If the life extracts one thing, it’s movement.

To live is to keep moving. It takes a lot of courage to liberate yourself from the familiar and seemingly secure environment, to embrace the unknown.  On the other hand, there is truly more security in the adventurous and exciting mindsets and actions.  For in movement, there is life, and in change, there is power.

In WingChun, how to improve the movement?

If the mastering the technique itself is immature, whatever the muscle is greatly trained, it becomes an unused treasure. On the contrary, if you acquire the skills of maneuvering your body freely, you can generate more power and speed efficiently. For example, compare to the punch with merely the arm muscle movement,  you can throw significantly heavier punches; if you know how to transfer the force created by your footwork and bodywork, through the feet, legs, hip, spines, chest, shoulders, arms, to the fists.

For the start, we can introduce you to those 3 basic movements and exercise ideas:

1) Stretch and Shrink:

Stretch the ribs and pelvis apart and simultaneously shrink the opposite side.  Remain the center of gravity to the stretched side, that way, you can recognize the power, which you transfer from pelvis to legs. The muscles on trunk can move much wider and more elastic. It can improve the movement of hands and arms, and create physical agility.

2) Roll and Warp:

From the pelvis to the backbone, round and warp the torso, repeatedly. During the movement, be conscious of each spine clearly. It can increase overall leg movement efficiency and enhance overall suppleness, flow and flexibility of the body actions.

3) Twist:

Twisting the spine one by one, it’s the movement of distinguishing the torso and leg from the joint, which leads to create the maximum power of human being (Punches, Kicks, etc.). Be careful not to move your legs while hanging on this exercise.

Train to the Mastery for life.

Just to mention a few, you can imagine that there are infinite numbers of combinations and details in practice. Of course, it will not be acquired overnight but we can start realizing that there are more prosperity to be found on the way to the mastery of WingChun along with the mastery of your body. It could take a lifetime and persistence there, but you can improve yourself as far as you train.  In each stage, you always encounter the pleasure of discovering more about WingChun, yourself and others, which leads to the passion to do more, and eventually share more with others.  The martial artists in the ancient time says, “Aim to train to achieve the peak performance of your body in your 60s.”

Stay in Action and Be Conscious.

Movement is the prescription for creating change in your physical, emotional, and mental states. In a daily life, you can also practice how to manage yourself by yourself. It is like one of your grooming routines: you to be always being “yourself” with no matter the circumstances or who you are with. Observe and take care of the trivial details well, which most people don’t even notice. Think about how to maintain the good distance to other people?  Don’t be too close or sticky, but don’t be too unfriendly or unfavorable.  Fulfill your role so as not to differentiate and obstruct others.  It also leads to raising the quality of movement for itself.

Therefore, you can achieve the status of “No Unguarded Moment“, as a consciousness of martial arts in a glimpse.  In other words, you become the one who is always ready, reliable and accountable.

In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.  -Deepak Chopra

Sije Yuka Yoshioka

“A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there”

Most people try to avoid stress, because it is uncomfortable.  Chronical stress is bad for you, but short bursts of stress are actually very good for you. In biology phenomenon, the term “hormesis” refers to beneficial effects to short-term exposure to a certain substance or stressor, such as improved health, stress tolerance, growth and/or longevity, whereas longer term exposure could prove toxic or lethal.

For most of our human history, we often needed to endure a variety of harsh environment, with little protection from destructive forces of nature. Fierce winters and burning summers, and if we don’t adapt to it, then we die.  From the genetic stand point, our body changed to adopt to the environment and stress.

However, what happens when we take those stressors away, and replace them with our warm clothes, and comfortable temperature controlled buildings?  Interestingly, living our lives in constant comfort and pleasure results in a decrease in our overall health and growth.

Have you ever felt better about yourself while training WingChun in a regular base?  Challenging cells and body systems by mild stress resulting in us not only becoming stronger but effecting on anti-aging and faster wound healing. Mild stress-induced physical stimulation can help you to overcome challenges and grow stronger physically, mentally, and emotionally, even outside the classes.

The year of 2017 coming to the end.  It was an eventful year, yet our future will always come with huge uncertainty. So, why don’t we reach out of our comfort zones a bit more.  Let’s look forward to encountering even more challenges, stress, and pressures, in 2018.  Eager to face your problems and eat them as breakfast. If it is too much to handle at once, maybe save some for lunch or dinner.  You can eventually digest and make them part of yourself, and tough up. Remember, we are the ones evolving!

“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

Sije Yuka Yoshioka