gongfu

 Some principles, are common to all gong fu methods. If these principles are adhered to, one is able to eventually begin to discover the right feeling for practicing gong fu. Before this feeling manifests, the feeling of the proper way of moving, a person’s gong fu is really no more than poorly executed series of techniques.

 Here are some key points, elaborated on, about gong fu in general.

 All of our power, even physical strength needs to have a root source. You have to push against the earth very hard in order to push a car. Why would punching someone in the head be any different. With this in mind, it stands to reason, that the firmer your root, the more powerful your attacks. This is true. It is true in boxing, muay thai, or any kind of fighting. The thing is, when you read kung fu books, they almost always talk about a “firm root” as if it just meant having strong legs. Maybe it is because most of the good teachers still don’t have the best english, or maybe it is because to someone who has been doing gong fu for 40 years, it just seems common sensical. While strong legs are important, having a rooted punch doesn’t just mean an arm that is connected to a torso which is connected to a strong set of legs. To firmly root a hand or elbow attack, a person should practice moving the muscles from the foot to the hand in the correct order. We do this, by understanding the postural requisits of gong fu. The knees are slightly bent, the hips are slightly tucked, the spine is straight, and the shoulders are rounded etc. All of these things have to do with transfering your force into your feet, and from your feet to other areas of the body. Don’t let that resonate mystically, I am talking about muscles and physics.

 This is the whole reason why we get that sinking feeling, which we direct to the center of the balls of the feet. When you really relax, and have a feel, you’ll notice why in order to do that, your knees must point in the direction of your toes etc. We lower our center, and grasp the ground with our feet, not only making us hard to move and well balanced, but able to deliver powerful blows.

 Sunken elbow. When you sink the elbows straight down, not only do you protect your joints and are able to deliver more force in a punch since the muscle has more power when it is somewhat contracted, but you can very quickly move the arm, generating more inertia, and also withdraw the arm easily to protect the ribs, minimizing the exposure of your body to your opponent.

 Don’t bob up and down. By moving the body up and down as you are traveling, not only do you waste an enormous amount of energy, but you lose your root, and your speed is minimized.

 Economy of motion. Each technique is designed to use as little movement as possible. There are almost no techniques in any style of gonf fu which require you to withdraw, or wind up for a motion while you aren’t doing something else at the same tiem. There is just open, and closed. When one side is open the other side should be closed most of the time, so that it can open, and thus follow up, while the other side closes, guarding the body and preparing for the next attack. Wasting movement wastes power, energy and time.

 The limbs are near the body. When you have attacked, you follow up or withdraw the limbs unless baiting the opponent. You do not punch, even in your forms, and leave your arm sticking out unless it is a qigong or li building set. When training fighting movements, you do not leave the arms or legs out since they can easily be grapped or attacked.

 Relax. Even in the hardest or most external/physical types of gong fu, when fighting, the body is very relaxed. This is essential to speed, freedom of movement, and more stamina.

 To master gong fu, master it’s basic principles, core techniques and conditioning. Gong fu, is the basics.

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