Yin & Yang and its relevance to Wing Chun

In Chinese philosophy Yin & Yang are two comlementary yet opposite forces which are manifest in all things. Yin may be understood as anything negative, passive, feminine, soft etc and Yang may be understood as anything positive, active, masculine, hard etc. The symbol for Yin & Yang is known as T'ai Chi (supreme ultimate) and represents the constant flow from one to the other.

The main difference between Western and Eastern philosophy is that in the West people view things as seperate and opposite. For instance light and dark are opposite. However in the East things are viewed differently. Everything is ultimately viewed as being a part of one whole which is referred to as Tao, which can be translated roughly as meaning Way, Essence, Path, Force etc. So the Chinese understand Yin and Yang being two complementary aspects of one whole. You cant have one without the other. For instance now it may be dark, but to understand darkness I must know what light is. So they are two different ways of describing the sky, which is one thing.

So basically something cannot be pure Yin or Yang, it always contains elements of both. Also it must be understood that Yin & Yang are not static, like everything in existence they are impermanant and cannot be understood intellectually, only felt. For instance if I ride my bike I cannot pedal on both pedals at once, I must push one and release one, so I am using both Yin & Yang together to move.

So, how is this relevant to Wing Chun. Well, we all know that you cannot overcome strength with strength. So in Wing Chun we must be soft and compliment the opponents movement, so he leads to his own destruction. A perfect example of this would be a Lap Sau & punch. As the opponent punches towards me I grab his arm and pull it towards me, while turning and punching, so I am not opposing his force, only gently guiding it past me, then returnin it to him with my fist. This way I am using his own force against him. Also Yin & Yang are evident in every movement we make. We have 2 types of energy in Wing Chun, Gung Lik (hard, forward energy) & Sun Lik (soft, withdrawing energy). These are opposites, but complementary. We should never purely use one or the other, only combine them together. For instance, Bong Sau is a soft technique, but it moves forward before collapsing, so it contains elements of both. As you progress through your training you will discover how Yin & Yang interplay in every movement made, at first through Chi Sau, then through forms.

The Secret Techniques of Biu Jee

Biu Jee is the final empty hand form taught in Wing Chun. Traditionally it was only taught to the most trusted students because the techniques taught at this level were so deadly that the master could not afford to have rival schools knowing about them. When the highest levels of Biu Jee are mastered the practitioner will have removed all his pressure points from his body and be able to kill an opponent with one touch.

BOLLOCKS. I hear all kinds of crap about what Biu Jee "actually" teaches, when in fact I believe all these people are doing is trying to make their school stand out to others. To the naive, inexperienced potential student, things like this are obviously going to attract them. Before I started I was nearly victim to these gimmicks. Fortunately I came across a good club, with an amazing Sifu who is so genuine that he doesnt need to use gimmicks to attract students.

So in a nutshell what does Biu Jee actually teach. Basically it is the last form, so at this level we should already be proficient. By now we should be able to apply the concepts and techniques to real situations and be able to react swiftly to an attack. However although we are competent we are by no means perfect, so we need an insurance policy. What do we do if we make a mistake? What happens if we are caught off guard? These are questions Biu Jee can answer for us. You may have noticed that in both Siu Lim Tao and Chun Kiu although we do begin to look at unfavourably situations, we are still using correct techniques, it is just that the mistake has arisen from not reacting fast enough to an attacker. But now Biu Jee teaches us what to do if our mistake is the result of a misake due to the opponent, for instance he may feint with his left and then hit with his right, but you have already begun to Bong the feint so by the time the actual punch gets close you are bonging with the wrong arm. Biu Jee also teaches us to regain our centreline when we have over committed.

Another thing Biu Jee does is help further develop energy. At Siu Lim Tao we learn how to build up energy, then release it. At Chum Kiu we learn how to coordinate the stance and arms to further release energy. Now at Biu Jee we learn how to focus the energy into our fingertips so that we can not only block, but strike with them. We also look at elbow strikes which are a technique only used in very close range (or the third gate, which i will discuss in another article). So we are now looking at focussing our energy into very specific parts of our body. This is because we have refined it so much through plenty of practise of basics and Siu Lim Tao.

So what does Biu jee mean anyway? Well it literally translates as "thrusting/darting fingers". This refers to the movement made many times during the form. Although I believe it has a deeper more philosophical meaning. Traditionally it was called the "Moon Pointing Finger" form. This refers to a Zen saying "it's like a finger pointing away to the moon, dont concentrate on the finger, or you will miss all that heavenly glory". I think that this means that Biu Jee shows us that no technique is perfect or unstoppable. No matter how good we are, we still can make mistakes. So we should not concentrate on the finger, which is Wing Chuns techniques, but we should focus on the moon, which is the goal of martial art whatever it may be for you. At the end of the day the important point is not whether Bong Sau should be solid or floppy, but that we should find peace of mind through the practising of martial art.

So the reason why Biu Jee is a secret form is because not all students attained the level to learn it, or maybe that the master did not want rival styles thinking that Wing Chun had weaknesses because they misinterpretted the fact that the weakness is the practitioner, not the style.

Siu Lim Tao

Siu Lim Tao is the first of the three empty hand forms in Wing Chun. It translates as "Little idea form". There are several interpretations as to what this means. One which I like is that everything in Wing Chun can be found in Siu Lim Tao, all the basic hand positions and theories, so if you are ever stuck on something Siu Lim Tao can give you a little idea. Another obvious meaning is that because Siu Lim Tao is the basic form, at that level of training you will only have a "little idea" of the system. Another is that it translates as "little idea head" or "to have little thought in the head". This states that Siu Lim Tao should be used as a form of meditation which leads me on to explaining the first section.

The first section was traditionally called "Three Prayers to Buddha". This is because you perform 3 Fook Saus on each side. This section should be done as slowly as possible (Yip Man used to spend up to an hour performing it), I recommend somewhere between 10-30 minutes. This section trains correct elbow positioning and builds up the correct energy. By performing it slowly not only are we builing up our Chi, which has many health benefits, we are also training the correct pathway very precisely so that it is fully ingrained into the neurological pathways of our brain so we can perform very fast movements later on. After a few months of practising Siu Lim Tao you should begin to feel a tingling feeling in the hands while performing it. Later on this will spread and you will feel a warm feeling in the pit of your stomach (this is the Dan Tien, where the bodies Chi is stored).

The second section trains you how to correctly release energy by only tensing at the end of a technique. You may have noticed that the end of the first section and the beginning of the second section all teach us emergency techniques, this is because at this level you wont have fast enough reactions to stop an attacker at the first gate. We start with an inside Pak Sau and palm with same hand. Then we take it one step further imagining the opponent has got even closer and attempts to apply an arm lock on us, so we use the side Gum Sau. Again we take it even further imagining the opponent has got hold of us from behind so we must use a groin strike. After this we go on to learn the basic blocks performed with both hands to save time. These can be used in any order against any number of punches, but it is advisable to counter as soon as possible.

Section 3 teaches us how to put together basic blocks and counters. We start with Pak Sau and a palm. The application of this would be to turn with the Pak and then lap and palm. Then we do Tan Sau, low Garn Sau, scooping Tan Sau, Huen Sau, low palm. This shows us that with one turn we can block multiple attacks and that we can strike low. We then do Bong Sau, Tan Sau, palm. This shows us that it is more advisable to turn with each block and then to counter. We finish by learning how to get out of an arm pin and then oerform 3 punches.

This is only a basic analysis of Siu Lim Tao and these are only some basic applications, we could spend years pulling the form apart coming up with different explanations for each movement.

The History of Wing Chun, written by Grandmaster Yip Man

This text was written by Yip Man prior to starting the Wing Chun Fellowship, which he renamed the Wing Chun Athletic Association, which still runs in Hong Kong today.

The founder of the Wing Chun Kung Fu system, Miss Yim Wing Chun was a native of Canton China. As a young girl she was intelligent and athletic, upstanding and manly. She was netrothed to Leung Bok Chao, a salt merchant from Fujien. Soon after that her mother died. Her father, Yim Yee, was wrongfully accused of a crime, and nearly went to jail. So the family moved far away, and finally settled down at the foot of Tai Leung mountain at the Yunnan-Szechuan border. All this happened during the reign of Emperor K'ang-Hsi (1662-1722).

At the time Kung Fu was becoming very strong at the Siu Lam (Shaolin) monastery or Mount Sung, Henan. This aroused the fear of the Manchu government, which sent troops to attack the monastery. They were unsuccessful. A man called Chan Wan Wai was the first placed graduate of the Civil Service examination that year. He was seeking favour with the government, and suggested a plan. He plotted with Siu Lam monk Ma Ning Yee and others.They set fire to the monastery while soldiers attacke from the outside. Siu Lam was burnt down, and the monks scattered. Buddhist Abbess Ng Mui, Abbot Chi Sim, Abbot Pak Mei, Master Fung To Tak and Master Mui Hin escaped and fled their seperate ways.

Ng Mui took refuge in White Crane Temple on Mount Tai Leung. There she came to know Yim Yee and his daughter Yim Wing Chun. She bought bean curds at their store. They became friends.

Wing Chun was a young woman then, and her beauty attracted the attention of a local bully. He tried to force Wing Chun to marry him. She and her father were very worried. Ng Mui learned of this and took pity on Wing Chun. She agreed to teach Wing Chun fighting techniques so that she could protect herself. Then she would be able to solve the problem with the bully, and marry Leung Bok Chau, her betrothed husband. So Wing Chun followed Ng Mui into the mountains, and started to learn Kung Fu. She trained night and day and mastered the techniques. Then she challenged the local bully to a fight and beat him. Ng Mui set off to travel around the country, but before she left, she told Wing Chun to strictly honour the Kung Fu traditions, to develop her Kung Fu after her marriage, and to help the people working to overthrow the Manchu govenrment and restore the Ming Dynasty. This is how Wing Chun was handed down by Abbess Ng Mui.

After the marriage, Wing Chun taught her Kung Fu to her husband Leung Bok Chau, and he passed his Kung Fu techniques on to Leung Lan Kwai. Leung Lan Kwai passed it on to Wong Wah Bo. Wong Wah Bo was a member of an opera troupe on board a junk, known to the Chinese as the Red Junk. Wong worked on the Red Junk with Leung Yee Tai. It so happened that Abbot Chi Sim, who fled from Siu Lam, had disguised himself as a cook and was now working on the Red Junk. Chi Sim taught the 6 & 1/2 point long pole techniques to Leung Yee Tai. Wong Wah Bo was close to Leung Yee Tai and they shared what they knew about Kung Fu. Together they correlated and improved their techniques, and thus the 6 & 1/2 point long pole techniques were incorporated into Wing Chun Kung Fu.

Leung Yee Tai passed the Kung Fu onto Leung Jan, a well known herbal doctor from Foshan. Leung Jan grasped the innermost secrets of Wing Chun, and attained the highest level of proficiency. Many Kung Fu masters cam to challenge him, but all were defeated. Leung Jan became very famous. Later, he passed his Kung Fu onto Chan Wah Shun, who took me as his student many decades ago. I studied Kung Fu alongside my Kung Fu Brothers such as Ng Siu Lo, Ng Chung So, Chan Yu Min and Lui Yu Jai. Wing Chun was thus passed down to us, and we are eternally grateful to our Kung Fu ancestors and teachers. We will always remember and appreciate our roots , and this shared feeling will always keep our Kung Fu brothers close together. This is why I am organising the Wing Chun Fellowship, and I hope my Kung Fu brothers will support me in this. This will be very important in the promotion of Kung Fu.

Chi Sau (Sticky Hands)

Many people misunderstand the purpose of Chi Sau. Chi Sau is not sparring or even fighting at all. It is a game in which two people are training their sensitivity to their partners force, and so their speed of reaction. Their are NO winners or losers in Chi Sau and so it should not be a competiton and not involve contact as it is important to relax (this is very hard when people are beating the hell out of you). If you start doing contact Chi Sau you will miss the point of it as to react quickly you need to relax.
You may have heard Bruce Lee say to be like water, in Chi Sau this is exactly how we should be. Water is so soft you cannot grab hold of it, but it can still penetrate rock or anything. Water does not resist any force, instead it works around it, offering no resistance and when their is a hole it explodes through with immense force.

Why We Dont Weightlift in Wing Chun

The majority of the more commercialised martial arts rely on strength & brute force to overpower an opponent. However the disadvantage of this is that when strength and strength meet, the stronger always wins. Strength also is dependant on size, muscular build, weight etc.

Lifting weights develops and builds strength. So why then is this a disadvantage if surely it is still good to have? It is because Wing Chun does not rely on large muscles, on the contrary, large muscles in fact inhibit speed, a vital component in power. When most people show off the size of their biceps they think that people will fear them because they will have a hard punch. In fact this is totally wrong, the bicep contracts and when you punch you extend your arm, so you are actually using your tricep. When you lift heavy objects slowly you are training the muscle to be able to move slowly with a lot of tension, which is good for lifting heavy objects. So to train the muscle correctly for Wing Chun the best thing you can do is to practise the forms (especially Siu Lim Tao), the Dummy and of course the weapons.

Another misconception is that someone who is heavier will have a harder punch. This is partly true, but only if they know how to correctly use their body weight. If we analyse the formula F=MA (force=mass X acceleration) we see that to create a large force we need to combine mass with acceleration. So when an untrained fighter who weighs say 90 kilos takes a drunken swing, they will more than likely use only the force of their arm and so only a small portion of their body weight. However a small, skinny fighter who can punch properly will know how to use their body weight and speed correctly and so will be able to generate more force. Also if you are using your opponents force against them (for instance by using a Lap Sau to pull them into your fist) you are using all your force and all theirs and this is basically how the little old men in kung fu films defeat people much bigger and younger than themselves.

Centreline

Chung Sum Seen
The Chung Sum Seen (central heart line) is a vertical line that runs down the centre of the body. The Chung Sum Seen is the line you should defend as it is the opponents most likely target. Many lethal striking points are located down the Chung Sum Seen such as eyes, nose, throat, solar plexus & groin. Also by making our Chung Sum Seen face the opponent In Siu Lim Tao we never turn or move the body, so that full understanding of centreline is understood. Marking centre & section 1 shows us where our Chung Sum Seen is. In Chi Sau we should strive to constantly protect our Chung Sum Seen by keeping our elbows in on our Fook Sau & keeping the elbows on the correct pathway with Tan & Bong Sau.

Jik Seen
Jik Seen means straight line/pivot. This is a vertical line which goes through the core of our body. So whenever an opponent attacks us they are aiming at our Jik Seen. The opponents Jik Seen is the best place to strike them as because it is the bodies core it cannot diserse force, whereas if the shoulder for example is struck the body can turn to move with the blow, therefore lessening impact. In Yee Jee Kim Yuen Mar the Jik Seen from the front is lined up with the Chung Sum Seen, however in Chuen Mar it moves to either side, & out of the way of an attack.

Say Mm Seen
Say Mm Seen means 4-5 line literally 45* line. This is a horizontal line which connects you to your opponent. The best way to attack is directly along the Say Mm Seen, so it is vital you guard it. The advantage of having a frontal stance is that while your Chung Sum Seen is lined up with the the Say Mm Seen it may seem that this is bad, but actually it is advantageous because you can defend to 45* either side of the Say Mm Seen & then strike at the same time along it at the same time.