# Please help me with my essay



## Reeksta (Dec 10, 2014)

Hi guys. As part of my first wing chun assessment I will have to write an essay on chung seen. Thus far I know that this is the vertical centrline running through the body, that many of the most vulnerable targets on the body are on it . . . and that's about it.
Any input in terms of what would be good areas to research, or insight into the importance of chung seen from a wing chun perspective would be greatly appreciated. I won't be taking the assessment for a couple of months yet so I have a lot of time to read up but don't really know where to start.
Thanks
Reeksta


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## Danny T (Dec 10, 2014)

Reeksta said:


> Hi guys. As part of my first wing chun assessment I will have to write an essay on chung seen. Thus far I know that this is the vertical centrline running vertically through the body, that many of the most vulnerable targets on the body are on it . . . and that's about it.
> Any input in terms of what would be good areas to research, or insight into the importance of chung seen from a wing chun perspective would be greatly appreciated. I won't be taking the assessment for a couple of months yet so I have a lot of time to read up but don't really know where to start.
> Thanks
> Reeksta


I learned the term as:
Jung sin; centerline or centerline plane
Have you not learned the lines or is this a research your instructor is requiring you to do on your own?


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## kung fu fighter (Dec 10, 2014)

Deadly Pressure Points Dim Mak Centreline Theory Practical Self Defence DVD


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## Reeksta (Dec 10, 2014)

Danny T said:


> I learned the term as:
> Jung sin; centerline or centerline plane
> Have you not learned the lines or is this a research your instructor is requiring you to do on your own?


I've learned the basic idea of there being a vertical centreline through the body and a horizontal centreline between two combatants (and I'll hopefully be taught more about this before I'm required to submit the essay) but Sifu wants me to write a proper essay on chung seen - what it is, why it's important and how it's specifically relevant to wing chun.


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## kung fu fighter (Dec 10, 2014)

Reeksta said:


> I've learned the basic idea of there being a vertical centreline through the body and a horizontal centreline between two combatants (and I'll hopefully be taught more about this before I'm required to submit the essay) but Sifu wants me to write a proper essay on chung seen - what it is, why it's important and how it's specifically relevant to wing chun.



Chung seen is the center axis of the body. It is important and specificly relevant to wing chun due to the fact that if one gains control of it, he/she can completely control the opponent's ability to defend himself and dominate him by distroying his center of gravity with devastating effects. in fact in my opinion it's is the essence or soul of the system and the entire wing chun system is built upon this idea.

In the internal arts (if your wing chun goes internal)  zhong ding is the establishing of "equilibrium". One aspect of equilibrium is your center line.

"Our central equilibrium include the center line -  If you have the central equilibrium established, you can feel a column develop between the top of your head and your feet. The central equilibrium strengthens our center line by giving it a lot of strength. A center line without the strength of central equilibrium is vulnerable to our opponent's attack. He/She can throw us off our balance very easily. With good central equilibrium, we can absorb or redirect the incoming force, and retaliate quickly. In short, our defence or attack will be much more efficient if we have strong central equilibrium."


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## donald1 (Dec 10, 2014)

i dont know anything about wingchun but i could probably give advice for the essay portion. a good essay starts with a good format. this is how i like making essays yours could be different but just a suggestion.  i like to make a five part essay, the first part is the introduction. i occasionaly like to start with a rhytorical question.) the introduction is going to state what the essay is about and will also tell what the next three parts are about. the 2nd 3rd and 4th part are three topics about wingchun. and the last one a conclusion. or the finishing touches


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## Brummie (Dec 11, 2014)

I'm sure by the time you are ready for 1st assessment, you will have an idea what to write regarding centreline theory. I think it is just to show you have a basic understanding of the principle behind it.


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## Reeksta (Dec 11, 2014)

Thanks for the vote of confidence Brummie, hope you're right


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## Brummie (Dec 11, 2014)

I would recommend picking up a copy of 'simply wing chun' as well, the book covers, and can help with pretty much everything you will be learning for the first few assessments. It's a great art, hope you stick with it.


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## Hendrik (Dec 11, 2014)

Navin is correct. And here are more related to it .


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## Hendrik (Dec 11, 2014)

The center axis ( center line) And the three pathways which travel vertically within the body along with the center axis. 

yjkym in SNT develop these


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## Reeksta (Dec 11, 2014)

Brummie said:


> I would recommend picking up a copy of 'simply wing chun' as well, the book covers, and can help with pretty much everything you will be learning for the first few assessments. It's a great art, hope you stick with it.


Will do. Thanks for the tip


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## Treznor (Dec 12, 2014)

In addition to all of the above, attacking the centre line also transfers maximum energy (and therefore power) into the target...

Imagine standing in front of a ball hanging on a rope... If you punch it to either side (ie OFF the centre line), it'll spin away / bobble about...
If you punch it ON the CL, maximum power is transferred into the target.

Finally, if YOU control the centre line, it means your opponent doesn't... which means their attacks have to go around yours which will be slower than your direct / straight attack.

Hope this helps,

Mat


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## Marnetmar (Dec 12, 2014)

I like to imagine it as a vertical line that runs down the center of the body and into the ground through the base of the spine.

If you use proper footwork to assist you in striking while stepping into it, it's very easy to put your opponent off balance.


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## Reeksta (Dec 12, 2014)

This is all gold guys, thanks so much.
Btw Brummie, I picked up a copy of Simply Wing Chun on my lunchbreak today - turns out it's written by my Sifu! Hopefully this means that he will be in agreement with any info I nick from it lol


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## Brummie (Dec 12, 2014)

I know it is, that's why I recommended that particular book! I train under the same lineage.


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## Brummie (Dec 12, 2014)

If I recall correctly, 1st assessment covers- 
Basic stance
Basic punch
Chain punch
Turning punch
Biu ma stepping
Single chi sao
1st section of SLT


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## Reeksta (Dec 12, 2014)

Brummie said:


> I know it is, that's why I recommended that particular book! I train under the same lineage.


I should have guessed from your username. Whereabouts do you train? I'm at Hall Green.
Yes that's exactly what the first assessment entails. I'm pretty much there with everything except the first section of Siu Nim Tau and this essay


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## Brummie (Dec 12, 2014)

I found that watching ip chun do siu nim tao on youtube, helps learn the positions and sequence correctly when starting to learn it. I train at Halesowen, head instructor is Sifu Alan Bagley, Sifu Delroy Morgan also teaches there and they are both excellent. You probably know Sifu Del from Hall Green?


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## Reeksta (Dec 12, 2014)

Yes I do. Only met him once but he was very friendly and helpful


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## mograph (Dec 14, 2014)

How picky is your sifu on citing sources? In other words, does he care whether your claims are your opinion, or your experience, or something you read in a classic text or something one of us told you online?

No disrespect is meant to those contributing good information to the discussion; I'm just asking about how sifu feels about sources ... also, whether sifu wants you to learn while writing or wants you to express what you learned (and reflected upon) in class. If the former, then credibility of sources (as recognized by the reader) would be important in a formal essay. It's like lineage.

(I just finished an argumentative essay for a third-year university Cognitive Psychology course. Citations were a big deal, naturally.)


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## Reeksta (Dec 14, 2014)

That's a good question Mograph and one I will have to ask. To be honest I'm not expecting it to be like when I did my nursing degree because wing chun simply doesn't seem to lend itself to that model. Looking at the ol' hierarchy of evidence, to my knowledge only the bottom tier exists with regard to most non-competitive martial arts. I might be wrong of course and will welcome being enlightened if this is the case. Plus Brummie (who studies under the same organisation as myself) informs me that the essay is just to confirm that the student has a basic grasp of the principle, which implies that extensive citation won't be required.


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## mograph (Dec 14, 2014)

That's a great pyramid for the sciences, but maybe an MLA-ish (liberal arts) standard would be more appropriate?


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## Reeksta (Dec 14, 2014)

Very possibly but being honest I don't know the first thing about what that would be. Beyond my ken I'm afraid


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## Transk53 (Dec 14, 2014)

Reeksta said:


> That's a good question Mograph and one I will have to ask. To be honest I'm not expecting it to be like when I did my nursing degree because wing chun simply doesn't seem to lend itself to that model. Looking at the ol' hierarchy of evidence, to my knowledge only the bottom tier exists with regard to most non-competitive martial arts. I might be wrong of course and will welcome being enlightened if this is the case. Plus Brummie (who studies under the same organisation as myself) informs me that the essay is just to confirm that the student has a basic grasp of the principle, which implies that extensive citation won't be required.View attachment 19093



Looks rather corporate to me. The buzz word for example. I immediately think such and such Cohort of the such and such Legion. What is the meaning in this case?


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## Reeksta (Dec 14, 2014)

Transk53 said:


> Looks rather corporate to me. The buzz word for example. I immediately think such and such Cohort of the such and such Legion. What is the meaning in this case?


The pyramid? It's a visual representation of the hierarchy of evidence. Basically it lists different kinds of biomedical research in order of how reliable they are. It's primary purpose is to help healthcare professionals like doctors and nurses to support the treatments they administer with a proper evidence base so they can make the right choices for their patients. The word cohort in this instance just means a group of people being studied. With competitive martial arts like boxing, judo or MMA it's possible to apply similar principles because the data is there: which techniques have the highest success rate, which are seen most often in different weight classes, what percentage of bouts end via KO or ippon, things like that. The problem with wing chun or other arts solely practiced for self defence is that this isn't the case. It's all just anecdotes and opinion which may well be completely true but are impossible to verify scientifically. Personally I believe that the principles behind wing chun make sense and that the art is effective but I can't prove it, which makes writing an essay (the kind I would recognise anyway) with proper citation a bit difficult


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## Transk53 (Dec 14, 2014)

Reeksta said:


> The pyramid? It's a visual representation of the hierarchy of evidence. Basically it lists different kinds of biomedical research in order of how reliable they are. It's primary purpose is to help healthcare professionals like doctors and nurses to support the treatments they administer with a proper evidence base so they can make the right choices for their patients. The word cohort in this instance just means a group of people being studied. With competitive martial arts like boxing, judo or MMA it's possible to apply similar principles because the data is there: which techniques have the highest success rate, which are seen most often in different weight classes, what percentage of bouts end via KO or ippon, things like that. The problem with wing chun or other arts solely practiced for self defence is that this isn't the case. It's all just anecdotes and opinion which may well be completely true but are impossible to verify scientifically. Personally I believe that the principles behind wing chun make sense and that the art is effective but I can't prove it, which makes writing an essay (the kind I would recognise anyway) with proper citation a bit difficult



Wow that would be difficult I can imagine. Structure wise, the pyramid is understandable now. Thanks for enlightening me on that. Pretty cool actually.


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## Vajramusti (Dec 15, 2014)

Reeksta said:


> Hi guys. As part of my first wing chun assessment I will have to write an essay on chung seen. Thus far I know that this is the vertical centrline running through the body, that many of the most vulnerable targets on the body are on it . . . and that's about it.
> Any input in terms of what would be good areas to research, or insight into the importance of chung seen from a wing chun perspective would be greatly appreciated. I won't be taking the assessment for a couple of months yet so I have a lot of time to read up but don't really know where to start.
> Thanks
> Reeksta


--------------------------------

How is the essay coming. The centerline is connected to horizontal planes as well- creating 6 "dates" and related dynamics. Writing about wing chun isn't easy. Good luck with your essay. Try keeping it brief but clear- not easy


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## mograph (Dec 15, 2014)

Reeksta said:


> Very possibly but being honest I don't know the first thing about what [MLA format] would be. Beyond my ken I'm afraid


 Yeah, it's a bit lit-geeky. My suggestion was more about quoting and citing published works from respected press houses in the field. In taijiquan, I suppose you'd quote Yang Jwing-Ming, or the Classics translated by Wile, maybe. In your case, I'd read respected books on Wing Chun and quote from there.

But it might not be necessary -- it depends on what matters to Sifu. He might just want you to write what you think, not what authorities have written about the topic.

Side note: as for the actual specs of MLA citations, check out the OWL. But that would only be necessary if Sifu were an English Lit major who requested MLA format.


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## Reeksta (Dec 15, 2014)

mograph said:


> Yeah, it's a bit lit-geeky. My suggestion was more about quoting and citing published works from respected press houses in the field. In taijiquan, I suppose you'd quote Yang Jwing-Ming, or the Classics translated by Wile, maybe. In your case, I'd read respected books on Wing Chun and quote from there.


That's probably a more pragmatic approach to writing about these sort of arts, thanks for the advice


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