Kung Fu Drill from Sticky Hands!

From Al Case at Matrix Martial Arts…

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One of my favorite drills

came from Sticky Hands,

out of Kung Fu.

Or so I was told.

Some thirty years later

I came across the drill

in an entirely different setting.

But I learned it

while learning Sticky Hands,

so I stick with that as the source.

Though I have never seen this drill

done by any Sticky Hands practitioner.

You place your hands in front of you,

palm out and about two inches from your partner’s.

Then you move your hands and he has to move his hands with them.

No contact.

Just looking and growing awareness.

After a while he moves his hands and you have to move with him.

It is fascinating because there is no contact,

and the mind,

because there is no fear of contact,

starts working differently.

You lose your reaction time.

It happens rather fast.

Prior experience really helps,

but the idea that you’re not going to be hit

if you make a mistake

and the mind relaxes and functions.

Once you’re pretty smooth at that you’ll find

that your sticky hands becomes much more efficient.

The trick to sticky hands,

of course,

is to have as little contact

between you and your opponent as possible.

I’m always telling people,

when they twine arms,

‘hair to hair.’

I remember reading of one fellow who 

admonished his students

‘Don’t rest your dead meat on my arms.’

Interesting way of putting it.

I consider this whole thing

of touching your opponent so lightly

that you can hardly be felt,

as an expression of the phrase I use:

the least amount of force

for maximum efficiency.

After you do this exercise for a while

you start to view freestyle differently.

I mean,

it really is a zen sort of exercise

that causes you to be aware,

and not reactive.

And, obligatory ad…

Have you checked out my book

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Lots of charts and images.

If you want to see how your art fits into

the whole scheme of things

this is the book that will show you.

It’s summertime, so…

Have a GREAT work out!

And think about picking up a new art this summer!

Al

And thanks to everybody who picked up my book,

Advanced Tai Chi Chuan for Real Self Defense!

Don’t forget to give me five stars.

Those ratings help my sales.

Don’t forget to check out the interview

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 12 ratings for 5 stars.

(There is a video version of this book with no stars yet)

My two yoga books have 9 ratings between them  for 5 stars.

‘The Book of Five Arts’ has 8 ratings for 5 stars.

‘The Science of Government’ has 7 ratings for 5 stars.

‘Chiang Nan’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.

My novel, ‘Monkeyland,’ has 5 ratings for 5 stars

That’s a lot of good ratings

so hopefully you’ll find the book that works for you.

How to Fix Karate:

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