Motor Skills

Fine Motor Skills vs Gross Motor Skills

A few weeks ago, on 21.08.2024, Sifu mentioned gross motor skills and fine motor skills.

I love education and learning, but this is something I had exactly zero idea about.

So, here goes:

– Fine motor skills are intricate hand, finger, or wrist movements, like the ones we make while writing or creating art. I think hand-eye coordination falls under the same category.

– Gross motor skills are broader actions done by larger muscle groups, like the ones we make while running, kicking, or doing balance and strength activities.

So how does all that translate to Wing Chun and Eskrima?

Let’s say we learn a drill that involves many consecutive moves, e.g. a Chi Sao followed by a grabbing of both hands from Bong Sao while turning and stepping forward (I don’t know the name of that move yet), being defended by a low Bong Sao with Tan Sao, and then doing Lan Sao and stepping with the other foot forward and then strike to be defended with Jat Sao.

What we do is concentrate on the last move of the drill, the newest one we learn. The previous ones, the ones we learned just moments ago, become automated, even if we’re very far from mastering them.

I’m not in a position to explain why this happens, it’s just humans being humans.

By the way, a Lan Sao should be shoulder high. Not higher.

Now, what we should aim for is a combined motor skill, but I find that Wing Chun concentrates a lot on using fine motor skills to fight more effectively. It’s a close-combat martial art, so this approach makes perfect sense in my head. I’ve never practiced any martial arts besides Wing Chun and Eskrima, though, but this is my impression. A humble beginner’s impression.

The way I see it, when push comes to shove, it’s our fine motor skills that we tend to lose, not our gross motor skills.

So it’s important to practice those fine motor skills as much as we practice the gross motor skills, if not more.

Lesson of the day: ask SiFu more about these two different motor skills and if my assumption is correct. If you don’t ask, the answer’s always no.