James said: Where I'm fooling around with anything but a straight-on block, I seem to mess up at speed. (I'm not experienced in unarmed stuff.) I vaguely remember from when I took kung fu some 17+ years ago that we did a type of block with the forearm just below the wrist, then in a continous fluid motion wrapped the hand around the opponent's limb to control it. As I sit here I'm thinking that concept may be very similar to what is in the manuals.
James,
Casper’s comments sound right on, but please allow me to add mine.
First, it is hard to discuss what you may be doing wrong without actually seeing you perform. Words are inadequate to describe the often complex physical movements required in ringen. However, it sounds to me like you are making a mistake common to many inexperienced students. That is, it sounds to me like you are trying to capture the opponent’s forearm with the palm of your hand.
This is a mistake. Although the historical sources show the defender grasping the hand, this does not mean that they intended that you use the palm as the first point of contact.
We don’t know what the old masters intended as the first point of contact when using the left hand when defending to the inside of the enemy’s forearm. We can only infer what they intended and extrapolate from how the same sort of defense is mounted in other martial systems which have passed down to us.
Fiore’s wrestling posta provide an indication how he, at least, intended his students to enter and obtain a grip against an overhead dagger attack. If you study Fiore’s wrestling posta, you will find one called “posta longa.” This involves extending one hand (in this case the left) well in front of the body. The picture shows the plane of the hand perpendicular to the ground. However, it may be a trick of the artist, for you can also do posta longa with the hand at an angle to the ground or even parallel to the ground.
When you enter the opponent’s attack with posta longa, you generally intercept his forearm with the outside of the hand (if you’ve held it perpendicular to the ground) or the edge (if held at an angle or parallel to the ground). You will not intercept with the palm.
After you make contact with the opponent’s forearm, promptly roll the hand from posta longa to obtain your grip on his arm.
If you perform the defense in this way, your thumb will not be exposed to injury by the enemy’s forearm. The defense closely resembles the chuanfa move you described, which is the white crane defense against a blow to the upper body (a move which was known in rapier, by the way).
Posta longa is a very useful cover against any attack to the head or upper body using a single hand. You would do well to study it. There are analogues in other martial systems. Kake-te in karate comes immediately to mind, as does an extended jodan-uke.
Regards, JV
