A Treasure in Martial Arts
Onassis Parungao - Hung Gar Instructor

I've found the Holy Grail of martial arts. This treasure is the greatest thing that a MArtist should aspire to (Skillwise). Before I tell you and before you say "Duh, how obvious" here me out. When I say the word basics I don't just mean simple stances, block/punches or even basic fighting theory. I'm talking about Sifu Wing Lams version of basics. How is he any different? Here's where it gets tough.

The greatest thing that sifu teaches is not the hundred something forms he knows, it is the mastery and control of your body , how much can you understand about your art and how to apply it. Sifu says it takes a good student 3yrs to master control of himself. That means when sifu shows you a new movement: you should know how to get the most Speed, power and technique out of it. Wham! just like that and no questions asked. It isn't easy. Also, unless the movement is unique to you, you should also be able to decern it's meaning. He once said "you see, I can put you in the proper position, but the question is, can you get back to it on your own? It is not enough to just mimick me. You know your good when you always get the best Speed, Power and technique w/o me having to show you."
Still don't see the significance of this? It means that when you have mastery over yourself, ( and that is to sifu very basic) it doesn't matter what style you do. You will always do it right. Only when you understand this, do you begin to look at things the way the masters do.

To anybody who doesn't get this yet, I guess i'm gonna have to throw you guys a freebe to understand. I going to use the standard Hung Gar Qiu Sao Block, but this can apply to any style that throws a middle gate block followed by a reverse punch. In Hung Gar the Qiu Sao or bridge arms are a powerfull tool. It is a downward and slightly to the side, arching, middle range block. As a side note, I said block but it can attack as well. My favorite saying is that 'HG is like Muy Thai for the arms'. Anyhow, this movement is usually followed by a straight reverse punch. Now, watch your classmates do this type of tech. Notice anything? Do they hesitate everso slightly before throwing the punch? Do they sink down to show you how powerfull their block was only to let the opportunity of their counter slip away? Mabe they punch right away with snap and spirit and all the good stuff. Guess what?, even the latter of those options could be improved. Heres' what sifu said to me: "Ok you've done the block, but right after, pretend that there is a cocharoach a foot in front of you. You must try and step on it immediately and punch" Many times I heard him say "not fast enough, he got away!" How does this effect my/your tech? You have no hesitation, once you create an opening you throw something right down the ol' ally. In addition you close the gap on your opponent. Try it for your self and improve, I know you'll be pleasantly surprised. Sifu can do this to every form of any style if need be, because he has such a deep understanding of Kung Fu and himself.

This has many implications and has bled in to every aspect of my training. For example, in my early Hung Gar yrs w/o sifu I would train constantly and thought I was hot stuff because I could do the forms well ( To me anyhow) Guess what? It got boring and I would get burnt out now and then. All of you know this puts a damper on your training. It wasn't till my master showed me how to tweek everything. Details like: "Stretch a'little there, tension here only will make you more powerful and waste less energy, and the ever popular, relax this and sink the elbow. " How did that affect me? Well let's just say that when I told my si-hing that I was going to practice everyday (except sunday of course), he said, "You'll never make it, you'll get burnt out." I'm still here!!! I'm there getting the job done and loving it because I know what to look for. Everybody is guilty of just going through their art at times just trying to get to the next level. In our school when we learn Gung Gee, (The original and oldest HG form) He gives the particular group of students a choice: 1) Learn the form as usuall and go on to something new when completed. or 2) Spend 2 yrs just on this form and learn every nuiance about the form. Why? because if you know Gung Gee, all the other hand forms are just new movements. I consider myself an ongoing product of option # 2.

Ok so you don't have sifu there to get you started. So what, use your head and always ask "why this movement? What is the purpose? In time you may discover this movement is or is not for you. Thats good but it's not the point. It is the discovery and self sacrafice you've gone through that will make your kung fu better. Now I'll leave you with some popular school sayings: "Remember, a thousand times is not enough", "Don't show me your thousand kicks, show me the one kick you've practiced a thousand times", "The body has a memory similar to the brain, teach it and it will learn".