Chi Sao is considered to be the most important exercise of the Wing Chun style, so that while it is vague and strange for people who are not skilled in the Wing Chun style and amateurs, it is one of the most useful exercises to control the opponent and also create a reaction. and increasing the speed of this process during a close range conflict
According to the grading of the Wing Chun style, the artist of this style starts to learn the Chi Sao practice in the 5th and 6th grade
With the help of Chi Sao exercise, the student’s hands take on an involuntary state after some time of practice, so that when the opponent attacks with the hand, the person unconsciously defends and in the higher stages shows a complex reaction of himself against the opponent
Note: The time period mentioned to reach the state of defense and involuntary attack is different for people, and it depends on intelligence, training quality, coordination, and physical fitness factors, and the process of responding to the opponent’s attack at different points of the training. There are different styles, if we want to count them, they are
1) Involuntarily raising the hand in front of the opponent’s attack: the time to achieve this is at least 2 to 3 months of Wing Chun training.
2) Raise your hands and make a correct defense against the opponent’s attack so that the force caused by the stronger opponent’s attack is easily neutralized: the time to reach this stage of skill is at least 6 to 8 continuous Wing Chun exercises.
3) Performing correct defense and attacking in accordance with the defense simultaneously and in coordination: the time to achieve this is between 10 months and 1 year of continuous Wing Chun practice.
4) Carrying out the correct defense and executing several attacks behind it and penetrating the opponent’s body in the counter attack: the time to achieve this is between 3 and 4 years of continuous Wing Chun training.
5) The ability to react at different distances of conflict and respond proportionally to the distance, as well as exit from the involuntary state and perform all movements voluntarily: 6 to 10 years of Wing Chun training
5) Strict observance of wing chun styles and angles, as well as high coordination between all parts of the body, paying attention to the key points of grounding the opponent in various techniques and very precise control of body strength: the time to achieve this is more than 10 Year of continuous Wing Chun training
Chi Sao and sense of touch
The most important sense used in Chi Sao practice is the sense of touch.
Remember that the sense of touch is the fastest sense in the human body, so that the reaction caused by it is much faster compared to the sense of sight and hearing, for example, when your hand is on the flame and you are asked to express your opinion about The heat becomes a flame. Compared to when you only watch this flame, you decide to express an opinion about the heat of the flame; You will definitely pull your hand away from the flame very quickly and without thinking.
Undoubtedly, the sense of touch response is very fast and if you become proficient in using it, your reaction speed will be very fast.
Don’t forget that using the sense of touch and using it requires the contact of our hands with the opponent’s body (any part of the opponent’s body is no different), that is why it is very important to make contact with the opponent’s body at the beginning of the conflict, and it is necessary to use the sense of touch. Vision is for orientation of the opponent.
Chi Sao and Poon Sao training
As we said earlier, Chi Sao’s training in Joy Wing Chun art starts from the 5th level of apprentice and continues until the 5th level of full technician.
Click here to see Chi Sao’s clip.
Poon Sao: At the 5th level of discipleship, the practice of Poon Sao helps Art Joe to better understand Chi Sao and prepares him to start Chi Sao.
In the Pon Sao practice, two opponents stand at a certain distance from each other (in a standing position) and exchange 10 numbers of the 5th grade training technique.
Now I will review the 10 stages of Pon Sao training in the 5th grade of discipleship.
1- To practice the first technique, one person’s hands are placed in Fuk Sao (outside) position and the other person’s hands are placed in Tansao (inside) position.
Then the person whose hands are in Tansao attack the other person, from Tansao, with a punch to the center of the fire’s body. In this state, the opponent senses the opponent’s attack with the help of the sense of touch, which thanks to the defense of Fuk Sao, is now active from the forearm, and in this state defends the cup of Sao.
Then the same exercise is done for the other hand. After the mentioned attack and defense, both of their hands will return to their initial state of Tan Sao and Fuk Sao.
2- At the beginning of technical form No. 2, the defense and attack of Fan No. 1 are done, then in the continuation of this technique, the person performing the defense of the Sao Cup, after the defense, punches the opponent’s body in the open path of the Sao Cup defense, and the opponent defends , uses steel bong sao.
This exercise is repeated for both hands and then they return to the initial position.
3- Technique number 3 is established from the end and after the completion of technique 2, it is established to continue in such a way that the person who had taken bong sao at the end of the second technique, now directs the force from the opponent’s fist towards himself using the back technique. Face returns and the opponent again uses Bong Sao’s defense to block this force.