Gary Lam Vids

[JimHawkins]

Here's some very cool clips from Gary Lam with a couple of his more senior students..

Those with Push Hands experience: I'd be interested to hear thoughts on similarities and differences wrt PH and Chi Sao.

Gary is a very cool 'old school' WCK Sifu and reminds me very much of my late Sifu Moy~Yat..

Here's a couple of Po Pai drills. Po Pai is the two high/low palms also found in Uechi... See any other Uechi-like moves? Note the flow...

Gotta love the 'padded walls' ! A much better idea than pulling folks out of walls and having to fix them like we used to do...

http://www.wccoach.com/updates/PoPai_medium.mov

This one has some kicking elements:

http://www.wccoach.com/updates/Kicking_medium.mov

Gary 'Taking the centerline' Great hands..!

http://www.wccoach.com/updates/sifu1_medium.mov

http://www.wccoach.com/updates/sifu3_medium.mov

A more emotional side..Don't PO Gary!

http://www.wccoach.com/updates/SifuLamD ... medium.mov

[Rick Wilson]

Great clips. So much Wauke in them!!!!

[Stryke]

Thanks Jim !!!

that was awesome , love that stuff .

Now I have an excuse for living in a padded room .... or I will have .....

[JimHawkins]

Great clips. So much Wauke in them!!!!

The wa-uke to me is a compressed representation of a multitude of moves so 'the wa-uke' in WCK is of course conceptual. Still I do agree that many of the moves are there.

The key emphasis for application in WCK and perhaps this would apply to Traditional Uechi™, is a major forward pressure component, starting from the elbow. So while a Uechika might just see a circle a WCK person will not be thinking circle so much as line changing and forward pressure.

With the forward pressure added into the circle you now have a spiral, like in a spring. The more advanced the practitioner the smaller the circular component becomes as when you pull a spring past its designed length and it becomes very long and the circles can barely be seen. This dynamic is critical when letting/helping the opponent’s force ‘go’ away from the line and then going right down that space they made in the center, wherever that may be.

[JimHawkins]

Thanks Jim !!!

that was awesome , love that stuff .

Now I have an excuse for living in a padded room .... or I will have .....

My pleasure Marcus..

Gary is really very good, I think, and is of a similar caliber to those I call my seniors, very special folks to work with…

Since we're all waiting to read the power generation article I thought some of this would be very Interesting from a power generation perspective... Any thoughts Rick? Lots of short power there...

The po pai drill is a great example of how WCK makes linier power, meaning with both hands. Since both hands are used to issue force waist rotation is not really applied here as it might be in other moves. Check out how they align just as they issue force. This is the Chum Kiu (2nd form) Bik Ma step or stance, which can also add power from the waist.. And in certain applications is very similar, I think, to what Dana does with her alternate Sanchin stance/mechanics from..is it Gushi Sensei? Van's student Vinny, demonstrated this dynamic, which is very cool, and with the exception of the alignment being different - we face the way the feet align - the dynamic looks very similar to our bik ma, which is also like a cat stance but without the raised heel in the front and both feet are at 45 degrees w.r.t. the line, also similar to the stepping in sanseiru...

Also the power used in these demos is more of a pushing kind of power used to help train body alignment while not really injuring the opponent. At some point the student will explore getting all the energy seen there to release suddenly in a lightning release of energy that goes *into* the opponent, and doing damage as opposed to energy that 'sends him away.'

BTW Marcus I highly recommend Gary's DVDs if you're interested in the sticking stuff..!

[Rick Wilson]

Sorry no time to reply tonight but there is so much I like in these clips they will be inspiring two other posts.

[benzocaine]

The first clip screams out to me. Right there is a drill to train the double "bushikens" in sanchin.

[JimHawkins]

The first clip screams out to me. Right there is a drill to train the double "bushikens" in sanchin.

There you go!

No question in my mind that much of this stuff can translate well for a variety of uses given a proper foundation... It's such a valuable training vehicle, one that truly can bridge the gap between form and function.

[jorvik]

Quote
"Those with Push Hands experience: I'd be interested to hear thoughts on similarities and differences wrt PH and Chi Sao."

Well in the first clip the push is pretty much standard PH's, the way that you get to it isn't, and the way that they push isn't. In TC you would start with right forearms touching and move back and forward from that ......the way that they got into position was ok.but they put too much into the push.........to stiff..........in TC the guy getting pushed would be waiting for that stiffness so that they could counter.
One possible counter is a Wauke coming up under the guy's hand that is closest to your elbow and done with a waist turn, but these are just exercises

[JimHawkins]

Well I wouldn't say stiff, though the first part of the po pai they did there is less natural because they are just going through the basic moves, training the alignment.

I think there are different mechanics at work between TC and WCK, in general. WCK training seeks to use leveraged positions to fill space, while maintaining facing. So sometimes the WCK player, when receiving energy or being 'flanked' will simply re-face the opponent with his structure or position. WCK only ‘sticks’ when the center is closed and always avoids loosing facing, which can happen as a result of using rotational energy to clear the line, something WCK aviods.

Often simply 're-facing' in and of itself clears the incoming 'attack' while also allowing one to take back the line, this was seen in the second part of the po pai clip, where simply by shifting toward and facing the opponent, the center was reclaimed. This is a staple of the system, using economy of motion, with forward 'spring' energy, neutral wrt the centerline that allows both arms to work with the body to control the center without using force against force.

The arm positions used may appear 'stiff' compared to TC because they assume 'leveraged shapes', the same ones that would be used in actual fighting. But when receiving energy, like a spring these positions will suddenly give, change and 'spring back' into the center, filling and attacking. So while the arms and hands do not 'blow in the wind' they are trained to be substantial yet explosively flexible, and very much relaxed, like a spring or bamboo, as Gary demonstrates very well.

[Stryke]

BTW Marcus I highly recommend Gary's DVDs if you're interested in the sticking stuff..!

Thanks Jim is hard to know whats good and not before one buys ... I`ll take alook

[JimHawkins]

Thanks Jim is hard to know whats good and not before one buys ... I`ll take alook

Just my opinion...

I like him very much, his style and method is very familiar to me and close to the way Moy~Yat taught...etc.

Of course, I also suggest sticking training in person with an experienced chi saoer if at all possible..

If you ever get around the NYC area I'd be happy to show you some sticking stuff if I can..



.

[Stryke]

Cool stuff Jim !!

Seems I just added New York to places I have to visit


And I will find the people with the skills to help me with Chi Sao

when the student is ready the teacher will appear eh

[Van Canna]

These clips are fantastic and teach so much so quickly.Thank you Jim.

[JimHawkins]

No problem Marcus, we can get a big ole jug o scotch and train until we can't stand anymore...

Van, didn't realize so much there was visible, one possible difference though from the way I teach application, as you know, is that I believe in attacking the attack right off and then working off of that...

Not sure if Gary would agree or not but in some of the demos he is using a passive pak block first, albeit only in the first third of a second.

This is from another training element, long arm chi sao, and often works 'just fine' in a demo but can be more of a problem in other situations where IMO an intercepting attack may be a higher percentage start to the finish...