrive”, commonly referred to as the “fight and flight syndrome”.
Fear can be thought paralysing, causing one to act irrationally, or not to act at all, thus giving the attacker a devastating advantage, ie. the ability to attack you without fear of reprisal. To learn how to control fear, one must confront fear, to move outside of one’s comfort zone. This can be done through the creation of a Fear Pyramid, whereby you confront your own fears, starting with the mildest at the bottom of the pyramid, and working up to your worst nightmare at the top.
The idea is not to rid yourself of fear per se, but to get used to or desensitised to its harmful effects on you and instead learn how to harness their effects and make them a useful tool. As already mentioned, fear is merely a biochemical reaction to a perceived threat. It can in fact heighten your awareness as well as prepare your body for action. These are useful reactions to have under control. A requirement of a more complete training regime would be to acclimatise its participants to the effects of adrenaline, and if structured correctly, slowly condition the students to make effective use of it’s effects, some of which are:
  1. Vasoconstriction, causing diminished blood supply to the non-fight or flight organs, eg. the skin. This enables more blood to be pumped into skeletal muscle
  2. Increased heart rate and force of contraction, leading to subsequent increased blood supply to the muscles
  3. Dilation of lung airways, enabling increase in oxygen uptake
  4. Increase in brain sugars (glucose)
  5. Dilation of the pupils, increasing depth perception
  6. Increased mobilisation of liver carbohydrate stores and the stimulation of the production of lactic acid from glycogen in the muscle. The lactic acid produced can be used in the liver to manufacture new foodstuffs (glucose and glycogen)
  7. An anaesthetic effect reportedly associated with its release.
The effects that the release of adrenaline can cause, that are usually associated with fear are:
  1. Constriction of vessels in the skin (pallid complexion), mucous membranes
    (dry mouth), and kidneys
  2. Uncontrolled high levels of adrenaline may cause to excessive carbohydrate
    metabolism, leading to hypoglycaemia (the feeling of weakness often
    associated with moments of fear)
  3. Lactic acid produced at the muscle site enhances the feeling of weakness
    and the loss of endurance capability in the muscle.
It is the ability to recognise adrenaline’s effects that is our greatest ally when dealing with what the celebrated Chinese strategist Sun Zi called the “Inner Opponent”, and he advocated learning as much as possible about this so as to overcome the negative responses that are created by it in battle. The release of adrenaline should therefore be seen as a positive response to the perception of a threat, and therefore encouraged in training. There is not an elite fighting force in the world that does not duplicate the pressures of combat whilst training. Sparring, and in the case of Wing Chun, ‘Chi Sau’ practise, are usually too regimented and controlled, and both are too bound by protocol to successfully reproduce the emotional pressure that occurs when a threat is not generated at our choosing.
March 1998
As a professional Fire Fighter you come to expect the unexpected. You might be “turned-out” to a yard fire and on arrival find a house fully involved with fire and people trapped inside. And so it was in March of 1998 when, at approximately 1.00am, the crew of Canning Vale Fire Station’s Pump and Light Tanker were turned-out to a grass fire on Chapman Way in Canning Vale. I was the passenger in the Light Tanker, which is a Toyota Landcruiser fitted with a rear-mounted 650 litre water tank specifically designed to suppress grass and scrub fires. The Light Tanker follows the larger Pump, a 12 tonne Scannia, in which sit an officer and driver.
When we arrived at Chapman Road we found a street party taking place, involving some 1600 people, mostly young men, most of whom appeared intoxicated. The Officer in the leading vehicle decided that we had best leave the area as the partygoers were clearly upset by our presence. It was quickly obvious that we would be ill advised to attempt to reverse or u-turn in order to quit the area, the road being too narrow and lined with partygoers cars, plus the ever increasing presence of the now agitated partygoers, so we came to a halt.
Some 50 metres in front of us was the main body of the crowd who were, as yet, unaware of our presence, despite the fact that our vehicles were slowly being surrounded by a gathering crowd which was decidedly unfriendly. With no police present, our options were severely limited, so the Officer in Charge communicated over the radio that we should push gently forward through the crowd to escape the area. As the Pump started to move forward a small fire was lit in the grass next to our vehicle. The summer had been long and hot, with many days reaching temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Centigrade, and even small fires had the potential to quickly develop into something that threatened life and property. There was no way that Phil, my driver, and I could ignore the fire, so we stopped and exited the Tanker.
The fire was indeed growing in size, and people had started to push back from the fire’s edge. The hose-reel for the Tanker is attached to the rear of the truck, so Phil and I had to push and shove through the crowd to get to it. A small band of men had taken the branch (ie. the nozzle) and were running the hose down the road. Up until now the crowd had done no more than hinder our progress and be slightly abusive, but at this point I felt that they now believed that we were going to interfere with their fun, and their behaviour became noticeably more aggressive. I looked back towards the fire, which had now grown to a threatening size, and with an increased sense of urgency, I began to pursue the group with the branch and hose up the road, leaving behind the crowd around the Tanker.
A small group of young men stepped out from between a row of cars and blocked my path. I had no time to waste so my intention was to push through them in an effort to regain the hose. They did not break ranks as I neared, but instead stepped towards and around me. Without a word they started throwing punches, some of which landed, but most of which bounced off harmlessly. My only reaction was to remain calm, show no fear, and make a determined effort to regain the hose and branch. After the initial onslaught of blows, a couple of the guys stepped back. I could not tell you what they were thinking, but they did look surprised. I told them to move out of the way and pointed back at the fire, which had now started to cross a paddock and run towards a house. I asked them if it was their intention to let the house burn down. This had the desired effect as I was then able to force my way through their tight cordon.
There was much the same reaction and action when I got to the group with the branch, but I did finally manage to retrieve it, run back to the fire and extinguish it. Whilst doing that I was assaulted twice more, but my only real concern was to make sure that the house and the people inside it were not placed in any further danger. The crowd gathering around Phil and me had swelled to a point where I could no longer see the Pump’s position. A few of them now started to throw bottles and Phil had to take cover in our vehicle. I was cut off from the Tanker by another group who “got stuck in”. At least when that was happening, no one threw bottles at me.
As I forced my way back to the Tanker, I saw that there was a large number of people pulling equipment off the Pump, some of which is extremely expensive, most of which is essential to our job. I yelled at Phil to follow me to the Tanker, and on foot I pushed towards the people with the equipment. I managed to wrestle some of it back, but by now there was a veritable storm of bottles raining down on the Tanker and myself. This forced most of the crowd back when a couple of them were hit by “friendly fire”. It was definitely time to get out. Phil had a broken bottle pushed through his window, narrowly missing his face, but he remained calm and drove at a pace that matched my walking. We forced a way through the crowd to the other side of the party, not wanting to stop and present a stationary target, and finally passed through this gauntlet which was some 200 metres long. We returned to the station and I was then off to hospital. Thankfully the rest of the crew were physically unharmed
Why didn’t I retaliate? Why hadn’t we turned our hoses on the crowd? Why didn’t we drive our vehicle into the densely packed people? Discipline! I was mentally aware through the whole affair but at no stage did I behave or think recklessly. I controlled and used the adrenaline rushing through my body. I remained calm so as not to provoke any retaliation from the partygoers and further expose Phil or myself to danger.
Had we not behaved in such a disciplined fashion, it is my belief , and that of the men I work with and the police investigating the incident, that the repercussions and retaliation we could have suffered would have been far greater. Phil later told me that he had been terrified, but had taken strength from my apparent calm and control, both of which I have developed within the confines of a martial arts club. By training in a realistic manner, which is pressure filled, my ability to cope is constantly strained and tested. It is because of this that I have been able to master some of my demons and am now on the long path to beating my “Inner Opponent”.
Andrew Williams
Responses
If you allow your attacker to initiate the action then he will usually dictate your response. This will allow him to determine the distance at which the altercation will take place, and this may not be the distance where you can best apply your protective principles. Many arts now talk of “bridging the gap” or “making distance”. This may be relevant in a match fight or an organised competition, but in the street, if your attacker wishes to truly hurt you, he will have to close the distance to where he can best dictate the terms of the altercation. Thus it is imperative that you know how to deal with your attacker at kicking or punching range because if you cannot, the fight may then go to grappling range and once there it would be almost impossible to return to any other range. The implementation of a decisive posture will help to maintain your preferred distance and enable you to position yourself whereby you can launch a pre-emptive strike. Given the right sort of training, this tactic will finish the fight instantly. You need to place yourself in a position that offers little option of attack for your opponent, yet allows you to “line up” on him, positioning yourself so that you can achieve your objective without exposing your intention.
Your “line up” will influence:
  1. the attacker’s perception of you;
  2. ranges and tools (fighting ranges occur at kicking, punching and grappling distance);
  3. targets, both yours and your attacker’s.
A Decisive Posture
How you can, and will respond, will very largely be dependant on your posture when confronted by your attacker. To effectively “line up” your opponent requires a decisive posture. Whether the fight is won or lost may well be determined by the posture (physical and mental) taken in the lead up to the altercation. Effective components of a decisive posture, that allows for the option and delivery of a pre-emptive strike, include all of the following:
  1. it is deceptive in its martial intent;
  2. it allows for effective mobility and distance control;
  3. it is based on the ability to deliver an extremely powerful blow from a short distance without a perceptible “wind-up”;
  4. it allows for the application of techniques that are simple, direct and
    efficient;
  5. it enables your hands to be positioned to appear innocuous, yet provide for a distance management arm, which can also serve as a tactile reference with regard to your attacker’s movements and intentions;
  6. it enables either or both arms, from whatever their position, to strike effective
    targets without “telegraphing”;
  7. it facilitates the option of the acceptable tactic of the pre emptive strike;
  8. it is trained to be a trigger for action, ie: by adopting the correct posture, you are
    putting into operation, a sequence of flexible movements designed to
    enable you to protect yourself efficiently;
  9. it is designed to be utilised in most situations. You should not require a different
    stance for each different confrontation, as all that would achieve is
    the inclusion of yet another variable into an already complex calculation;
  10. most importantly, it is a trigger for psychological action (the discipline of your
    training will be pivotal in your ability to act decisively)
When deciding on a decisive posture, one should avoid the notion of being able to block and then counter or control the opponent. If you accept the idea that your attacker will try to gain a position where he can launch his own pre-emptive strike, then you will be at a distance that would suggest you would lack the reaction speed to block a punch. The Wing Chun maxim that “Attack is the best form of defence” is most definitely the method that serves our purpose, and is the cornerstone of the “Wong Shun Leung Method”, whereby every combination of movements involves at least one attacking technique, never only defensive actions.
Condition Red - Action!!!!
The threat is unavoidable, …it is now “the moment of truth“. Using a “trigger for action”, which might be a verbal prompt, or even your own decisive posture, and given the opportunity, you should apply the acceptable option of the pre emptive strike. For the pre-emptive strike to be pursued successfully, one would need it to be applied with what is commonly described as “extreme prejudice”. In training the emotional wherewithal to do this, it may help to keep in mind this mantra:
BE FIRST
BE FAST
BE FEROCIOUS
It is absolutely essential that you totally overwhelm your opponent and that you deliver your attacks with the sort of venom which will ensure this aim. If the fight is on, if not totally committed to the attack being launched, you are destined to become the victim rather than the victor. Is there a component in your training that achieves this? Do you train in a fashion that places you in the frame of mind that allows you to feel the discipline and commitment that encourages you to “win at all costs”, lest you suffer the consequences? To this end, it is crucial that you make all drills, including striking practice, take on a reality that approximates the realism of the street. While attacking the striking pad or punching bag, role play the scenario, get into the right frame of mind, and EXPLODE when the strike is launched. In addition to the above, make sure that your practise sessions only make use of techniques that are:
SIMPLE
DIRECT
EFFICIENT
Multiple Attackers
Just as every attacker should be dealt with as if he were armed, so too should every attack be dealt with as if it has the potential to become an attack from more than one aggressor. This reason alone would determine that grappling or “going to the mat” should be avoided at all costs on the street. Psychological tactics, decisive postures and emotional control should still be employed, but you must quickly recognise the attacker who presents the greatest threat to you. He is the person you should deal with first. It may not always be the largest of your attackers who represents this threat. It is the person who can strike you the quickest and with the least amount of potential resistance or reaction from you. This again illustrates the need to develop devastatingly powerful blows, and a system to deliver them. If you do not drop your man quickly, no amount of ‘Chi Sau’ will enable you to cross arms with multiple attackers. Thompson and Consterdine refer to their management of this situation as dealing with the “red letter syndrome“. The bill that represents the greatest threat to you, eg. to cut off your electricity supply, is the one printed in red. It is the red one you deal with first.

IN SUMMARY

Having between them over 50 years of traditional training, tournament fighting (both national and international), and professional “hands on” security work under their belts, Geoff Thompson and Peter Consterdine hold the view that “90% of what is taught and practised in traditional martial arts today will not work on the street“. They therefore advocate the need to re assess training methods and self protection concepts and to start putting reality back into martial arts training, to apply a proven handful of reliable techniques to combat situations based on an understanding of training theory and methodologies, coupled with a sound knowledge of biomechanics and psychology.
Just as one cannot expect reasonable levels of improvement in the haphazard application of a physical training regime, one cannot expect credible results from the random implementation of emotional training. The instructor needs to consider the emotional needs of each student and construct and implement a flexible training model. Students of the martial art of Wing Chun are uniquely placed to take advantage of the concepts of Personal Protection. They are already practising a martial method dedicated almost exclusively to fighting. The followers of the “Wong Shun Leung Way” of Wing Chun have a distinct advantage in having, as their mentor, a man who pioneered a method based upon his experiences in countless real life fights. He brought these experiences into every aspect of his Wing Chun teaching, advocating the injection of a great deal of realism into his training sessions and seminars. Most importantly, sifu Wong advocated the natural application of internalised physical concepts and a flexible approach to “in-fight thinking”, rather than the rote learning of set techniques or responses, as is in evidence to anyone lucky enough to have trained with him. Thus, his teachings easily lend themselves to the Personal Protection concept, and vice versa.
Martial artists of other disciplines would do well to look at their own approach to self protection and ask themselves what they could do to make their methods more street effective. It takes more than flashy techniques to survive a street encounter. What is needed are sound concepts, effective and realistic training methods, and a complete understanding of the psychology of the attacker, as well as oneself. We need to conquer, or at least begin to recognise our fears, to gain control of our emotions, to develop threat awareness and how to deal with it effectively. As Sun Zi wrote in his celebrated “Art of War” over 2000 years ago,
Know the other and know yourself:
One hundred challenges without danger;
Know not the other and yet know yourself:
One triumph for one defeat;
Know not the other and know not yourself:
Every challenge is certain peril
“.
It is, or should be, the goal of every sincere instructor to equip his or her students with the skills to survive. It is the wish of the authors of this article to encourage, at the very least, a discussion of the protective methods now employed in your school. We would hope that the concept of Personal Protection presented on these pages will lead to a return to reality and practicality in the martial arts, regardless of style. Good luck in developing your potential, and that of your students!
About the authors: Andrew Williams has trained extensively in two different Wing Chun systems, had his skills tested in numerous real life encounters, and is fast being recognised as an innovative Wing Chun instructor. Williams is currently assisting Rolf Clausnitzer of the ‘Wing Chun Academy of Western Australia’. Clausnitzer was the late Sifu Wong Shun Leung’s first foreign student and co-author (with Greco Wong) of the first ever English language introduction to Wing Chun. David Peterson, principal instructor of the ‘Melbourne Chinese Martial Arts Club’, has been publicly acknowledged by Sifu Wong as one of his outstanding overseas students/instructors, acting as Sifu Wong’s personal translator during five seminar tours to Australia. Peterson is also a freelance writer whose articles have appeared in many Australian and international journals, and more recently, on several Internet sites around the world.



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Wednesday, January 30, 2013

IN MEMORY OF: Wong Shun Leung (May 8, 1935 – January 28, 1997)



This is a belated posting. I meant to post this 2 days ago.
 
This was excerpted from the book:

Look Beyond the Pointing Finger:  the Combat Philosophy of Wong Shun Leung


Recalling the Life of Bruce Lee's Teacher
by David Peterson




January 28th 1997 was a very sad day for the martial arts and, indirectly, for fans of Hong Kong cinema - specifically, for fans of the legend that is Bruce Lee. On that day, Wing Chun Kung-Fu Master Sifu Wong Shun Leung, 61, teacher and friend of the late martial arts superstar, lost his fight for life following a massive stroke and ensuing coma that had befallen him some sixteen days earlier. Considered by many to be a fighter and instructor of unparalleled skill, Sifu Wong was renowned for earning the title of “Gong Sau Wong” (King of talking with the hands) after surviving countless “beimo”, or “comparison of skills,” throughout the 50s and 60s, emerging every time as undefeated and undisputed champion.

These were not tournament fights as conducted in the West, with rules, protective equipment or time limits. Instead, they were full-on fights between representatives of the various schools of combat in Hong Kong, and Sifu Wong is said to have “let his hands do the talking” by winning the majority of these “contests” within just three punches! In one such match, arranged by a reporter working for a prominent Hong Kong newspaper of the day, Wong (who stood barely 5ft 6in tall and weighed in at around 120lbs) easily defeated a visiting Russian boxer named Giko, a giant of a man who weighed over 250lbs and stood some twelve inches taller than the dynamic Wing Chun exponent. 

Wong almost single-handedly put this previously low-profile martial art in the public spotlight, gaining great prestige for his teacher, the late Grandmaster Yip Man. Wong’s reputation as an invincible fighter also attracted the attention of the young Bruce Lee, who had only recently joined the Yip Man Wing Chun school after having been introduced to the system by his friend William Cheung, who was later to become a prominent, some might say controversial, spokesman for the Wing Chun clan. Initially, Lee had trained with his friend Cheung, but when Cheung left for Australia to further his education, Lee became the protegĂ© of Wong Shun Leung who, at almost six years his senior and assistant instructor at the school, commanded the young (around 16 years of age) Bruce Lee’s unwavering respect. 

In the beginning of their student/teacher relationship, Wong found the young Lee to be quite lazy in his approach to training; consequently, his progress in the art was relatively slow. It wasn’t too long, however, after witnessing first hand the devastating effectiveness of Wong’s skills, that Lee began to take his Wing Chun training far more seriously. In fact, Lee was so keen to learn from Wong that he even found devious ways of monopolising his sihing’s teaching time. Wong was, at the time, running training sessions out of his home (his father had helped him set up a small area for this purpose), as well as helping his teacher Yip Man conduct classes at the kwoon. After unsuccessfully approaching Wong for private lessons, the young “Little Dragon” found another method of getting his own way. 

On more than one occasion, after school was finished for the day, Lee would rush to Wong’s house in order to arrive before his “sihingdai.” Later on, Sifu Wong would often recount this story to his students, this writer included, saying how Bruce would check that he was indeed the first to arrive, after which he would make up some excuse to leave for a while, whereby he would head downstairs to wait for his classmates to arrive. Sitting on the steps, looking dejected, he would greet his friends with the news that Wong was ill, out on an errand, or otherwise indisposed, then walk with them down the street, even going as far as to help them board a bus for home. Once he was sure they had all departed the scene, Bruce would double back to Wong’s to take advantage of what was now a private lesson. Eventually, Wong became aware of this little ruse and, according to others of that era, gave his young disciple an especially realistic lesson, complete (so the story goes) with black eyes, split lips and a bloody nose! 

Despite his awesome reputation as a fighter, Wong was not a violent man per se, but he revelled in the chance to test his skills and the effectiveness of Yip Man’s art. “I didn’t actually learn Wing Chun just to go out and fight. Kung-fu should really be used as a way of protecting yourself in circumstances where you are physically threatened,” he was quoted as saying in an interview conducted in Australia some years ago. “After I learned the skills of Wing Chun from Yip Man, I often had the opportunity to test them. By experimenting with my skills I could discover their limitations and how they compared with other disciplines and so improve myself.” It was during this period of “experimentation” that Wong Shun Leung first introduced Bruce Lee to the experience of the “beimo” and in the very first of Lee’s matches, Wong (who was actually refereeing the fight) coached him between rounds, urging him to continue when it had appeared that Lee was about to give up the fight. 

It could be rightly said the resulting victory changed the course of Bruce Lee’s life, certainly it heralded the beginnings of the training regime that would see him become the martial arts superstar the world was to discover many years later. It is reported Grandmaster Yip Man, on learning what had transpired, took Wong aside and said, “Fortunately you accompanied him to the venue and encouraged him to go on with the match. This trial of martial skill may well be a decisive influence on him in the future. If someday Siu Lung [Bruce] succeeds, the credit should rightfully go to you.” In writing about this period in Lee’s life, Jesse Glover (his first American student) stated, “Wong was four years senior (in training) to Bruce in Yip Man’s clan and Bruce studied privately for a year and a half under both him and Yip Man.” Glover also wrote that Wong was “the man most responsible for the development of Bruce Lee,” and that “In ‘59 Bruce told me that Wong was the greatest fighter in the Wing Chun style, and that he had successfully defeated all challengers.”
As fate would have it, circumstances arose that led to Bruce having to leave for a new life in America, curtailing his opportunity to train with Wong. For the next several years, apart from the occasional visit by Lee to Hong Kong for filming or family visits, his relationship with Wong was restricted to a steady stream of letters between teacher and student. Many of these letters survive today and, in one such letter, Lee wrote, “Even though I am (technically) a student of Yip Man, in reality, I learned my Kung-fu from you.” Over the years, Lee would strive to be able to overcome the skill of his teacher, using Wong’s level of expertise as the yardstick by which he measured his own development as a fighter. But try as he might, Bruce Lee was never able to defeat Wong Shun Leung in combat. 

Many of the personal fighting concepts Lee would eventually become famous for can be traced back to the lessons he learned from Sifu Wong and, even after obtaining fame and fortune from his martial arts and film careers, Lee never forgot where his roots were, spending whatever time he could with his teacher when back in Hong Kong during the final years leading up to his own premature demise. Sifu Wong once spoke to me of an occasion when he and Lee began to discuss their favorite topic early one evening, retiring to the hallway while their wives sat with their children watching television. At 7.00am the next morning they were still there, having talked, trained and tested their martial theories right through the night! 

Lee was keen to involve Wong in his movies, offering him a part in Game of Death, specifically the role later to be played by basketball star Kareem Abdul Jabbar, that of Lee’s final opponent at the top of the “Tower of Death” at the end of the film. “My character was to have beaten Bruce,” Wong told Bey Logan in a 1986 interview for Britain’s ‘COMBAT’ magazine, “but he would still have managed to kill me! I told him that I didn’t want to go and die in my first movie!” Wong also added that “I wasn’t in dire financial straits at the time, so I didn’t have to do the film [just] to make money.” 

However, Lee wasn’t one to give up easily and, when shooting Enter the Dragon in Hong Kong, he invited Wong to come on location to discuss the fight scenes. Anyone viewing the documentary Bruce Lee: the Man and the Legend can briefly observe Wong on the “Han’s Weapon Room” set sparring with an extra and reacting to punches thrown by Lee himself. Over the years Sifu Wong was involved in a number of film and television projects, including the movie Bruce’s Fingers in 1976, starring Bruce Lee look-alike Bruce Le (Lu Hsiao-lung), in which “Sifu” simply played himself, the hero’s instructor. He was also the Wing Chun consultant and action choreographer for the film Stranger From Shaolin (aka: The Formidable Lady From Shaolin) starring Michelle Yim, and a Hong Kong television mini-series called The Story of Wing Chun.
Sifu Wong Shun Leung also starred in a training video on his style, entitled Wing Chun: the Science of In-fighting which was produced as part of a series of instructional tapes in the early ‘80s. He also occasionally authored articles on his beloved Wing Chun for a number of Chinese-language martial arts magazines, and was the subject of several articles and interviews in magazines all over the world. A number of these articles were concerned with his famous pupil Bruce Lee, and delved into the relationship between the two of them, attempting to determine his role in the career of the superstar and often attempting to extract controversial views on Lee and other Wing Chun practitioners. Always the diplomat, Wong would never allow himself to be drawn into such discussions, preferring to either restrict himself to positive comments, or else choosing to make no comment - dismissing the enquiry with a wry smile. 

On the whole, Wong preferred to downplay his role as Lee’s instructor, not wishing to take advantage of someone else’s achievements. Instead, he just got on with the job of passing on the skills of Wing Chun, which he constantly tested and refined over the years, adhering to the motto “To improve myself with each days training.” In addition to teaching Kung-fu, Sifu Wong was a practitioner of the ancient Chinese art of “tit dar” (bone-setting), the traditional method of treating sprains, bruises, dislocated and broken bones (a very useful skill, considering his line of work!). He was also an accomplished self-taught calligrapher with a profound knowledge of ancient forms of writing unknown to many modern Chinese, with which he would spend many hours writing classical poetry as a form of relaxation and self-improvement. 

Rather than stand on his own personal soapbox and proclaim his own greatness, as many of his contemporaries in the martial arts have tended to do in recent years, Wong made no such claims and rejected the many grandiose titles which others attempted to bestow upon him, preferring to quietly set about destroying the myths and “kungfusion” associated with the Chinese fighting arts. He taught a devoted band of followers who travelled from all corners of the world to obtain his instruction, and he regularly travelled to Europe and Australia where he conducted seminars and workshops for the students of his representatives there. Sifu Wong shared his knowledge with great enthusiasm, believing that anyone, regardless of race, color or creed, was worth teaching. As long as a person was prepared to work hard, “Sifu” was more than willing to call them his student. 

Refusing to cash in on his connection with Bruce Lee, or on his own formidable reputation as a fighter and instructor par excellence, Sifu Wong insisted he was a simple man with no special talent, and was never one to “blow his own trumpet.” You were more likely to hear of his past exploits from other people and, on those rare occasions when he did speak of such events, he would always refuse to name names or criticize rival styles, his only real gripe being with instructors who wasted their student’s time with endless, useless techniques and combat drills. “You can always get more money (if you run out),” he would say, “but you can’t get more time.” On the subject of Wing Chun, his most common advise to his devotees was, “You must be the master of Wing Chun, not it’s slave,” meaning one must take the concepts of the system and make them work, rather than get bound up in unnecessary analysis and potentially dangerous limited thinking.
It appeared that, after so many years, Sifu Wong was finally about to gain the recognition and rewards that had long eluded him. All manner of book, film and video projects had been discussed in the months leading up to his untimely passing, the most significant of these being the proposed movie Story of Yip Man, starring none other than comedic sensation Steven Chow Sing Chi, himself a former student of Wong Shun Leung and a lifelong Kung-fu fan and Bruce Lee aficionado. Chow had been in training with his former instructor in preparation for the upcoming role and negotiated for Wong to be the technical consultant on the film. There was also a distinct possibility Wong would have an on-camera role and would most likely be involved in the choreography of the action sequences. 

With the approaching 25th anniversary of Bruce Lee’s death, there had also been much talk of interviews and book projects, including one arranged by Steven Chow. Writers and producers from Hong Kong and around the world had approached “Sifu” with a view to include him in their proposed ventures, and preliminary work had been done on at least two of these. Australian producer, martial artist and Bruce Lee aficionado Walt Missingham was already set to begin shooting at the beginning of April when I had the sad task of informing him of my teacher’s death. Sadly, this and all the other projects will now either not take place, or else will be completed without the input that “Sifu’s” vast knowledge and experience would have added to them. More disappointing still is the realisation that Sifu Wong will now not be able to enjoy his long overdue recognition. 

The man often referred to as “Wing Chun’s Living Legend” is now no longer with us, but his influence will be felt for many years to come through the efforts of his many students, both in Hong Kong and around the world. Members of the world-wide “Wong Shun Leung Wing Chun Martial Art Association,” this writer included, are dedicated to spreading the skills and knowledge passed on to them by this outstanding teacher and exponent of the art. While Wong Shun Leung was not one to take flashy titles with any seriousness, always insisting that to be called “Sifu” by his students was sufficient recognition of who he was, in the hearts and minds of all who witnessed his awesome talent or benefited from his wisdom and instruction, he was one of the greatest Masters of Wing Chun (and the Chinese martial arts in general) in this, or any other century.
Tragically, like his famous student Bruce Lee before him, Sifu Wong left us far too early in life but, like Lee, those of us fortunate to have been touched by his greatness, whether directly as his students or indirectly through the cinematic exploits of his famous pupil and friend, are all the richer for having known him. The “Legend Behind the Legend” may be gone, and will certainly be greatly missed, but Sifu Wong Shun Leung - father, teacher and friend to so many - will definitely never be forgotten. The next time you enjoy watching your film hero Bruce Lee on the large or small screen, spare a thought for the great man who inspired him to such greatness. 






About the Author

David Peterson has been training in the Chinese martial arts since 1973. He became a student of Sifu Wong Shun Leung after travelling to Hong Kong in 1983. He is a teacher of the Chinese language and principal instructor of the ‘Melbourne Chinese Martial Arts Club’ where he instructs in the “Wong Shun Leung Method”. Peterson is one of only two authorised and qualified instructors of Wong’s system in Australia, and a fully endorsed member of the world-wide ‘Wong Shun Leung Wing Chun Martial Arts Association’ and the Hong Kong-based ‘Ving Tsun Athletic Association’. He is also a freelance writer whose articles have appeared in many local (Australian) and overseas journals, including “Combat”, “Inside Kung-fu”, “Black Belt”, “Masters of the Martial Arts”, “Impact: the Action Movie Magazine”, “Eastern Heroes”, “Australasian Fighting Arts”, “Blitz Australasian Martial Arts Magazine”, “Australasian Martial Arts Magazine”, “Traditional Martial Arts Journal”, “Impact Martial Arts Magazine”, “Qi Magazine”, “Martial Arts Illustrated”, “Kicksider” and “Kung Fu Illustrierte”. More recently, his articles have featured on several international Web sites in both the English and German languages. 



Photo Credits

Left:  chisao.com
Middle:  wingchunarnis.wordpress.com
Right: www.dvtfederation.com

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Should You Strike with the Fist or with the Palm?

Photo Credit:  Source pic - http://www.intrepidboy.com


Yesterday, I posted Craig Gemeiner's essay "Open Hands" in which he described various ways to strike with the Open Hand from the older Savate and Defense dans la Rue. Today, I wanted to present to you the perennial argument Martial Artists have forever debated. The issue is: 

"Should you strike with the Fist or with the Palm?"


There are those in favor of striking with the Palm. They say it's easier to break your hand if you strike with your fist, say to a target such as the head. As their defense exhibit, the Palm-strikers will cite the famous incident where the former Heavyweight Champion of the World, Mike Tyson, was in a street scuffle with Mitch Green, and broke his hand on August 23, 1988. The handwraps boxers use in combination of the gloves is not to protect their opponent but to protect their own hands from breaking upon repeated punching! Tyson, absent his wraps and gloves, broke his right hand impacting presumably against the hard skull of Mitch Green. These advocates of using Palm strikes will also say, "Hard against Soft; Soft against Hard." This saying translates to:  Use your fist against soft targets and for hard targets, use your palm. What they are really saying is that they know what targets to aim at with their Palm strikes. Martial artist who favor using their palm over their fist will also bring up the ease of transition to a tiger claw for raking, to a grab, to a pinch, to a thumb jab or even to a thumb gouge.

For every Yin, there is a Yang. The champions of the cause for Striking with the Fist will say that "You fight the way you train." If you do focus mitt drills or hit the heavy bag, you almost always would be striking with your fist. Also, when people get angry, invariably they will unconsciously clench their fists. Human Nature and Evolution has perhaps hardwired into Man for their survival the instinctive clenching of the Fist. You can watch any MMA match. At some point one fighter has his opponent downed and trying to finish him. Invariably, the Lizard Brain will kick in and you see repeated hammerfists from the same hand. It is so natural and instinctual to use the hammerfist when the Lizard Brain kicks in. Thirdly, the issue of "Reach" will be brought up. Striking with the open Palm, you will lose a few inches of Reach. A few inches may not seem to be a lot in most things, but in striking those extra few inches may have a significant impact (pun intended!).

Let's recap the arguments for both sides.

Palm Strikers

  • Can break your hand if you use your fist to strike
  • Know where to strike with the palms
  • Easy transition to other hand formations

Fist Strikers


  • Fight the way you train and most train with fists
  • Human Nature/Evolution & Lizard Brain - instinctively will clench hand into fist
  • Shorter Reach when striking with palms


New research has surfaced from the University of Utah which suggests that fighting may have shaped the evolution of the human hand:

The derived proportions of the human hand may provide supportive buttressing that protects the hand from injury when striking with a fist. Flexion of digits 2–5 results in buttressing of the pads of the distal phalanges against the central palm and the palmar pads of the proximal phalanges. Additionally, adduction of the thenar eminence to abut the dorsal surface of the distal phalanges of digits 2 and 3 locks these digits into a solid configuration that may allow a transfer of energy through the thenar eminence to the wrist.

I can hear you yell out, "Say what Stickgrappler?!?! I don't speak no Scientific-ese." LOL I don't either, but luckily BBC News translated it into layman's terms:


They found that the structure of the fist provides support that increases the ability of the knuckles to transmit "punching" force.

The research conclusion (mental drumroll please...):

We found that peak forces, force impulses and peak jerk did not differ between the closed fist and open palm strikes. However, the structure of the human fist provides buttressing that increases the stiffness of the second MCP joint by fourfold and, as a result of force transfer through the thenar eminence, more than doubles the ability of the proximal phalanges to transmit ‘punching’ force. Thus, the proportions of the human hand provide a performance advantage when striking with a fist.

If I understand this correctly, there was no difference between the Fist and Palm strikes, however, the structure of the buttressed Fist resulted in a fourfold increase of force transfer. Basically the shape of the human hand  provides an advantage to striking with the Fist.

For all the Martial Artists who prefer to strike with an open Palm, did this new research help to change your mind?





REFERENCES

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/08/24/sports/tyson-hurts-right-hand-in-scuffle-with-a-boxer.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20790294
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/216/2/236.abstract 
http://jeb.biologists.org/content/216/2/i.1.full



NOTE:  My sincerest gratitude to Mentoir K. for sending me the BBC article link.

Monday, January 28, 2013

ARTICLES: Craig Gemeiner - Open Hands (striking with open hands essay)



This essay provides a brief explanation of the open hand hits pertaining to the older la savate and Defense Dans La Rue systems.

“Even if the hand is used for war like purposes, it is in ninety- nine cases out of every one hundred used with the fingers open”

- E.B.Michell, English boxing professor and author, 1889. 

By the late 1700s, Frenchmen were settling arguments by using a Parisian form of boot fighting which came to called la savate. A colloquial word meaning shoe la savate was often associated with the delivery of the “Coup De Grace” or “finishing blow” in a street confrontation. Renowned as a simple but brutally effective system of street combat its emphasis was not to engage the opponent for long periods of time, but to terminate the confrontation in the quickest possible way.

Michel Pisseux, a product of this early savate system, was born in 1794 and raised in La Courtille considered at the time one of the roughest areas of Paris . As a young man Pisseux would frequent various fighting districts to observe and catalogue the most practical strikes used by the street brawler’s of the era.
Realizing that the more natural use of the open hand as a weapon for both attack and defense along with the street kicking skills was an inseparable foundation for many street fighters, Pisseux would adopt these same techniques into his own personal system of savate. The influence of these open hand skills was reflected in Michel’s “La savate guard” (picture –1). Resembling the passive guards made popular by today’s reality based fighting systems the hands were held open in front of the body in a non-aggressive posture, the enemy was never sure if the savateur would make an attack or stand down.


Open Hands_pic1


Although we do not know who Michel’s instructor was, or if he even had one, we do know that by the 1820s he had opened his own salle where he provided tuition in several French combat disciplines. These disciplines including la savate, la canne and baton, his clientele would come to include such aristocrats as Lord Seymour and the Duke of Orleans.

Grouping his savate skills into 15 divisions of la canne and 15 divisions of street kicking techniques Pisseux’s approach to savate would later be documented in a small booklet entitled “La Art De La Savate et De La Canne”.

LA MUSETTE
Several of the names used to describe the hand techniques of la savate are idiomatic expressions that have all but faded into obscurity. The word musette meaning “horses feed bag” is perhaps savate’s most powerful of all open hand strikes. Delivered in an upward or linear trajectory the palm of the hand was used to strike the adversary’s chin, nose or – “feedbag”. When thrown from Pisseux’s la savate guard the musette traveled below the opponent’s visuals often catching him totally unaware.


 Open Hands_pic2  Open Hands_pic3


PIQUE
The use of the fingers to attack the adversary’s eyes could be used simultaneously with a variety of open hand blows, and required little power to produce disabling results.


 Open Hands_pic4


LA BAFFE
La Baffe means to “clout” someone across the face, head or neck. This blow was delivered with the palm of the hand in a horizontal or oblique plan. The hand configuration used when throwing la baffe consisted of  a broad or flattened palm , which covers a wider area of impact.

LE REVERS DE BAFFE
A variation of la baffe was a backhand strike called – ‘le revers de baffe. Often delivered in a horizontal or oblique plan, the neck could be targeted to create a brachial stun. A quick back hand flick to the eyes was enough to cause pain and obscure the adversary’ visuals opening him up to more substantial blows. Should the hands be positioned into the front or side trouser pockets a backhand slap to the groin was also possible.
A ploy favored by the French Apaches was to lull the intended victim into a false sense of security with idle talk while holding both hands in their front pockets. From this position the hoodlum would suddenly attack with a backhand slap up into the face. This was followed immediately with a head but into the groin or stomach region and a double leg pick up, dumping the victim onto his back.




Open Hands_pic5 

    Open Hands_pic6


LE TRANCH
Tranche, meaning to chop, is an effective edge of hand blow taken from Jiu-jitsu and adopted into the French –“ Defense Dan’s La Rue” systems during the early 1900s.

Delivered along multiple trajectories many practitioners favored the traditional hand configuration with the fingers adducted and the thumb extended out to the side. Perhaps the most versatile of all open hand hits, la tranche could strike various targets from a multitude of positions either on its own or in conjunction with other hand techniques.


Open Hands_pic7 



Open Hands_pic8 

 Open Hands_pic9

For those who may deem open hand techniques as unusual, primitive or even crude it should be taken into consideration that few people are able to use the fist naturally without prior training. Even with extensive training hand blows using the knuckles are prone to damage when impacting hard skeletal structures such as the cranium or mandible.

While some may argue that by specifically targeting soft tissue areas one can reduce the likelihood of such damage. However  it can also be argued that when placed in adrenaline induced confrontations such fine skill accuracy is limited at best. Unlike a bare knuckle punch the use of the open hand to strike with is unlikely to collapse and suffer major injury at the point of impact.

La Savate instructors like Michel Pisseux knew that open hand blows were tried and true methods, and to this very day there principles remain tactically correct for use in personal combat.



Bibliography
Charlemont J . L’ Art De La Boxe Boxe “>Francaise Et De La Canne. Paris : A ‘L ‘ Academie De Boxe ,24, Rue Des Martyrs 1899.

Traite De Canne, Boxe et Baton Theorie Et Exercices. Paris : Delarue, Libraire – Editeur.

Formation La Savate. Paris : FFBFS DA 1998.

Roubaud. E. & De Lolme and Wallace. A French and English Dictionary, compiled from the best authorities of both languages. Paris , London , New York & Melbourne : Cassel & Company , Limited 1900.

Dubois Georges. Comment Se Defendre. Paris : Bibliotheque Sportive Nilsson 1916.

E.B. Michell, Armstrong Walter , Pollock H. Walter, Grove C. F and Camille Prevost , Maitre D’Armes. Fencing ,Boxing Wrestling. London : Spottiswoode and CO 1889.




NOTES

This essay "Open Hands" is by Craig Gemeiner © 2004. My deepest gratitude to Craig Gemeiner for his kind permission in reposting his essay to my site. Contents cannot be copied, republished or transmitted without prior consent from him. Copied from http://savateaustralia.wordpress.com/essays/open-hands/

Craig Gemeiner specializes in the study of traditional Western fighting arts, particularly Savate and its associated disciplines, and adapting them to modern use. He is one of few instructors in the world teaching ‘Defense dans la Rue’ , a system of self-defense developed in Paris during the late 1800s and has given seminars in Australia, Japan, USA, New Zealand and Italy. For an expanded background on his background, please check out:  http://gemeineracademy.wordpress.com/about-us/about-craig-gemeiner/
and his various sites below:

http://www.savateaustralia.com/
http://lacannevigny.wordpress.com/
http://defensedanslarue.wordpress.com/
http://www.freewebstore.org/bootfightercatalogue/index.aspx?pageid=1000146
http://bootfighter.wordpress.com/
http://gemeineracademy.wordpress.com/

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