The Pak / Da Drill

One of the basic drills in Wing Chun Kung Fu training is the "Pak / Da" Drill. This drill is taught in the beginning of a student's training and can be done at any stage of learning to develop your skill.

The drill is relatively simple in application, however like most drills does several things at once.

The drill is simply this: two students stand facing each other. One student places out a centerline punch (usually with the right hand) and the other student meets that punch with an outside pak sau (left hand.) The other student then punches right handed and the other student meets the punch with the free hand pak sau. Repeat ad nauseum. That's it. Or so the visual eye would think.

Here is what the drill is teaching:

Centerline. As I strike at my partner's centerline, sternum height for the drill's sake, he in turn must learn to protect it by meeting it with a pak sau from his centerline. This shows us the "shortest distance route" being a straight line.

Energy. Once I am pak sau'd, it is my job to feel and correct my partner by feeling where his energy is going. Is he "pushing" to the side? Down? Into my center or core? These are things that I must learn to pick up for sensitivity.

Balance. Am I punching out too far, causing me to lose balance? Is my stance rooting energy correctly back into the ground, supporting my balance? If I am pak sau'd into my center and I do not "turn off energy" and continue to muscle my punch, my partner will me able to jam my energy back into me and take my balance. Hence the effectiveness of forward energy being applicable to any movement and why we train the strike first and always.

Sensitivity. When do I know when to pak or punch? I have to feel it. If I place out a punch and my partner has his pak sau placed on my forearm, I must now wait and "feel" when he puts out his punch. This is one of the first training methods we use to learn the value of "sticking" and "leaving" our strikes out there, rather than snapping it like a jab and returning it to our core. If there is no contact, I will not be able to feel when he moves and will be left to using only a visual means of tracking a punch.

My Energy. In order to feel anything, I must learn to "turn off" my energy the second it meets resistance. Not just contact, but resistance. If in combat you put out a punch and you meet passive resistance, blow right through it. However, pak / da drill teaches you the to turn off your energy when you meet an incoming energy.

There are numerous other ideas that this simple drill is teaching us that we will develop over time the more we train it, footword, angling, jamming, switching into using the same hand to recover and then attack and more.

Drills can be at times more important than chi sau. Returning to the basics will is solidifying your foundation and returining to the idea of what Wing Chun is...ending the fight fast, effective and devastatingly.

Dominick Izzo
Izzo Training Systems
Wing Chun Self Defense for Chicago and the NW Suburbs

www.izzo-training.com