There is an important distinction to be made between Hitting and Pushing. People often push too much in Chi Sau, thinking that by bracing off the ground and bulldozing, they are winning. In reality this is not the case and is simply counter-productive. This is because you cannot hit effectively when you are off-balance, and when you are pushing someone, you have already lost your own balance.
The simple demonstration that I use to make this point is to ask someone to make a fist and push against my palm at a constant rate. Then I say, when I move my hand/let go, hit me as hard as you can in the chest. Inevitably, the harder that they are pushing, the less power they can muster behind their subsequent strike.
Another point of interest that makes clear the distinction between pushing (bracing) and hitting is to have someone perform Chi Sau with their back against the wall, or with their back foot braced against the wall. If you should try to move them, their structure feels totally immovable and powerful. All well and good. Obviously we understand that if one has a wall to their back to let the force travel through, they become super powerful. BUT, while we acknowledge that the person’s structure has improved, we wouldn’t be any more scared of their punches. It’s instinctively obvious that they can’t hit any harder just because they have a wall to their back. Why is this the case?
If force = mass x acceleration (which is of course an extreme simplification of the mechanics of striking), the important point is that the MASS must ACCELERATE. i.e., it is only the mass that you are actually able to mobilise that counts. You can’t make the wall behind you move and contribute its mass to your strike, which is why having the wall behind you doesn’t help you hit any harder. On the other hand, when you are only pushing, instead of striking, you can let the force compress you and pass through your structure into the wall, making you more powerful structurally. The important point is to note that these are two completely distinct mechanics – hitting and pushing are different beasts.
Let us consider one more example. Suppose someone should hold a small, but heavy, metal bar inside of their fist. We all instinctively understand that this would make their punches more dangerous. Why is this the case? Because by adding weight to the fist, the mass that is now being accelerated is increased. To take this example further, consider a 10 year old child. You could probably let them hit you quite a lot and be injury free. Now consider that I have given that child a hammer. You would now be very, very, concerned about the prospect of them wailing on you. In reality, the hammer does not add very much weight to the child, nor does it increase the length of their arm that much – your arm is probably still just as long or longer even with them holding the hammer. But you would not let them hit you with the hammer!
With both the above examples, a person’s striking ability is rendered more dangerous. Whether they have weights in their fist, or are given a hammer, we are more wary of their strikes. However, neither of these two external aides help them have better structure. A person holding weights in their fist has no advantage pushing a person without weights in their fist. Once again, this is because pushing and holding solid structure is reliant on a solid brace. Having a hammer means you can hit harder, but it doesn’t make you any harder to move.
So, why is this distinction so important? Well, it has ramifications on what we should prioritise when playing Chi Sau. Wing Chun is primarily a Striking style. If we engage in the error of always pushing during Chi Sau, first of all we lose our ability to strike effectively, and secondly, there is no logical reason why we don’t just start wrestling. If someone is pushing, they don’t present a great threat in terms of striking. Their push is often harmless too – all they are doing is pushing you backwards with their arms against your arms – it is not actually achieving much from a combative standpoint. To enter into grappling range or shoot for a takedown is generally quite easy if someone is just mindlessly pushing in Chi Sau. More to the point, it’s generally not very risky – because you don’t have to worry about being hit with a genuinely nasty strike while you enter.
If we practice Chi Sau always pushing, we are basically training the wrong way. It would be like practicing archery and instead of using the bow to shoot arrows at your enemy, you pick up the bow and whack people with the bow. Yes, it may still be somewhat effective, but it is not proper archery, and the guy with a sword is going to kill you!
So it’s important to make sure that when we practice Chi Sau, our focus is on hitting, and taking balance while remaining balanced ourselves, not on trying to push our partners. We should be striking, not wrestling! – Louis Shapiro