The Way of Least Resistance

Further to my article “ The origins of tensho ” I came across this video recently.  It shows Lee Kong Sifu demonstrating a white crane form of an unknown name.  The form is the closest I’ve ever seen to the goju kata tensho. The form is from Fujian white crane. What is most fascinating to me is that, like tensho, it proceeds with forward steps in sanchin/sanzhan, where the “up, down, side, side” action (which some call “rokkishu” or “fishtail exercise” ) is repeated - first with one hand, then with the other, then with both simultaneously . This is the only time I have ever seen this exact sequence in a Chinese system.  (You'll note from my previous article that the form bafen only performs the sequence with both hands simultaneously - never the hands individually.) The form then goes on to various finger thrusts that might be counterparts to similar thrusts at the end of tensho, some more palm/hand movements (which have no parallel in tensho), a double ha...

Introduction Some time ago I wrote the article " The role of traditional stances ", however I have never attempted to describe these in any real detail (although I have previously discussed stances and stepping in stances in various articles, eg. " Northern and southern kung fu, karate and the question of range "). So following my last post about basic blocks, I thought I'd describe how to assume the basic stances of karate (and most other traditional martial arts): Heisoku dachi (attention stance) Feet together, weight evenly distributed. Musubi dachi (V stance) Heels together, feet out at angles, weight evenly distributed. Heiko dachi (parallel stance) Feet parallel, shoulder width, weight evenly distributed. Hachiji dachi (figure 8 stance) Feet angled outwards, shoulder width, weight evenly distributed. Zenkutsu dachi / gong bu (forward stance) Feet shoulder width, weight 70% on front foot, 30% on back, front shin vertical, outside edge of front foot pointi...

It has occurred to me that I have not ever addressed one of the major elements of traditional fighting arts before: stances. Stances are an integral part of traditional eastern fighting arts. Moreover they are surprisingly consistent in form. For example, virtually every eastern fighting art has the “forward” stance (sometimes called the "bow and arrow stance"). In Japanese it is called “zenkutsu dachi”. In Chinese it is called “gong bu” (work step). This stance is the “workhorse” of most martial systems. Typically it is shoulder width between the feet but 2 shoulder widths in length with the front knee bent so that the shin is vertical while the back leg is straight. The hips are usually oriented forwards (hence the term “forward stance”). It even exists in yoga where it takes the form of the “warrior pose” indicating its martial links. Another ubiquitous stance is “horse stance”, which is typically bow-legged with the feet 1 ½ to 2 shoulder widths apart, toes either ...

Further to my article: "The naming of sanchin" ... I have heard it said in crane circles that there is a different sanchin for every student, or words to that effect. I don't know if that is true, but every variant of crane seems to have a sanjan/sanzhan/saamchien. Ngo cho kun (5 ancestor fist) is based on 5 shaolin styles of which crane is one, hence they have sanchin. While Kanbun Uechi's art seems to have been a compilation of his all his various studies, I think it was most heavily influenced by white crane. Uechi certainly looks a lot like Fujian white crane (in my view much more than goju). For downloadable videos check out my friend Martin Watt's site: http://www.fujianbaihe.com/ . He does Yong Chun white crane. His site has links to his Chinese school's site (which has more videos). Also have a look at Eric Ling's sanjin on http://www.goju-ryu.info/ (Fuzhou Ancestral Crane - said to be the crane form that lead to all the crane variants - calling c...

Further to my article on the numeric names of kata : In Chinese schools (eg. ngo cho kun) the kata is called "saam chien / sanzhan" while the stance is called "chien be / zhan bu" (battle stance) . The latter is probably the more "correct" description/name of the stance. By comparison, in karate we could perhaps call sanchin dachi "chin dachi". The kata name "sanchin" means "3 battles" and my theory is that the "battles" referred to are not "mind/body/spirit" or some other elaborate philosophical concept. Rather, I think the explanation is more straightforward: The kata is named after 3 sanchin dachi steps:Given my thoughts on the pragmatic kata naming conventions in Fujian in the 1800s (again, see my article Numeric names of kata ) I think the present kata name is shortened from the full Chinese name of the kata: "san zhan bu / saam chien be" — ie. “3 battle steps”. In this regard, bear in mind t...

That goju-ryu karate has some of its roots in the Chinese martial arts is a certainty. Most people focus on white crane, ngo cho kun and similar "external" Fujian-based martial systems when it comes to examining its origins. However even earlier ancestors probably included xingyi or perhaps bagua/taiji like internal arts . However those arts are still significantly different in their dynamics. It is possible to perform goju using these dynamics (even the kata) and if you do so you end up with an interesting beast. Here is an example of Goju movements applied with xingyi footwork: Goju techniques performed with xingyiquan footwork The footwork in issue is a kind of suri ashi (ie. footwork that includes sliding where the stance changes or legs pass). The significance of this is that the front foot moves first, immediately putting the whole bodyweight into the movement. You'll note that unlike goju, in the internal arts your strike lands with the leading foot, not the r...

“Grounding” (sometimes called “rooting”) is an essential skill in traditional martial arts and is often associated with the sanchin/sanzhan stance in many schools of karate and particularly external southern Chinese arts. It also features strongly in the internal arts of xingyi and its offshoot yi quan (see my articles “ Sanchin in the Chinese martial arts ”, “ The naming of sanchin ” and “ Seisan - the universal kata” where I suggest a link between sanchin and xingyi’s “san ti” posture which utilises a stance sometimes called “zhan bu” (battle stance)). In our school we practise a kind of “standing pushing” exercise in sanchin intended to develop and test grounding. Both partners stand in sanchin at bent elbow range – one hand on the hip, one hand on the shoulder. There are no “rules” other than “no leaning” and “no sudden or pulsating thrusts”. The drill is illustrated in the video below: Sanchin pushing So far I've been able to resist such “standing pushing” by far stronge...

A colleague of mine on gojuryu.net recently said the following in response to my article: “ Whole lotta shakin’: pre-loading the hips ”: “When stepping, there is an inherent motion to the hips. If this is utilized to load a technique, then there is no telegraphing or slowdown. I think examples where there is a block THEN hip load THEN strike will never work against a properly motivated attacker. However, why can't all three of those things be the same - ie, block and punch with the same hip motion at the same time?” I think this is an excellent point. It occurred to me many martial arts movements are specifically designed this way. Consider the humble sanchin dachi (3 battles stance) as it occurs in goju ryu and other karate kata. That stance involves a pelvic tension which occurs as you step up into the stance just before you effect a technique (whether it is a block or a punch or both). That pelvic tension produces a 45 degree movement in the hips, creating forward and “upwar...