Note the triangular structure and forward pressure.  Shitbag attackers and lurking thugs aren’t going to leisurely stroll up to you; they will strike HARD & FAST.  You must be prepared for a sudden attack, bum-rush or encroachment on your personal space and be ready to use your Wing Chun at the drop of a hat if you want to win.  Period.

The third “truth” of violent assault, as per Sgt. Rory Miller’s 4 Basic Truths of Violent Assault found in his book, Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts Training and Real World Violence, states that attacks happen MORE SUDDENLY than most people believe. He goes on to state,  “an assault is based on the threat’s assessment of his chances.  If he can’t surprise, he often won’t attack…when the attack happens, it’s almost always a surprise.”

That’s not to say if someone is giving you a glare at the bar or if a few gang-banger thugs approach you in a parking lot or walking down the street that you aren’t in danger of attack because you are able to pick up on vibes or other cues that something not so good is fixing to go down.  That is a different scenario entirely, one he also addresses at length in his book and one we will cover in the near future.

What we are talking about here is a predator; one whose motive isn’t territorial or macho-based; one whose motive is to do you harm.  This type of predator is calculating, patient and much more dangerous as he has the element of surprise.  Much like the “shock and awe” tactics used by the military, a predator will wait and then attack suddenly, so as to catch the victim off guard and (seemingly) helpless.

For all you history majors out there, the Battle of the Alamo was not such an attack, but General Santa Anna’s decimation at the hands of Sam Houston and the Texans 6 weeks later at the Battle of San Jacinto sure as hell was.

Awareness is key; proper training to handle a surprise and forceful attack is imperative and hitting an opponent’s vital targets in a quick, nasty and brutal way is ESSENTIAL. Your Wing Chun training, for it to be effective in the street, in a bar scuffle, in an alley while walking to your car or in a supermarket parking lot, must address all of these factors.  Wing Chun is effective in a real fight.  Wing Chun is effective for self-defense.  Wing Chun works…but only when it is trained properly.  This can be done in several ways.

Focus on These In Your Next Training Session

• PROPER Chi Sau Training –  that is, a progressive and controlled approach to building both sensitivity and ferocity in application with a dispassionate, Michael Myers-from-Halloween type mentality. Watch my instructor Keith and I go at it below and observe how he moves; this is how I seek to emulate my rolling. Crisp, clear-cut attacks, emotional neutrality and total detachment of any outcome.  

• Full-Contact Training – This doesn’t have to be a full-on sparring session.  Rather, pick one technique-a haymaker punch or throat lunge and grab for example.  Have an attacker gear up with the proper protective gear such as headgear, a groin cup and gloves at a minimum and attack you at a prescribed time and pace.  After you grow comfortable with that, vary the timing but stay slow.  Then start over by varying the speed until you reach full power and speed but at a prescribed pace or interval.  Eventually vary the intervals to where you are training that one specific technique at full contact and speed and at any interval, completely unpredictable.  This is how you build realism in training-one technique at a time.
• Scenario Drills – Take the formula for the point listed above and apply it to a scenario.  Doorways, alleys, closet spaces, going to your car, walking on the path, confronting someone head-on, grabs, punches, chokes, you name it.  Start with one scneario and build it up as listed above until that one scenario is a fully live-fire drill.  Then add another, and another and so on.  The key is progression with intensity.
• Your Own Imagination – Confront your deepest fears progressively, one at a time.  Anything you can conceive has already been done to someone  before; any scenario you can imagine has already happened to someone before you.  Focus on applying your imagination to the bullet points listed above and watch your confidence and ability soar as you confront the demons of inadequacy and fear head on.  Just TRUST YOUR TRAINING – as long as you train the right way like I am laying out here.

Train Smart, Stay Safe

Sifu Bobby