Moy Tung on Chi Sao vs. sparring
Here's an excerpt from a Grandmaster Moy Tung lecture on the difference between Ving Tsun Kung Fu's Chi Sao exercise and sparring, and how to do Chi Sao correctly, as he learned it from his sifu, Grandmaster Moy Yat, and has proven in his own practice and teaching.
The Richmond Moy Yat Kung Fu Academy's week-long anniversary training and celebration is coming up, and Chi Sao will be a focus of four of the seven days of training - plus Chi Gerk on Saturday. Click here to see the RVA anniversary training schedule, and keep scrolling for the Moy Tung Chi Sao lecture text, and photos from a Moy Tung demonstration of Chi Sao.
Also, check back this Saturday morning, when we'll be posting an excerpt of the video of the demonstration shown in the pics. And here are links to two previous blog posts on the subject of Chi Sao and the anniversary training, with pics:
Posted April 14: Moy Tung Chi Sao training - Anniversary workshops April 27 - May 3
Posted April 11: Training Program for RVA Anniversary Workshops: April 27 - May 3
“You have to build a relationship to even be able to work out with someone in Ving Tsun Kung Fu. If people don’t know each other that means it’s sparring. You’re just trying to test each other’s hands. Before we’re even going to do things like play hands, or have some students enjoy working out and sparring with each other, let’s just make it so there’s an environment where everyone is clear about the situation, and they know what they’re getting into. And they make sure their kung fu’s prepared for that.”
“I don’t mind my students sparring with people from other families, even from my own brother’s families, people in the Moy Yat family. I don’t mind them sparring among themselves. But there’s Chi Sao, and then there’s sparring. A lot of people mistake sparring for Chi Sao. Chi Sao is a constructive and very productive exercise. It really builds a person’s kung fu, incredibly.”
“Sparring is just one of those average exercises in martial arts. It can be fun and enjoyable, but, literally, it’s just trying to check each other’s kung fu. Sparring and playing hands, and getting confrontational with each other in the work out, is a certain way people get experience in kung fu. But the number one best way is the Ving Tsun way, and that way is simply doing it the Chi Sao way, which is definitely just relaxed, and you sit there and you’re conditioning with it.”