Pivoting

[Broken]

I notice that pivoting on the both heels is used a lot e.g. in a pak da drill. I can't help but wonder if there is any good reason for this as to me it just seems to reduce stability.
The step-pivot used in William Cheung's style has the advantage of improving your position but obviously will be slower. Is there a reason why pivoting on the balls of the feet is not used?

 

[Cuentada]

i just started yuen kay san wing chun and they pivot on the balls of the feet. I have to get used to this after training in the yip man lineage where shifting is on the heels. Also, the straight/chain punch is done more in a drilling motion and fully extended, something i really have to get used to.

 

[Gwailao]

pivioting, as is stance, and weight, will be different, not just linage specific but also to the teacher. im of the yip man leing and we piviot on the middle on the foot. not the balls, and not the heels. the "bubbling well" as its called in tai chi classics. And as wing chun is a very indepth art, there are usually more then one reason for doing anything. And even then you may learn one thing one way for a specific reason, or isolate a part of something, or maybe your not skilled enough to see or appreciate training it another way. But with anything people ask which is the right way? well which way can you make work for you effectively? then its right. Not everyone is made the same, repsondes the same, or is capable of the same things. So even in the same school people will fight and apply things differently. Im not saying dont trust your teacher. Just dont take everything at face value, there is usually ten more layers beneatht he value your seeing of something. And be patient, with out a foundation, nothing you learn after well be solid. I dont try to get caught up in the whole wing chun linage thing, they do this they do that. Sure linages do things differently and even people in the same linage do it differently. And even some teacher teach differently in different points of their life. Do what works for you.

 

[Cuentada]

I think i agree that some people even within the same lineage do things differently but I think this has more to do with training methodology and not core principles and concepts.
Be open-minded, very open-minded. I was skeptical about pivoting on the balls of feet, but all you have to do is test out an application on the sifu and see if it really works compared to what you have been used to. Then decide if it can work for you.

 

[Broken]

Thanks for the replies. Unfortunately there is no wing chun school near me so I'm just learning what I can without a teacher. As a result I'm free to look at different lineages so I try to find advantages and reasons for the differences. Of course testing the different ways of doing things is a good idea but it can be difficult to tell if something is ineffective or if i'm just not doing it right.
By the way yuen kay san wing chun by rene ritchie is in the post to me Looks like a good read.