Rooting and Bad Weight Distribution

[wingchun100]

Hey folks,

For years now, rooting has been my enemy. I can feel this problem the most when I am doing the pivoting punches at the end of Chum Kiu. It feels like instead of my weight being centered in the foot, it is rocking back into my heel. This makes it VERY easy to uproot me and, in turn, makes it hard for me to uproot others.

Can someone please give me some advice on how to break this habit?

 

[anerlich]

My Chum Kil, and for that matter my pivoting, seems different from yours, but:

Try to find a partner drill where your partner is trying to unbalance you while you are working this particular footwork.

More generally, chi sao with stepping, some form of push hands training, or stand up wrestling where you're both trying to unbalance or throw each other will really help you develop a strong base.

 

[yak sao]

What is your weight distribution when you're pivoting?

I'm our lineage we have a back weighted stance. To keep the weight of the body going straight down into the rear foot without being rocked back on our heel, we adduct the knees.
By doing this this allows our front foot though unweighted to act as a brake to keep our body from toppling backwards.

 

[KPM]

Hey folks,

For years now, rooting has been my enemy. I can feel this problem the most when I am doing the pivoting punches at the end of Chum Kiu. It feels like instead of my weight being centered in the foot, it is rocking back into my heel. This makes it VERY easy to uproot me and, in turn, makes it hard for me to uproot others.

Can someone please give me some advice on how to break this habit?

Very simple. Don't pivot on the heels! Pivot on the K1 point and sink your weight by bending your knees more and directing your center of gravity towards a spot about 6 to 8 inches out in front of you when you are pivoting.

 

[wingchun100]

Very simple. Don't pivot on the heels! Pivot on the K1 point and sink your weight by bending your knees more and directing your center of gravity towards a spot about 6 to 8 inches out in front of you when you are pivoting.

Thanks for the tips! Unfortunately, just one part of it escapes me. That would be "K1." I am not sure what that means.

 

[Xue Sheng]

 

[mograph]

Submitted for the group's approval:

• if they can push you back, shift dantien forward.
• if they can pull you forward, shift dantien back.
• if you feel you're close to balance, sink dantien.

(Dantien is, basically, center of gravity.)

 

[KPM]

^^^^^^ K1 is "kidney 1" or the first point on the kidney channel in acupuncture. Also called "bubbling spring" in Chinese. For Wing Chun purposes it means pivoting on the center of the foot about an inch behind the ball of the foot. You can actually "grip" the ground somewhat with your toes when doing this, which makes you very stable during the pivot.

 

[drop bear]

Butt position?

 

[anerlich]

Butt position?

Mine's behind me, between my back and my legs. Can't speaak for anyone else. j/k

Seriously, good point. Skeletal alignment ("structure") is important for transmitting and absorbing force. But should be tucked in, though you can take structure to finer and finer levels of detail. Ties in with what mograph said as well.

 

[wingchun100]

I must be losing all my alignment during the pivot because today I went to class, and the guy I was doing chi sao with said I felt rooted and strong to him. So it must mean I need to work on maintaining my composure when I turn. At least, that is what the problem seems to be to me.

 

[wckf92]

I must be losing all my alignment during the pivot because today I went to class, and the guy I was doing chi sao with said I felt rooted and strong to him. So it must mean I need to work on maintaining my composure when I turn. At least, that is what the problem seems to be to me.

Have you been training in WC very long or?

 

[wingchun100]

Mine's behind me, between my back and my legs. Can't speaak for anyone else. j/k

Seriously, good point. Skeletal alignment ("structure") is important for transmitting and absorbing force. But should be tucked in, though you can take structure to finer and finer levels of detail. Ties in with what mograph said as well.

Yep. Most people have to work on being loose and ready to respond to the pressure being applied. I have always had a very light touch in chi sao. We ALL have our own weak areas to work on, no matter how long we have been training. Getting body alignment right happens to be mine.

 

[ShortBridge]

A couple of thoughts that may or may not resonate with you.

1) Do some training on one foot. Si Nim Tao on one foot is good training. Last night, I had my students tossing a medicine ball back and forth while on one foot. When you have both feet on the ground you can distribute your weight in odd ways and rock yourself onto your heels and things, like you say. When you're on a single foot, you can not. I'm not advocating fighting on one foot, but it is a good training method for people who are working through what you describe.

2) If forcing your rooting is problematic for you, try thinking about "allowing" it. Engaging muscles groups can help, but at the same time, done improperly they can pull out of your ground just as easily. Gravity will naturally pull you into the ground and if your structure is good and your weight is properly distributed, that gravity will pull you down into your stance. Are your current efforts fighting that gravity? Spend some time just trying to get out of the way of that natural draw toward the ground and see if it helps.

Then have someone who you do Chi Sao with or otherwise do aggressive things to you and see if you can sustain that relaxed draw into your good, rooted stance.

Just suggestions, of course, take them or leave them. These are things that helped me and things that I use with my students.

 

[Marnetmar]

I must be losing all my alignment during the pivot because today I went to class, and the guy I was doing chi sao with said I felt rooted and strong to him. So it must mean I need to work on maintaining my composure when I turn. At least, that is what the problem seems to be to me.

Are you keeping a head-over-hips-over-feet structure when you turn?

 

[Cephalopod]

2) If forcing your rooting is problematic for you, try thinking about "allowing" it. Engaging muscles groups can help, but at the same time, done improperly they can pull out of your ground just as easily. Gravity will naturally pull you into the ground and if your structure is good and your weight is properly distributed, that gravity will pull you down into your stance. Are your current efforts fighting that gravity? Spend some time just trying to get out of the way of that natural draw toward the ground and see if it helps.

I like this.
My stability got much better when I started imagining my legs pressing into the ground with the same live springiness that my arms use as they seek my opponents center in chisao. Flexing and locking my quads and hams only burned energy and made me slower to respond to, and absorb, changes in pressure.

 

[drop bear]

There is a kids game where you have to stand feet parallel. With your palms on their palms and knock them over a step by either pushing them back or suckering them in to pushing forwards to hard.

It would be a good stance trainer.

 

[wingchun100]

I think I am not sinking as deep into my stance as I thought. I have always struggled with stance. I have always been good at the techniques themselves and having a light touch during chi sao, but getting the whole body connected so my mechanics generate the right amount of power? Meh.

Still working on it.

 

[ShortBridge]

I think I am not sinking as deep into my stance as I thought. I have always struggled with stance. I have always been good at the techniques themselves and having a light touch during chi sao, but getting the whole body connected so my mechanics generate the right amount of power? Meh.

Still working on it.

Honestly this is very common. Most videos I see of people doing Wing Chun and more than 1/2 of the players I meet have worked very hard on fast hands, but neglected their stance and rooting.

It's a good thing to recognize in yourself and train through.

 

[Vajramusti]

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FWIW- I dont turn on K! points- nor did Ip Man.Wong Shon Leung, Ho Kam Ming, Fong chi wing.