Wudang defense question

[Flying Crane]

Six years of Karate, three of Kung Fu. I know how to respond to a right hook. I was asking how would someone of one of the Wudang disciplines would since my style is Northern Praying Mantis. I got my answer.

I now regret having asked.

Don't regret having asked. But we can be a tough crowd, we do not impress easily.

Honestly I have contemplated doing the kind of writing you are talking about. I haven't figured out how to do it in a way that feels authentic to me. And I'm not a particularly gifted writer. I keep thinking there may be a good novel deep inside of me, but I haven't figured out yet how to bring it out.

I certainly understand Sean's point, tho. I have read a couple of novels set in San Francisco, a city in which I have lived for well over a decade, and lived nearby for close to another decade. I know the city well. When a character in the story turns from one street onto another street, and as a resident of the city I know that those streets do not cross, and are in completely separated parts of the city, it makes me want to put the book down. So yeah, when fantasy/fiction pulls elements of non-fiction into it, it needs to be close enough to the truth to be accepted by someone who knows. Otherwise, it's just bad.

 

[CB Jones]

Man, y'all are a tough crowd.

Dude was just asking for a little help and ran into the Great Wall here.

 

[Flying Crane]

Man, y'all are a tough crowd.

Dude was just asking for a little help and ran into the Great Wall here.

We are a tough crowd, but we offer an honest education. This is the stuff that can make him better at what he does, if he embraces the lessons.

 

[oaktree]

Writers usually write from what they know.
For example I am writing about a martial art I do so it's easier to write reactions to it.

When writing about a more esoteric art your options are:
A.research it, you may have to email actual people from say wudang they have email access .
B. Make it up, there really isn't to much difference from say a wudangquan block to say another kungfu style perhaps a different name or term. What makes wudang a bit more challenging is the different branches in styles so just saying wudang is same as saying shaolin or generic karate.
C. Choosing a more common wushu.
D. Making a wushu up.
I don't see why you can't use the word parry a punch slipped a punch intercept a punch.

Let me take an art I don't know much about and try to give an example.

As a karateka I was matched against a boxer. The boxer threw a right cross, I blocked it with my forearm smashing into his radius breaking the bone, I then follows up with a knife hand to his temple causing my opponent to fall to the mat with a thud.

Hope that helps.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

So quick question. If someone trained in Wudang fist style, what would be their defense against someone going for a right hook?

Why are you only interested in the counters for hook? Are you also interested in counters for:

- jab,
- cross,
- uppercut,
- front kick,
- side kick,
- hook kick,
- roundhouse kick,
- wrist lock,
- elbow lock,
- shoulder lock,
- single leg,
- double legs,
- foot sweep,
- hip throw,
- ... ?

 

[Xue Sheng]

Also take into account at Wudang they teach many different styles of Martial arts that could fall under the heading of Wudangquan

 

[Buka]

As an old dog who's been in the Arts for a while, and as someone who's written professionally before, I offer this - it's all about the characters, then the story. Write what you know. Getting caught up on the response to a hook is likely to slow down your writing flow and isn't really important. But if it is to you, okay, is that right hook off the lead right leg, or off a lead left leg?

And make sure your protagonist has a thick skin. You know, so he won't have any regrets.

 

[clfsean]

Man, y'all are a tough crowd.

Dude was just asking for a little help and ran into the Great Wall here.

Nah ... not tough, just not coddling. I can't talk about Wudang, it's not what I do. I can talk about other things. I've touched Praying Mantis so I have ideas about that. But it's not the same as writing about something that I have to ask about, without first hand knowledge.

And if he does know how to respond to a hook punch (for the punch de jour), then he should know, there's no definitive answer & definitely not a style specific response to the hook, except for "****! Deal with it or get smashed". Your mileage & experience may vary, but I don't know anybody that will say categorically "Oh this is exactly how to deal with a hook punch".

I would hope he takes the answers given for what they are, rather than what they are perceived to be.

 

[clfsean]

I certainly understand Sean's point, tho. I have read a couple of novels set in San Francisco, a city in which I have lived for well over a decade, and lived nearby for close to another decade. I know the city well. When a character in the story turns from one street onto another street, and as a resident of the city I know that those streets do not cross, and are in completely separated parts of the city, it makes me want to put the book down. So yeah, when fantasy/fiction pulls elements of non-fiction into it, it needs to be close enough to the truth to be accepted by someone who knows. Otherwise, it's just bad.

I love how Chinatown backs up to TelHi ... <snark>

 

[Flying Crane]

I love how Chinatown backs up to TelHi ... <snark>

Yeah, and Valencia does not turn onto Geary. Not even close.

 

[CB Jones]

The only thing is I don't think he was asking for y'all to teach him how to defend a right hook.

He was asking for technical information on what blocks could be used and their names for that style so that his writing would be technically correct.

To use Flying Cranes analogy.

He asked for the name of two streets in San Francisco that intersect and y'all only told him that for one to know two streets in S.F. one must live in S.F.

Would it have hurt to have just said you could use ?????? technique?

Lol.

 

[Flying Crane]

The only thing is I don't think he was asking for y'all to teach him how to defend a right hook.

He was asking for technical information on what blocks could be used and their names for that style so that his writing would be technically correct.

To use Flying Cranes analogy.

He asked for the name of two streets in San Francisco that intersect and y'all only told him that for one to know two streets in S.F. one must live in S.F.

Would it have hurt to have just said you could use ?????? technique?

Lol.

Except that in the Chinese methods, it isn't the block or any other technique that defines a system. It's the engine that drives that block.

Is it still a Lamborghini if you put a lawnmower engine under the hood? Well kinda, it's still the shell. but no, not at all when it comes to performance. If he wants authentic Chinese methods in his story, he needs to understand what makes it authentic. It's not the shell. It's the engine.

That is what we are trying to help him understand.

 

[JowGaWolf]

I think your character might be better off with a karate background. Lol

lol nope only if that character is getting beaten up by a Jow Ga Character. we won't worry about BJJ and Muay Thai. Your karate character can beat those guys in the beginning of the book lol.

 

[JowGaWolf]

Man, y'all are a tough crowd.

Dude was just asking for a little help and ran into the Great Wall here.

It used to be worse lol. I'm still healing from my bruises when I first joined

 

[jks9199]

Here's the thing about getting too specific about techniques... most readers don't get what's happening, and those that do are liable to pick up on any errors. I don't recall what book I was reading, but the author described a series of steps and strikes that were in conflict with each other so badly that it made me put the book down, try to walk it, and shrug, because the character would have been dead, or twisted himself into a knot and had no way to generate power.

Instead of hanging everything on the right term from an art you (and many of your readers) don't know -- why not simply establish the guy does Wudang Fist... then not get to finicky about how. So... something like:

Jay felt confident his Wudang Fist training would let him handle this guy, as they squared off. The guy led off with a right hook, and Jay stepped in, blocking and came of the block with a Wudang fist strike.​

I like how Steve Perry, Steven Barnes, J. Michael Reaves, and Rutledge Etheridge (among others) write fights. On the other end of the scale... check out almost any so-called "men's adventure" (Mack Bolan, etc.) book. Many get too detailed in fight scenes, whether armed or unarmed.

 

[Steel Accord]

Don't regret having asked. But we can be a tough crowd, we do not impress easily.

I make no claims to being an expert. If you read my introduction you'll see I call myself "the eternal beginner" for a reason. The one thing I will contest is that what little knowledge of the arts I do have.

Except that in the Chinese methods, it isn't the block or any other technique that defines a system. It's the engine that drives that block.

Is it still a Lamborghini if you put a lawnmower engine under the hood? Well kinda, it's still the shell. but no, not at all when it comes to performance. If he wants authentic Chinese methods in his story, he needs to understand what makes it authentic. It's not the shell. It's the engine.

That is what we are trying to help him understand.

I do understand that. I understand that Wudang is not defined by an individual technique or a form. Every school and style is more than the sum of its parts, a key driving force that all the individual techniques spin off of.

I was simply asking what was the name of one such specific technique in full knowledge that there is more to it than that. I didn't realize that alone was a faux pas so forgive my ignorance.

 

[Steel Accord]

It used to be worse lol. I'm still healing from my bruises when I first joined

That doesn't really make me feel better. I already left one MA forum once because of a lack of supporting atmosphere.

 

[Steel Accord]

Why are you only interested in the counters for hook? Are you also interested in counters for:

- jab,
- cross,
- uppercut,
- front kick,
- side kick,
- hook kick,
- roundhouse kick,
- wrist lock,
- elbow lock,
- shoulder lock,
- single leg,
- double legs,
- foot sweep,
- hip throw,
- ... ?

Emphasis was on "quick question." Like a little yelp of confirmation for relatively minor information that I nevertheless wanted to sound authentic.

I already got my answer.

 

[Steel Accord]

The only thing is I don't think he was asking for y'all to teach him how to defend a right hook.

He is right. That's not what I was asking. My fault for not wording the question correctly.

((Sorry about the multi-posting. Getting these responses in on my phone.))

 

[mograph]

It used to be worse lol. I'm still healing from my bruises when I first joined

And this is the friendly community!