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Warmups

1. 25 squat jumps
2. 25 regular pushups
3. 25 wide pushups
4. 25 diamond pushups
5. 35 crunches (legs up)
6. 35 bicycles
7. 25 leg raises
8. hold legs 6 inches off ground for 45 seconds
9. Stretch up

Drills

1. Mirror drill − 3 minutes
2. Front hand education − straight lead/backfist, straight lead/hook, hook/backfist, low straight to high straight
3. Knife drill − standing in place, practice 5 angles of attack
4. Knife drill − with a partner, parry (meet) 5 angles of attack with the same angle, going back and forth across the room
5. Knife drill − practice sensitivity − block knife hand with lead hand to, thumb over knife hand wrist to prevent opponent from coming in. Opponent circles knife hand, trying to ‘break in’. As hand rotates over top, switch blocking hand to have palm facing yourself and maintain pressure. Along the bottom arc, switch hand back to palm out to maintain pressure and mechanics. Have opponent circle both ways, reversing direction from different points. After some practice, do it with eyes closed.
6. Knife drill

   1. cut angle 1 attack and block with rear hand as well.
   2. Slide rear (blocking) hand down to grab the ‘web’ of the hand to get control of the knife hand
   3. At the same time, slash across angle 3 in the midsection, then back along angle 4.
   4. Extend the knife arm, slashing across the bicep and back across, up the tricep.
   5. With the hand immobilized, make sure the blade is flat to you, then go through it with an angle 5 thrust, disarming the opponent and scoring in the midsection.
   6. Thrust again at angle 5 the kidney (possibly moving the lead hand out with your rear hand to open the angle)
7. Front kick to straight lead
8. Hook kick to straight lead
9. Rear leg roundhouse

This was a private, only two participants and the second one showing up late. No bowing in was necessary.

As a private lesson, student requests determined what was practiced, and here is what your correspondent retained as lessons:

hook kicks

practiced next to the wall, just hitting the thigh of the partner. Due to the wall, the leg has to come up straight, but when veering into the target, the trajectory is nearly parrallel to the floor. It is important to twist the hips before the rear foot lands, this is what creates the correct trajectory at the end of the kick.

rear leg round house kicks

to practive pivoting and rotating on the front leg, the kicking shield as held at about 45 degrees to the left of the regular position, plus a few steps to the left as well. to hit the pad, the kick has to be exaggerated in its rotation. After practicing this, the regular kick was done. A small tip was to rotate the right arm in a slight circle to improve rotation

side kick

worked on the water and whip principle. The water principle involves kicking through and with power. The whip principle makes you barely touch the shield and retract. Retraction has to be horizontal and in a snap. Then it was a combination of the two in the actual kick. Retraction has to be very swift inorder to snap the kick and make it more of hit rather than the push which is the water principle.

worked on the straight lead, I asked to work on the twist of the hips. Sifu said that the twist has to happen in mid air, before the lead foot lands. At the point of hitting, the shoulders and lead arm all have to be in a straight line.

Sifu stressed that body movements have to be quick inorder to get power, pointing to the fact that force is mass multiplied by acceleration. Acceleration is increased with those quick movements. He suggested skipping rope very fast as an exercise for this.
 

Warmups

1. Shadow boxing
2. 75 jumping jacks
3. 25 pushups
4. cat stretch
5. 25 wide pushups
6. cat stretch
7. 10 reverse negative pushups (start low, not on the ground, push up to halfway on the count, back down when say ‘down’)
8. cat stretch
9. 25 bicycles
10. 15 crunches with legs pulling in as well (like jacknives, but collapsed)
11. stretch up (3)
12. 20 Squat jumps
13. Tiny break
14. 10 squat thrusts

Live Round

Go for about 3 minutes apiece:

1. Straight Lead
2. Straight Lead/Backfist
3. Straight Lead/Uppercut
4. Straight Lead/Hook (high)

Kicking Shield

15 front kicks

rear foot moves first, hit with ball of foot, square up shoulders, use lever, land forward, throw body into pad with leg leading, retract quickly, back into bai jong

12 hook kicks

rear foor moves first, hit with instep and shin, rotate rear foot back, so hips line up over rear foot. Kick comes straight up from front foot and hip throws it into the pad, like a whip. Use lever, land forward, ready with hand

12 side kicks

rear foot moves first, don’t cross over, stay close enough not to cross, but far enough to get the leg out in front, hitting with the heel, so the rear foot again turns backward and the hips come over. Keep the eyes forward and use the lever again. Retract quickly and land forward.

Trapping

Pak-Sau

hand moves first, make sure to slap hard into the body, try to hit the forehead with the lead hand, make the opponent’s weight be back on their heels. Push shuffle into the opponent for this technique.

Pak-Sau/Lop-Sau

Same as above, but when the parry comes across the center line, simply let the striking hand snap back from the elbow, “opening the door”, bring the rear hand up under the lead arm, grab the parrying hand at the wrist, sliding down if necessary. Pin the parrying arm over the other, already slapped arm and backfist with the lead hand. Alternately, you can pull on the parrying arm and backfist, to double the power

Pak-Sau/Lop-Sau/Arm Bar

Same as above, but after the backfist, step through with the lead leg and yank the opponent’s arm under the lead armpit, using the rear hand that already holds it. The opponent’s arm should be have the elbow pointing straight up, as well as the palm. With both hands holding the back of the hand, pull up on the arm, keeping the tricep part pinned between your arm and your body, so the pressure is exerted at the elbow. You can also press on the back of the knuckles for a wrist lock, or grab the pinkie finger and just pull it away or break it. In the street, you could avoid the arm bar by just throwing a quick forearm into the exposed elbow after the lop-sau (stepping in slightly, but making sure to retract quickly). This will likely break it. Alternately, if you want to do the arm-bar anyway, you can step in with that lead leg and throw a lead elbow before using it to lock the opponent’s arm.

Pak-Sau/Lop-Sau/Figure Four

Same as step two, but now, after the Lop-sau, lift the arm, bending it at the elbow (so it looks like you’re having your blood sample taken), loop through with the lead hand and loop behind your rear wrist, locking the arm in place. The rear hand should be holding the opponent’s hand near the knuckles. Step through with the rear leg and press down on the arm, pushing the opponent to the ground (in the street, this is done violently and quickly). Once there, drop the knees onto the ribs and head, keeping the wrist locked, then, with the knees exerting pressure, pull up on the hand, from the knuckles for leverage, bending the hand in. Again, in the street, this is done very quickly and will break the wrist, just yank up).

Finale

Rear-leg roundhouse pyramid (7)

Warm ups:
20 regular pushups
20 wide pushups
10 reverse negative pushups. go down and dont touch floor, go up half way and hold there till told to come down
35 crunches legs up
35 bicycles
1 minute legs raised 6 inches. after 20 sec, go from straight legs to legs wide apart
70 jumping jacks
95 squats
20 squat thrusts

some footwork exercises, usual combinations.

Exercises with gloves on:

avoidance drill: partner comes with a jab, avoid by snap away, catch, slip, cork screw

drill to practive bob and weave: partner stands with arms stretched out and at your ear level, just bob and weave between the arms, taking care to do the footwork correctly and to come back to stance. Partner remains standing.

avoidance drill with bob and weave and partner coming with left or right hooks. Sifu noted that the footwork with bob and weave allows one to get out of the way of the punch, and if stepping out, at the same time get a positional advantage over opponent since now we are out of the line of attach and in a good position to attack.

avoidance drill + attack: bob and weave a left hook then back fist + cross; slip the jab and go high hook to cross

interception drill: partner comes with hook, this time take the opening and straight lee punch to the face, keep left hand up in case the hook comes through

New 7 for 7 — without gloves
Hook Kick
HK + Straight Lee
HK + SL + Cross
HK + SL + C + Hook
HK + SL + C + H + Back Fist
HK + SL + C + H + BF + Cross
HK + SL + C + H + BF + C + Hook

7 times. Sifu Derek emphasized getting the body mechanics correct instead of the speed. I found the transition from Hook to Back Fist difficult, since I was doing the cross and stepping forward a little bit.

Shadow boxing
15 squat thrusts
20 Reg push ups
cat stretch
20 wide
cat stretch
20 diamond
cat stretch
30 crunches legs down
30 Bicycles
30 jack-knives
Stretch up (3)
90 J Jacks
90 Knee bends

mirror drill with kicking shield, when opponent moves in, fire a hook kick
mirror drill with kicking shield, when opponent moves in, fire a side kick

live round: sl, sl-bf, lsl-uc, sl-lh-hh
live round (same as before, but ending in cross): sl, sl-bf-c, lsl-uc-c, sl-lh-hh-c

Remember to line up the feet on the cross, squaring the shoulders and the feet, then return quickly to Bai-Jong

Ji-Tek drills:

Get in stance, drop on shock, lift front foot to toe, bring front hand in to protect ribs, rear hand stays in front of face, drop back.

Same thing as above, but now lift the leg and bring the heel into position for a stop-hit. The rear foot swivels in place as it drops on the shock, pointing back and the hips rotate to bring the striking heel into alignment.

Now, with shin gaurd, use the technique in a live round:

Mirror drill, when opponent steps in, Ji-Tek (stop-hit)
Mirror drill, when opponent slides in, Ji-Tek (stop-hit)

Hold focus mitt in rear hand, kicking shield along side for a rear-leg roundhouse. Keep the shin guard on. When the opponent thinks you’re close enough, he will:

1. kick with the ball of the foot to the shin (keep eyes up though)
2. jab-cross-jab (remember to swivel the hips and align the feet properly)
3. rear-leg roundhouse (person holding pads moves back slightly to adjust distance, simulating having been hit by the preceding punch combination)