Attacking from 21 feet away.


So- I follow this Wing Chun group on Facebook and every now and then I get some really weird posts from them. By now I am used to the MMA type videos where people have added long range kicks and grappling to make Wing Chun more suitable for tournament fighting- or for fighting martial artists from other styles...

This particular video you see above was particularly weird, though. This is not even Wing Chun. The person who posted the video says that this particular technique comes from a Chinese martial art called Wu Shan.

Apparently, this strange footwork technique is called "Riding the Dragon" and it seems to have been meant to take you to your opponent over a space of 21 feet or 6.4 metres in our measuring standard.

First thing that came to my mind when I saw the video was the stepping punch (oi zuki) of Japanese Karate's Tatsuya Naka. Not only was this punch used in demonstrations, but also been in 2 movies. Youtube has these two clips of him that I was able to find so far:

https://youtu.be/dUTEfiZT9jc?t=293

https://youtu.be/lfeXv7BZWwQ?t=37  

What I did not like about the way "Riding the Dragon" was executed in the video was that there was too much upward movement- which appeared to be a waste of energy. So- lowering my hips, relaxing my shoulders and trying my level best to keep my body one height this was what I was able to pull off...



Still- while it was supposed to be faster it did not feel so, so I gave this guy's video another look.


What I found was that he has used half the amount of steps I have. So- part of the trick behind this technique is that it did not use normal steps, but what we call "flying steps" which meant that this guy actually leapt at least 2 paces ahead with every step.

This is the kind of footwork I choose to avoid, however. Reason why I don't like it is that this a good way to slip and fall on some surfaces that we find outdoors. Hell- I have even seen people at Karate tournaments slip and fall on normal tournament floors when they use flying steps.

Another reason why I don't like it is because I don't like charging in from too far away. With the ease at which we sidestep attacks from 1 pace away, imagine the fun we have with someone leaping/ running at us from 6 paces!

Still- if I absolutely HAVE to make an attempt at reaching someone from 6 and a half paces away this is what I'd do:

1. Relax the shoulders and upper body. They don't have any work to do here.

2. Don't lead with the head. That is power to the wrong place. 

3. Move with the hips first. I did try shooting out the foot first, but it did not generate enough momentum. What I found to work better was to push the hip towards the target and let the legs follow with the first step. The next couple of steps after that just serve to augment the momentum that was created at the start.

4. Do all 7 steps in one breath. We usually exhale when we punch, right? For this technique I would give one long exhalation that stops only after the last step.

Still- I don't like doing that.


Furthest I'd want to be when I start my attack is 1 long pace away. 



Apart from a lunge punch I can also close the gap with a kick then...


One other aspect of Riding the Dragon is the zig-zag path that is used during the step. In light of what Sifu Tony Puyot shows in this video with an unarmed attack against an unarmed opponent, I can imagine that the same can be done with longer strides with weapons.
https://youtu.be/Sz6hcfXI28s


Well...

That's it for today. Do you like attacking from far away? If so- how do you make it work?

Let me know.

Until we meet here again- train well and have a good week!



    

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