I used to spar with a friend who was training for the Olympics in Tae Kwon Do Before his ACL was torn. He also was part of a very traditional Tae Kwon Do background as well, so he was able to use his hands unlike many of the more sport-oriented Tae Kwon Do schools out there.

He outsized and outreached me (his 6′ to my 5′7″) and I learnt some valuable things from the experience:

• Awareness of range is very important and will dictate the response you are capable of at that particular moment in time.
• Your ability to recognize and process motion without being paralyzed by mental processing and categorizing of the motions.
• The level of your sparring, either very friendly, full contact, level of control you both have, available targets, etc. will also dictate your response.
• your conviction and mental fortitude to close the gap to intercept or jam the kick.

To be brief (note: I can never be brief!), this is what worked for me:

1. Upon seeing ANY movement from his legs (fakes or not), close the gap and try to interrupt his motion before it can be complete. I say motion because if you wait to see what type of kick the motion develops into, it is usually too late and you receive the full brunt of the power. I found it was easier to close the gap and when the motion did develop into a kick I was in a MUCH better position to respond. With my body behind everything, I could jam his kicks and dump him without absorbing the full power of his kicks. The more I did this the easier it was to recognize things to the point where I could pick up little details as to what type of kick it was by his shoulder level, placement of his supporting foot, etc. (little things that the mind ignores because it is more concerned with the large gross movements that are coming at you.) Soon it’s easier to recognize angles of attack so you can use footwork to position yourself in the best place. Of course the opponent is trying to fake you out and place you where he thinks you will move to set you up for his next attack. If you rush in when he tries to fake or when he tries to set you up, you can catch HIM off guard. Easy to say but difficult to do.
2. If I was late in my timing and was not able to close the distance, I changed the distance by using my footwork to cut angles (NOT step back unless I was REALLY late in timing). Since we worked out in a very wide open indoor basketball court, it was very easy for him to maneuver. I had to step to the proper angle so that he could not maintain his preferred distance while still staying in my preferred distance. The Tae Kwon Do guy especially liked to jump away and throw a kick out when you advance so that you stay back and also so he can create distance. It forced me to evaluate my understanding of footwork (where to step, how deep to step, when to step, inside or outside gates, speed of entering, etc.) as well as being aware of his body position, facing, footwork, and angles.
3. Counter kicking works but there is a danger if things become to aggressive. For Wing Chun especially, kicking the knees, groin, instep, etc are not exactly friendly exchanges. Initially I had an open and fair mind whenever I PLACED my counter kicks on his support knee, his groin, instep, or shin. I would be honest with myself and say ‘Yeah I could have taken out his leg’ or ‘I was a second to slow and his kick would have hit me before I could complete my counter kick’. I would usually get the counter kick in, but because I didn’t use full power, I wound up getting hit since he still had his support structure. Once I was satisfied in my own mind that I could counter kick him if it were real, I moved on to working the timing and positioning and awareness rather then specific counters to different kicks.
4. Against circular kicks, I moved into him rather than wait at the end to see what kick it was. Regardless of whether the kick is clockwise, counterclockwise, or spinning, the center is open for a split second. Move in and take out the support structure (be very careful of injury!) or disrupt his balance to prove your point. Did I get hit a lot? Yeah. Did I dump him a lot? Yeah. My skill did improve and eventually it was easier to do, but this without getting hit at full power.
5. Against low kicks, it was easier to kick the incoming leg while moving than to sit there and take it in the thigh or shin.

People might argue that instead of moving in to the power, it’s better to wait for the kick to extend and move in. This is certainly a valid method and one that I have used myself. My only problem with this is that it requires a precise measure of the range and timing both before and after his kick, plus I have not disrupted him so that he can throw another attack at me. I want to apply stress to him so that he has to deal with the stress (ME) instead of setting me up with multiple kicks. He can’t plan if he’s preoccupied with something rushing in on him.

You need to judge the range so that you are out of his and can still respond back BEFORE his next kick (or punch). Especially if the person has a longer reach, if you don’t close the distance somehow so that you can counter, letting him extend will put you out of position (his leg is longer than mine so if I am out of his range then I cannot be in my range which requires a more committed rush to get back into my range).

Again, we worked out in a wide-open area so he had a lot of room to back up and keep me away. I got better the more we sparred and once I got in close he was very uncomfortable. I didn’t manhandle the guy, but I did improve my skills to the point where I can say in my own mind that I know what works and that getting it to work is the hard part. Simple solution, complicated execution, UNTIL it is trained enough that the mind and body are used to it, then it becomes simple again.

Just my opinion.

Dzu Nguyen is a practitioner of Robert Chu’s (Chu Sau-Lei) Wing Chun Kuen. He studies and lives in California.

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