Several Chu Sau Lei Chi Sau Faat Explained - By David McKinnon, Dzu Nguyen, additional commentary by Rene Ritchie
Mun Fa/ Yin Fa - Asking/inquiring and enticing.
Asking can be done with the hands, pressure, body, steps, and technique. In asking, you pressure the opponent and use 4 ounces to offset his 1000 pounds. Everyone uses Mun Sau. This does not wholly refer to the hand position, but rather to the idea of inquiring about your opponent’s energy and intention.
I may equalize and wait
I may add energy to an opponent’s bridge
I may be soft and yielding or firm and unyielding
The method of asking is to see what my opponent will do. When I attack or apply pressure, will he rush in, will he step away, will he stay in place.
I might inquire by striking stepping or kicking, or by adjusting, evading or withdrawing.
Mun Sau is surveillance and preparation. It functions at Chi Sau range or from across the room.
Mun Sau is listening.
In Chi Sau, our bridges can be used to feel the opponent. The bridges, through experience gain sensitivity and the ability to add an extra dimension to the experience. I am no longer just dependent on sight, I have the sense of touch as well. In my example, when in contact there are many ways to gain information as well as feed information to an opponent to entice him in to acting or reacting.
The same can be done outside of contact.
Mun Fa/Yin Fa is a mental method. It is a way of thinking. I can apply the idea of asking/inquiring from any point in time.
Just like a good football team might watch footage of the other teams plays, so might I watch you Chi Sau before touching your hands, or talk to your training partners to see how they like to Chi Sau.
If I have no time to prepare or the conditions are unfriendly, there is still allot of information to be derived from an opponent pre-contact in the seconds before we engage.
I can read body language.
- Are you calm? I could agitate you.
- Are you angry? I could sooth you.
- Running your mouth? I could cut you off.
- Silent and brooding? I could get you to talk
I can put obstacles between you and I to see how you react.
I can face you with intention or pretend not to notice.
If you are far enough away I can present the side, front or even back (dangerous) of my body to see how you approach me.
There are many elements to be considered.
Jou Fa - Running - avoiding pressure or running from pressure, using pressure to give rise to new situations/techniques
This is very simple, but hard to put a fine point on. Upon feeling pressure, I can choose to run away or around the energy.
- This may be used to circumvent a heavy Fuk Sau and follow through with a strike.
- It may be used to flow around pressure and set up a technique.
- Additionally rather then just running the hands away from the pressure, we could run the entire body out of the path of oncoming force and then flowing back in again.
Conversely
- I can add energy to an opponent and cause him to run. effectively setting up and initiating a more well placed attack.
- By running from pressure I can again entice the other person to attack or move, thus creating an opening.
Running is simple but can be overused. If we run to much, it is a sickness. Always moving away from pressure is akin to always attacking when pressure is given
In contact, when I run, I can chose to stay very close and maintain more contact or give up some (but almost never all) contact.
- Huen is a good example of keeping allot of contact and sensativity. I run from the pressure but maintain the elements of listening as well as other energies and methods applied along the arm such as sticking to the bridge as well as the pressing, pulling, sinking or lifting energies. I might just hit them as well.
- Your questions concers when I choose to maintain less contact and for what purposes. One purpose would be to mask my intentions from my opponent. By quickly running and feeding him little information my Jou Da (running strike) has the advantage of being silenced to his sensitivity.
- Similarly I may lighten up with the intent of enticing my opponent into action. In this case my structure and positioning are very important because in this case I too could loose some sensitivity.
- Finally I will say that when running, breaking contact alltogether is a highly risky endeavor due to it shutting down some of the feeling and sticking element of Chi Sau. What Rene might call Mo (feel) and Chi (Stick).
- On the other hand, with good structure and awareness I can run and still be very secure in my ability to close off many of my opponents points of attack and entry.
Jeet Fa - Methods of intercepting - beating the opponent to the strike, recognizing threat and immediately shutting it off with the hands, body or steps.
Jeet is a great method. It deals with intercepting on all levels.Intention - Before my partner even tries to attack me, he must want to attack, or intend to throw a punch for example. If my sensitivity is good and my partner is not so good at hiding his intent I can shut off the attack before the word go.
Initiation - As the technique initiates, it often lacks perfect mechanics and structure. The arm may not be extended enough to prevent me from collapsing it or the power may not be developed enough to keep me from jamming the attack.
Development - as the attack develops, I may have to intercept with my own techniques. Counter punching or inserting a Tan/Bong/Fook into the path of the oncoming punch. It is better of course to catch the attack early because once the punch is developed, it is hard to stop and also it may be in a better position for the attacker to counter your jeet or follow through with another attack.
Tools - Tools of interception use the bridge, the body, and the mind.
The bridges are simple enough. Use the Chuie or one of the three seeds to intersect and cut off the attack.
The body can also be used in this way to close and smother the opponent but also, since it is the target, it can be moved closer or further away to disrupt the intention of the attacker.
Finally, the mind can be used to intercept the opponents intentions. He wants to hit me, but every time he sets me up I change before he can attack, or I present a target and then hide it again, anything that will 'Jeet' the intention of his strike.
As an example, country x wants to launch a missile at me.
I can shoot it down over my city
I can shoot it down over their country
I can shoot the launcher
I can shoot the telephone lines that the leader of the country uses to give the launch order...etc etc etc.
I can threaten the leader
I can assassinate the leader
I can point my missiles at the leader
I can use diplomacy with the leader
All these thousands of variations, while in a Chi Sou model may include some other methods, they also involve intercepting.
In my example I am using many ways to either intercept the actual attack, the method of attack or the reason for attack.
Tao/Lou Fa - Methods of leaking and stealing, seeing an opportunity and taking it, or passively finding it
Tao (steal) and Lao (leak)Tao takes advantage of an opponent's inaction. If though error or circumstance (can't be in two places at once) they leave an exploitable hole, or can't cover a hole you force them to create, you can just go right in and start stealing (go in through the hole and start systematically opening it up and breaking them down, and ending the encounter).
Lao by contrast takes advantage of an opponent's action. This can also be the result of an error (they over act, too much movement, too much power, too much space, etc.) or circumstance (countering one thing sets them up for another)
Tao/Lao really emphasizes freeing your hands, feet, and mind. It follows the concept of Yin/Yang.
If my partner is strong up top, I attack down below. If he's strong on the right, I attack on his left. If he has a certain timing, I find the timing and Biu (dart) when he is weakest. It is the cheap shot that sneaks in somehow. It can be used to distract, or set up the opponent for the finishing blow by finding or creating a crease in his defense. Once the crease is found, the body structure follows to disrupt and cleave the center.
The idea of Tao/Lao is not to be trapped because you are merely taking advantage of what the opponent gives you. If he changes, you change with him. There is no fixation on any one particular target or approach.
Jiu Fa - common methods of Gor Sao (crossing hands) such as Tan Da, Pak Da, Lop Da, etc. in singular and combination. Typically, it is a technician's level of training.
Jiu Fa is simple. It is the use of specific techniques within the framework of Chi Sao.Specifically, the Gor Sao techniques ar single or linked applications against your partner.
These techniques can be used in free practice
they can be drilled over and over to perfect timing, positioning and proper application of structure
specific techniques can be applied against specific attacks or against steadily more resistant partners.
Once the basics of Jiu Fa are understood, then we can link them the other methods. (i.e. Tan Da linked with the idea of jeet or with pressing drawing, sinking or floating.)
It is and it is dynamic as well.
If we perfect a Tan Da against X% of resistance and increase it over time, add additional variables then this is an excellent method for a person to really get a technique.
(Paul H) In the fight it often has many other unknown variables from complex psychology mindset to more chaotic, fluctuating, dynamic, and unpredictable factors.
You have a very good point again, but as you have seen with the other Fa (methods) and as my favorite Bruce Lee shirt says, “don’t sweat the techniques!”
Jiu Fa/Gor Sou is for perfecting technical ability but really makes a difference in our training when we use it to understand three things. Proper timing of a technique, proper position in relation to an opponent, and proper use of structure (using ours, breaking theirs). When we have these three and technically accurate techniques then we can flow and deal with other systems and different methods of application others might use.
Sim Fa - Methods of evasion with steps, body displacement, dodging, or hand movement, but still being close enough to continue. There are two major methods: using the torso to evade (small evasion) or using steps to evade (large evasion).
Sim Fa is often easier experienced then talked about.As a method of evasion we could look at it from evading the situation all together to getting out of the way of a strike.
From the point of view of Chi Sau, it seems to me that we could look at it as a matter of degrees and what evasion is and is not.
Stepping back or moving out of range is not technically evasion. It is more removing oneself from the situation at hand.
Evasion is getting out of the way or off the line of attack through motion. Stepping or shifting are very large examples of this. As we improve, we decrease the empty space between the attack and our body so that when we are better we have the option to let an attack slip along the body, maintaining contact without impact. Additionally, rather then just evading, we can guide the hand and body of the opponent with our own as well as evading so that the motions are again smaller.