Source:

01-16-2009 12:57

Application training refers to the training of putting the martial techniques to use. Chinese martial arts usually contain a large arsenal of techniques and make use of the whole body; efficiency and effectiveness is what the techniques are based on.

 When and how applications are taught varies from style to style; in the early stages of a student's training, most styles focus on drills in which each student knows what range of combat is being practiced and what attack to expect. Gradually, fewer and fewer rules are applied, and the students learn how to react and utilize technique.

 'Sparring' refers to the major aspect of application training, which simulates a combat situation but usually includes rules and regulations to reduce the chance of serious injury to the students.

The subject of application training is a controversial one, and is the subject of a raging debate between the Neo-Traditional Martial Artists and Sports and traditional martial artists. In the neo-traditionalist view, martial arts training should eventually lead to and be proven by actual combat as well as being governed by a moral philosophy; neo-traditionalists often believe sparring to test techniques is either irrelevant because of their disbelief in the validity of a regulated test setting, or because the system's techniques are supposedly too dangerous to use outside of a real combat situation.

In contrast, the sport-competition and traditionalist view suggests that all of the techniques in Chinese Martial Arts should be repeatedly time-tested through sparring to insure their effectiveness.[50]

An example of this approach in the Chinese Martial Arts is the tradition of Lei tai (擂臺/擂臺, raised platform fighting) and Sanda (散打) or sǎnshǒu (散手).[51] Lèitái represents public challenge matches that first appeared in the Song Dynasty. The objective for those contests was to knock the opponent from a raised platform by any means necessary.

San Shou and Sanda represents the modern development of Lei Tai contests, but with rules in place to reduce the chance of serious injury. Many Chinese martial arts schools teach or work within the rulesets of San Shou and Sanda, working to incorporate the movements, characteristics, and theory of their style.

 

Editor:Yang Jie