Nowadays I rarely write about the internal side of combative movements. Instead, I write about things that can be practiced because I feel that it is pointless to talk about things that are not easy to learn, much less master and leads to too much talk instead of actual practice.

This does not mean the internal aspects are absent. They are still there, however, I eschew talking about them in favor of actual practice to discover what they are.

For example, the principles of the Ancient Bell Body in the practice of Grandmaster Wei Shuren’s Tai Chi is fascinating. However, if we fail to bridge the gap between theory and practical then we are wasting our time.

To master the Ancient Bell Body takes not just a lot of practice but persistent practice over a long period of time and constant investigation of the practice. Only then will you understand what the Ancient Bell Body is for and from there be able to use it.

As far as self-defense goes, taking this long to learn how to use a practical art defeats the purpose of learning it. If you already have a base mastery then taking the time to cultivate it is fine.

However, what if there is a faster way to breakthrough the understanding of what the practice of the Ancient Bell Body is about, wouldn’t this make more sense in today’s time starved society?

This is one of the objectives of practicing the 6-Blocks. On the surface it just looks like a blocking practice but beneath the practice is this hidden aspect of cultivating the principles of the Ancient Bell Body without knowing one iota of what it is about. Its the results that matter, not the means of getting there!

Once the basic habits of doing the 6-Blocks are acquired, one should practice them in various ways with a training partner. Use the learning experience to further refine the solo practice. From there its a short hop over to the internal side.

Does it take years to get there? I don’t think so. Maybe months?

It is the same with the other solo sequences. At a certain point in the practice, there is an internal aspect. But we should not worry about this. Instead, we just need to do the practice daily. Practice what is needed to keep moving forward.

For example, the practice of the long pole can help us to move better. If you keep doing it you will find that you have picked up fajing ability without ever learning it. After this you can make all the theories to explain it.

There is an old saying that maxim does not leave the mouth, fist (practice) does not leave the hand that basically means to do the physical practice.

Here’s the movements of the Wing Chun Left Handed Long Pole :-

Ready posture with pole held behind the back in left hand

Right hand perform 15-sequence solo hand movements

Bring pole from behind to the front, move into defensive posture with pole tip in front; left hand and left leg leading.

Step back to parallel, perform Tan Gwun, then step forward and execute Cheung Gwun.

Step back to parallel, perform Fook Gwun, followed by stepping forward to do Cheung Gwun.

Left leg assume hanging horse, execute Pau Gwun, Hau Gwun, then Tup Gwun consecutively.

Complete the sequence by stepping forward to do Kat Gwun.

Right foot step off line to diagonal right rear, carry out Fei Gwun.

Left foot step back forward and perform Hung Gwun, then Cheung Gwun.

Right foot take half step back and do Gwot Gwun. Continue by stepping back forward to do Kat Gwun.

Drop into a lowered stance with weight on right leg and do Ze Gwun.

From Ze Gwun quickly drop the pole tip down to carry out Dim Gwun with palm down and followed by a second Dim Gwun with palm up.

Stand up, step forward and perform Tiu Gwun.

Bring back pole to body and end.

From reading the above, the left handed pole seems to have a lot of movements. Once you are familiar with it you will find that you can complete all the movements before you even finish reading half of this post.

If you practice this pole a lot you will improve in your ability to issue inch power due to practicing the short, sudden, striking movements of the pole.

Paul mentioned to me that he tried to practice the long pole on the left side too.

Normally, we only practice the pole on one side. However, there is nothing wrong if you want to practice on both sides.

All the long pole forms I have learned lead with the right. The exception is this Wing Chun pole from an old master that leads with the left.

The left handed pole form is made up of 18 movements out of which 16 are full techniques and 2 are half techniques.

If we want to practice the pole on the left side we would do the left handed long pole. You can practice it on the right side too but when you try to apply it that’s when you understand why it leads with the left hand.

So let’s move to learning the left handed Wing Chun long pole once you have managed to build a foundation in Master Leong’s Shaolin 6 1/2 point pole. This would be an incentive to practice more, practice harder and master the basics before picking up the left handed long pole.

Up to date we have the following training for SKD 3.0 :-

a) 2-Shift Footwork Sequence
b) 6-Major Strikes
c) 6-Blocks
d) 6-LinkingHands
e) 3-WhippingStrikes
f) 3-NeckSlashes
g) 6-NGK Series
h) 6-Elbow Strikes
i) Long Pole Sequence

(a) and (b) can be practiced as one learning group as the five of the 6-MS use the footwork of (a).

(c) to (f) can be grouped together as they are solo hand techniques though they can also be practiced as two hands techniques.

(g) is made up of six individual techniques that goes into how to use body shape, techniques for the centre gate, sudden hard power, deceptive techniques.

(h) is practiced as a flowing sequence that covers how to move from mid to short range will using elbow strikes or locks. Use it as a template to mix in techniques from (c) to (g).

(i) can be a practice on its own though in this instance we use it to assist and enhance our learning of the emptyhand techniques.

All the above are means to an end. Learn them, mix them up, use them, absorb their lessons and be free of their constraints. Add, subtract or change them as you move ahead. Begin with (b), close the range and use anything from (c) to (h). Move in, move out, adapt, add in other techniques not listed here.

All the groups have something in common, yet are different when it comes to usage and strategy. Same but not the same.

The 5 Major Strikes training sequence has been updated to six movements so it becomes 6-MS.

The 6th exercise is White Snake Spits Poison which acts as a bridge between the five strikes to the medium and short strikes of 6-LH, 3-WS, 3-NS, 6-ES and 6-NGK.

The final training sequence is that of the NGK series which I sent to Paul yesterday.

As with the other training sequences I have capped the training exercises at 6 movements. The traditional solo training exercise for NGK is made up of a total of 18 exercises. I have selected 6 exercises that can be mixed easily with the other techniques.

The 6 exercise are :-

6-NGK-1 – this introduces the rolling block and one possible follow up strike

6-NGK-2 – this exercise covers a technique that is popularly known as monkey steals peach amongst others

6-NGK-3 – this exercise combines two techniques from the original NGK 18 techniques. The first is a smashing strike and the second is NGK’s most famous technique which is the rolling block and strike

6-NGK-4 – this technique teaches striking in four directions while moving in two different directions

6-NGK-5 – this technique goes into the use of body movement to enhance power and striking technique

6-NGK-6 – this is the most unimpressive looking technique amongst the six techniques but it packs the most power and its power generation easiest to pick up. This technique can integrate easily into any striking sequences whether its 6-LH, 3-WS, 3-NS or 6-ES.

If Paul had started his long pole practice on 2 Sep, then today would be the 4th day.

This means that he should have performed the following number of repetitions :-

a) Technique 5 – 300 reps
b) Technique 6 – 600 reps
c) Technique 7 – 300 reps

At the end of the 4th day Paul can do a quick check of his practice by practising 3-WS-1 to 3-WS-2.

Any insights after practising 3-WS-1 to 3-WS-2?

After 600 reps of Technique 6, I expect that Paul to go Ah! Eureka! the moment he does 3-WS-1. If not, then I guess he needs more practice. He can check again at the end of the 6th day.

In Zen training the teacher would ask absurd questions that would confound the student. If the student can’t answer it right away without hesitation, it means he still has not gotten it.

Pole training can be like this. First you just imitate, do your best. Then after a while you start to ask, hold on, is this how I am supposed to do it.

Your first urge is to ask but you best learn when you don’t ask and examine the movement again, rethink it, remember what it is you are supposed to do, and what it is for. Then you start to experiment to see if you can improve on it. Hint – that’s one of the purpose of high repetition training.

If you can’t, you go back to doing it the way you were told, not necessarily the way you understand it, not necessarily the way you thought you saw it done but the way you would do it within your present accumulated experience of doing the technique.

At first you think oh, this is hopeless I am never going to get it. But no, not true, you need to be persistent. Practice, reflect, practice again, then dissect based on not just what you do, what you feel. You think you know your movements but you don’t, at least not until you have practiced enough. Even then, its only the beginning of knowing yourself. You still don’t know the pole yet.

The more you practice, the more you reflect, the more you get corrected, the more you begin to know yourself. You can’t make progress by thinking you got it after a short period of practice. You have to be prepared to build it up, refine it, if necessary tear it down, and build it again, again and again. It is a never ending process. When you thought you know it, then you encounter something new, different, and realize that you don’t really know it.

We think ah, the movement is so complicated but really it should be simple, direct, efficient. If you can’t do it in a blink without having to think about it, then you have not practiced enough. When you learn and practice, you think. When you apply, you just do it.

Seeing a picture helps, seeing a video is even better but nothing beats practicing over and over. Practice until you have doubts, then practice until the doubts go away, and keep on practicing. The more you practice, the more doubts will emerge and each doubt cleared up will bring you to another level, closer to the answer.

Then when you reach the destination you might think is this it? Its that simple? Really?

Yes, really.

After the completion of Day 1 to 6 the 2nd week of practice focuses on practicing the same techniques except now we had in turning to move and counterstrike.

Day 1-2
Practice the sequence of Technique 5 and 6 as follows :-

Day 3-4
Now work on Technique 6 and 7 using the same footwork pattern as above.

Day 5-6
We complete the week’s training by combining Technique 5-7 and, you guess it, use the same footwork.

The above, particularly, the sequence for Day 5-6 is the one exercise we do all the time. Practice it until you can face any direction and fire off the appropriate sequence of strikes, counters and counterstrikes quickly and without hesitation.

So Paul has received his long pole this week.

Let’s start the practice.

Here’s a short and simple practice for 6 days :-

a) Day 1-2 – practice Technique 5 & 6 everyday for 300 reps
i) Stand in readiness, right side forward, pole gripped shoulder width, positioned level to ground
ii) Do Technique 5, then Technique 6
iii) Step forward and do 10 reps
iv) Turn around and do 10 reps
v) Repeat (iii) and (iv) for a total of 15 times

b) Day 3-4 – switch to Technique 6 & 7
i) Stand in readiness, right side forward, pole gripped shoulder width, positioned level to ground
ii) Do Technique 6, then Technique 7
iii) Step forward and do 10 reps
iv) Turn around and do 10 reps
v) Repeat (iii) and (iv) for a total of 15 times

c) Day 5-6 – practice Technique 5 to 7
i) Stand in readiness, right side forward, pole gripped shoulder width, positioned level to ground
ii) Do Technique 5, then Technique 6 and 7
iii) Step forward and do 10 reps
iv) Turn around and do 10 reps
v) Repeat (iii) and (iv) for a total of 15 times

By Day 6 you should have questions after you become more familiar with the movements. That’s when you can begin to go into basic biomechanics of moving the long pole.