| Wing Chun is a wonderfully fluid martial art with | | | | throws, feints and combinations of them - and, |
| practices and techniques that flow nicely from | | | | when I'd injured my feet earlier, I could practice |
| form to form, with locks, throws and strikes. | | | | at home without gimping around the martial arts |
| However, they all take practice, and if you go to | | | | school. |
| a martial arts school, you'll find that school time is | | | | Now, I know - this is Yoshi telling you about yet |
| best devoted to lessons with hands on help and | | | | another form of "sit on the couch and learn |
| sparring, so you can see how those techniques | | | | martial arts". No amount of watching a video will |
| match up when faced against a real person. | | | | give you the techniques if you don't actually work |
| Wooden dummy techniques are a good way to | | | | out with a wooden dummy. Most of the dummies |
| practice them when you're not in class. | | | | you can get will be just fine; you might want to |
| So there's a premium spent on practicing the | | | | ask your wife first before setting one up in the |
| forms outside of the school, so that you're ready | | | | living room. (My wife makes me do my martial |
| for the next lesson - just like going to class in high | | | | arts practice downstairs in the basement. In her |
| school takes homework, so does martial arts | | | | words, "If it's going to smell like a gym, I want it |
| practice. Now, you can get a lot of benefit from a | | | | some place where I don't have to look at it."). So, |
| wooden dummy - the bits that extend out make | | | | be sure to go through the techniques slowly and |
| a good brace point for practicing grapples and | | | | carefully at first. One step at a time, so you don't |
| throws, and give you practice in slamming your | | | | injure yourself, and so you understand everything |
| forearms into something hard so that you won't | | | | you're seeing. Then, pick up the pace and work |
| flinch when you do your blocks. | | | | through the drills. |
| One of the best techniques I've found is to follow | | | | So, I can absolutely recommend these. While a |
| along with a DVD. DVD players are cheap, you | | | | dummy won't teach you how to throw a block |
| can pause the action and repeat the motion on | | | | against an incoming strike, it absolutely will let you |
| the screen a couple of times before you run your | | | | practice your forms so that everything you do is |
| hands into the practice dummy, and you can | | | | fluid, and on the level of muscle memory, rather |
| analyze what you're doing. Some of the Wing | | | | than something you think about, step by step by |
| Chun dummy techniques I've learned are strokes, | | | | step. |