[Grandmaster Chu Training Episodes #010]
In addition to the episode #009, this footage shows the power of the leg when it’s straightened to “flap” (the landing of the leg after kicking).
Is “being straightened” a necessary condition for attaining such “flapping” power? If someone has problem (say, physical limitation) in straightening the leg, or in a combat situation it is not allowed to do so (time-wise or position-wise), does it mean such flapping power will not apply?
To this, Grandmaster Chu remarks that as far as you don’t force the lower leg to move (no intent to further bend the leg), such flapping power can still take effect even the leg is not fully straightened. Thus, in combat, it is very hard for the opponent to hold your leg tightly as a way of overturning your entire body, because the sinking power is too great to counter.
This movement, the flapping leg, is the one immediately following the Swinging Leg in the third part of Detecting Hand-bridge (Chum Kiu). Learners usually focus on practising the Swinging Leg movement but overlook the significance of the flapping, which just appears as an abrupt landing of the leg after the preceding Swinging kick (usually done forcefully).
The flapping movement is actually not new. It is highly similar to the flapping arms found in the second part of Tiny Idea (Siu Nim Tau), where the two arms, being straightened, “flap” downward together, then upward again. As such, the questions and remarks discussed above fully apply here too.
2014.06.24
IdeasWingChun 