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Grandmaster Wong demonstrating the "Shoot-Step" during the Sabah Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course

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Moving into an opponent effectively requires suitable techniques and appropriate skills. More importantly, you have to ensure you are safe from his counter-attacks.

If all things were equal, the responder has an advantage over the initiator in an encounter. In the process of your attack, as you move in and before you have stabilized yourself is the moment when you are vulnerable to an opponent’s counter-attack. For example, as your front foot reaches the ground and you are about to thrust out a punch, if your opponent’s snake palm is coming at your eyes or throat, or his kick coming at your ribs, it is not easy to defend against his surprised counters if you are not prepared and trained to do so.

Reversely, if an opponent rushes in to attack you, it is relatively easy for you to strike him in surprise, especially if he is not trained in the principle of “safety first” and thus exposes himself carelessly. Please see Surprise your Attacker with a Counter-Attack.

But not all things are equal. Hence, if you understand and practice combat principles, you can have advantages when you initiate an attack. One important aspect is how to move in safely and effectively. The video clips below show some of the ways how you can realize these advantages

Please note that you can download the video clips onto your own computer and view them at your leisure. Place your computer pointer at the picture or one of the links, and right click. Choose “Save Target As”. Select the directory or sub-directory where you wish to keep the video clip. Click “Save”.

The Importance of Footwork

Grandmaster Wong highlights a common mistake some students make especially in Combat Sequences 1 to 4. They do not move their front leg sufficiently from Bow-Arrow to False-Leg or vice versa. The False-Leg Stance is about half the space of the Bow-Arrow Stance, and the gap should be maintained as such, otherwise the tactics of “shallow” and “shoot” will not be effective. Grandmaster Wong also highlights the importance of rotating the waist.
The size of the video clip is 1.93 mb.
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Moving into Attack with Correct Spacing

Grandmaster Wong leads the class in the practice of correct spacing when moving in to attack. Shown here are moving one step and moving one and a half steps. Asking the way is essential. It is one of the secrets that ensure “safety first”. Notice that the “Black Tiger” is executed by rotating the waist with internal force issuing from the dan tian and exploding in the punch. This is another secret, and it concerns internal force. In other words, those who do not know about asking the way, and rotating their waist correct, would expose themselves to risky counter-attacks and would be unable to explode internal force effectively.
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Left-Leg Mode to Left-Leg Mode

Grandmaster Wong shows how you could move into an opponent to attack him if he is about two steps away. Here the movement is from left-leg mode to left-leg mode. In other words, you start with your left leg in front, and end also with your left leg in front, though you have changed from a False-Leg Stance to a Bow-Arrow Stance. Another mode would be used if, for some technical considerations, you wish to have your right leg in front.
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The Shoot Step

Grandmaster Wong shows the “Shoot Step”, or “Phiew Pou” (Cantonese) in Chinese. This is a suitable mode to use to attack an opponent if he is about two and a half steps away. Notice that here it involves three different stances, namely False-Leg, Unicorn and Bow-Arrow, but is performed in one smooth movement. If an opponent wishes to bounce away, he would need two to three movements to cover the same space. This means that if one second is needed to make one movement, you would have put your opponent in an awkward position when you attack, because in one second he has only retreated one space whereas you would be right in front pressing an attack on him.
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The Three-Step Shoot

If your opponent is further away, or if you wish to press in further, you can use a three-step shoot shown here, instead of the two-step shoot shown in the previous video clip. In the three-step shoot, you start by moving your front leg from False-Leg to Bow-Arrow, whereas in the two-step shoot you start by moving your back leg from False-leg to Unicorn. Re reminded that you should ask the way and rotate your waist as your punch out a “Black Tiger”.
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Shoot and Roll in Four-Step Attack

Grandmaster Wong illustrates various ways of moving in to attack depending on how far away your opponent is. If he is four steps away, you could use a three-step shoot plus a roll-step. These two movements – shoot and roll – should be performed as one smooth movement. Notice that the movement is from left-leg mode to left-leg mode.
The size of the video clip is 0.84 mb.
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From Left-Leg Mode to Right-Leg Mode

Many people, often without their conscious knowing, use only one mode in their footwork, i.e. they habitually have either their left leg or their right leg in front. If you can maneuver them to use their unaccustomed leg in front, you would have gained a tactical advantage without your opponent knowing. In the previous video clips, we learn how to move from a left-leg mode to a left-leg mode. Here we move from a left-leg mode to a right-leg mode. Notice the footwork adjustment shown in the video to attain correct spacing. If you merely move your right back leg forward, you would have given away a technical disadvantage to your opponent.
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Alternative Way for Footwork Adjustment

This is an alternate way to move from the left to right mode with footwork adjustment. In the earlier video clip, first you retreat your front left leg then move forward your right back leg. Here first you move forward your right back leg, then you retreat left leg. Both ways have their pros and cons.
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Making Ad-Hoc Adjustment

If your opponent is tall or if you wish to attack his upper body, you may raise your stance to have a better reach. This is an ad-hoc adjustment to meet a particular situation. Kungfu is alive. We should follow the established forms, but if a situation warrants it, we may modify the form slightly to suit the situation on an ad-hoc basis.
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Various Ways to Right-Leg Mode

If an opponent is one and a half steps away, there is of course no need to make any footwork adjustment. Just move the back leg forward from a False-Leg Stance to a sideway Horse-Riding Stance, or any other suitable stance. This video clip also shows various other ways to move forward to a right-leg mode.
The size of the video clip is 1.23 mb.
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Moving in when Opponent is Far away

When your opponent is three or four steps away, you can combine this left-right step forward mode with a roll-step or a shoot-step. For example, when your opponent is three steps away, you can use a two-step roll forward followed immediately and smoothly with a one-step back to front leg mode. When he is four steps away, you can use a three-step shoot forward followed with a one-step back to front mode. Here the movement is from left-leg mode to right-leg mode.
The size of the video clip is 1.01 mb.
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Combinations of Various Steps

When an opponent is very far away, you can move in swiftly by combining various movements. For example, if he is five steps away, which is quite far apart, you can move in with a three-step shoot followed by a one-step roll and a one-step back-front movement. Once you have understood the basic movements, you can combine them in whatever ways to suit your purposes.
The size of the video clip is 0.59 mb.
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We wish to thank Mr Godfery Kissey of Ogingo Videography, Penampang, Sabah, Malaysia for kindly provideing us with the videos. (Godfery is also a member of our Shaolin Wahnam Family.) His telephone number is 60-88-731788, and e-mail address is godfery@pc.jaring.my.

Overview 1 : The Fundamentals
Overview 2 : The 16 Combat Sequences
Overview 3 : Are they Performing Kungfu Dance?

1. The Basics of Shaolin Kungfu Training
2. Fundamental Combat Skills
3. Defeat you Hand to your Opponent, Victory you Create Yourself
4. Avoiding Disadvantages and Seeking Advantages
5. Basic Principles and Tactics of Combat
6. Skills derived from Sparring can be Rewardingly used in Daily Life
7: Some Secrets in Practicing Genuine Kungfu
8: Various Ways to Move into an Opponent

9: Applying Combat Sequences in Sparring
10: Linking Sequences to be More Combat Efficient
11: The Secrets of Continuous Cannons
12: The Mechanics of Continuation
13: Marvelous Techniques Beget Marvelous Techniques
14: Perfecting Forms and Developing Force
15: Applying Tactics in Combat
16: Objectives of Form Training in Solo

17: Being Fluent in Kicking Techniques before Applying them in Combat
18: Using Tactics in Kicking Attacks and Defences
19: Different Levels of Sophistication in Sparring and Fighting
20: The Legacy of Uncle Righteousness: Secret of Continuous Cannons and their Counters
21: Benefiting from the Experiences and Teachings of Past Masters

22: Poetic Patterns Can be Very Deadly
23: Moving Back One Step when in Diffiuclt Situations
24: Linking Sequences to Form a Kungfu Set
25: Felling Techniques in Kungfu are Different from Judo and Wrestling
26: Butterfly Palms and Hiding Flowers are Excellent in Countering Felling and Gripping Attacks
27: Let Mercy Flow from the Hands

28: Benefits of Solo Set Practice -- Combat Sequences 13 to 16
29: From Pre-Choice Sequences to Free Sparring
30: Allying Shaolin Patterns Correctly and Spontaneously in Free Sparring
31. Shaolin Kungfu against Boxing and Kick-Boxing
32. Shaolin Counters against Wrestling Shoots
33. The Secret of Grandmaster Ho Fatt Nam
34. Why Shaolin Kungfu is Technically Faster than Boxing
35. Shaolin Techniques, Tactics and Strategies against Boxing

36. Revealing Secrets of Past Taijiquan Masters
37. Overwhelming Opponents with Just One Pattern
38. Poetry and Elegance in Effective Combat

• Intensive Chi Kung Course
• Intensive Shaolin Kungfu Course
• Intensive Taijiquan Course

• List of Certified Shaolin Wahnam Instructors

This page has been visited times since 30th July 2007