Saw Rocky Balboa

I saw the last and final installment of the movie Rocky Balboa over holidays. It was actually a pretty good movie. The story focuses more on the drama side of his life rather than the fight he has between Mason Dixon. The film was set in a chronoligical fashion with every moment building up to Rocky's last and final fight. I find that this movie ended the series well.

Thumbs up!

Wing ChART!!!

Here are some mini sketch notes on some random Wing Chun stuff. If you know, or have experience with WC, then you may already understand the details behind the moves, if not, then tough:).

From Left to Right:

Jut Sao: Great to draw opponent's arm in and has a clear line towards the center. It's also in a ready position to launch a punch, palm strike, biu (eye jab), and fung hao (throat chop)... my fave. Ends a fight in a second. No need to wrestle in the ground:).

Gum Da: One hand traps the other's elbow while the other strikes from the inside gate. The one pinning is only there temporarily and can stike after the other hand is clear. Think E. Honda from street fighter. Bam, bam, bam!!! Or bam, bam, fung hao... lights out! To correctly use it, one has to step in and pin. Both elbows should be down. Now wandering elbow kinda shit or you'd be using your arm muscles instead of your structure for power.

Jut, Bong, Tan: Just something I though of adding. There are a few types of Tans but I won't go into details incase my Sifu kicks my ass. There's an illustrated explanation in the bottom right though... just showing the basic usage of it and not the super detailed description on how to properly do it. Wing chun is an art that you have to feel and experience, otherwise, you'd be immitating it and will be chasing hands all the time.

Line of Attack: Top Right. Simply put, it's some of the lines of attacks. These principles are unique to Wing Chun since we fight square to the opponent as opposed to fighting one sided. Choosing a correct line of attack is crucial. Change your line of attack when there's resistance. Don't change for the heck of it though, or you'll create too many openings for the other guy to capitalise on. Keep it simple and direct.

What's this about BJJ vs Wing Chun???

Here's what I think.

First, both arts are very different. BJJ (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) focuses on ground grappling techniques, while wing Chun is all about stand up fighting.

Second, it's all about the individual. It's normal that there's always going to be someone better than you out there, and fighting is just the same. The more you train and understand your art, the more your probablility of winning or surviving will be increased.

Now, if both fighters, BJJ and Wing Chun are equally advanced and fit, then Wing Chun will win. Think about it. Wing Chun specialises in the first (hands), second (elbows), and third gate (shoulders) of fighting, while BJJ only focuses on taking someone to the ground. BJJ guys have very basic first and second gate fighting techniques. Most of their stuff is past the third gate, so you tell me how can a BJJ guy enter those first two gates of an advanced Wing Chun guy if they can't even compete at those distances. Their only way is to rush the WC guy below the waist or knees. Granted most people don't know what to do in those cases, but believe me, it's not hard to keep your stance if you've got good structure, footwork, and sensitivity. Mind you that I'm still talking about equal body types. When someone rushes low you should follow and sink/widen your stance. Don't widen your stance with one leg in front and the other in back, because you'll give away your front leg to the BJJ guy. Instead, lower your stance while applying forward/downward energy to the BJJ's neck area. Your legs should be behind you, out of reach from the BJJ guy, and you should be somewhat on top of him. This by default and a little guidance, bring his head near your elbows giving you access to a choke or a kill.

Through my experience in sparring, even though I'm no pro fighter, chasing center and chasing head is the best way to keep your attack/offense pointing at the right place. In most cases, people will generally want to tackle you. What has worked for me in the past is to always have your intensions or energy pointing towards the centerline. That doesn't mean touching the other dudes chest or face or anything, but the intension should be there. Once the guy sinks for a waist or below the waist attack, sink your stance and keep your arms near the person's head. It should be similar to a low Bong Sau and should come naturally. The result is a neck choke. So what if they manage to move your stance, if you have good structure, it would be hard to make you off balance. The bottom line is, where the head goes, the body goes. So if you have the guys head wrapped around your arm, then you have the advantage. You can choke or snap their necks at any sign of movement. Wing Chun guys should be good at that, given their ultra sensitive nature.

So there you go, just follow the head, and tighten your grip. Of course this might not work agains a pro UFC/BJJ guy who's twice your size because their reach and mass can overwhelm your structure. Just be smart about it break their rythm and balance. Always be one step ahead of them.

Update on the Stones...

News of a good friend passing away kept me off this blog for a while.
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Crappy celphone images below! Don't say I didn't warn you. The concert was great. Mary managed to get us floor seats so we got to see band up close and personal, say 20 feet away. It was awesome. As for the songs, well, all I can say is that it gets repetitive. And only a few of their songs were memorable.

ROLLING STONES!!!!

Not that I like them, but I'll be going to their concert tonight thanks to the wonderful perks of Mary's job. So here I am, at the Residence Inn, updating my blog. Jaffe let us go early cuz our game kept crashing. So I left earlier hoping to get to Mary's hotel but got stuck in traffic for a friggin hour. Pico SUCKS! Fucking LA drivers.

OK I'm off to see the Stones... :P

CASINO ROYAL!!!!

HOLY FUCK! The movie was good! Back to the old classic Bond feel but with cell phones. Lots of it. The art direction is superb and the use of Le Parkour Stunts were impressive... French word that means free running... or PK for short. Not to be mistaken with the HK PK meaning:). Anyway, think Jackie Chan stunts... which BTW is were the inspiration of Le Parkour came from.

The fighting was also good. It's more down to Earth fighting. None of that wire work and over the top shit coming out these days. This is like a James Bond makeover which caters to the the Jack Bauer crowd. The JB in this movie could probably be comparable to Jack Bauer on 24. Both have very good melee skills and kick major ass. But Bond gets more chicks... sorry Jack.

Anyway, I'm no film critic, but it's a movie I just had to talk about.

Game I'm working on "CALLING ALL CARS!"

Here's the game I'm currently working on. It's by the guy who brough you God of War, Mr. David Jaffe. You could check out his blog at www.davidjaffe.biz. But here are a few images for your viewing pleasure...

Originally this image was meant as a concept piece, but I think Dave liked it and made it the cover... at least for now.

Here's one of the levels in the game. Below are other high level game art.

To get the latest on the game, just visit dave's site.

I figured it out!!!

Okay, took me a while but now the colors of this site is more like what I want it to be. I find that these sites aren't very intuitive. Anyway, with much tampering I think I pretty much got it. As another test, here's a link to my website.

And as another test post, here's a pic I did of Littlepoop and Rudy. Seems like everyone's doing animal drawings these days:)... hint, hint.

LITTPOOP:

RUDY:

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3...

Just joined. Have no clue how this thing works...