by Keith Worfel
THE AUTOPILOT OF
WING CHUN
by Keith Worfel
A person proficient at Wing Chun should be able to perform as if their body and mind are on autopilot. Techniques should be executed effortlessly. without thinking. Basically, Wing Chun should be easy. This difficult task of making it easy has only one solution: PRACTICE. As with any of life's endeavors, practice is the way in which we make things easy to do. Once something comes easy to us, then we are able to accomplish our objective effortlessly, without thinking.
The main obstacle we must overcome is our brain. The brain can be very bad because it has a tendency to want to think. Thinking during a fight is not good because it is too slow. One cannot analyze a situation by thinking, "If he throws this punch, then I'm going to use this block. And if he kicks this way, then I'm going to block and strike this way." That is an example of trying to predict how a fight will happen. We all know that a fight will never proceed in the manner that we think it will. Furthermore, a similar philosophy applies to an attack that has already been initiated. If a strike is inbound toward your face, then it is too late to think of what response would be appropriate for the current conditions. Instead, you must simply react to the situation. The reaction you make will be sufficient, but only if you have practiced enough and have practiced correctly.
Chi sau is one of the best exercises that a Wing Chun practitioner can do in order to install their autopilot. Practicing chi sau will train the body to react automatically. The nervous system can sense changes and react to stimuli much faster than the brain can recognize and process information from a bunch of inverted images that have been projected onto the retina. In other words, the hand is quicker than the eye. The benefits we receive from sensitivity practice are immeasurable. Through sensitivity we increase our reaction time, we can omit the requirement of having to think, and in its ultimate essence, it makes us feel as if we can predict our opponent's moves. This is when Wing Chun becomes easy.
If confronted with a threatening situation, then the body must be able to replace conscious thought. The properly trained body can react as if there is a magical force, or spiritual force, driving it. Confucius had the right idea when he said, "How abundantly do spiritual beings display the powers that belong to them! We look for them, but do not see them..." (Chung Yung, chapter 16). Wing Chun can be considered a spiritual being; it is unceasing, it is powerful, and when done properly, it is invisible.
The simplest translation of Kung Fu is "hard work". With enough practice, however, you should be able to change that hard work into something that is a little easier, Remember during your next workout: try not to think so hard. Instead, try to think easy. All you need to do is to switch on the autopilot and let it fly.