2 Person Practice Notes 05.27.2015

Lenny, Bob, Phil, Read.

Started with some conversation on some pointers from my work with Sifu on the dance. Timing of roll back for disappearing, and not actually showing the line; Shift to left foot on receiving side of dance in part one instead of shift to right foot when receiving first push; empty stance instead of bow stance after golden rooster in part 7.

Shifted topics to the energy of the different moves/techniques and the correlation of cardinal and cross cardinal directions of the techniques, how the concepts may or may not translate to the body mechanics and how it all ties in to the 8 tri-grams and elements.

I think we all developed some curiosity about the classic philosophy and texts and how that may impact our physical observations/awareness when applying any of the techniques.

Shifted back to working on the dance at different levels, and then settled in to some work on the press energy using part 4 of the dance as the platform.


The last several Wednesdays have been a good mix of analytical conversation mixed with physical experiments using the dance as technique sequences as the lab.

It has been very rewarding for me to take on this depth of practice and push past my current comfort zones with the material.


Thanks all.

-Phil

Multi-Art Practice notes 01.29.2014

Phil, Bob, Read, Jack

Started off with a round of the dance on both sides.

Bob and I were able to go through both sides with eyes closed, and it was a great observational experience.

Jack was able to go all the way through both side with Read today as well. Nice milestone for Jack. Now the real work begins. :-)

We then switched partners and worked on practicing an individual piece of the dance. For Read and I, that part was from section 5 the box the ears followed by cross arms and push.

We spent time on the box ears side looking at not over extending our body position first. Then we spent time experiencing a light pull from the other person and seeing how easy it was to be pulled off balance even when our initial posture was in balance.

This led to us trying to figure out how to counter the pull using the least movement possible and maintaining the stance/form. The result of that work led to a deeper understanding of our line, and sensing and controlling the line from our hips and center. Using small pelvic turns and opening and closing of the qua(?) to counter the pulls or pushes from the forward weighted stance with our arms crossed.

We then shared our experiment with Bob and Jack and the observations seemed to fly with them too.

It was a really great practice, and I certainly enjoyed taking the time to really dive into the depth of a technique.

Just what I needed today.

Thanks practice partners!

-Phil

Multi-Art Practice Notes 01.22.2014

Bob, Jack, Read, Phil

Started with a round of the WuJi drill. I tried to incorporate some of the material from Tuesday morning into the drill. Mainly looking at the level of tension in the feeds and the responses.

Moved on to work the arm bar reversal drill from Tuesday, then some vertical push hands.

Wrapped up with a review and some conversation on the double broadsword form, and the 2 person long cane form.

Great practice group.

-Phil

Mulit-Art Practice Notes 01.15.2014

Bob, Read, Jack, Phil

Quick review of the dance sequence

little bit of basic trapping hands

Circle wuji drill.

Basic response then response with counter (assuming initial response was not already implementing an offensive or control technique)

Noted that it was taking a long time today for us to bring our chi back down after interacting.

Walking Willow drill (for lack of a better name)  one person eyes closed being "pushed" by partner. trying to keep pressure constant but adjusting of the line of the "constant push." Walking forward and backward. single hand central push and two handed alternating push.


I had to leave at 8:30 so perhaps someone else can add to material covered after that.

-Phil

Mulit-Art Practice Notes 01.08.2014

Lenny, Bob, Read, Phil, Jack, Thomas

Worked what we have been calling the "wuji" drill. standing in wuji a feed of some sort comes in, we respond, and then try to get back to wuji. Working on awareness of where our center is, low or high chi center, how long it takes to reset, rollback vs ward off reactions.  We worked a couple different response criteria as well as freestyle. Adjustments included body only response with no hands, step, no step, response with counters and a few others.

Worked on some sensitivity push hands. Slow push hands where as soon as you sense your partner have your line note it and reset. Similar to the drill from the Don Miller workshops.

a little willow drill work.

I think we may have run through the double broadsword as well.

-Phil

2 Person Work Notes 08.01.2012

Phil, Dave R., Bob, Read

Spent a lot of time on locks with Dave and Bob reviewing the handshake series. I occasionally consulted on order and transitions.

Read and I reviewed once through each side of the dance. Spent some time on the Rolland counter for counter locking series. Worked corto/largo versions with little footwork/full stepping.

Read and I reviewed the double broadsword.

Bob and Dave worked some trapping hands, then Read and I joined the trapping hands mix.

Bob and I both had to leave a little early, and Read and Dave were working on some single sinawali when I left.

Nice practice, and great to have Dave join us.

-Phil

2 person Practice Notes 07.04.2012

Luke and I had a great practice this morning at the studio.

we started off with a review of the dance.

The we moved on to creating a new empty hand give and take drill inspired by the recent video post of Ernesto Presas Jr. and the work we have been doing with the 8 count drill.

The drill happens to incorporate some great split energy in it, which was a nice bonus given the theme of the month.

Luke and I plan on working the drill some more over the next couple of weeks before presenting it to others.

really great practice with several "Arnis looks" and contemplation.

Happy 4th,

Phil

2 person work notes 06.27.2012

Luke, Phil, Bob, Read.

We spent most of the practice reviewing the dance.

A great deal of contemplation was given to section 7 from "shoulder to brush knee twist, to wave hands like clouds to ward off right."

Looking at energy direction, balance points, stance work and timing.

Nice practice with lots of chin scratching pondering.

It was nice to have Luke back for the morning practice.

-Phil

Also did once through the double broadsword form.

2 Person Class Notes 05.16.2012

Bob, Phil, Read

Bob & I warmed up with locking series right and left sides and some trapping hands with emphasis on locks. We also worked some empty hand single sinawali.

Bob, Read and I did a round robin of the dance.

We then did a round robin of some trapping/freestyle pushing for the rest of the time.

Time flew by way too fast as usual.

Thanks guys!

-Phil

2 Person Work Class Notes 05.09.2012

Phil, Bob, Read

Bob and I warmed up with the unfriendly handshake.

We all did a round robin of the dance.

Reviewed the double broadsword.

Spent a bunch of time working on single stick and double stick single sinawali. Eventually moved to working on staff translation of single sinawali.

Nice practice.

-Phil

2 Person Work Class Notes 04.18.2012

Phil, Bob, Read

Some warm up with the locking series.

Discussion on the dance. What benefits to we see in its practice. How it focuses on different things depending on the level of understanding a person brings to it. Lines, sensitivity, timing (this part seemed very multi-faceted and tied into application), applications, mental exercises with the shear volume of info just in the sequencing. We talked some more on how to mix in the drill work to bump up the dance, and the challenges/opportunities involved in teaching the dance to others, and maintaining it ourselves.

Round robin of the dance ensued.

A little discussion and on double sword work. round robin of the RR locking set.

2 Person Work Class Notes 04.04.2012

Bob, Read, Phil

Reviewed unfriendly handshake series once. Round robin of the dance, chop and receive right side. Some misc staff work. Repetition and conversation on the Rolland Rivera counter/counter locking series.

fun practice as always.

-Phil

2 Person Work Class Notes 3.21.2012

Bob, Phil, Read

Unfriendly handshake review right and left.

Round robin of the dance both sides.

Trapping hands and freestyle.

good practice.

-Phil

2 Person Work Class Notes 3.14.2011

Bob, Phil, Read

Bob & I started with a review of both sides of the dance and then the unfriendly handshake series.

Then the three of us worked on the folding elbow sequence out of part 8. we worked both the right and left side of the drill. working the left side really started burning/firing the synapses and eventually led us to work part 4 of the dance left sided and then part 1 of the dance.

For me at least, I felt a renewed understanding for how hard it is for a person to absorb all the details of the dance when first trying to learn the sequence. We were taking our detail level understanding of the dance from working the right side of it, and coming up against putting that level of control and awareness into the left side. Very, very challenging.

great practice!

-Phil

2 Person Work Class Notes 03.07.2012

(Bob, Phil & Read)

Started off with some trapping hands. Worked (?Bung Sow?) from the outside, lead with elbow over partners arm then fold out to back fist, go back and forth. This lead to discussions about sensitivity with the elbows, which led to the next experiment of the morning....

Push hands using the elbows and upper arms/body. 2 versions that we identified were holding our hands together, which created a central guard and connected the movement of our elbows rather tightly. The second was holding onto our shirt collars, which really limited the surface/working area.

Stance work was primarily wuji. we did play around a bit with distancing though. Standing close enough to have our elbows contact the others body without losing our own posture, as well as a longer distance where we had to issue energy through our elbows, through the others limbs in order to off balance them.

Observations included: increased sensitivity to both lines, increased awareness of whole body movement vs arm/limb movement, increased awareness of "re-routing" incoming energy on our line through our body and back to the others line and an increased awareness of stress/tension in the shoulders.

I certainly plan too revisit this practice in the future. I think it could really bump up a lot of skill areas.

Thanks,

Phil

2 Person Work Class Notes 01.25.2012

Dale, Bob, Read, Phil

Worked on vertical push hands adjustments from Tuesday morning 7am class.

Reviewed Dance and worked/discussed some parts of 4, 5 and 7.

Worked free style. I spent some time working upper cut and bolo punches into the trapping while working with Bob. Worked a lot more on sweeps and spins with Read.

Read reminded us that he is gone for most of the month of February, I reminded folks that I will be gone the next two weeks.

Wednesday morning class the next couple of weeks looks like private practices...

-Phil

2 Person Work Class Notes 12.28.2011

(Dale, Phil, Bob, Read)


Worked on Dance, double broadsword and just some free-style push hands.

Nice review to start with.

Really enjoyed the free-style with Read. We even ended up on the ground a few times.

I had to leave at 8:30, so not sure what happened in the last half hour.

-Phil

2 Person Work Class Notes 12.14.2011

Bob,Dale,Phil,Angus & Read.

We started with some tune up drills. Round robin of wuji drill with random feeds and rollback or ward off responses. The the closed eyes following drill that we had worked on last week.

Moved on to free-style dance with focus on wa-na-da. Sped up the timing slightly and worked in lots of footwork, sweeps, kicks and throws.

Despite having worked up a good sweat during the faster free-style work, everyone was able to keep a very calm, centered, detached and yet playful mindset.

Time flew by all too fast. Great practice.

-Phil

2 Person Work Class Notes 12.07.2011

(Dale, Phil, Bob, Angus and Read)

Started out with eyes closed, follow the other person maintaining 1-oz. pressure throughout. Primary contact point for the follower being a right or left ward off.

Worked on long power pushing for a while doing pushes back and forth across the room.

Dale and Bob moved on to work the Dance and perhaps some other stuff.

Angus had a small injury limiting his left arm movement so we did some free style one armed trapping/push hands.

Then Read joined us and we worked some interesting trapping variations with 3 people and and 4 arms.

Then we did some two on one, still working in the single arm handicap. Worked up quite a sweat. :-)

Great practice.

-Phil

2 Person Work Class Notes 11.16.2011

small practice (Bob,Dale, Phil & Angus)

Bob & Dale started out with a round of the dance.

Then we all worked on trapping hands for a little while. We spent some time breaking down the Wa, Na, Da aspects of the drill.

Next we did a variant of the "wuji" drill we have been working on. Two main variations. The first was that we put a knife in the hands of the attacker, and the second was not squaring off with one partner. The four of us made a square and the attacker chose someone at random from the group to attack. The 3 non-attackers tried to stay in the ready place and react accordingly to the attacks.

The uncertainty of if the attack was coming at me, and the knife, really increased the challenge of keeping relaxed and centered. I noticed my legs feeling very heavy as I waited for the attack to manifest.

Time flew by.

Great practice,

-Phil