How does learning to attack the balance of the opponent in chi sau transfer to fighting? What is this chi sau aimed at developing in terms of fighting?
---In this case I think it is about learning to control the opponent from the bridge. You are already in contact with the opponent in Chi Sau. So it is about learning how to control the opponent while hitting him after contact is established. So once a fight enters the "Chi Sau range" and you have established a bridge, these skills of controlling the opponent and breaking his balance and structure to gain the advantage kick in.
I see that it approaches chi sau as a kind of standing grappling with hitting. This seems to be a literal approach to chi sau, i.e. that chi sau just is what it is training, and the aim is to fight in that way? But then I don't see such a thing in the fights of Alan's people. Shouldn't I be seeing it?
---It's about learning to control while hitting. That only happens when you have a bridge. If you don't have a bridge you are just punching or kicking. In an MMA situation it becomes really hard to establish and maintain that bridge I think. It happens very briefly. In a setting where its all about punching and kicking, what you are going to see predominantly is punching and kicking! But if you see footage of Alan himself sparring with people in the gym...you see a lot more of what is happening in the Chi Sau videos. I'm sure if we saw footage of WSLVT people in an MMA situation, we wouldn't see anything that looked like the videos that PB puts up either!
So is HS a kind of wing chun genius, developing it himself from core principles? Or is he getting it from another person? On forums he seems to opt for the second choice, but many others seem to argue the point. If he is making it up then fine by me.
---I'm no expert on Hendrik or how he has learned what he knows. From my impressions....he has some pretty extensive background of working with good people, has done a lot of research from old sources on his own, and then over the years has brought that together in his own way.
I do think he has a huge problem trying to communicate what his ideas actually are. I actually don't find RC or AO all that much more helpful in explaining. At least AO does post clips and tries to show what HS only talks about, but there is nowhere to ask questions about it and no feedback given.
---It is what it is. I can't explain how other people choose to justify things. I will say that in the past Alan has spent lots of time on forums trying to explain what he does. He is now to the point where he isn't going to waste time on people that don't seem to get it or come across as simply antagonistic. And this newer forceflow stuff is much harder to explain in a written format anyway. Alan figures that if someone is truly interested in what he is doing, they will subscribe to his mentorship program where they can see detailed explanations and demonstrations on video and he will answer any questions to the best of his abilities. Sure he charges money for that, because he has put a lot of time and effort into it. It really is like attending a seminar with him that never ends. And people charge for seminars don't they?
