Training for Sparring

by Master Chen Zhaokui

Train Hard, but not to Death; Train Cleverly, but not to Cheat

Fighting outcome is largely determined by courage. However, courage alone doesn't work. Top quality
sparring skills are indispensable. A brave fighter with first-rate skills is a tiger with wings.

In training, we are supposed to be coordinated and flexible in every single move of the forms. we must be
very familiar with the moves. We should be able to discharge energy like an automatic weapon. A strike
should take the shortest path. It must be fast, powerful, fierce, and accurate. It takes such qualities to handle
a strong opponent. Training hard is the only way to acquire those qualities. Emphasis is placed on moving
fast and slowly, striking like steel and maneuvering like water, closing and opening, being relaxed and fluid
and bouncing and shuddering.

Emphasis on slow moves only leads to slow strikes which an opponent can counter easily. But emphasis on
fast moves alone makes it difficult to feel the path of your energy and makes it easy to strike along a longer
path than necessary. Being fast refers to the speed which is built up through familiarity of the energy path.
It is a speed without loss of quality.

Emphasis on water-like maneuvering alone results in weak strikes that present no threat to an opponent.
Striking like steel means the steel-like quality reflected in your bouncing and shuddering which comes from
total relaxation, which are also a sign of the water-like motions.

The above examples show that it is necessary to acquire a quality that readily shifts from top speed to slow
speed, transforms from hardness to softness, from heaviness to lightness, and vice versa. This quality
should be at your disposal at will without any loss or restrictions.

This quality doesn't come easily. It comes from years of hard training. However, hard training means clever
training, otherwise you will train yourself to death. The goal of training must be clearly defined. We must
not be like Beijing opera stars who present a spear dance. Flashy displays like that are for show, but are
useless in function.

Your Advantage Against Their Disadvantage

After a reasonable mastery of sparring techniques, you should specialize in one or two techniques, the exact
ones will be defined by your build, stamina, reflexes, and other factors. For example, a tall person should
put emphasis on Tsai (Cai), or plucking, and Lieh (lie), which means splitting or perhaps "intercept and
shudder." His strikes should be like cutting open a mountain, which means they must be very heavy.

A short person should mainly practice shoulder, elbow, and leg techniques in order to attack the lower part
of the opponent. He must be fast and agile. The energy of his strikes must be integrated, fluid, and elastic.
He should use the strategy of Shan Zhan (avoiding the brunt). In Taiji classics there is a saying, "Avoiding
the brunt renders useless a power that can pull up a mountain." This strategy is most applicable to short
people.

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attack doesn't look real, your genuine one will fail, also. For example if your left strike is a fake and the right
one is real, then you should do everything possible to attract the opponent's attention with your left strike,
taking away his right defense, then delivering a fast strike from the right.

In order to mislead successfully, we have to practice fake attacks for certain parts f the opponent's body, to
practice all strikes so that they travel along the shortest path and along the smallest circles. We are not
supposed to give a telltale sign with our facial expression. These signs will warn the opponent and may
result in a surprise attack by the opponent. On the other hand, we can use the signs to confuse the
opponent. For example, the first time your look at the left but strike from the right, then the second time you
can look at the right of the opponent but strike from the right. The opponent, after tasting the first fake
strike, will think the potential strike will come from the left this time. But he may get a punch from the
right. This is what we call, "attack where there is no defense."

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