Let's start with kicks, like the roundhouse in particular. I have been throwing this kick wrong like forever. Instead of executing the kick from the knee down, I have this whip thing going on which stems from throwing countless roundhouses with a fake and in this process turning into a Dragons whip kind of thing, like whipping a wet towel. This becomes especially evident once my legs begin to feel fatigue. It doesn't really matter if they are thrown from a Bow stance or a Horse stance, the result becomes the same and many things are affected. Things like the three point position for example. It becomes useless and effects the speed of the kick and my balance. Where you can really see this effect and where I can feel it is from the horse stance. Recovery and stability are heavily jeopardized and by incorporating the thigh into the execution prevents me from pushing the hip out and removes the three point alignment that is very critical. This also disrupts overall timing as well. But what becomes most detrimental at this point, is speed. The roundhouse kick should be lightning quick, even with all of the mechanics involved, it is more less a jab as opposed to a devastating kick such as a cut kick or Dragons whip for example. So in order to try to remedy this impairment I am going to adapt a practice by Bill "super foot " Wallace. Hundreds upon hundreds of reps from the crane position. With this I will be working several areas such as crane stance height, stance stability, proper execution, and speed. This will also work well for dynamic stretching and endurance, as well as highly efficient corrective training. At the moment and with the time limitations I have put myself in, I think this should approach should put me where I need to be come November and beyond.
Now the bad guy's. In other words my 5 personal techniques. Two weeks ago I managed to develop a new technique at open training which now gives me a solid 5. I like this technique and how it just kind of came together on the fly with Mr. Duncan. Aside from creating flow and leaving the blunt force trauma out of the equation, I'm pretty excited about this one. I also manged to redefine my disarmament technique. An earlier version lacked flow and too many direction changes. The newer version continues in one direction and removes a lot of unnecessary techniques. There is a risk of the firearm going off but if the technique is applied correctly and continued throughout, the risk becomes very low as the firearm is rendered useless, just like my attackers hand! (Insert evil laugh here) I will seek further consultation from the Sifu that taught us this technique to be sure. After going over the technique on my own a few times I have found a good group of one-handed finishing techniques that will be highly effective. The only thing I am struggling with is to do the spock thing with my hands to gouge out the eyes effectively and not break my fingers.... awesome right!
Now onto so much more. Conditioning, curriculum, memorization, hand forms, weapon forms, and through it all maintaining the three C's. Sounds like a lot, and it is of course. But my minds in the right place at the moment. I'm calm and at peace... well for the most part anyway, I still tend to get fired up about somethings but that's the balance we need in order to become stronger mentally and improve our adaptability through wide vision as opposed to seeing discovery through a pin hole in a wall. I am slowly beginning to understand a deeper comprehension of Kung Fu and it's mechanics. The softer and harder concepts and when to apply are starting to make sense. I am no where near a solid understanding but I guess maybe I'm just a slow learner. See you at the Kwoon.
