When one chi-sau's, there are many contributing factors to a successful, shall we say, "session." First and foremost, is an opponent. There are quite a few of us, so that is not the most pressing issue. There are certain principles that need to be applied to make "Chi-sau" happen But, one principle that not all of us have, is needed, but sometimes overlooked. That is, "Spring." This is one of the distinguishing principles that make Wing Chun Kung Fu different, whole and recognizable. When one understands how spring works, one will understand many more principles that work within it.Understanding spring may seem difficult for a beginner, like learning what true relaxation is for the first time. How can we have spring when we don't win with force? How can we have spring and be relaxed at the same time? Well, first of all . . . don't think so much. When we look at "spring" there are many things that spring from it, (forgive the pun.)

One very important thing to remember, as in anything else that we do in Wing Chun, is to stay relaxed, Tensing up will only hurt you more than the person that you are fighting and will result in you opening holes in your structure that you are not aware of, and that your opponent could take advantage of. When you are tense, you jam up your energy and you cannot feel what the other person is doing. You are so tense that you cannot feel what you are doing either. You must know what your opponent is doing at all times. You must know where thier arms are.You cannot anticipate your opponent's moves. Again, trying to play mind games that you won't always win makes you tense . This will not help you gain control. You must feel with relaxed arms and allow your energy to flow freely.

You must have forward energy, always. This is essential to a good spring, but you must be light and not overbearing. Being overbearing makes you too heavy and you tense. We must have constant forward pressure , but not so much that you are on your tip toes waiting for a hole to fall into. You must sit back in your stance, and pretend that your bong sau is hooked up to a rubber band that is attatched to your center fighting line. When someone else pushes or pulls on your bong and then lets go suddenly it should spring back with the same and a little more force than it began with.Picture this and you will understand a little bit about bong sau and spring. It all starts with creativity. Everything starts with the creative thought that you can do it. This simple drill will help build your bong energy.

Think of yin yang and you will understand the pressure release. What comes around goes around. I give you pressure, you give it back. When fighting, many times a good spring will be invisible to an opponent. Thus, one does not know what hit them or if anything did hit them.

To be able to feel what the other is doing, we must stick. Not so much to the arms, but to the centerline or core. When sticking to the core, nothing else really matters. If you have the centerline, you have control. As always, we look at nothing and in turn, see everything that your opponent is doing, making us aware of what is really going on. We are relaxed, allowing energy to flow, and holes to be exposed, this creates softness, which creates more powerful hits. There are many principles used in spring, but a very important one: "Don't think about it!!"

About the author.
Leeonna teaches at the Wing Chun School in Orem Utah and helps write the Wing Chun newsletter found on this web site.

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