Xue Sheng
All weight is underside
On a serious note, I know that I am joking around a lot here about beating on trees, but in all honesty Sanda pretty damn cool.
It is probably the most modern of the Chinese martial arts and it claims no Qigong training, and so far I really do not see any, but yet every strike is lead by the dantian. It is also the most traditional CMA training I have ever done and it is still the most modern of all CMA styles. It is so far a strange and amazing combination of internal, external styles as well as old and new approaches to training.
The palm strikes that I train by hitting trees are a good example of this. They definitely remind me of Long fist and yet it feels very Xingyi. The basic training is definitely that of an external CMA but some of the subtleties are very close to internal. And yet there are no forms per say which lead to little or no extra movement you can get from a form. It tends to be very direct; a combination I am training is a simple punch over the shoulder which becomes an elbow to the stomach. Nothing new or amazing here just simple and direct.
Basically (this works with both hands) right punch up over right shoulder to back; This is not expected to make much contact but it will cause the person behind you to; let go, back up or if your lucky and they respond like most humans would bend backwards to avoid the hit. But then they move their stomach closer and this is where the immediate right elbow comes into play. The punch has already set your arm up for this and rotates the arm forward, the shoulder and waist are used here, and you have an elbow to stomach.
I of course am very early in this process of training Sanda, I have yet to train kicks, which comes next (also using a tree) then there is hitting with just about every part of your body (Which I suspect also includes trees) Joint locking, throws, sweeps. Etc. But all in all it is very cool and it has just in these early stages reminded me of many of the things I have done over the years. It seems to have elements of all the MAs I have trained for the last 30 years.
And Next week a return to Chen style. All this is a very strange, and yet great, feeling where I am a beginner after 30 years of training. Returning to a Tai Chi style I use to do after 12 years of training another, and I am not trying to kid myself here, Chen is different enough from Yang so I can easily say I am a beginner again here too.
I have been doing Chen style stance training and silk reeling practice but that is not the form. I have been in contact with a couple of people in my general area of the country that are disciples of Chen family members that I may go to in order to continue my training after the 18 form is finished. The people near me are not disciples of Chen Zhenglei; just students he has given permission to teach his 18. Also Chen Zhenglei does come here once or twice a year so time will tell, but its all good. After the 18 I will start working on the Chen forms I use to do and the fist will be, well the first, Chen Style Old first form.
After the last 3 years of polite discussion/argument with my long time Yang style Sifu this is a welcome change and it is great to be back training again. It may however become very much responsible for me posting less and training more. But Ill still be around and still be posting, I am way to opinionated when it comes to CMA to keep my mouth shut for long.
And since I am trying desperately to be serious here and not to get into to much humor and I feel I am heading that route I will end here.
It is probably the most modern of the Chinese martial arts and it claims no Qigong training, and so far I really do not see any, but yet every strike is lead by the dantian. It is also the most traditional CMA training I have ever done and it is still the most modern of all CMA styles. It is so far a strange and amazing combination of internal, external styles as well as old and new approaches to training.
The palm strikes that I train by hitting trees are a good example of this. They definitely remind me of Long fist and yet it feels very Xingyi. The basic training is definitely that of an external CMA but some of the subtleties are very close to internal. And yet there are no forms per say which lead to little or no extra movement you can get from a form. It tends to be very direct; a combination I am training is a simple punch over the shoulder which becomes an elbow to the stomach. Nothing new or amazing here just simple and direct.
Basically (this works with both hands) right punch up over right shoulder to back; This is not expected to make much contact but it will cause the person behind you to; let go, back up or if your lucky and they respond like most humans would bend backwards to avoid the hit. But then they move their stomach closer and this is where the immediate right elbow comes into play. The punch has already set your arm up for this and rotates the arm forward, the shoulder and waist are used here, and you have an elbow to stomach.
I of course am very early in this process of training Sanda, I have yet to train kicks, which comes next (also using a tree) then there is hitting with just about every part of your body (Which I suspect also includes trees) Joint locking, throws, sweeps. Etc. But all in all it is very cool and it has just in these early stages reminded me of many of the things I have done over the years. It seems to have elements of all the MAs I have trained for the last 30 years.
And Next week a return to Chen style. All this is a very strange, and yet great, feeling where I am a beginner after 30 years of training. Returning to a Tai Chi style I use to do after 12 years of training another, and I am not trying to kid myself here, Chen is different enough from Yang so I can easily say I am a beginner again here too.
I have been doing Chen style stance training and silk reeling practice but that is not the form. I have been in contact with a couple of people in my general area of the country that are disciples of Chen family members that I may go to in order to continue my training after the 18 form is finished. The people near me are not disciples of Chen Zhenglei; just students he has given permission to teach his 18. Also Chen Zhenglei does come here once or twice a year so time will tell, but its all good. After the 18 I will start working on the Chen forms I use to do and the fist will be, well the first, Chen Style Old first form.
After the last 3 years of polite discussion/argument with my long time Yang style Sifu this is a welcome change and it is great to be back training again. It may however become very much responsible for me posting less and training more. But Ill still be around and still be posting, I am way to opinionated when it comes to CMA to keep my mouth shut for long.
And since I am trying desperately to be serious here and not to get into to much humor and I feel I am heading that route I will end here.
