“A VT action must lend itself to a quick recovery of balance and protection if the technique fails.”

It is commonplace today for practitioners of striking-oriented martial arts to study grappling techniques. Many are finding today that without grappling your traditional style is incomplete. In essence, you will enter an encounter without a full arsenal of self-defense techniques.

Someone can charge in. Take you down. Tie you up, and leave you helpless.

“Back in 1986 this was how I used to think. I made sure to complain to my ving tsun [VT] sifu Kevin Martin,” sifu Robert Dreeben notes. “When I first started my VT, I thought the style was lacking in this area. Sifu Kevin’s reply was, ‘VT has something for everything.’ My reply was, “Yea but… yea but.”
“Okay,” said sifu, “Go ahead try to take me down, use anything you want.”

With my newly acquired shuai chiao skills, I figured sifu was dead meat. As you might expect, it was me who ended up pummeled and on the floor staring at the ceiling. “You understand now?” said sifu, smiling. “Mmm hum,” I grunted. Dreeben shared this anecdote to make a point.

But it is true that you can study a traditional kung-fu style to exclusively and tactfully defeat a grappler.

Dreeben is a top student of Martin’s and a disciple of the late grandmaster Moy Yat. Dreeben’s other teachers are Peter Chema and tuhon Roberto Torres.

“Should you learn some grappling and groundfighting to make you a complete fighter? “Definitely,” maintains Dreeben. “I think you should. It will make you a well-rounded fighter. Just as I feel it’s important to familiarize yourself with the blade and weapon oriented arts as well.  Any martial art, if learned completely, can theoretically be used against any type of fighter. The key here is you must learn how to use your stuff against these different combat modalities with willing participants who will spar with you.”

For example, the Gracies didn’t just jump in to the UFC blind and then kick every different stylist’s butt. Rather, they learned attack and counterattack through training with many different fighters beforehand to apply jiu-jitsu against their various styles.  Most other challengers of the upright arts, during the early years of the UFC, did not practice this type of cross-style sparring to tailor their techniques against grappling entries.

They just figured their art would work and jump into the octagon. Consequently, these UFC matches against the Gracies made other traditional systems look ineffective. In reality, it was not the systems that were at fault, but rather the practitioners who were not doing their homework.

The Ving Tsun Approach
What is the ving tsun centerline theory? VT is a combative system of pure mathematical science. Its devastating physical actions can be dissected and proven using the laws of physics. The style centers on what happens when two human bodies interact from an upright posture in direct fist-to-fist, toe-to-toe execution. At the core of VT philosophy is the “centerline theory.”
“Ving tsun practitioners learn how to occupy and control the centerline movement plane of their torso with their arms, legs and body angling,” Dreeben says. “VT fights from the inside out rather than the outside in. Through initial contact with an opponent’s arms, a VT fighter can immediately sense the enemy’s center of gravity and his next intended move or strike before he executes it.”
Another core VT principle is, “Always do the best thing first at the start of a combat encounter. Not the second best, third best or fourth best thing first.”

 As VT stylists we often see students of other systems performing the second or third best thing first, and they’re not even aware of it. Why? Because very often a technique we’ve learned looks really good. Not only that, it feels really good to do on someone, therefore it must be supremely effective. When we view and analyze this same technique through VT glasses, to be VT [first best] it has to meet these three crucial criteria: is it safe? Is it simple? Is it economical? If a technique or application does not meet these three qualities it would not be considered the “first best” thing to do in VT.

The terms safe, simple and economical are in fact very general in nature and open to lots of individual interpretation. How do they apply to VT theory? The following are their definitions as they apply to ving tsun:

Safe: Most readers will agree that whenever we execute any type of technique, we create openings in our defense and offer opportunities for counter-techniques or a counterattack during the moment of limb extension. Usually depending upon the nature of your technique, level of physical commitment, range and type of body motion will dictate your level of vulnerability. A VT action must lend itself to a quick recovery of balance and protection if the technique fails and allow back-up defenses against the opponent’s counter.

Some other techniques that look good and feel good are so committed in their range of motion that they leave you at the opponent’s mercy if your movement is unsuccessful. Most all VT techniques start with your torso squarely facing the threat, which is what the body does instinctively under stress. This posture enables equal use of both arms. A side-bladed stance, while offering less of a target, will inhibit limb use to some degree from the rear quarter.  Actually, unless the opponent is within kicking range there is no reason to adopt a “bladed” stance [also called “the interview stance” in police terminology]. Your vital areas are only vulnerable when the enemy can reach you. Until then optimize your footwork with a balanced neutral stance.

Simple: It is common knowledge that under extreme emotional and physical stress our body’s ability to execute fine and complex motor movements will diminish as our heart rate increases and the stress level rises. Heart rate and stress level share relative degrees of change under duress. Therefore, the more complex a technique, the harder it will be to pull it off under “combat stress.”
The simpler a technique is in structure, the more it relies on gross motor movements less affected by accelerated heart rate, henceforth the easier and more chance you have at success. Drill a simple technique a thousand times until it becomes ingrained into the nervous system like a beaten path through the woods and you will simply to do it without thinking. It will have a “mind of its own”.

Economical: Yes, VT is known for is economical movement, as well as tight quick, concise surgical actions that get the “most for their money.” Herein the laws of physical science support ving tsun: economy is concurrent with speed. The “shortest distance between two points” means my centerline strike will hit you before you can hit your VT opponent if you’re not using a centerline strike. VT exponents have the speed advantage of angle and structure. Why? Because we fight along the centerline, we have a tighter defense perimeter and leave fewer openings for you to fill with strikes. Contrastingly, American boxing is very powerful and effective, yet the arcing hooks often favored can expose large areas of the torso as a target for counterpunches.
In reality, safe, simple and economical are interrelated. These are the standards most VT schools will use when analyzing a technique.

Ving Tsun Vs. Counter Grappling
In upright grappling there are really two main combat ranges: trapping/grappling and body-to-body wrestling. The trapping/grappling range is the range of chi sao. Here you can grab, lock, strike and tie up limbs using the upper and lower body. In body-to-body range, wrestling takes prominence. Torso touches torso. Locking up the hips, shoulders, neck, grabbing legs all to uproot and take down. The strikes you can fire at this distance are limited to elbows, headbutts, knees, clawing the flesh, biting and round arcing hooks. When someone is this close you can be taken to the ground in a second.

Your main concern is countering the grappler’s entry and staying upright while maintaining your distance. Controlling his hands, his balance and attacking the head and neck should be your focus. Some people make the mistake of only trying to strike the opponent’s head and neglecting his hands coming in to grab you. Lots of individuals can take a punch to the head and keep going, especially MMA fighters who are used to this type of all-out combat. Some will even go as far to let you hit him to keep your hands busy so they can bypass the trapping range and grab you for a takedown. The VT fighter cannot leave gaps. One gap may be all the grappler needs to take you down.

Moreover, VT works by driving the enemy back; you have to be careful you’re not just walking in to him so he can grab you. You must control every moment of contact. |

Specific Techniques
Dreeben considers himself a traditional kung-fu instructor when it comes to preserving the system and passing it on exactly how he learned it.

“I do feel, however we can always invent better tires to put on already perfect wheels,” Dreeben maintains. “According to grandmaster Roberto Torres, my silat guru, one of his teachers, professor Vee, would say ‘once you learn a style you should take it apart and put it back together in different ways and see what you get.’ ”

The VT forms are an encyclopedia and vast toolbox of different applications. For example, in the sil lim tao form part two is the left, right then rear then front gum sao pinning hand. The transitional action in this piece can actually be used to break an opponent’s neck as he enters if combined with a twisting waist movement.

In the chum kui form, the beginning section has you holding your right and left arm together in a double lan sao position, sharply pivoting your torso left, right, left at 180 degrees. Against a surprise rear bearhug you could use this movement to break the hold and simultaneously throw the person off you.

In the sil lim tao, there is a straight arm movement that has you lowering your arms palm out, then raising them straight arm wrist up. This wrist-up strike is used to hit an opponent’s eye socket while his head is held horizontal looking down. In this position the wrist and eye socket fit like a mortar and pestle.

VT “Battle Punches” are not considered an anti-grappling technique. Many other family VT students only view battle punches as a temporary training method for learning the luk dim poon kwan [VT long pole].

When engaging a grappler who is entering a deep stance, you must lower your body to meet his at the same level. VT battle punches provide this deep posture.
Review your own kung-fu or whatever style you practice. Make sure your technique relies on unified body movement [silk reeling in tai chi], correct body structure and body alignment instead of isolated muscular strength. Always use your strong range of motion against your opponent’s weak range of movement. Most importantly decide and use the best thing first.

Amada Alcantara is a martial artist, freelance writer and journalism teacher for the NYC Board of Education.