Brown Sash 3

高级徒弟 水平三
Gāojí Túdì Shuǐpíng Sān
9th Grading – Advanced Disciple Grade 3

Upon graduation, the student will be awarded a

Brown Sash of the Third Degree

This is the final grading of the advanced level. Upon graduation, the student should be ready to take their training further and begin their training at the ultimate level. They will remain a 高级徒弟 Gaoji Todai (Advanced Disciple) until graduation of their Black Sash grading.

A great many new striking methodologies are incorporated into this grading, including gaining an understanding of what the 蛇 Shé (Snake) style, incorporating 蛇形手 Shé Xíng Shǒu (Snake Hand), means for effective and efficient force deployment in a modern context. Kicking now takes an even more athletic turn, with flying variants of jab kick, side kick and jabbing knee strike as examples of powerful methods encountered at this stage.

接手 Jip Sao (Receiving Hand), 圆格 Yuán Gé (Circular Block) and 捞格 Lāo Gé (Sweeping Block) all feature prominently at this stage. Given the nature of blocking, and the way in which we deploy it, a lot of time is spent during the three advanced practitioner’s gradings conditioning the forearms to take impact and deliver significant force.

Again, the curricula of 擒拿 Qínná (Biomechanical Manipulation) and 轻功 Qīnggōng (Agility and Mobility) both take significant steps forward, incorporating more core concepts in terms of biomechanical manipulation while also incorporating more demanding challenges in ground mobility and escape/evasion methodology. 片羽絞Kata-ha-jime (“Single Wing Choke” – Anaconda Choke) and  弓矢絞め Yumiya-jime (Bow and Arrow Choke) feature here, and students must be effective in counter-throwing against all of the advanced throws from our syllabus, making them a formidable opponent for those who would rely on throwing as a strategy against them.

In 器械 Qìxiè (Weapons Training), the student now moves away from the simpler weapons of short and long sticks and begins exploring flexible weapons in the form of the ubiquitous ヌンチャク Nunchaku. This affords them both a development of their existing skillset and an introduction to an entirely new methodology through a comprehensive unit of study in the use of this iconic weapon.

Sparring at this stage becomes much more in-depth and intense, typically taking the form of sparring all available partners in succession for bouts of varying length, sometimes with limitations attached, without rest between sparring partners, or from positions of disadvantage including against multiple assailants. Active adaptation, at this stage, should be bordering on instinctual. Sparring at this level is high-contact “free sparring”, which may transition from standing up to going to the ground and back again multiple times during a round.

The student at this stage should not only be competent with performing points from the syllabus, but should demonstrate an in-depth understanding of why and how techniques work, being able to articulate this accurately and clearly. If the student aspires to become 师父 Sifu, this forms some excellent early experience to that end. Their understanding of threat awareness, threat evaluation, threat avoidance, communicative strategies, force deployment, the force continuum, current UK law on self-protection and the use of force in self-defence and our Yielding/Blending Principle must be full, comprehensive and well-articulated.

The student at this level should demonstrate an excellent attitude to learning, seeking out new knowledge and understanding independently, discussing this with their Sifu and incorporating it into their practice. They should demonstrate a discerning approach to this by absorbing what is useful, adapting what can be improved upon and discarding what is unworthy in preference of more effective or beneficial practices. They should make links between existing skills, knowledge and understanding and what they learn from new sources, and by comparing and contrasting be able to discuss the similarities and differences between different approaches or methodologies they find in their independent learning and training.