Chi Sao and BOEC Sparring Seminar – William Cheung

This video on Chi Sao and BOEC Sparring was filmed at one of Grandmaster Cheung’s New Jersey seminars. He covers controlling the elbow to control the blind-side of the opponent and how to apply this in multiple scenarios.

Resolution: 640 x 480

Running time: 36 minutes

BOEC (From William Cheung’s website)

The application of skills and combative tactics is an extension of the BOEC (Balance, Opening, Elbow, arms Crossed) principles of Traditional Wing Chun Kung Fu.

What exactly are the BOEC principles of Wing Chun Kung Fu that can be successfully employed in combat situations?

The BOEC principles first advocate not fighting the strengths of the opponent, but rather fighting the weaknesses. If there is a weakness in the opponent’s balance, that’s where you attack. If there is a weakness in an opening, attack there. control the opponent’s elbow if an opportunity arises, as that will create an advantage. Arms crossed will also provide an opening from which an operative can secure an advantage as well.

In utilising the BOEC fighting system, neither tremendous strength nor speed is required. BOEC relies on position as an advantage. This way the exponent will be able to use two arms, but the opponent will only have the use of one. This is known as controlling the blind side.

Controlling the opponent’s lead arm is called controlling the blind side. This allows one to stay at maximum distance from the opponent’s other arm. Therefore, one would only have to deal with one effective arm from the opponent at a time. fighting on the blind side provides a logical way for one to attack the opponent’s balance by controlling the elbow.

When attempting to control the blind side, be sure to make contact on the elbow or below the elbow, but not above the elbow – in that case, the arm is still free. Controlling the elbow will control the balance of the opponent. If you push or pull on the opponent’s elbow, his balance will be adversely affected.

This leads to trapping the opponent’s arms when the are crossed to effectively control his balance and create openings for pressure point strikes for instant disablement. As you can see, the BOEC principles are an ideal choice for dealing with close quarter combat situations that often occur in law enforcement.

Balance

When you attack the balance of your opponent, or put him off balance, he will be likely to offer openings, or targets.

Opening

While the exponent is standing on the blind side and attacking the openings, the opponent will be forced to protect the openings, leading him to commit to do the wrong thing (cross arms). Some people might stand with arm alongside, offering a lot of target areas, trying to set a trap. Choosing the target to hit is vital. The exponent should attack near the elbow, restricting the lead arm. If the elbow itself is exposed, it then becomes the target.