Cats are
not naturally Wing Chun stylists. They tend to leave their center open, and attack laterally. They also don't use forward pressure. Instead they pull you into a clinch ...or more accurately a clench, as in
a bite ...usually claw-kicking the living heck out of your hand with their rear legs at the same time. To be honest, though it galls me as a WC guy, my cats seem much better at
Choi Lay Fut than WC. See below:
Cat's sparring:
Choi Lay Fut:
Sometimes they even lie on their backs with their paws splayed outward just baiting you. When the WC guy takes the bait and tries to shoot in on centerline attacking the chest or throat, they whip their paws in laterally from the sides and hook you which their claws. It gives "sticking" a whole new meaning. Then they will drag your hand right into their sharp little fangs. They are truly evil.
After suffering many shameful defeats to my cat
BaMan, I finally managed to come up with a WC technique that I can make work more often than not. I shoot my fingers in on centerline at his throat, then when the claws come lashing in from the sides, I do not try to pull back. No time for that. Instead, I keep forward pressure and execute a fingertip
huen sau and slip down and around to the outside gate behind his paws (by not withdrawing force, the claws don't hook in).
Then I continue shooting forward, slipping along his cheek, past his snapping fangs and up behind his head applying the
neck-pulling hand movement from the dummy form and finishing with a quick flurry of scratches behind his ear. Not perfect, but I can make it work at least 50% of the time.
Punch to inside gate
