dahn dao gwun

[mysteri]

hey guys, i posted this question on another southern style forum thread(in the WC section), but i was encouraged by a buddy to come post my inquiries here:

how important is it to keep the pole against the body during a strike? i've learned in jow ga that the pole adheres to the body in order to "root" the staff. ie, as opposed to your elbows/shoulders giving-in under the pressure exerted on the staff, the staff connects to your trunk, which is rooted through your horse into the ground. while this concept takes away from potential length(if you extend your arms), i feel it also offers more reinforced power, and speed since everything is closer to your body. thoughts??

also, for a technique like sot gwun(where the gwun is struck downward), the energy(as i understand) is supposed to be focused at the tip of the staff. i've seen people straighted/lock their arms for this(the pole moves down and adheres to the thigh) and i've always wondered if this is a good or bad thing? looks painful, but also looks like it could reinforce the technique. i've always pressed down with my palms onto the staff.

and lastly, what are some good surfaces to practice striking the staff without (hopefully) damagin it? i remember sifu taking us outback before and we practiced peircing paper(try sayin that 5x!) with ping cheurng. VERRRY DIFFICULT!(the partner holds the top end while the paper hangs). but i was curious as to other striking surfaces, maybe trees or bags, huh? conjuring thoughts...

[JamesHFYofAZ]

Mysteri, I have little knowledge of your training and applications/techniques. What I understand from personal experience is that a strike comes from whipping the pole in such a manner that if it where against the body and you struck a solid objects one would receive force back. I deliver strikes with structure behind it as well as full body energetic. With in a chi kwan moment if I held the pole against my body I would find it more stable but less mobile. I try to use by front as the mobility and back as stability, as well as the opposite. Having equality in the hands. I have little experience in the pole area but its fun to play with what you know and when it does not work as it should examine why and try again. You spoke of sot kwan, I have always practiced it in front of the body almost the same angle as a declined bench press. As far as practicing on things, those 2" poles that one uses for Tree supports as their growing. Dig some of those into the ground, at some canvas bags to the show for strikes. But nothing beats a friend and his/her pole to in gauge with. If you don't mind me asking, what kind of drills do you practice with the pole? Do you have drills that use partners or wooden dummies of some sort? That paper thing sound like spear striking, is that the type of pole that is used or do you train with hard wood as well? I apologize for my inquiries, but my knowledge of your style is little to none.

[mysteri]

thanx for ur reply, james...

i thought i might have turned some people off bein new to the forum outa nowhere w/ such an inquiry. glad to see a response...

u can think of jow ga trainin as bein pretty similar to hung ga. we do have baat gwa gwun in jow ga. i recently learned that HG has both baat gwa gwun and luhk dim boon gwun, which i didn't know before. in jow ga(a HG-derivative style), my sifu has trained us in single-head staff techniques(little at a time)(curl, snap, poke- all from side (narrow) horse). also, i've learned a form called seurng tao gwun(double-head staff), but i'm better (and more ocmfortable) with our moi fa cheurn(plum blossom spear). after corresponding w/ a HG buddy of mine, i realized that the "arbitrary" dahn tao gwun techniques which i've learned from my sifu correspond w/ the luhk dim boon gwun from HG! which makes perfect sense. i'm not so sure, however, of the differences btwn the HG and WC versions of this technique, but i'm sure its not too far off.

when i practice gwun/spear, i usually keep it on my body for the same reasons u've mentioned. my staff skill i very novice still, i can jus take care of myself :D every once in a while, the staff will come off the body, but we prefer to keep it on the body because the structure is anchored and the energy is reinforced(not rebounded back). i don't practice chi gwun, though it seems like two want to practice VERY carefully with somethin like this. the most i've done is staff vs staff/staff vs sword(s) drills in order to learn how both weapons work against eachother. also, the drill with pokin through paper, we used bamboo(but it wasn't sharp). the poke has to be PRET-TY swift to tear or peirce the paper. normally, we do use waxwood staffs though(not the long WC ones). i've never had the opportunity to practice with a gwun jong, but it does seem like a wonderful training tool.

PS- i'd still be interested on ur views about locking the arms in staff trainin... oh, and feel free to ask anything u want about jow ga. i'm still pretty novice, but i'll do my best to answer any questions...