mook jong man
Senior Master
When teaching people in the past who have come from other martial arts I have had a very hard time in trying to eliminate the habit of them chambering their leg before they kick.
One guy I've been teaching for about two years previously did TKD for quite a long time and he still does a noticeable chamber with some of his kicks , it is getting better but it is still there.
One misconception that people have is because you can kick high , you can kick low this maybe the case for a practitioner staying within their own style , but it is not the case for Wing Chun .
Low kicking using the Wing Chun method is a totally different beast , and as with my student previous habits have to be erased.
In Wing Chun kicking , the foot must travel in a straight line from the ground to the target.
This is so the kick can reach maximum velocity , chambering the kick is like trying to accelerate in a racing car then having to slow down for a corner and then trying to accelerate again.
Chambering the kick requires two actions raising the knee , and then thrusting the leg out , in Wing Chun the kick travels directly to the target and is executed in one motion.
This type of kicking is less likely to be detected and countered , in short it is less telegraphic.
In Wing Chun defence and attack are inseparable , using a straight line as the trajectory for my kick means that my leg will still roughly be in the optimum angle for jamming any incoming kicks or alternatively using my shin to hook and deflect them off my centreline.
Some would argue that chambering the leg will generate a more powerful kick , and with a novice Wing Chun student this will certainly be the case , same as if they drew their arm back to strike.
That is because at their stage they are still using a lot of muscular force to generate power , but Wing Chun striking and kicking does not rely on muscular force to generate power , so drawing back the arm to strike or chambering the leg is not necessary.
In Wing Chun the kicking as with the hand striking , is done in a very relaxed fashion , no great muscular effort is required because the body mass is automatically transfered from the correct Wing Chun stance into the striking limb , as long as it is relaxed.
With every rule there are exceptions , in the case of a close range thrust kick to the solar plexus where I have control of both my opponents arms , due to the very close range I will bring my knee up high and into my own chest and then slam it back out again this is so my leg will clear the opponents body on the way up.
Also with a stamp kick to the back of the leg , again due to the proximity of the opponent and the fact I might be striking with my hand at the same time , the knee is brought up in a vertical line and then slammed down again.
Apart from these , all kicks should travel in a straight line from the ground to the target in accordance with the principal of directness
The best way to teach this to beginners is to make them maintain the same angle in their leg from their stance until their heel impacts with the target , this is a learning stage and as they gradually become more skilled and faster their leg will naturally take a more direct route to the target.
One guy I've been teaching for about two years previously did TKD for quite a long time and he still does a noticeable chamber with some of his kicks , it is getting better but it is still there.
One misconception that people have is because you can kick high , you can kick low this maybe the case for a practitioner staying within their own style , but it is not the case for Wing Chun .
Low kicking using the Wing Chun method is a totally different beast , and as with my student previous habits have to be erased.
In Wing Chun kicking , the foot must travel in a straight line from the ground to the target.
This is so the kick can reach maximum velocity , chambering the kick is like trying to accelerate in a racing car then having to slow down for a corner and then trying to accelerate again.
Chambering the kick requires two actions raising the knee , and then thrusting the leg out , in Wing Chun the kick travels directly to the target and is executed in one motion.
This type of kicking is less likely to be detected and countered , in short it is less telegraphic.
In Wing Chun defence and attack are inseparable , using a straight line as the trajectory for my kick means that my leg will still roughly be in the optimum angle for jamming any incoming kicks or alternatively using my shin to hook and deflect them off my centreline.
Some would argue that chambering the leg will generate a more powerful kick , and with a novice Wing Chun student this will certainly be the case , same as if they drew their arm back to strike.
That is because at their stage they are still using a lot of muscular force to generate power , but Wing Chun striking and kicking does not rely on muscular force to generate power , so drawing back the arm to strike or chambering the leg is not necessary.
In Wing Chun the kicking as with the hand striking , is done in a very relaxed fashion , no great muscular effort is required because the body mass is automatically transfered from the correct Wing Chun stance into the striking limb , as long as it is relaxed.
With every rule there are exceptions , in the case of a close range thrust kick to the solar plexus where I have control of both my opponents arms , due to the very close range I will bring my knee up high and into my own chest and then slam it back out again this is so my leg will clear the opponents body on the way up.
Also with a stamp kick to the back of the leg , again due to the proximity of the opponent and the fact I might be striking with my hand at the same time , the knee is brought up in a vertical line and then slammed down again.
Apart from these , all kicks should travel in a straight line from the ground to the target in accordance with the principal of directness
The best way to teach this to beginners is to make them maintain the same angle in their leg from their stance until their heel impacts with the target , this is a learning stage and as they gradually become more skilled and faster their leg will naturally take a more direct route to the target.