[Deb McCaffery]

Thank you for establishing this, Sifu! I have questions now and then and will now know exactly where to go for guidance! Thank you!

[Ray]

Regarding the Dummy Forms 10, 20 and 30 – and specifically the bong moves in each of these, I’m no longer sure when bong on the lower dummy arm and when to bong on the upper arm. Can you clarify based on move number (i.e. move #5 in dummy 10 – upper, and so on)? Thanks!

[Sifu Adam]

Sure.

#10: position 5 high bong w/ wu, position 11 low bong w/ tan (aka kwan sao).

#20: position 12 low bong w/ wu.

#30: position 2 high bong w/ wu, position 8 high bong with wu

[Ray]

Excellent – thanks Sifu!

[Deb McCaffery]

Question, when we are doing wu sao coming back in the first section of SNT, should our hand almost come back to our chest or should the elbow not come back that far, more like the wu sao in Kiu Sao?

[Sifu Adam]

The wu sao should come back to a fist’s width from the chest making the elbow come to the side of body.

[Deb McCaffery]

Thank you Sifu!

[Deb McCaffery]

Hi Sifu. Question about the lan sao pivots in the beginning section Chum Kiu. Should the feet go from doi gok ma to YJKYM to doi gok ma or do both feet simply pivot 180 degrees simultaneously? Thank you!

[Sifu Adam]

They go through Kim Yeung Mah. But the one foot forward stance is called Do Mah. The diagonal stance is Doi Gok Mah.

[Deb McCaffery]

Thank you for the clarification and the correction, Sifu! 🙂

[Deb McCaffery]

Please explain why in Chum Kiu, when doing the toy(toi) and mut saos and the chang and wu saos the forearms stay in contact with each other? Thank you!

[Sifu Adam]

Its just a practice of staying as tight as possible

[Deb McCaffery]

Thank you Sifu! I appreciate your guidance. 🙂

[Deb McCaffery]

I am so confused with the chain punching with 4-direction footwork. First, I’m trying to understand where my weight should be with each punch. It seems like sometimes I have my weight on a particular foot for a punch, but then that foot is the one that is supposed to move next???? Obviously, I’m doing something wrong!!! Second, when finishing the 3rd direction and starting the fourth direction, do we punch twice with the same hand? I need an emoji with its head spinning!!!! Thanks!

[Sifu Adam]

The weight shoudl be on the back foot or the foot that will be the new back foot. Don’t worry about punching twice with the same hand. This isn’t a pattern. In fact, any direction can be done at any time.

[Deb McCaffery]

Thank you Sifu! I will work on the weighting. 🙂

[Deb McCaffery]

In Chum Kiu, after the 3 toy/muts, 3 chang/wu’s, pivot to R lan, L chamber and before the bong wu’s, the R hand tans. Is the L hand a wu?

Thank you!

[Sifu Adam]

No. The left hand lays on top of the right arm tan. This acts as a fulcrum to roll to bong. Think of the lft hand acting as the other person’s hand (the bridge) which you pivot around as you move to bong wu.

[Deb McCaffery]

Thank you!

[Josh]

I am struggling with keeping my shoulders back and down. They keep wanting to move forward pretty much with any movement. I notice it most when I am doing Siu Nim Tao. What are some strategies others have used to work on this aspect?

[Deb McCaffery]

Hi Josh. Do you do SNT against a door jam? I do that a lot and it really points out where I need more work and I can tell instantly when I have made corrections. I noticed that the more my hands extend forward, the harder it is to keep my back and shoulders against the wall…the tipping forward kind of thing. I stop when I become aware of losing my structure, take a moment to correct it, and continue from there. I can feel it in my shoulders, lats and pelvis when my structure is good and of course I can feel the door jam pretty much the full length of my spine from shoulders to pelvis when I’m getting it right. If you haven’t tried the door jam, give it a go. The block is good too. It’s amazing how your structure changes when you have the block for kim sut and you lower your stance! Let me know if this is helpful!

[Josh]

I have a love hate relationship with the door jam and block. I do use those pretty regular. If that is the answer, I will keep grinding that out. I also did some additional research and it looks like strength training the lats helps with this as well. So, I am adding that as well. Need to create a new workout plan to include some of this new stuff.

Thank you for the response Deb!

[Deb McCaffery]

Hi Josh. I know what you mean about the love hate relationship with the door jam! It can be downright painful sometimes!!! I think I get a lot of feedback from it though so I keep going. If you find some other things that are helpful, please share! I might incorporate some of them too! Thanks! 🙂

[Deb McCaffery]

Something else I noticed tonight when I was doing SNT. If I did Ting Yiu… AND really engaged my core muscles, it was a bit easier to keep my shoulders back and down. Through this note, I’m going to ask Sifu if that all makes sense or was this just a fluke. Sifu?

Thanks!!!

[Sifu Adam]

That makes sense that it worked. Engaging your core engages your lats too. But we want to do Ting Yiu and engage your glutes and lats. Try to keep your abs relaxed.

[Deb McCaffery]

Will work on that! Thank you Sifu!

[Sifu Adam]

Josh – The doorjam is a great idea. Thanks @Deb. What you’re developing here is called independence. Everyone has dependency issues in the beginning. LOL Independence is the separate control of your shoulders, elbows and hands. Shoulders stay down and back, elbows extend, hands are light and mobile. Look to relax and get out of the hands. The shoulders come forward because your mind is in your hands. Put your mind in your elbows.

[Josh]

Thank you, Sifu and Deb! I appreciate you! This community is so great!

[Josh]

I just tried focusing my mind on my elbows and just did a slow fuk sao and I felt it in my lat! This was an amazing tip. Thank you, Sifu!

[Deb McCaffery]

I am working on section 2 of Chum Kiu. When doing the wider horse stance with the tan before stepping in to bong wu, is the tan tracking the knee and toes of the foot on the same side or is it coming out from the center – between the knees/feet (hope that makes sense). In the video, the tan looks like it is tracking the knee/toes on the same side. 🙂 Thank you!

[Sifu Adam]

Its with the knee and toes of the same side

[Deb McCaffery]

Thank you Sifu! 🙂