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Chi Sao and the Art of Conversation

by Dr. John Crescione

YOU SHOULD BE DOING CHI SAO BEFORE YOU READ THIS ARTICLE

Simultaneous attack and defense is not WingChun. Trapping is not sensitivity. Sticky hands, sticking hands and stick hands are alltranslated as chi sao but if you analyze the 3 terms, you get 3 different definitions. Sticky andsticking denote qualities of hand sensitivity while stick hands is a more generic term for whatyou are doing. Sticky denotes an attachment and detachment physically and metaphorically,Sticking implies a permanence-even into a bad position for you. All of hand training up to thispoint is trying to get you to learn where the hands are in relation to the front of the body andthe centerlines. Are your hands too high, too low, too left or right, too heavy or light in

relation to your opponent's hand, your opponent and your mutual centerline's?

Everything, all the training is a form chi sao. From no contact to contact; from lost position torecapturing contact and the center. Chi sao training with a partner attempts to train thepractitioner to "listen" to what the opponent is saying in their hands and answer with theappropriate response. The response is or can be multi level-CAPTURE THE CENTER, DEFENDTHE CENTER and/or ATTACK THE CENTER.

When you Chi sao with someone, you are having, or trying to have a conversation with themand their hands. Are you having a lighthearted conversation with a friend? Are theyargumentative? Are they lecturing you? Are you talking down to them? Are both of youhaving your own conversation? Are you both just asking questions to each other? Do you

understand the conversation? Is it the same language?

Each type of conversation teaches the player something if they are listening with their hands.And sometimes it's okay to argue, (break the centerline) shout (telegraph a move) , lecture(can't get a hit in at all) or talk pig Latin (use other styles hands or sloppy hands within thegame of chi sao) to the opponent sometimes.

The training exercises such as Pak Sao and Lop Dar teach you how to have a conversation, torespond to a question with an answer (at first usually the politically correct one) , even if theanswer is in the form of a question-as long as it applies to the conversation.

If "Pak Sao" is an answer to a straight punch (the question) is it the best answer? How wasthe question (punch) asked? Fast? Hard? In a straight line? Uppercut? Hook? Is the Pak Sao(the answer) used in the right context? Straight forward, snappy, pushing, inward, downwardor slapping? Each answer whether technically correct or incorrect leads the conversation (theexchange of technique) in a certain direction. If the grammar of the conversation is incorrecti.e., run on sentences, improper punctuation, capitals in the wrong place etc., the chi sao willbe sloppy, wild and unbalanced-usually with both players doing poorly. They may be hittingeach other but they are getting hit also. This is not good. How do you develop the art ofconversation, how to listen well and how do you become the captain of the debate team?

SIU LIM TAO chi sao teaches-

but doan jiang, the immovable elbow (the depth of the subject matter or the heartmatter.)

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chor kiu, the sinking bridge, wrong bridge or collapsed bridge and fei jiang, flyingelbow (not understanding the subject matter or experimenting to see if the opponentunderstands the subject matter.)

jung seen, centerline (subject matter)

oi/noi moon, gate theory (defining and staying within the subject matter)

poon sao/kiu, rolling hands/bridges (how to put sentences together

luk sao jik chung (lost hand, straight punch) basic grammar and sentence structure

phon sao (trapping hands) having a conversation

Everything is going to revolve around the centerline, what the conversation is going to beabout- (hitting the center) , making a point in the conversation (SIU LIM TAO chi sao shouldbe a conversation, not an argument, lecture or discussion.) First the conversation is with aparent and child ,then child to child. Sentence structure, questions, statements and answerformation are learned at this level.

CHUM KIU Chi Sao teaches-

using the horse (learning to discuss ) to shift around the contact point (what you'relistening to)

using the horse to shift the contact point (changing the subject or slant of theconversation)

training the horse to feel through the contact point

answering questions from different points of view (angles)

how to follow the conversation

how to follow a line of thought

BIU JEE

elevate (deepen) the level of the conversation

how to interrupt the conversation coming in and being able to listen on the middle of a conversation

how to argue safely

how to talk your way out of a bad situation

MUK YAN JONG

how to master a debate

how to shout and whisper

lying effectively

steering the conversation

baiting the conversation

Everyone has some of these qualities (abilities) already in their hands. They come outnaturally in chi sao. The precaution should be to not train those natural qualities more thanthe others do because you're already good at them or they come easier to you. You willnever become a good or well rounded conversationalist-only good at what you can already donaturally. Training them does polish them, but you never get out of an advanced Siu Lim Taolevel chi sao regardless of what level you are training at. And against a true conversationalist-you will lose.

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If you can hit with all of the above, you are good- but only at that technique. However, if youcan do all those things, all the time, in any given situation then you can have a discussion onthat particular subject.

Therefore, the more subjects you know about and are skilled in you can debate andcontribute ideas, not just stay in the conversation and answer a question every now andthen.

Up to this point, we have not mentioned the style, tone, inflection, punctuation or speed ofthe chi sao. All those have to be taken into consideration with the opponent. Nor have weexamined the following-are they speaking the same language? Are they speaking politicallycorrect or incorrect. Are they speaking in slang, rap, old English, informally? With or withoutan accent?

CHI SAO HAND TRAINING

Do you train Wing Chun as a fighting technique or as a feeling technique? Do you trainsensitivity for feeling or fighting? Do you train your feeling as a fighting technique or trainyour fighting for feeling technique?

teaches that the center is a sphere, not a vertical, flat or horizontal plane

the contact point is to be maintained at that level, felt and manipulated - beginningquestions and answers with sustained contact ****

to maintain contact and good position, inside and out, up or down while in motion

trains the ability to create one half of a dynamic sphere that can be defended with

tan/bong/fook and its branches-palm strike, jut sao and jik chung trains the ability to enter and close the opposite gate -trains jik chung and jut sao

and the proper line of attack -trains the proper interrupt response

trains to open, close and run around the center **** Up until contact/sensitivitytraining all the technique training has been

singular questions and answers with momentary contact and in only one plane anddirection

defines forward and rear gates as a dynamic sphere

participating within the dynamic sphere

feeling the forward and rear gates independent and coordinated hand motion with and without the horse

(rolling) conversation, an exchange of ideas with no dominant point of view,direction or intent

(finding the holes) discussion specific exchange to get a certain idea orpoint of view across.

(filling the holes) specific questions and answers within the discussion

Under ideal circumstances between two expert players, the only thing that should happen is aconversation containing 2 or 3 rolls and then walking away. That is if the intent is a friendlyone or to see what the other person has. If you both can't find a hole in 2 or 3 rolls, then

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both of you should walk away. Because a) there weren't any and to attempt to make onewould invite disaster or b) neither of you know what your doing.

Understand that rolling (at Siu Lim Tao level) is about holding the mutual reference point inany position-in/out, up/down. If the reference point moves there is an opening, wherever youcontact-that is the reference point and the potential angle of attack from your opponent andyou. So ideally you are looking and trying to put your hands in the best position whilemaintaining contact with the opponent's. Then you will try to move around the contact pointto a different angle if the first angle is blocked (in good position) .That is why you roll to adifferent position and one reason that you run (heun sao) .

Now the question becomes-do you train chi sao for fighting or chi sao for art?

The heun sao hand can change the attack angle or position of contact hand for 3 reasons.The question may be, why would you want to leave the contact hand when it can hit you? 1)

You can't get in from your initial position (contact point) , 2) when the opponent is pushingyou out of or across the center (up or down count as well) . 3) To bait an attack You shouldnever run just because you don't like the position you're in. This tells the opponent (if they'repaying attention) that there is a hole in your defensive- in your mind, technique andemotionally/spiritually..

The proper way to run-

1. do not stick completely on the bridge (some versions do stick to the hand completelywhen they run-for our purposes, let's just leave it this way for now, without thewhys, how comes and because

2. the running hand should never go below parallel to the floor3. run on the down motion4. run in a forward spiral5. run with a punch-if you run into fook sao you must apply the fook with authority then

relax into good position

TAN/BONG/FOOK-The 3 hand laws or pillars

the wrist must stay in the same spot in the vertical and horizontal position as it rollsfrom bong to tan or fook

the elbow does not go forward or back (cho kiu) ,nor does it go too far outside thegate (fei jiang)

the elbow up position is transitory, you are truly not suppose to see the elbow for

any length of time in combat. At best it should also not be seen from behind whenrolling up bong sao should be thought of as a log floating on the water. Push downon one end, the other end goes up-push down in the middle, it rolls to deflect theforce

bong sao's intent is to move the opponent's hand off the center, not across the body-the only direction is slightly lateral, not up or down

the wrist and elbow are on the same straight line in front of the center, the wristcovers the throat and the elbow covers the heart

chor kiu occurs when the wrist drops down from the proper position, fei jiang occurs

when the elbow flies away from the center toward the outer edge of the gate orwhen it does not return to the center (as in a bad fook sao position)

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you must move the elbow in, not push the wrist out, with the tan sao. The morepressure you put on the opponent's wrist you give them more information on whereyour hands are and where your direction of force is pushing them or their hands

tan sao can be thought of as a place holder so that you can use your other hand tohit, it can be more passive but still alive and sensitive

think of the paw of a dog or fox

fook sao energy should be forward but relaxed

the best position for forward energy position is between the throat and CV17-fromCV17 to the solar plexus you should be more relaxed but still forward, concentratingon good elbow and wrist position

in Siu Lim Tao form the radius and ulna can be above one and other with the elbowin (hand and fingers pointing inward)

in chi sao they must be 45 degrees of each other with the elbow in, this forms theproper tunnel for deflection just by elbow and wrist position (this is why some of youstill get hit, even when you do have the correct position as per the form)

keeping the elbow in protects and defends your center while the wrist puts you in agood position to attack and defend

ELBOW POSITION THEORY

In Bai Jong, all Wing Chun hands should be 100% neutral or 100% potential energy to go inany direction, in motion,50% kinetic energy in any direction (this has nothing to do withspeed, but with intent) and then 100% kinetic energy when you're sure you can hit and notbe countered (think of a heat seeking missile) .That range is usually inside the fist and onehalf elbow distance. The elbow being a fist and one half away pertains to defense, but ideallythe hit should land at about that distance for penetration power. The purpose is to straighten

the punch inside the opponent. When the elbow is bent, it defends a broader surface areathen when the arm is straight. With the elbow "immovable"-if the arm is pulled, the wholebody moves forward-if we want to reach our opponent we must step because the elbowdoesn't move-we do!

"Getting in" is not the important thing when you play with an advanced player (Not gettingyour head handed to you, maybe !) -These are the questions, the more important things-Didyou get in with something? (Not Tag Sao, Speed Up Sao or Cheap Shot Sao) , When youwanted to ?, Clean and to the point ?, With technique ?, Horse ?, Timing ?,Control of theopponent ?, Control of the center? If you "got in" with all of the above, then you got in !

Let's give 'um something to talk about!

CHI SAO 10 tips to improving your chi sao , A.Fong

1) Your hands are only as good as your stanceLet's start of with probably the most important thing before you get into chi sao.If you want to improve your chi sao significantly then make sure you've got asolid YGKYM. All to often, I see people jumping into chi sao, when they can't

even find there own center of balance. Thus, imagine one of those huge red woodtrees, in Return of the Jedi, how strong would that tree be, if its roots were

decaying? Obviously, it wouldn't take that much force to knock it over. There areseveral ways to test your YGKYM stance. The first being just sitting in your

stance for about 45 minutes, if you can last an entire 45 minutes without anyaches or pains anywhere, then you'll know you've found you center. The 2nd way

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is have a partner push against your chest slightly and see whether or not you canactually root against the force. If you can't handle a light push, then you aren'tgoing to be able to handle the oncoming force with your stance during chi sao.

2) Recipe for tan, bong, fok?

Tan, bong, fok sau oh my. These are the main ingredients when doing chi sao,thus its key to know how to do these moves correctly, and to understand how

they are put together structurally. Now, I'm not going to dive into detail abouteach one, coz that would be an entire article on its own. But keep in mind some

simple rules. Tan sau should be flat, do the test for yourself and see if you canfeel the difference between a flat tan and one that isn't. Imagine a tan being abridge between you and an opponent, can a bridge connect 2 points being up. Ofcourse not! Bong sau, key thing is make sure your elbow is higher than your wristand make sure that the hands/fingers continue in the direction of your forearm.Finally fok sau, probably the most difficult one of the 3, be aware of the point ofcontact.

Why is it important for you to know the structure of each of these moves?

Imagine them to be your TV antenna, if the antenna is just slightly off, yourreception won't be that good. If you tan isn't in the right position, then that will

decrease your level of sensitivity.

3) I'm ready to fight?

Ah, jumping ahead of ourselves once again. Before you get into those prodigalson battles, make sure first and foremost, that your roll is decent. While chi sao

may seem like 2 guys facing each other working a steering wheel, it is in fact aconstant forward motion, instead of what appears to be a circular movement.

What's the difference? If you have a circular movement and force is pushedslightly against it, if you remove the force, your hand will remain in the same

position and continue its circular movement. On the other hand, imagine yourhand as a spring, waiting for the pressure to be removed. Once the pressure is nolonger there, the hand will automatically move forward. Thus, you won't evenhave to think when to attack. Key note though, is that the forward pressuredoesn't need to be initiated by you, if your structure is correct for tan, bong, andfok, the structure along will maintain that forward pressure. All to often people,either have no forward motion or over emphasize it too much.

4) Equality for both sides

In the beginning when doing chi sao, picture it as if you were doing push upsagainst the wall. Notice in order to keep your body square you need to pushequally on both sides of your arms. Well, when you start doing chi sao its sortalike the same thing. You want to be able to maintain equal energies on both sideswhen your rolling. Literally, regardless of what position you are in:

inside gate - bong sau and tan sau

outside gate - double fok sauchi sao - tan sau and fok sau or bong sau and fok sau - thus being in both inside

and outside when rolling

The wrist for the most part are lined up with each other for both arms. The

importance of equal energy, well its because of the inequalities of the forward drillwhen doing chi sao, that your opponent can use that to his advantage.

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5) Tension vs. Energy

Mommy, what's the difference between tension and energy? One of the mostrecurring problems when doing chi sao, is differentiating between tension andenergy. When you use tension it involves muscle, which reduces your sensitivitysignificantly. Thus, have you ever rolled with someone who was really tense, thenall of a sudden just pulled your arm away from his. You'll notice when its tension

the hand just stays there doing nothing at all. But if it was energy, the handautomatically shoots out towards you. That's the difference between the 2, and

how you can tell one from another.

6) Where's my center?

I'm sure everyone has done this before. Have someone do a bong sau and placeit perfectly into the correct position, and then press against his bong sau. Whatyou'll notice is how much force that the bong sau can take, with the guy/galputting very little effort in dealing with the force. Now offset that bong by either

moving it slightly left or right, let's just say about 1% of the center line. And seethe huge difference. Notice how easily it is to collapse his bong sau with very little

pressure at all. Well, in chi sao its key to be aware of the centerline for everythingthat you do. Thus, if your in inside gate, you need to make sure both your tan

and bong are in the proper position, if your just slightly of, just like in theexample above, your opponent can take advantage of this.

7) Fok sau woes

Probably the most difficult thing in the beginning to deal with is that of fok sau.

The most difficult thing is maintaining forward pressure upon the roll, and themost common mistake is pressing downward with the fok sau. Notice the Siu Lim

Tao is the blue print for the motions of all the moves, and if you do 3 fok sau's inSLT, you'll notice that this is the CORRECT motion that you do when chi saoing as

well. The best way to deal with the downward press, is to adjust the elbow.Remember, that elbow leads the motion, thus if the elbow is raised and is almoston equal level of the wrist, the downward pressure will occur, if you sink theelbow, this will fix the problem.

8) Tag your it

Have you ever seen this happen. Your chi saoing with someone and he gets a

good hit on you. So your ego's all bruised and your like, "bitch I'm going to forcea hit no matter what." Next thing you know you have 2 idiots using muscle, zero

structure, and just hitting each other back and forth. What's this called? Its calleda waste of time. In the end what your developing is bad habits. Remember, chisao helps you to develop so many things, from timing, to energy, understandingthe distance, to learning how to stick. If you break the rules of chi sao and fail tolearn from it, your wasting time. The reason you got hit, is because yourstructure sucked, eat the humble pie, and work with your partner to recreate thescenario again, and learn how to deal with the oncoming force.

9) More defense

Any idiot can attack, every art has deadly moves. But the test of your true skill ishow good your defense is. Allot of times when I practice, I literally just allow the

opponent to attack one after the other. It truly is a test of skill to be able to takewhatever he throws at you and redirect it constantly. Remember, attacking is asimple skill that doesn't take that long to develop, on the other hand defense is

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something that really can impress others. Spend more time working on yourdefense when chi saoing.

10) Control

Man, there's nothing like getting a good solid hit on your partner, right? The factis your partner is your best friend, and without a partner you can never get betterin wing Chun. Thus, if you decide your ego needs a boosting by smacking him

down, what your displaying is such a low level of wing Chun. The fact is, everyattack you do when chi saoing should be controlled. There's nothing more

impressive, than going full speed with an attack and stopping just inches awayfrom your opponent. That my friend is skill. Wing chun is all about control, if youcan control yourself, then you can control others