13 year old Wing Tsun kid - Any thoughts ? Hope you like :)

[ShortBridge]

I'm taking my si mui to lunch in a little while to thank her for teaching my class while I was out of town. She's trained with us for about 8 years and had no training before she came. She has grown more and progressed more than 95% of the men who I've trained with and she became a mother in the process.

She is a sweet and awesome person and also a bad-*** below the surface. She is always my first choice of who to trust my own students with when I'm gone.

 

[LFJ]

A couple things.

What would the attacker have done if he had been more obstinate? Looks like he was just going in for a hug, no real plan. I think there should be more pressure, even for a simple drill like this.

And secondly, you ask why not just keep punching? Well, chain punching is great when the opponent just turns away and tries to duck and cover, but it's actually the easiest thing to stop/counter with little effort. So, again, had the attacker not been so passive, the defender wouldn't be given the impression that things will be so clean and simple.

Not saying the drill has to be more complicated. It can still be kept simple, but given more realistic pressure at least.

 

[Callen]

A couple things.

What would the attacker have done if he had been more obstinate? Looks like he was just going in for a hug, no real plan. I think there should be more pressure, even for a simple drill like this.

And secondly, you ask why not just keep punching? Well, chain punching is great when the opponent just turns away and tries to duck and cover, but it's actually the easiest thing to stop/counter with little effort. So, again, had the attacker not been so passive, the defender wouldn't be given the impression that things will be so clean and simple.

Not saying the drill has to be more complicated. It can still be kept simple, but given more realistic pressure at least.

Good points. The example drill does seem well paced for a beginning 13 year old student though. How long has he been training? It's much more effective to turn-up the pressure as the practitioner's understanding and skill progresses, especially with younger students. While I agree with LFJ that the attacker was a little passive in the video, there should always be levels to training.

Most fights at school or with bullies start with pushing. The auto-response of Chain Punching after being pushed is always a great drill for kids. The average attacker, will not defend against them very well. His knowledge base and application should increase as he and his Wing Chun matures. Looking forward to seeing more from this kid as he continues his journey.

 

[geezer]

Most fights at school or with bullies start with pushing. The auto-response of Chain Punching after being pushed is always a great drill for kids. The average attacker, will not defend against them very well. His knowledge base and application should increase as he and his Wing Chun matures. Looking forward to seeing more from this kid as he continues his journey.

The only trouble with that response is that it will result in an automatic 10 day suspension from school in the district where I work ...and similar penalties in most other districts. That can result in angry parents blaming the WC instructor. Right or wrong, such a pre-emptive response comes with consequences, and so should be reserved for extreme cases of self defense against violent assault.

A couple years back I witnessed an argument between two high school students suddenly reach the flash-point and a large athletic kid hauled-off and punched a much smaller boy hard enough to break his nose. The attacker was suspended for ten days and the boy with the broken nose, was suspended for just five (he would have gotten ten days as well if I hadn't gone to bat for him).

Seriously, today's mindless "zero tolerance" policies in schools mean that even young kid's must learn effective awareness, avoidance, de-escalation, and escape skills even in schoolyard tussles. Honestly, they may face a higher bar in proving self-defence to school administrators than an adult dealing with the authorities in a similar encounter.

Other than that, I agree that chain punching is an effective instinctive response. And sometimes it might be worth the consequences to put a stop to bullying. It's a tough call.

 

[Callen]

Yes sir. I agree with those statements as well.

It's always good for kids to understand effective awareness, avoidance, de-escalation, and escape skills regardless of their ability to defend themselves. In fact, those should also be taught by their Sifu. In my opinion, one of the most important lessons for kids learning Gong Fu (or any Martial Art) is the concept of respect, responsibility and discipline. Teaching the traditions of Wu De should be part of a young student's curriculum from day one.

 

[PiedmontChun]

At the very least, I would think a good response to train for when pushed is immedietely raising hands to guard (man sau wu sau) with forward intention (versus just posing in mid air). From there it can shield or intercept an incoming strike much faster than having hands at your side, and its still an essentially defensive posture, not offensive if there is concern about kids getting flack for counter attacking a bully. Pretty basic.

I was a big kid growing up and didn't get bullied by anyone my own age; I did see much smaller friends and girls get mercilessly hassled though. Its ironic and strange that the things we have "zero tolerence" for in schools and punish both parties for could often be considered "assault" or at least "harrasment" in the adult world, complete with a legal system to uphold the distinction. How many adults would appreciate what is essentially victim blaming / shaming if they defended themselves only to face the same punishment as their attacker?

 

[Jake104]

The only trouble with that response is that it will result in an automatic 10 day suspension from school in the district where I work ...and similar penalties in most other districts. That can result in angry parents blaming the WC instructor. Right or wrong, such a pre-emptive response comes with consequences, and so should be reserved for extreme cases of self defense against violent assault.

A couple years back I witnessed an argument between two high school students suddenly reach the flash-point and a large athletic kid hauled-off and punched a much smaller boy hard enough to break his nose. The attacker was suspended for ten days and the boy with the broken nose, was suspended for just five (he would have gotten ten days as well if I hadn't gone to bat for him).

Seriously, today's mindless "zero tolerance" policies in schools mean that even young kid's must learn effective awareness, avoidance, de-escalation, and escape skills even in schoolyard tussles. Honestly, they may face a higher bar in proving self-defence to school administrators than an adult dealing with the authorities in a similar encounter.

Other than that, I agree that chain punching is an effective instinctive response. And sometimes it might be worth the consequences to put a stop to bullying. It's a tough call.

At my sons high school just being involved in a physical altercation results in automatic suspension for all parties. So if student A attacks student B and student B does nothing. Both parties get suspended. So logically if your going to do the time no matter what? You might as well do the crime? I tell my son who's a senior now, to defend himself no matter what. I'll handle the staff. I'll pretend that what he did ( standing up and defending himself) was wrong and on the way home I'll buy him an ice cream cone!