Watch the Leading Elbow.

[arnisador]

In another post this was mentioned as a principle of Wing Chun. I assume this means something like the elbow of the opponent's forward arm will tell you where he's punching? How is this principle applied?


Originally posted by leehoicheun:

The principles of Wing Chun vary in wording but all pretty much state the same thing. They are:

1. Guard the Center
2. Face the Point of Contact
3. Economy of Movement
4. Touch Reflexes: Chi Sao
5. Watch the Leading Elbow
6. Use Linear Striking Action
7. Avoid Fighting Force Against Force
8. Train to Use Two Arms at the Same Time (block and strike symultaneiously)
9. Uses Pressure Points to Make Striking Techniques More Effective
10. Uses the Same Meridian Pressure Points as Treatment of Sports Injuries

 

[leehoicheun]

The elbow moves 4.5 times slower then a fist. Therefore by watching the elbow area of your opponent you can see the punch coming a lot easier. When I say the elbow "area" I am referring to the persons center.... or center of their body..... Basically looking around the stomach area. By using this principle fighters have reported an increase in general fighting awareness during sparring, combat drills and actual self-defense situations.

It is also advisable to not "focus" your eyes on any given part of your adversary. Focused vision can be compared to turning on more software on a computer. The more programs you run the slower it runs. By using basic peripheral vision whose soul purpose is to detect movement, we can react quicker.

This is something we work very hard at our school.


Another benefit to this is that Wing Chun defenses are targeted at the elbow. It's hard to explain here in short but I can sum it up by saying that the elbow is closer to your torso then the hand wrist or forearm and can be used to affect the balance. If you learn to block, push, pull or deflect at his elbow you will mostly likely take his balance thus providing you with clean shots to his openings while he tries to regain his balance.

Hope this helps... have a great day.

 

[arnisador]

I study JKD and I think I know what you mean about defending at the elbow.

I had never thought before about the elbow moving more slowly than the fist. In some punches I think the elbow moves as far as the fist in the same time but in others its arc at least "feels" shorter, whether it is or not (e.g. a hook punch). But I do understand when you say elbow area that you don't necessarily mean literally the elbow.

Is it hard to both follow the elbow and to apply elbow-oriented defenses against someone throwing the typical drunken roundhoue punch, that comes out so wide?

 

[leehoicheun]

I think maybe this would best be answered if you joined a WC school and saw it first hand. Like i said before.... hard to explain in here.

our eyes don't follow the elbow like a dog follows a bone. We look basically in the mid-section of a person to see all of them. Just so happens the lead elbow is there.

As far as blocking at their elbow it's common in WC as well as JKD knowledge that if you stop the elbow you stop the arm. Think of it this way...... where is it easiest to stop a baseball bat? the answer is..... at the hands. If you block the bat at or near the end of the bat you will take the full force of the hit into your block, but if you block it at the source...... it will be much easier to stop.

We have people who weight 200 to 300 pounds come in who can not believe it when a smaller person is able to not only stop their punch from penetrating, but also cause great pain to the arm they threw.

good luck

 

[arnisador]

Interesting! Yes, from JKD I have some idea of what you mean but it's not literal WC so I know I'm missing some aspects.

A WC person once demonstrated the sensitivity to me and it was amazing--our arms would just make contact and BAM! he'd have hit me.

 

[leehoicheun]

we have two certified Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do instructors teaching at our school. They were taught by Sifu Kevin Seaman ( http://www.ewmaa.com/ )

I like how we have it set up because you can see Wing Chun in it's entirety as well as see where you can take it as Bruce Lee did.

 

[brothershaw]

One thing I really like about wing chun , ( I imagine all close range arts, including grappling have this in common) is that once you have contact you no longer need to see your oppenent. Thier limbs lead you to the body, and you work from there. In a medium to long range art you may often break contact so you need to see your opponents actions in order to act or react.
Thebreaks in contact may be very fast, or small, but they are noticable if you watch, and they can also be felt.

 

[Ender]

this is interesting..i'd like to read more on this