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| Q: Should we "draw in our elbows" when practicing Sticking Arms? |
| To answer the question, we need to first establish a basic understanding among ourselves about Ving Tsun Sticking Arms. I am going to describe my interpretation of Ving Tsun Sticking Arms and explain it in simple terms in order to get the message across accurately. |
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Ving Tsun Sticking Arms is an important training medium in Ving Tsun martial arts, but it is never a means to determining victory in a fight, nor is it the only test against which combat skills are measured, and it is surely not the way to separate life from death. I urge fellow practitioners to take time to revisit the words above. I have seen many a practitioner hold on to such misplaced believes in their Sticking Arms practice and end up, albeit aggressive enough, running into each other’s punches. They would still find themselves rather nervous and constantly out of breath during contact. The important adage of "strike as a strike is called for; hold as a strike is expected; and strike as a strike is unanticipated" seems to never have entered their minds. If they go on in this manner, they would find their practice "still a new thing after a hundred days, an old thing after a thousand days". What good is this meaningless practice? Do bear in mind, Ving Tsun is not a competitive sport; it is the art and craft that determine the outcome of a lethal combat. The two are distinct circumstances. |
Therefore, the aim of Ving Tsun Sticking Arms is to develop in oneself the reflexes and abilities suitable in a close quarter combat. It goes on to enhance the reactions required in creating opportunities and flexibly using the various Ving Tsun moves. For example, "shoot directly forward whenever contact is lost" is a reflex which requires "delivering forces over a long bridge". Ving Tsun Sticking Arms begins with single-sided Sticking Arms, transitioning through "separate arms" to double-sided Sticking Arms and finally sequences of attacks and defenses in the double-sided Sticking Arms condition.
Their goals are to
- develop accurate reflexes via training of sensitivity in the hand and the forearm;
- develop the necessary conditions and subsequently natural habits of "drawing in the elbow"
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| Now we focus our discussion on the required conditions and desired habits of double-sided Sticking Arms. Early on in the learning process, the Sao Lim Tau form already highlights the concept and requirements of drawing in the elbow. In training Sticking Arms from single to double sided, the requirements are increasingly complex and the sense of tension and immediacy as in the face of a battle are increasingly acute. Since it is not natural to an untrained person to draw in the elbow, keep it there and constantly make adjustments around and above the waist area, these actions demand patience and repeated corrections, adjustment and contrasts before any sense of control can begin to develop. If you have reached a stage where you are able to control the actions at will, then it is unnecessary to deliberate draw your elbow in merely for the sake of it during a double-sided Sticking Arms practice. In fact, to be able to draw in the elbow in total control is a signal that you can transmit forces effectively through your arm. The force can be a force delivered from the arm, or an incoming force being received by the arm. Therefore, before you intend to deliver or receive a force, you need only keep your muscles in a lax state, and elbow in a slightly bent shape. At the moment when you exert a force forward, you then draw in the elbow en route as part of the movement. |
| To summarize the message from the point of view of learning, when practicing straight punches and when working on double-side Sticking Arms, it is useful to deliberately use a bit more effort to draw in the elbows. It is because by doing so, the student can better train his or her ability to return the elbows to a vantage position throughout the various up and down movements of the arms. Once the technique has become natural, the student should then work to avoid the idea of deliberately drawing in the elbow, so that he or she can then better develop the ability to sense incoming forces while keeping the body in a relaxed state. This is an important transition if one is to obtain the abilities to "start late and reach first", "shoot directly forward whenever contact is lost", and deliver an instantaneous, explosive bodily force. So can we say it is wrong to insist on drawing in the elbow? It is clearly not wrong, at least when training in early stages. But it will no doubt be an obstacle to developing combat conditions of higher qualities. I would therefore suggest to those long-time practitioners who are still looking to find their desired reflexes, techniques and powers, to see if reexamining their idea of drawing in the elbow will lead to a useful breakthrough. |
Author: Cliff Au-Yeung Kim Man
Date: May 28, 2008
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