Relaxation Techniques

[Corporal Hicks]

Hi there, I've been learning Wing Chung for around two months now, and have gained considerable progress in learning the relaxation for the punching, however I am still too tense and stiff and so cannot correctly perform some techniques. Do any of you have any relaxation exercises I could practice? Are there any specific ones for Wing Chung?

Regards

 

[ed-swckf]

Hi there, I've been learning Wing Chung for around two months now, and have gained considerable progress in learning the relaxation for the punching, however I am still too tense and stiff and so cannot correctly perform some techniques. Do any of you have any relaxation exercises I could practice? Are there any specific ones for Wing Chung?

Regards

i'm assuming you warm up and warm down, relaxation is something you will be constantly learning to do more and more in wing chun, even now in my training my sifu will tell me to relax, relax or die. I haven't come across anything spectacular in helping me relax, i make a point of conciously relaxing as much as i can, keep doing the hard work, when i feel i am getting tense i take it down a notch and work at that level until i can work and a faster more intense pace with relaxation. I don't think there is any short cuts just lots and lots and lots of good sensible training.

 

[spatulahunter]

most wing chun students tend to be to stiff at first, over time you will learn to soften up a lot, the best 2 exercises for me have been chi sau and dan chi sau (single arm chi sau). In the stickey hand drills if you are stiff and tight it will make it easy to be controlled and felt, if you relax it will be easier to strike and harder to be blocked.

 

[Katsu Jin Ken]

if your not advanced enough for dan chi sao, just workout your arms until they are so tired its hard to lift them, then you are relaxed even if you want to tense up you cant. I did that for the first month in wing chun and it sounds like garbage that wont work but it has been suprisingly helpful.

 

[Tydive]

Here is something that should work for you, it's really Tai Chi.. but hey.

1. Get into the stance you want to work on, settle into your center, clear your mind, feel the flow of energy, sink into your feet. Pretend you are hip deep in honey, so that you have to move your feet by lifting rather than falling. Make sure your breathing is deep and slow try inhale for 4 count, hold for 6 count, exhale 4 count, wait 6 count then breath again (slower when you get dizzy).

2. Slowly do the technique, a single strike or single combo. Notice if you come out of your center and then do step 1 again. Do at least 30 reps of each technique at very slow speed, the slower the better. Make sure you are totally relaxed and centered.

3. Once you can do the technique 10 times in a row while maintaining center then speed it up. If you feel any tension or lack of balance or thoughts that are not about what you are doing, then go back to step 1. I tend to do a new form 100 to 500 times at slow speeds before I try full speed.

On the mental side, don't think about the technique, keep your focus on your center and let the movement happen with no attachment to outcome. Once you can just let your body guide you it's amazing.

 

[Corporal Hicks]

Cheers! I'll try that!