COUNTERS AGAINST CHOPS AND SWEEPS OF HEAVIER WEAPONS

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A reverse sweep of the Butterfly Knives to counter-strike the horizontal sweep of a staff

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.

Then, 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 click the pictures or the headings below to view the videos

Wrong Defence against a Staff Hit

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Here is 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. What would you do if an opponent strike your head with his staff?

Wrong Defence against a Thrusting Attack

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Blocking a downward hit is wrong. Blocking a thrusting attack is dangerous. The thrust is likely to go through. So how are you going to defend against a thrust?

Right Pattern but Wrong Application

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Sifu Mark Appleford volunteers to defend against a chopping attack. He uses “Fierce Tiger Descends Mountain”. 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?

Correct Application of the Same Pattern

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Here is the correct application of the same pattern, “Fierce Tiger Descends Mountain”. The circular movement above the head before the downward chop of the knives is important. Notice that an exponent does not block the downward hit but deflects it.

Good Timing and Good Spacing

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Here is more detail on 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.

Wrong Defence against a Horizontal Sweep

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Here is a common but wrong defence against a horizontal sweep. A horizontal sweep by a heavy weapon like a Big Knife or even a medium-heavy weapon like a staff can go through despite a correctly placed block.

Continuous Reverse Sweeps of the Rhinoceros

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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.

You can view all the videos above by clicking the picture or the caption below

Butterfly Knives Counters against Chops and Sweeps of Other Weapons from Wong Kiew Kit on Vimeo.

A picture-series of the set can be found here

LINKS

Review of UK Summer Camp 2007 Weapon Course

Click here for an Overview of the entire course

  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?
  1. Learning to Make Flowers Systematically
  2. Combat Applications of Double Butterflies Flying
  3. Human-Character and Cross-Road are Found Here
  4. Kungfu Training and Mental Clarity
  5. Learning the Combat Applications of the Butterfly Knives against Other Weapons
  6. The Benefits of Combat Training with Classical Weapons
  7. From Slow and Systematic to Fast and Spontaneous
  8. First-Class Kungfu Calls for Great Skills and Techniques

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