Wen Hsiu Quan

Hello again, everyone. Today's move actually pretty much speaks for itself. Still- it helps o look a bit at its finer details. I have never seen any kata or form that shows any of the defensive footwork that we find in sports martial arts. In competitions we often see fighters retreating while they block or parry and shifting forward again to counterattack. Still- we don't see this happen in our katas. Well- in Kungfu's taolu- as they call their katas we do find moves for withdrawing and sidestepping as well as for advancing. Still- the majority of moves in these forms are advancing moves. Moving forwards into an attack looks like suicide most of the time. Still- almost all of the forms we see seem to prescribe it. Why would anyone want to do it? Well- here is my answer. Take it or leave it. Sure- it is probably the safest to first evade your opponent's attack before attacking, but you practice martial arts on a regular basis, right? ...

Hello, everyone and welcome back! Today we are at this sequence in the form: The sequence started from drawing in the left leg from the last Horse Stance while shooting out the Phoenix Eye Fist. That high guard at the beginning is a dead giveaway that I am ducking a face punch while countering with that blow. Then of course- we see the last two blows following shortly afterward. For those of you who has not yet seen a Phoenix Eye Fist- this is what it looks like: As you can see, my index finger is curled up, but made to have the first joint from my knuckle portrude to give it a hard point with which to hit soft or sensitive targets. I have been practicing this particular kind of blow against a heavy bag for some time now, so you can see some callousing on the impact point. Now- blocking works and learning to block is a good way to develop defense, but it is not necessarily the most efficient way to take control of a fight. The thing that m...

Hello, everyone and welcome back! Today we are looking at the first movement that features in the Defense Form. The nice thing about blocking and striking moves in forms is that they are at least obvious. You can easily see what they were meant to do and are not really open to other possible interpretations. Well- at least here you are getting the discussion from the creator of this form, so you really don't need to exert yourself trying to guess what I was doing. I'll tell you.  When I first took up Karate I have, like many white belts, learnt to block a punch and then to counterattack. That was basic practice and prearranged sparring drills for you. Later on I found out the hard way that landing a block did not always put you in the clear. In free sparring situations your opponent does not come at you with just one punch. In fact, he does more than just punch then... As I always did back then, I went and done some research. It was a while until...

Hello, everyone and welcome back.  Today I introduce you to the form that appears in my book on Defense. If you have read the book before you may find it familiar. If not- it is still a good time to join us since I have begun posting breakdowns of the forms and their applications. Although it is called the "Defense Form" for ease of reference the form does contain attacks. Every block or sidestep here is shown with an attack that immediately follows it.  When I decided to document Wenhsiuquan techniques I have especially paid attention to this book, because much of the difference between Wenhsiuquan and its sources lies with defense. Wenhsiuquan drew upon Karate, Kung Fu and Jujutsu. Jujutsu does have blocks and parries, although it is more known as a grappling art. Of these 3 martial arts Karate has the most blocks and parries that I know. I have not yet seen any Kung Fu forms, for instance that contain a rising forearm block ( age uke ). Su...