Every Easter weekend there is traditionally a major EWTO instructor seminar which is attended by future instructors and assistant instructors from all over Germany and neighbouring countries. For me this is always a good opportunity to emphasise how important a correct understanding of the purpose of sensitivity training like our ChiSao is. If the student misunderstands the purpose of practicing ChiSao, he will perhaps never or only slowly attain the actual goal of the exercise. Many students take the view that the so-called "forward pressure" is what is important in ChiSao, and exert far too much arm pressure on the arms of their training partner. They misunderstand the purpose of the exercise, and seem to see it as some form of power training, competition or even fighting application. With this attitude and corresponding way of training they will almost certainly fail to reach the actual goal: sensitive feeling and perception with the help of the tactile sense.

In the manuscript for Grandmaster Kernspecht's new book "Essence of WingTsun" I read an amazing and also revealing anecdote about Professor Tiwald, who has recognised and analysed the principles of our WT like no other non-WT observer.

Grandmaster had sent Professor Horst Tiwald a short training video with the request that he analyse SiFu's movements. After a very short time SiFu received an amazingly detailed scientific description of what he was doing in this video. And not only that, for Prof. Tiwald even explained the footwork of GM Kernspecht just as precisely and accurately, although only his upper body could be seen in the video! How is that possible?

Grandmaster Kernspecht comments as follows:

„[…] How could Horst Tiwald recognise my movements in the video so quickly? 

He mentally transposed my movements in the videos to his own body, and wrote down what he saw. He directed the "spotlight" of his attentiveness to the interface with the outside world, where in an "antenna-like state" he perceived the "actuations" or "arguments" of his environment, i.e. the opponent, while always keeping the "purpose" in mind.
Tiwald went with me to the point of "touch" or contact, and followed what happened from there to his own body, or from his centre to the interface and beyond.
Tiwald's thing is not isolated, self-reflecting self-awareness, but rather perception of the outside world that includes self-perception.[…]“

The language used by Prof. Tiwald is admittedly not easy to understand at first, but he describes the aim we seek to achieve with our sensitivity training absolutely accurately.

We want to develop our awareness and attentiveness to the level where we are ideally able to combine with the opponent and become one with him. His movement thus becomes our movement, and genuine "simultaneity" becomes possible. We are then free to respond to his movements in any way. Just as if we were answering the movements of our own right arm with our left arm.

The precondition for reaching this goal is the attitude that Tiwald describes as an "antenna-like state". We want to "feel" with our arms, not "push". Our tactile sense is used "questioningly", not "assertively". Only in this way is it possible to transform "self-reflecting self-awareness" into "world awareness". In the case of ChiSao training, this world is the action of the training partner. Really recognising it means making it part of you.

I can only keep recommending to WT students that they embark on the adventure that is attentiveness. The results are amazing.

Your SiFu/SiGung
Keith R. Kernspecht