Thank you for your reply.. You let me pick your brains yes??
What is your criteria for indexing that kung fu technique as successful? Is not that you inflict sufficient pain to cause your opponent to stop?
Short Answer:
A successful technique for me is one that I can use as it's intended. This success in entirely on the technique but my ability to use it as it was intended. Not all kung fu /fighting techniques cause pain.
Long Answer:
Kung Fu techniques and fighting techniques in general aren't rated successful based on the pain that they cause. Here's a list of Kung / Fighting techniques (because these techniques aren't only found in Kung Fu.
1. Breathing techniques
2. Footwork techniques
3. Structure techniques
4. Blocking techniques
5. Escaping techniques
6. Guiding techniques
7. Mental / misdirection techniques - these are the techniques that are done that interfere with your opponent's ability to what comes next. A the most simple level. I fake that I will punch but kick instead. Screaming and yelling with a punch or a kick often serves as to intimidate your opponent as well as help with that Breathing technique that is listed at top.
8. Breaking techniques
9. Techniques that wear down your opponent
10. Killing techniques -These are techniques that are done with the purpose of killing
12. Grappling techniques
13. Set up techniques
14. Countering techniques
15. Striking techniques
I can think of more but as you can see there are quite a bit of techniques that are involved. Each has a specific purpose, some cause pain other will help the practitioner to avoid or escape pain. The criteria for indexing which kung fu techniques as successful is more based on my ability to understand the technique enough to where I can actually use it and for the technique to work as it was intended to work.
Here's an example: If you teach me an escape technique and every time I use it, my opponent gets a black eye, then the technique is not a successful technique for escaping. You taught me a technique that doesn't do what it was intended to do when performed correctly. Your technique makes a good striking technique but does not work as an escaping technique.
Here's the other side of that. If you teach me an escape technique and every time I use it, I can't escape, then my first task is to ask myself what am I doing wrong. Do I have the understanding that is required to successfully use the technique? So I go back to you for more information. You show me the technique and that you are successful in using it in the same context that I'm trying to use it. Sometimes this requires a physical walk through sometimes I only need to show what I'm doing for the instructor to see where I goofed.
Then you have things that just don't work regardless. These are wasteful techniques (in reference to fighting). For the most part these would be flowery techniques which serve no combat purpose and were never designed for fighting. With these techniques I have to use them as they were intended instead of trying to use them for a task that they were never designed for. TKD is a very good example of a system that has flowery techniques, which were designed to show skill and were never meant to be used in self-defense fighting.
