Basic requirements for issuing whole body force regardless of strike configuration ... not limited/restricted to CLF or any other system for that matter. Some things to consider if you so choose: "Telegraphic technique" is an over played buzz word. In one of the Ali vs. Frazer fights Ali remarked (paraphrased) "No one hits me with a hook ... here it comes again." Ali saw the hook coming ... recognzied it was coming ... and got hit with it repeatedly. If we think of "seeing" or recognizing something happening as a type of "Knowledge" ... then consider this: Knowledge is NOT power ... knowledge is Potential Power. Simply knowing in of itself "does" nothing. The knowledge must be converted to action. A professional Baseball player up to bat "knows" where the strike zone is ... where the Pitcher must throw the ball for it to count so to speak. He also has plenty of time to "see" the large telegraphic movements the Pitcher goes through before throwing the ball. Yet, if someone bats .300 they are a shoe in for the Hall of Fame. That means 7 times out of 10 they failed to hit the ball safely. One way I used repeatedly with great success in the mid - late in Gong Sau Challenge fights with WC players was to "feed" something fast and fairly straight line into their Centerline and immediately bring something arcing from the opposite hand. I didn't just load up and try to take the heavy shot to them directly ... it played off their reaction to something fed to them prior. Something fast and into the center gave them an initial read that proved false & as the first strike fed into their center it would briefly halt their forward movement. Stepping into the Dead Door and then arcing hard from the outside in also works well. The initial movement happens outside their field of vision ... they literally don't see it coming. Understanding and using the entire Bridge is another consideration. Most peeps look at the hand configuration and conclude that is the striking surface. Not necessarily the case. Many of H'ung Ga's hand configurations serve to flex or tighten certain areas/surface of the forearm. The striking surface is actually the forearm ... 3 Star Blocks teach this. If your intended weapon area impact point moves up and into the forearm area ... you have just created a much tighter ... faster ... strike ... you have shortened the arc. Hard linking the shoulder to the waist just prior to impact makes this arrangement very "heavy" ... crushing - smashing. See above.
key.. IME this is key whatever your aproach to combat, i.e. boxers (very) rarely throw the knockout punch as the first punch, it's usually at least the second, third or more in a fast combo that does the real damage.
Yep, patterning ... it will get you killed ... "push the button(s)" to start the program and then run wild throught the seams. A bunch of CLF peeps did the same thing to the WC crowd ... their arching shots were moving at screaming speed ... the shortest distance between two points is not necessarily the fastest way to travel.
excellent post! as a british born hakka ive been fascinated with hakka martial arts since growing up hearing all the stories about the early hakka settlers who knew kungfu dealing with trouble makers in the restuarants. you can tell by the way JFS writes about the 'arc' and power generation that he is talking from years of training experience. although i think the term "long range" used to describe styles like hung gar and choy li fut is not about the fighting range but rather the way the power generated is long range, where as in SPM the power is short range because there isnt such a long distance for the arms to travel. in chow gar mantis, we have alot of exercises which develop the 'dip gwut gong' rib bone power which is used when we 'sink and spit' to get the extra power in the striking. coming from a karate background this was totally alien to me since i had only been using my waist all that time. :bang:
Good that you understand the principle of CLF longfist. We don't hit from far away, but yes the arc is bigger. Tam Sam had a saying, "extra inch = extra power." However I guess if you do SPM then that saying no longer applies? lol.
i believe the quote is "yut chune churn, yut chune kern" - one inch longer, one inch stronger!!! it applies to everything including mantis, just have different ways of getting that extra inch other than a larger 'arc'.
Mabye. I'm no expert on mantis; I can't judge the system fairly. Therefore I think the important thing is to know the limitations of one's own system. Also, truth is based on perception. What may be true for CLF isn't necessarily true for WC, SPM, etc.
Close, IMO, it's knowing the personal limitations generally defined by extent of experience. Systems as such ... are restricted & limited by way of proper use. The bio-mechanics of HG, CLF, SPM "play" effectively in grappling ... on the ground or upright ... plane of orientation is a very small concern. Agreed ... and how do we go about the business of expanding our perception? By shifting our location and looking at whatever from a different angle -view, or in retrospect through subsequent experience. "Truth" as an absolute is an ideal ... doesn't exist. Whatever situation or configuration you wish to put me in ... I can readily and effectively provide a solution to the problem(s) presented by way of HG or SPM. Certainly it won't be a mirror image structure from the other hand that is drawn upon to solve the problem ... as effective is more properly the correct criteria. People tend to seek out analogs ... close approximations in terms of physical presentation. A narrow way to go about it and one that quickly flat lines. "Effect" or "outcome" is the more expansive way to seek and find these things.
