Should our form be picture-perfect, even in sparring or fighting? Of course. We have found from direct experience that the less perfect our form is, the more disadvantageous we become in both our defence and attack. Eventually, when we discard our kungfu form, we would be sparring instinctively, which is sparring without any art. When we spar instinctively but try to minimize disadvantages and maximize advantages we find ourselves sparring like what Boxers do.

Pressing onto a Boxer to prevent him from moving forward, and simultaneously striking him is a good tactic. But a good Boxer may bounce away to avoid the press, and then bounce back to attack you. Anticipating this response, you can plan an effective counter-tactic against him. As soon as he bounces away, you follow closely to bridge whatever gap he wishes to create for his escape, still covering his hand and striking him. This tactic, or technique, is called the “chase”.

The various steps of chase become fluid, fast and spontaneous only after systematic training. You should practice the movements on your own, testing them out with sparring partners only after you have become quite proficient. Initially, go over the movements slowly and correctly, but with continued practice your movements will be fast and spontaneous. The movements shown in the video clips below are examples. While there are definite principles and guidelines, there are no fixed movements in the chase, it follows the spacing and direction of the opponent's retreat.

In real fighting a Boxer does not throw only one jab and freeze for you to counter. But when you can successfully counter a left jab, or a right punch, and understand its underlying principles, you can progress to counter many left jabs and right punches. This video series shows these and other methods to counter the attacks of a Boxer, including how to respond correctly and spontaneously to his unexpected attacks.

“Know yourself, know your enemy, and you will win every battle” advised Sun Tzu, the great strategist, in his Art of War. If you know how a Boxer typically fights, and devise appropriate tactics to fight him accordingly, you will have a good chance of beating him. Typically a Boxer throws leading jabs with his left hand, and follows up with a powerful cross-strike with his right hand. A good tactic is to brush away his jabs and close him so that it is difficult for him to throw further jabs or crosses. Then you strike him to clinch victory.

Stances give Shaolin Kungfu practitioners many advantages over Boxers. The Box-Arrow Stance is very useful when fighting against Boxers. When you extend your hands while sitting at a Bow-Arrow Stance, for example, it is difficult for a Boxer to move in to attack you. By sinking the Bow-Arrow Stance backward, you can avoid a Boxer's attacks without having to move your legs. Then you can shift your body forward again to strike him. This gives you superior technical speed. A step in a Bow-Arrow Stance covers about the same space a Boxer makes in two steps of bouncing. This again gives a Shaolin practitioner technical speed.

Today irrespective of what martial arts your opponents practice, they are likely to fight like Boxers, and sometimes as Kick-Boxers. Hence, if you wish to be combat efficient, you must be able to handle a Boxer competently. Then you progress to handling a Kick-Boxer. Handling a Boxer is actually quite simple — if you know how. But besides knowing the techniques, you must also develop the necessary combat skills. The video series here provides some excellent training material. You can also competently handle a Boxer who may be fast, bigger in size and has longer reach than you.

A favorite tactic of a Boxer is to throw some light left jabs, then follows with a solid right cross. This is code-named “left-left-right” or “1-1-2”. Sometimes it may just be “left-right” or “1-2”. An effective counter tactic is to brush away his left attacks, move in to “tame” his both hands, and strike him. If he moves back, close up with one-step, two-step or multiple-step chase, continuing to strike him with Black Tigers or Golden Leopards.

Besides kicking a Boxer as soon as he uses his right hand, you can also kick him when he uses his left. For convenience, this tactic is called “kick when left”. There are also other tactics to handle a Boxer. The class goes over the numerous other tactics learnt and practiced in previous lessons, such as closing or opening the Boxer and simultaneously striking him.

Undercuts, known as “thong thien pau” or “Cannons to the Sky”, are formidable attacks. Many people are at a loss as how to deal with such attacks as they can be very powerful. Actually they can be countered quite easily — if you know how. Firstly, don't block an undercut or a “Cannon to the Sky”. Doing so may break your wrist or arm, or at best places you in an unfavorable position.

A good counter is to sink back to avoid the undercut, then move forward to fell the opponent. The video clips in this series will show you how.

Having learnt the counters against Boxers, we progress to counters against Kick-Boxers and Muay Thai fighters. The Muay Thai knee strike is formidable, feared by many martial artists. Such knee attacks are found in Shaolin Kungfu, such as in “Golden Cockerel Stands Solitarily”. In fact knee strikes in Shaolin Kungfu are more refined because we have to take care of our own safety while applying the strikes, whereas Muay Thai fighters normally pay little attention to such precaution as they are protected by safety rules.

Why many kungfu practitioners as well as many other martial artists are unable to defend against ferocious Muay Thai attacks? The main reason is that they do not know the counter techniques. Many kungfu practitioners only practice forms but not combat application. Many other martial artists may practice free sparring but they mostly punch and kick widely. Of course, skills are very important. But first of all they need the techniques upon which to build their skills. This video series show some useful techniques against Muay Thai fighters and Kick-Boxers.

Technically, it is not difficult to defend against or counter attacks of Muay Thai fighters or Kick-Boxers. They, why do many kungfu practitioners become helpless when faced with such attacks? The straight-forward answer is that they do not know any self-defence — regardless of whether the attacks come from Muay Thai fighters, any other martial artists or even any untrained persons! But we must not forget that merely knowing the tactics and techniques is insufficient. You must also have the necessary skills, like force, speed and stamina.

Many people move back when an opponent attacks. This is a big mistake. You should stand at your stance, and move in to counter-attack when appropriate. Make good use of your stances. You can avoid his kicks as well as hand strikes by shifting your body backward without moving your feet. If he kicks, strike his kicking legs. If he strikes, cover his hands and move in to counter-attack. These tactics and techniques are actually at the beginning level of our sparring methodology. But if you use them skillfully, they can be very effective for combat.

An effective counter against kicks is to throw the attacker onto the ground. Such throws are often decisive as it may break the opponent's skull, spine or limbs. Many martial artists, including some masters, throw their opponents without adequate coverage for their own safety! This unbelievable negligence is due to the fact that the martial arts they practice are actually sports where safety rules forbidding attacks on vital and deadly points. Genuine, traditional kungfu is trained as a fighting art. Hence, ensuring safety before making an attack is of paramount importance.

Without safety rules, applying the shoot is suicidal. The attacker exposes his head dangerously for us to strike. If we fail to strike him, it is not because the counter is ineffectual, but because we lack the skill to make it work. But even if we fail to strike and the attacker has grabbed our waist or legs, we also have many techniques to counter the attack. Some of these counters may result in breaking the attacker's neck or back, or causing serious injury to his head. Even if we fail this, and is being pushed onto the ground, se still have counters against the shoot.