Define your goals

The Wing Chun class went out to lunch this past Sunday after class. Sifu Greg said something interesting in response to some of my queries; "All I teach is how to hit the head". Maybe not his exact words, but close. Basically he was explaining how Wing Chun is about how to hit the head or neck and if countered, how to remove obstructions so as to continue to hit the head or neck area. The purpose of this is to "take out the General"; the "General" being your brain. If you give your opponent a concussive series of strikes, what good is the rest of his limbs in hitting you back? The brain/head is the center, the master control of your body. Without it, you don't work.

*Note: I'm still a new wing chun student so if anything I've described above sounds inaccurate then please correct me.

The point I am trying to make and what I find intriguing is that this act of "hitting the head/neck" is a clearly defined goal/target. Yes there are other actions that Wing Chun teaches, but all those actions, for the most part, are utilized in order to continue to hit the target area, i.e. head/neck. This is a very pragmatic way of doing things. That is why Wing Chun is characterized as being "simple" and "direct". I'm wondering if this is the reason why karate is lost (functionally speaking) today? I mean, what is the goal of using your karate technique? I'm sure Iain Abernethy or McCarthy has already said something about this, but what is the objective of using karate on an opponent? I am sure that the principle is somehow the same or similar. I remember reading something in Abernethy's articles about the movements in kata being the result of first initiating a groin grab, eye poke, or neck choke on your opponent (I could be wrong. I'll have to find and cite that article later). Point is, there isn't any elaborate, superfluous movements "for the sake of". Each movement is designed to achieve a clear objective. I guess I'm saying that with karate, that objective has been obscured. So something about clearly defining what you are employing your methods for makes a lot of sense. It sort of cuts through the bullshit. It's like, when you know what you want, even if you have no idea how to get there, you will find a way. You stop wasting your time; you stop distracting yourself with things that aren't aligned in your interest (hitting the head). Eventually I would imagine that your approach begins to look more straight, more exact, more "direct". You become focused on one thing and one thing alone...to hit. Obviously there's something to be said about applying that approach to life.

Elbow SMASH.
- Hiji Até