Wen Hsiu Quan

Today's footwork technique is found in Karate and Kungfu. I have originally found it in Taijiquan in a sequence of steps called "Push Four Corners". Long before that, however, I have found it in some of Karate's katas. The function of this step is to throw your weight into the punch you deliver. It throws body weight as far forward as possible with as much momentum as possible. The difficult part of this movement is that you end up having only one foot to stop this forward charge from going too far. Judoka can easily exploit the situation of having your weight on your lead foot, so you will most likely find that teachers of Japanese Karate will discourage you from using this step in a fight. Nonetheless- it is a better way to close the gap between your opponent and you than bending your body to reach over to him (or her- I swear I mean either gender whenever I say "him"!)    In my Taijiquan forms I start off with this back-legged stance...

Today's footwork technique ought to look familiar to karate people. The best video I could find about it is Sifu Tony Puyot's video on his Mantis Boxers Youtube channel, though. Ironically, where our Shotokan sensei wants to discourage us from starting to move with the rear foot first, because it is too obvious Sifu Puyot says that it is better to do so , BECAUSE, moving with the front foot first is too obvious. Regardless of what your opinion on this type of step may be, it can't be disputed that it improves your reach with a metre or so. This helps to launch penetrating attacks against an opponent who prefers to retreat out of reach when you attack. Here is the video if you prefer that to text: https://youtu.be/cntomHWi5b4 Let's look at what makes this step effective: 1. You start off at what may feel like a "safe" distance. Opponent may retreat every time he thinks you are advancing... 2. Although not obvious here, the upper bod...

Hello, everyone. I hope you are all well. My Saturday has started off pretty well with what WAS in this bowl! Yep. Life is just wonderful if there is a lovely Chinese woman in your life who makes dumplings for you... :D Besides making dumplings disappear I want to talk to you about one of the techniques the Ninjas use to make them disappear: The Vanishing Step! I play a lot of video games- and this move actually featured in games like Tekken (used by Kunimitsu), Soul Blade (Taki) and Street Fighter EX2 (Doctrine Dark). I actually wanted a sample of Taki or Kunimistu, but ended up finding this Street Fighter sample. https://youtu.be/HSg_p5us7-4 That looks a lot more realistic than what we have seen Goku do in fights like this: https://youtu.be/0w-kOKioMhE Well- the first time I have learnt about this move was from a very short kata called the "Mi Lu" (Lost Track) kata. I am not even 100% sure whether its origins are Chinese or Japanese (because I have nev...

Earlier this week Abisha Soans from our Martial Arts Forums group on Google+ asked what I have meant by "gathering of energy" in an earlier post about kata. I always know in the back of my mind that not all martial artists emphasise- in some cases give any regard to- the same things that others do, but I I am often so careful not to ramble off the topic in my posts that a lot of explanations never come. The best example I can think of giving you to illustrate when energy is gathered and when it is released is with strikes and percussive blows. When non-martial arts folk (can I call them Muggles or something like that?) want to hit someone really hard they inhale, pull back the hand and then swing through. Then- when you teach them to cock the fist at the hip like a karateka to do a straight punch you will still notice some unnecessary preparatory movement before the punch goes. Don't laugh too hard at this. I also know about karate folk who do not make a...

Earlier this week Abisha Soans from our Martial Arts Forums group on Google+ asked what I have meant by "gathering of energy" in an earlier post about kata. I always know in the back of my mind that not all martial artists emphasise- in some cases give any regard to- the same things that others do, but I I am often so careful not to ramble off the topic in my posts that a lot of explanations never come. The best example I can think of giving you to illustrate when energy is gathered and when it is released is with strikes and percussive blows. When non-martial arts folk (can I call them Muggles or something like that?) want to hit someone really hard they inhale, pull back the hand and then swing through. Then- when you teach them to cock the fist at the hip like a karateka to do a straight punch you will still notice some unnecessary preparatory movement before the punch goes. Don't laugh too hard at this. I also know about karate folk who do not make a...