Zero to Hero

I have been working with Filipino Kali sumbradas again and I have since realised that the process of going from zero fighting ability to being able to fight using Kali, Wing Chun and Tai Chi are similar in certain ways.

In both Wing Chun and Tai Chi we start with teaching and training basics; this means starting with stances, learning the specific postures or patterns within the forms, learning the forms, and also the applications for each technique. Once students are proficient in the basic forms we then begin with the “energy drills” (which are done in partnership with another student). In Wing Chun these are known as single arm “chi sao” and double arm or rolling arms “poon sao”. In Tai Chi the “energy drill” is known as “tui shou” or pushing hands. These are energy drills are fairly unique to Wing Chun and Tai Chi. Not all teachers have structured “energy drills” but we use these to help students learn the basic concept and how to move from the basic movements into “free play” where they can begin to use different techniques and applications. In our Wing Chun we have two stages of double arm “poon sao”. In the first the “free play” is soft and easy, in the second the “free play” is harder and with more intention, and we call this “luk sao” (technically “poon sao” and “luk sao” both refer to rolling hands but some teachers, including mine, have used “luk sao” to refer to this harder version of “poon sao”. In Tai Chi we have several “tui shou” exercises which have the same aim as the “chi sao” and “poon sao”, which is getting the students to learn the basic concepts and how to move into applications. In both “chi sao” and “tui shou” the main aim however is to train students to “listen” to what is going on, to become sensitive to the energy of their partners.

Now sumbrada is not an energy drill per say but it does have similar elements to the energy drills found in Wing Chun and Tai Chi. In sumbrada you learn, in a structured way, to counter various attacks, and the drills are performed in such a way that the two students in the pair perform the same actions within the cycle. In sumbrada, or contra sumbrada (or counter for counter) the students learn to react to certain types of attack, and also learn to change with the change in attack. Once the student is proficient in the structured “sumbrada” they are then allowed to begin “free play”.

The most salient similarity for me is not in the actual partner exercise but in the process of learning a structured pattern and then dropping the structure and entering into “free play”. These exercises therefore mark a phase change from structured fighting to unstructured fighting. In Kung Fu the unstructured fighting is called “san shou” (“san sao” in Cantonese) or loose hands or free sparring (note I do not mean “san da” which is Chinese kick-boxing and has specific rules and is a competitive sport – I mean free fighting where anything goes (although not full contact – or else students would be in casualty every week). It is here that students are allowed to use all techniques without the restraint of the set pattern.

The biggest difference between Wing Chun and Kali, and Tai Chi is the time frame for moving from zero to hero. I am to have Wing Chun students to be proficient in “luk sao” without footwork or kicking within one year, and then “san sao” within three to five years. I would imagine the same sort of time frame for Kali. In tai chi, however, students are really only ready to begin “san shou” after eight years or more.

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