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Grandmaster Wong applies a reverse sweep of his Butterfly Knives to counter-strike the horizontal sweep of the staff by Sifu Anthony Korahais

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Another common but wrong defence we often see in kungfu movies is using a light weapon, like a pair of Butterfly Knives or a sword, to block a medium or heavy weapon, like a staff or a halberd. The light weapons will be broken by the sheer weight of the heavier weapons.

Theb, how would you counter a downward chop or a horizontal sweep of a staff with your Butterfly Knives. This video series gives some examples..

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”.

Wrong Defence against a Staff Hit

Grandmaster Wong shows a common but wrong technique to defend against a hitting attack from a staff. The opponent could use a reverse swing of the staff to hit your exposed areas. Then, what would you do if an opponent strike your head with his staff?
The size of the video clip is 1.29 mb.
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Wrong Defence against a Thrusting Attack

Blocking a downward hit like what Sifu Anthony demonstrates is wrong, blocking a thrusting attack as demonstrated is dangerous. The thrust is likely to go through. So how are you going to defend against a thrust? Grandmaster Wong asks for volunteer from the class.
The size of the video clip is 1.29 mb.
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Right Pattern but Wrong Application

Sifu Mark Appleford volunteers to defend against the thrusting attack. He uses “Fierce Tiger Descends Mountain”. Grandmaster Wong says that the pattern is correct but the application is not. This is a good impromptu example illustrating that you must not only know the right pattern but use it correctly. Do you know how?
The size of the video clip is 0.63 mb.
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Correct Application of the Same Pattern

Grandmaster Wong demonstrates the correct application of the same pattern, “Fierce Tiger Descends Mountain”. The circular movement above the head before the sownward chop of the knives is important. Notice that Grandmaster Wong does not block the downward hit but deflects it.
The size of the video clip is 0.99 mb.
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Good Timing and Good Spacing

Grandmaster Wong shows in more detail how to deflect the downward hit of a staff or any heavy weapon using the circular movement of the “Fierce Tiger Descends Mountain” pattern. You can deflect the weapon even if it is heavy because your deflecting movement follows the momentum of the opponent. Good timing and good spacing are necessary. The video clip here shows Grandmaster Wong using the left mode of the Fierce Tiger pattern, i.e. the left hand is the leading hand. You can also use the right mode, in which case both the right hand and the right leg are in front.
The size of the video clip is 0.82 mb.
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Wrong Defence against a Horizontal Sweep

Grandmaster Wong shows a common but wrong defence against a horizontal sweep. A horizontal sweep by a heavy weapon like a Big Knife or even a medium heaven like a staff can go through despite a correctly placed block.
The size of the video clip is 0.60 mb.
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Continuous Reverse Sweeps of the Rhinoceros

An excellent counter against a horizontal sweep is “Rhinoceros Looks at Moon”. As the sweep is coming, move forward diagonally and reverse sweep a knife into the opponent’s hand holding the weapon. You need not block his horizontal sweep because it will not reach you. You would have cut his hand before the sweep has traveled its intended path. If your opponent retreats to avoid you counter attack on his hand, follow forward with another Rhinoceros reverse sweep, giving him little chance to escape.
The size of the video clip is 1.01 mb.
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1. Introducing the Butterfly Knives
2. Fierce Tiger and Moon-Gazing Rhinoceros
3. How would you Counter a Spear Thrust?
4. Counters against Chops and Sweeps of Other Weapons
5. Butterfly Knives Against a Saber
6. The Secret of Performing Butterfly Knives with Force and Speed but Without being Tired
7. Yin-Yang Butterfly Knives and Close-Combat Applications
8. Some Interesting Applications of Butterfly Knives Held in Reverse
9. Combat Training with Weapons Must be Injury Free
10. How do you Release your Butterfly Knives from being Locked?
11. Learning to Make Flowers Systematically
12. Combat Applications of Double Butterflies Flying
13. Human-Character and Cross-Road are Found Here
14. Kungfu Training and Mental Clarity
15. Learning the Combat Applications of the Butterfly Knives against Other Weapons
16. The Benefits of Combat Training with Classical Weapons
17. From Slow and Systematic to Fast and Spontaneous
18. First-Class Kungfu Calls for Great Skills and Techniques

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

• List of Certified Shaolin Wahnam Instructors

This page has been visited times since 20th September 2007