All Kung Fu schools understand the importance of Chi Sau training. As with everything we do it is the establishment of a strong foundation that will underpin future progress and performance. To compare with building a house if the foundations are good then any future changes to the structure are likely to be small refinements. On the other hand, if the foundations are poor then the only remedy will be to knock the house down and start again.

In the Shaolin Ancestors system much time and effort is spent on the initial stages, which is trained in a fixed stance. By not including footwork, the student learns to fully concentrate on body movement whilst dealing with the restriction of mobility.

Other important areas developed include:

• Sticking, listening and distorting skills, which importantly assist in the students understanding of energetics.

• Pushing and pulling which as no footwork is involved fully concentrates the students ability to deal with these forces only using their upper body

• The initial elements of chin na.

• Linking and de-linking the arms, both when to switch on and off.

• A thorough understanding of underlying Ying / Yang concept.

The key areas listed above are trained using a parallel facing stance, which provides the least stability and support for the student. To start with there is a temptation to move, however, this will soon be lost with full concentration focused on the development of the above skills. Thus ensuring the student develops a stable foundation, which in turn enables them to move on to the more advanced levels of training.

One very important aspect which results from this method of training is the student building a firm understanding of their own body mechanics and how best to support themselves in a fast moving free flowing and random environment.

The Author Nigel Atkinson is currently a disciple of Shaolin Ancestors Kung Fu and is currently an assistant instructor at the Guildford Kung Fu Classes in Surrey.