NHB Wing Chun Fight Team


Article from Wing Chun Teahouse Fall/Winter '06 Issue previously titled Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun Iron Wolves Fight Team - by Alan Orr

My path within Wing Chun seems to be one that is forever growing. Every day I feel a need to thank my teacher, Robert Chu, for his insightful method of Wing Chun, as without it I would have lacked the strong direction I have today - not a place I would like to be at all! The Chu Sau Lei System of Wing Chun is, to my mind, the future of Wing Chun training. I say that for a number of reasons and we shall explore them here.

Over the last couple of years I have undertaken an experiment, which is still on-going, but, nonetheless it's a good time to look at its progress so far. As you know, I have been training in Wing Chun for nearly twenty years now and within that time I have trained and checked out everything that is Wing Chun. I have also read every book avidly and watched every video on Wing Chun with a keen interest and so, I have some insight into this art! Even then, it wasn't until six years ago when I first started training with my now teacher, Robert Chu, that I started to understand the art which is Wing Chun.

Up until that point, I realised that the key elements to make it a complete method of combat were missing! That's why many people start with what they think is one of the best methods of self defence and in the end become disillusioned. However, the Body Structure methods in the Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun system corrected all of these problems for me; which would be enough to keep most people happy. As I started teaching Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun my guys and I started to get excited, for like me they had what they had always wanted, functional Wing Chun!

It wasn't long before a few of them started to think (as I did) that most people in MMA (mixed martial arts) competitions couldn't strike in a way that gave them genuine power without losing base, necessary to avoid being countered with the takedown. The Body Structure method on the whole solves this problem or at least makes it much harder for your opponent to shoot the takedown with confidence. (But more of that in my next article!) Let's just say firstly it was time to put our money where are mouths were and so we stared our fight team. I must point out that only 10% of my guys fight in the team, but the way we train is identical throughout the school. Everyone trains hard in a safe, functional and robustly alive way; without that you are not growing or really learning. If you have the Body Structure method you have a path to follow from which you can see your destination - that's what gives the student true confidence.

The Reason for the Experiment

'First intention, then enlightenment' Buddhist maxim

It seems that everybody involved in Wing Chun will tell you that it is a street art and therefore it's hard to use within a framework of competition rules and so on. Interestingly they will quickly tell you that they have had lots of street fights, used the system for real and therefore it's a proven combat art. Now, as a statement, that's certainly not untrue at all; I have had many times when I have had to put my skill to use and I know a few Wing Chun guys outside of our system that can use it on the street very well. But (and this is a large but!) most of the people saying these things have either not had real fights at all, or had what was a push and shove with the 'hold me back' routine. A few may have even hit a guy who was drunk who would have been beaten by his own shadow. Unfortunately there are more than a few teachers out there teaching street fighting skills without ever having been in a street fight or without even having sparred before!

The result of this has been to cause Wing Chun to lose a lot of respect within the martial arts community. When you say you practise Wing Chun to a boxer, Thai boxer or grappler they give you that look. The look of 'Oh, okay Wing Chun, didn't Bruce Lee start with that?' It's a nice way of saying 'whatever'. The main reason for this reaction is that a lot of Wing Chun is now becoming no more than a contrived approach to self defence. Violence is just that... violent! You have to have the skill to deal with the chaos of a fight, the rush of adrenalin, the impact of force against your person. It's not an easy day. Practising Chi Sao and a few drills will not help you in this world. If you have the skills of Chi Sao and have been training in the more realistic sparring environment, then you are walking the correct line.

I do believe Wing Chun to be a great art for self defence, if you have the correct structure and training methods. But, I feel it's time for Wing Chun styles to start pressure testing the basics rather than simply follow the 'Sifu says' line. Of course, not everybody would want to do that and I did say only 10% of my guys want to take it that far, however, in doing so my whole group have become better from the feedback the guys that have brought back with them from competition.

So, bearing this in mind, I wanted to help raise the bar within the art I love and not have to explain why our Wing Chun is not the same as what they have seen before. My main idea is this, if you have a functional system you should be able to hold you own within a competitive environment. That means that your skill should be functionally effective even when limiting your range of application and adopting the necessary control required by competition rules. It's not just about winning, it's about being able to play in the first place!

No Holds Barred

NHB fighting is a lot harder that it looks! Amateur NHB, in terms of stopping your opponent taking you down, is harder in some ways than Pro NHB fighting for the simple reason that it is easier to shoot for the takedown as all striking must be below the neck, and without head striking you can get closer to your opponent. So, to my mind, it is a great testing ground for your stand up structure. If you can stop the takedown and control you opponent within this environment then you have a functional structure. Of course, striking the head would mean that you can test you stopping skills in a fuller way, but they can strike back as well! So, the start point for us was with Amateur NHB, which is what we have been doing so far. Our team has had over fifty fights, mostly Amateur NHB and also some Full Contact Kick boxing. The next step for some of the guys will be Pro NHB and we will continue with the Amateur NHB competitions also.

The Iron Wolves Fight Team

My student, Neil Broadbent, became the Lightweight Amateur NHB Champion with seven fights and seven wins. Many of his fights lasted no more than 30 seconds, such is Neil's striking power. He even TKO'd an opponent with body strikes! After what is only a year of training with our system, he was able to develop the punching power from our structure methods which was way to much for his opponents to handle! Neil is now working on a Pro career. In his first Pro fight he injured his knee and has had to spend a few months recovery time,(this does show ring fighting is real) but since then, he has had one return fight at Pride and Glory Drop Zone 4 and won with a First round tap out in 34 seconds. The fight started fast with Neil punching his opponent with a flow of head shots. His opponent didn't like that at all and tried to shoot for the takedown. Neil took head and arm control and whiped his opponent over and they landed with Neil half mounted position. His opponent tried to restand and drive forward and Neil put him into put a neck crank / guillotine which finished the fight.

Aaron Baum (Middleweight runner up) also terrorised his group with his robust stand up fighting Body Structure and powerful Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun striking skills. He was top of his table and favourite to win his weight class. In the finals he walked through his first two fights and in the final gave his opponent a good hard fight. When it all looked like he had it in the bag he slowed down at the line and got caught in an arm bar with only four seconds to go. A good lesson for us all which is what it's all about. Of course, Aaron would liked to have not made the mistake, but he will be the first to say it made him even better in his next fight. He has just won his last fight in the ring at the Pride and Glory Drop Zone 2 show in Catterick. He won with TKO strikes to the body, which again is not often seen in amateur NHB, but such is the striking power unleashed by the Chu Sau Lei System. Aaron has two Semi Pro NHB fights lined up this year, one in Newcastle at Valhalla and the other in Catterick at the next Pride and Glory event.

Alex Wright, my student in Newcastle, also put his Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun skills on the line at the Pride and Glory Drop Zone 2 show in Catterick. After backing his opponent Up with his Chinese boxing skills, he then showed his great control of Body Structure by kneeing opponent over thirty times while pinning him with our stand up Chin Na skills . The fight looked one sided as his opponent had no way to escape the structural control Alex put on him. He won the fight in the first round as his opponent then gave him his back. The choke was a free gift for all the knee strikes he gave him. I say that light-heartedly, but that's what has happened in a lot of the fights my guys have had; due to the striking power opponents will start to lose the will to fight on and give an opportunity for submission as an exit strategy. Alex is looking to fight Semi Pro and Pro this year.



Neil finishing his fight at Pride and Glory in 34 seconds with a Catch Guillotine.
I also decided this year to fight, not that it really interests me to do at this point in my martial arts path. But, I thought it would be good for my guys to see me fight under pressure and it would a good for the team. I won the fight, which went as I had planned. Even though I won with an arm bar it was my striking skill and Body Structure that allowed me to control the fight. My opponent could not match or deal with the power and control of my strikes. This is the skill of our system that we wanted to test under pressure. I do have good grappling skills, which were needed a few points in the fight and having good grappling skill should not be overlooked for NHB fighting, of course. The guys did learn a lot from it as we have with all the fights. We have four others guys fighting plus another half dozen or so in training to fight next year, so we will continue to test our system and have fun with it. With now more that fifty fights as a team the Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun System has been well and truly battle tested!

Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun Chinese Boxing Wing Chun is a Chinese Boxing art therefore punching and kicking should be key strengths, but often when you look at Wing Chun practitioners, they have no boxing skills. What you mostly see is a fast chain punch and, in training, a turning punch. (I say in training because that's the only place it's seen, as it's hard to use it in real fighting if you can't control the opponent with your Chinese boxing skills.

So let's look at some of the skills needed to become a real Chinese boxer! Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun Chinese Boxing Methods - These are just a few of our hand boxing skills withinthe Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun System, but note we also have many palm methods and, of course, kicking methods as well. I will cover sticking legs and kicking skills at another time.

Basic Chinese Hand Boxing skills

Jik Chung Chuie (Straight Punch), Lien Wan Kuen (Chain Punches), Biu Chuie (Dart Punch),Charp Chuie (Piercing Punch), Chou Chuie (Spring Punch), Bien Chuie (Whipping Punch), Chung Chuie (Thrusting Punch) to list a just a few!

Attributes

Besides having the Body Structure elements these are some of the attributes one must develop to have sound Chinese boxing skills

Kwa (Hips)
Fai (Quickness)
Faat Ging (Release of Force)
Si Gan (Timing)
Jun (Accuracy)
Lou (Flow)
Chu Sau Lei NHB Wing Chun

Interestingly this has become predominantly the intention with which we train our system. The Chu Sau Lei System of Wing Chun by its nature is a very alive way of performing Wing Chun. All fighting arts are no holds barred in a way, all we do is bring that to mind when training , not forgetting that on the street your opponent is not working with you but against you. You have to be conditioned to adjust to the changes within the moment and overcome any situation. I will cover this in my next article.

Body Structure 'The Key'

Without Body Structure I personally feel that a Wing Chun fighter will have a lot of problems against a good or even only an okay grappler. Others may disagree, that's fine, but that is why we started to test our ideas rather that just voice them. Body Structure is now a term a lot of people are using when talking about positioning of their application and so on, but that is not all we are talking about when referring to Body Structure. What we are talking about is positioning of the body alignment, the correct use of vector lines, the understanding of the kinetic links in the body, the transferring of forces on and within the body and so forth. This is a much deeper area of Wing Chun that is totally misunderstood generally, but without it Wing Chun doesn't have a viable power source.

Training/Conditioning

Some time ago I started the Warrior Fighting Fitness programmes as I could see that a lot of martial arts practitioners where not physically training in the right way to be conditioned for their martial arts practice. Conditioning is 101 for all martial arts. Some will say, 'well I just train for general health and the art' but how can being out of condition be good for your health? Being in good condition also allows you to train the higher level of your art.

Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun Chin Na - Stand Up Grappling and Control

This is a very important part of the Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun System. Chin Na within Wing Chun is often not seen or is very poorly performed. The reason is that without Body Structure it is hard to control your opponent, therefore some branches of Wing Chun say that it's not part of Wing Chun. That's the easy way to get out of the fact that they don't understand this area of training. In most stand up fights a person will try to hold onto you when they've been hit, therefore you must know how to control them at this point otherwise it may become a free-for-all grapple, which is what you want to avoid. Also if they are trying to take you down or throw you, you will need the skills to neutralise this attack. It's all very well to say you would just strike them but it's not always going to work out that way. Moreover, you may not want to simply punch someone until they fall downas the situation may not call for that level of response. You may just need to stop them and then control them. This in fact takes a lot more skill than just hitting!

Ground Grappling training for NHB - / Wrestling and BJJ

It must be said, if you are going to compete in NHB then you must have a ground game. Even more so in amateur events as without striking the head it is easier for your opponent to shoot in on you for the takedown. As part of the Shark Tank we have some of the best grappling instruction around from Sensei Eddy Millis who has trained fighters for K1, UFC, Shooto, King of the Cage and... well every event you can think of. Sensei Millis is a great all round grappling teacher and coach. He is a black belt in BJJ and has very strong wrestling skills in every area. We also have Pete Irving who is a great BJJ fighter as part of our coaching team for the Iron Wolves, he has been a perfect training partner for me. Also we have been working with the excellent Carlson Gracie black belt Leo Nagao from Brazil, he has been pushing our ground game up and up . This is an important part of our training and I really enjoyed grappling and have as great respect for the art as much as my Wing Chun . I continue to train and develop my grappling skills with the same passion I have put into my Wing Chun. I have over my years of grappling developed a deep interest in Catch Wrestling which as also benefited our grappling style. In a fight if you do get taken down you will not be getting back up without good grappling skills. So, I do train our fight team in grappling, but it is our striking system that has given us something different to our opponents. That system is Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun Kuen.

The Maxims of the Experiment

*To test our Principles and Concepts of the Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun System.
*To have our Fight Team compete and test our Body Structure Methods of the Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun system under the pressure of various types of competition.
*To test our methods of striking power in real time competitions against other types of striking methods and grappling arts by entering NHB events.
*To also improve our Grappling arts to the level of our Wing Chun system.
*To learn and give feedback to the school and to have fun, win or lose.
*To create an arena for pressure testing within the Wing Chun systems by means of a Wing Chun tournament.

Key points learned from fighting in Competitions

*You must have good Body Structure to be able to stand your ground.
*You must know how to strike with power without giving away your base.
*You must be conditioned or you will run out of gas.
*You must have a good grappling knowledge if you wish to compete in NHB / MMA
*You must have fighting spirit to overcome the stress of fighting in a competition.
*You must train how you would if you were to be in a fight.

The future of Wing Chun

In order to keep the art of Wing Chun alive and well we must keep it growing. Pressure testing is a form of suffering as it is hard on the body and mind but necessary if we are to look towards truth; we must have no one to blame but ourselves.

'Purity is something that cannot be attained except by piling effort upon effort' Hagakure

The Buddhist way of understanding ones suffering is firstly investigate it. This becomes the path to awakening, which breaks the delusion that often can be holding back the path of development. It is taught in Buddhism that you must have the right understanding to have the right aspiration, therefore giving us the intelligence for reflection and contemplation. Let's open our minds to the art that is within us.

Training Tip: Let's remember that Wing Chun is a progressive art forged by Wing Chun fighters like Hawkings Cheung and Wong Shun Leung. So, keep out of the comfort zone and start making life a bit harder for yourself but more vital!

You need to have some healthy pressure in your training in order to keep your edge and stay true to your art. Otherwise it's easy to drift off in the wrong direction and become unrealistic in your training methods and application. I 'm not saying everyone should fight in NHB competitions, but Wing Chun does need a forum for friendly and healthy development. Of course I have a few ideas on this which you can read in my next article!

Alan Orr is a disciple of Robert Chu Sifu and the European representative of the Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun system. He is also the UK representative for Guro Mark Wiley in the Filipino martial arts and Sensei Eddy Millis of Shark Tank in NHB/Grappling. Alan also teaches Tui Na Chinese Bodywork.

Web: www.alanorr.com

www.warriorfightingfitness.com

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Source: Wing Chun Teahouse magazine