The structure of Wing Chun Kung Fu is so scrupulous and precise that it fits into the logic of science. Viewing from any angle, I consider that Wing Chun is really a masterpiece in Martial Arts. In fact, Wing Chun, which is so well organized, together with its nicely designed structure, has reached the acme of perfection. Starting from the basic training to the highest level, one will learn and discover more and more gradually if he can analyze and practice persistently. As time goes by, one will find that practicing Wing Chun is very interesting. I have practiced Wing Chun for over Forty years and I still have a lot of fun in it. It is really one of the greatest enjoyment in my life.
The characteristic of Wing Chun in relation to its structure and formation is that every one of the three forms has its own thought and theory. The different functions of the three forms will merge forming a perfect way in attack and defence. Together with the practice of the Wooden Dummy, it is considered that Wing Chun, being so perfect, has no need for improvement. If one wishes to achieve to the higher level, there is no short cut and all they can do is to carry on thinking and practicing. In this lecture, I shall concentrate on demonstration and analysis of the theory. I shall expose the profoundness of Wing Chun in my own interpretation hoping that the precise can be shared with the practitioner of Wing Chun. I also expect that the Practitioner will enjoy their training. The following is my analysis on the theory of structure, and on the main functions of “Sui Nim Tau”, Chum Kiu”, “Bill Gee” and “Wooden Dummy”.
Siu Nim Tau (Analysis and Demonstration for Correct Movement)
(1) The reason of why the practice of Siu Nim Tau can generate the “ Force of Idea” so as to enable every move in relaxing state to create energetic power.
Siu Nim Tau drives its name from “Idea” (sense from the Brain). This implies that the training relies mainly on idea. Accordingly, the creation of driving power from any moves is a result of the idea. If one practice correctly and persistently, and he can concentrate his mind during the training, he is able to feel that his whole body is filled with the “Force of Idea” after a period of training . At this moment, the limbs of the body can effectively tolerate any external force applied to them. However, it is hard to define the correct approach of the training because it varies with different persons. For this reason, it is necessary for a learner to be supervised by a senior instructor. In order to be successful, one must be able to relax the muscle of the whole body, to infuse the spirit into the spine so that it is maintained straight, to contract the anus, and to concentrate the mind during the training (it is not easy to tell if the learner is correct by just looking at the figure). When one is getting towards successful, they begin to feel the existence of “Force of Idea”. If they have great belief that they possess the “Force of Idea” and have really given up the exerting of force in their moves, they have achieved the state of complete relaxation.
(2) The advantage of “Two Adduction Stance” ( Yee Chi Kim Yeung Ma) and its functions:
The “Two Adduction Stance” is the stance which is only seen in Wing Chun King Fu. On The face of it, one may feel that such a stance is unstable and difficult to move around. It is also thought that the lower part of such a stance is wide open for attack. However, if you look at it more carefully, you will find that the “Two Adduction Stance” consist of plenty of advantages including the invincible attack and effective defence. It will also enable you to suck in the opponent’s force for your own use when coming in contact with the opponent. This means that your own body weight will increase whilst the body weight of the opponent will decrease this special effect of increasing in body weight will therefore give you an enormous power in counter-attack.
On the other hand, the structural performance of the “Two Adduction Stance” completely fits into the logic of force. It can gather up the strength of the whole body onto a point of attack. In other words, whether you punch or kick, the attack will contain the strength of the whole body. It may take pages for me to explain how this is happening in black and white. I therefore decide to talk about the theory and structure of how to gather up the strength of the whole body during my demonstration.
(3) The structure and theory of Tan Sau, Bong Sau and Fook Sau, and the reasons why they can be used effectively without wasting much energy:
In analyzing the shape of Tan Sau, Bong Sau and Fook Sau, one will see that the way they turn away the opponent’s force and the way they compress the opponent during the attack actually come from the idea of an arch. If the movement of Tan Sau, Bong Sau of Fook Sau is carried out consecutively without stopping, it will take up the form of a running sphere. From the running sphere, it is not hard to understand that such an action can turn away strongly applied force easily. In the meantime, it also contains magnificent force of compression. The heavier the sphere, the effect of such an action is greater. Hence, if we can reach the level in such a way that we can control our mind to fix the angle of our arms, and to move the arms in circular motion, we can then generate enormous power provide that the muscles are relaxed.
(4) The primary function of Siu Nim Tau is to use the mind to control the moves so that they can form the steady structure of an arch. It is also with this control over the mind that the straight attacks can be launched with the strength of the whole body centering at the point of attack.
Chum Kiu (Analysis and Demonstration for Correct Movement)
(1) The reason of generating enormous driving power.:
An object with a weight, whether it is left on the floor or suspended, can generate energy as long as it is moving or rotating. The heavier the object is, the greater the energy is generated. Similarly, the faster the object is also generated. Hence, the body weight together with its forwarding and rotating movement forms the source of driving force in Chum Kiu.
(2) The function achieved when the moves of Siu Nim Tau are incorporated with Chum Kiu:
The structure of Siu Nim Tau, which has no initiation for attack but just helps to create the “Force of Idea” to increase the stability of the body framework, is mainly used to withstand pressure of force. Consequently, in order to attack the opponent with the greatest power, it is necessary to adopt the steps of Chum Kiu and its turning or spinning movement to achieve the maximum effect in attack and defence.
(3) The practical value and the theory regarding the structure of the two-way force:
The forwarding step and turning stance of Chum Kiu together with the moves of Siu Nim Tau, if maneuvering at the same time, can create driving forces of at least two directions. For this reason, it is called the two-way force. The main function of the two-way force is to off–balance the opponent. When the opponent is toppling over, they are unable to maintain the move or force in the way they intend to. At this critical moment, the opponent can be defeated easily.
Chum Kiu means literally the method to search and touch the wrist of the opponent. It is the Two-way force of Chum Kiu making the opponent topple over. When the opponent’s organization in defence and attack is destroyed, the chance of winning is enhanced. Every move of Chum Kiu contains the two-way force. As a result of this two-way force, the opponent, once in contact, cannot stand firmly thus exposing the weak points for attack.
The reason of why the two-way force is difficult to be dealt with is very simple. Supposing two forces, one at the front and one from the side, are coming towards you while you are unable to escape but to take them up directly, you will find that it is very difficult to withstand the strike of those forces because the two-way force comprises irregular forces of more than two different directions.
(4) The relationship between the turning stance and the theory of force:
The turning stance of Chum Kiu is to utilize the rotation of the body to generate the driving force as well as to turn away the force applied by the opponent. Anything which is to generate power by way of rotation must have an axle situated at the centre of rotation so that it can be rotated steadily without falling over. Hence, the best effect of rotation can be achieved. The practice of Chum Kiu is to find out the centre of gravity of the moves so as to obtain the best result of the rotation.
On the other hand, rotation comprises a structure which can release huge amounts of energy whilst wasting the least energy. Furthermore, this kind of moving structure is most lasting when in motion. In our daily life, it is found that most of the powerful tools, which produce efficient speed, are actually applying the theory of circular motion. This proves that the theory of Chum Kiu is founded in accordance with the principle of science.
Therefore, the basic idea of Chum Kiu is to utilize the forward and backward movement, and speedy rotation of the body to provide the driving force as well as force of attraction.
Bill Gee (Analysis and Demonstration for Correct Movement)
(1) How to achieve the state of “striking out a fully concentrated force with a finger-tip” and also “directing at will any external force to the centre of a vortex”:
In practicing Bill Gee, one must pay special attention to the joints of the arms. In this connection, the state of tenderness of the elbow joints and shoulder joints should be controlled by the mind. As a result, one must deliver the centrifugal force derived from rotation of the body into the whole length of the arms. Together with the appropriate movement of the forearm into the correct position, one can then transmit the power generated from rotation of the body to the palm and fingers. The above description is termed as “ striking out a fully concentrated force with a finger-tip” ( Bill Gee), and accounts for why it is called Bill Gee.
“Directing at will any external force to the centre of a vortex” is also to utilize the rotation of the body, coping with the natural stretch of the elbow joints, to form the effect of a whirlpool. The net effect of the above action will then direct the external force into the centre of the vortex.
(2) The principal function of having a lot of elbow moves in Bill Gee:
In the three sets of Wing Chun Kung Fu forms, the moves which are repeated many times in a form must be the significant component of that form. In Bill Gee, the elbow moves are repeated many times because they are important in the sense that the practice of them may enable the person, who is familiar with Chum Kiu’s rotation on the horizontal plane with an axle, to rotate three- dimensionally like a sphere having the centre of rotation at the centre point of the body. As both elbows are rotated on a slant and once getting used to it, one can, at discretion, rotate the elbows to any direction at any angle. If you have achieved this level, you can always demonstrate the attacking way of striking out a fully concentrated force with a finger-tip and the whirling way of “directing at will any external force to the centre of a vortex” to the best effect whenever you wrists are in contact with the wrists of the opponent.
(3) The fundamental basis as a means of attacking skills of the Wing Chun Martial Art:
Obviously, all practitioners of Wing Chun will agree that Bill Gee is the most powerful form among the three with regard to attacking skills. There is also a rumour that Bill Gee will not be taught to a person who is not a member of the Wing Chun Martial art (i.e. the practitioners who are not up to the standard to learn Bill Gee are not really regarded as members of the Wing Chun Martial Art). And this thus increases the mystery of Bill Gee.
Of the three sets of Wing Chum forms Bill Gee is, indeed, the most powerful one. Every move of Bill Gee consists of the functions of both defence and attack with tremendous power of destruction. Hence, Bill Gee contains the highest level of skill in Wing Chun.
In any kind of sport, there are advantages and disadvantages. For example getting hurt is one of the disadvantages. There is also no exception for Bill Gee. In order to have the best effect of Bill Gee, one must move about at high speed. If his basic skill derived from Siu Nim Tau and Chum Kiu is not good enough, it is very easy for him to make mistakes or get hurt when he tries to use Bill Gee in fighting. This is why the junior learners of Wing Chun will not be taught Bill Gee.
Looking at another way, supposing a cylinder, whose size and weight is similar to that of a person, is equipped with two hand-shaped wooden sticks on both sides. If the cylinder is rotated at the suitable angle with high speed right at the centre of the cylinder, the two sticks can generate tremendous power of destruction when in contact with something. On the other hand, if the rotation is not carried out properly, the two protruding sticks will become a burden and enhance the damage to the cylinder.
For the same reason, if a person who has not yet grasped the maneuvering skill in exerting force from the practice of Siu Nim Tau and Chum Kiu and tries to use Bill Gee to attack the opponent, the joints of the arms are most vulnerable for damage because their two arms can easily become the useful tools usable by the opponent.
The main idea of Bill Gee is to transmit the power, which is generated from rotation, to the palms and fingers. It is also intended to use the attraction force, originated from the whirl during rotation, together with the appropriate movement of the arms and legs to achieve the state of “directing at will any external force to the centre of a vortex”.
WOODEN DUMMY (Analysis and Demonstration for Correct Movement)
(1) The attacking theory of the Wooden Dummy:
The principal theory of the Wooden Dummy is to combine together the essential elements of the three forms of Wing Chun (i.e. the idea, moves and structure from Sui Nim Tau, the turning stance and foot works from Chum Kiu, as well as the “striking out a fully concentrated force with a finger-tip” and “directing at will any external force to the centre of a vortex” from Bill Gee). Then attack the Wooden Dummy as if it was the opponent.
In practicing the Wooden Dummy, any one move is to contain the exertion of force at different directions. The training is to attack the dummy with the body weight as a driving force in conjunction with the attraction force derived from the rotation of the body. This kind of attack is therefore indefensible.
The theory of Wing Chun is to confront the opponent face to face when in direct contact. The same principle applies to training of Wooden Dummy. The practice is to use the right hand to block the left stick or the left hand to block the right stick of dummy. The use of right Bong Sau to confront the right stick or the use of left bon Sau to confront the left stick of the dummy is termed as “Bong Sau used inappropriately”. This indicates that there is something wrong to use the left hand to block the opponent’s left hand or the right hand to block the opponent’s right hand. In the whole process of the Wooden Dummy, there are only two or three so called “ inappropriate Bong Sau”, and this proves that using the inappropriate Bong Sau to confront the opponent is not recommended.
Practicing the Wooden Dummy is actually the training for fighting. It is assumed that every move is an attack to the opponent. A series of attacks during the practice is just the presumption on how your opponent will react after your first attack. In real fighting., it is of course impossible to follow the whole process step by step because the adoption of which moves requires a very rapid response and depends very much on what the situation is.
In order to achieve the best effect of the Wooden Dummy, one needs to be very skillful. Usually, a learner is particularly interested in practicing the Wooden Dummy because the sound of hitting the dummy is vey loud and this gives them satisfaction. It is because of this satisfaction, they feels that they have already mastered the technique of it. Gradually, they will concentrate on producing the loud sound. They then forget the correct way of the hands and feet movement in the training. Once they get used to it, they may find it hard to have it rectified.
The technique of the Wooden Dummy is to stress the use of both hands: one for attack and one for defence. As both hands apply the Two-Way force at the same time, there will be various forces applying to different directions from both hands. The result of this is like the formation of two spheres rotating at different angles towards the opponent and this kind of attack is almost indefensible. When a learner has achieved this level, they will naturally fell the kind of power derived from his attack. In addition, they will also possess the advantage of having the sensitive response that they will react simultaneously without thinking once their hands are in contact with the opponent. This kind of prompt response without getting the signal from the brain is the natural characteristic of muscle.
Thus, if one works very hard persistently but incorrectly, their muscle will accustom to this incorrect movement. In a situation where a natural response is required, the muscle will automatically repeat such incorrect movement. At this point of time, it will be difficult for them to have the incorrect movement rectified.
(2) The technique in the use of hand moves in conjunction with the foot stance:
The importance of the foot stance stance is to enable the body weight concentrating on both hands. Then, attack the Wooden Dummy at the best position and angle so that the dummy will take up all the force applied to it. Hence, the foot stance becomes a very important part in practicing the Wooden Dummy for attack and defence.
In order to attain the best effect, one must pay particular attention to the correctness of the foot stance, because it is only with the correct foot stance that the whole of the body weight can be carried to the point of attack.
CONCLUSION (Analysis and Demonstration for Correct Movement)
To account for why the practice of Wing Chun Martial Art can be free of strength, and the relationship between the forms and the Wooden Dummy.
The use and practice of Wing Chun Martial Art is free of any strength even in confrontation with the opponent. However, when I discuss this theory with some elders of great experience in Martial Arts, I have been told off by them. They reckon that it may be able to do so when practicing on your own, but it is impossible when you are confronting the opponent. As a result, they consider that my theory is highly absurd. One of them suggests that it needs to exert force even if a hand is raised up. If his argument is correct, it means that you need to exert force event if you pick up a feather, I shall let you make your own conclusion.
Two main reasons of why the use or practice of Wing Chun is free of strength:
(A) Using the principle of circular structure.
The shape of a circle is a structure of great strength. It is not collapsed easily even if a heavy force is applied to it. An object in circular shape can with stand more pressure or beating force than an object in other shape. Likewise, a circular object can also turn away or transfer force more easily.
Let us analyze the Wing Chun Martial Art in detail. The important moves such as Tan Sau, Bong Sau and Fook Sau consist of an angle which is greater that 90 degrees. If the Tan Sau, Bong Sau or Fook Sau are extended or continued in similar sections with connecting angles equal to that of the Tan Sau, Bong Sau or Fook Sau, they will eventually form circles. In the circle formed by a Tan Sau, the inner side of the circle will receive the opponent’s force, whilst in the circle formed by a Bong Sau or Fook Sau, the external side of the circle will receive the opponent’s force. Hence, the movement of Tan Sau, Bong Sau and Fook Sau is just like the turning of a circle. Apart from the fact that they can withstand heavy force from the opponent, they also possess a strong driving force and can turn away the opponent’s applied force with ease.
(B) The Characteristic of muscle.
Abbess Ng Mui discovered, a long time ago the characteristic of muscle. She realized that the muscle, in relaxing state, could tolerate huge forces. This has been confirmed in recent scientific experiments. A fully qualified Doctor, who graduated from the University of Hong Kong, has shown me a textbook which clearly states that muscle in relaxing state can tolerate a heavier load or greater force that the muscle in the state of contraction.
From the above two facts as well as the results of the experiments, it can be concluded that practicing Wing Chun is really free of any strength.
Simply from the above explanation, people will still be in doubt regarding how the attacking and destructive power is created when one is free of strength. This has to go back to the theory of “Chum Kiu” and “Bill Gee”. “Chum Kiu” can generate strong and stable force whilst “ Bill Gee” can generate the explosive power. As long as you practice correctly and systematically, the power can increase gradually. At that moment, you can then taste the magnificent power of the Wing Chun Martial Art.
The moves of the Wooden Dummy are made up from the moves of the three forms of Wing Chun, and are particularly practical and useful in attack. Since the Wooden Dummy cannot counter-attack, by just practicing the Wooden Dummy, one may not be able to react in the way he should be when he is being attacked. It is therefore important to practice Sticking Hands (Chi Sau) which can enable one to react adequately when being attacked. In this connection, Sticking Hands play an important role in the training of Wing Chun.
The practice of the Wooden Dummy is to utilize the hand moves together with foot stance to attack the dummy at the most appropriate angle in such a way that every move is a most effective blow hitting the dummy’s weakest point. The purpose of this training is for a person to get used to the habit of attacking the most vulnerable part of the opponent with a severe strike. It also helps to find out what your next move should be after your attack.
In fact, it can be concluded that, the more proficient of the three forms, the better the result will be obtained from the practicing of the Wooden Dummy. In other words, in order to achieve the best effect of the Wooden Dummy, it is necessary to master the moves of the three forms.
Credit:
Grandmaster Chu Shong Tin (徐尚田, Tsui Seung Tin) was one of the earliest disciples of Wing Chun Grandmaster Ip Man, and earned the reputation as the “King of Siu Nim Tau”. In 1964, Chu Shong Tin officially opened his own school in Hong Kong, and continued teaching full-time until he passed away at the age of 82.
If you are interested in finding out more about the Wing Chun forms, check out my article "What are the Wing Chun Forms" here: Link
Robert Chu is the legitimate author of this work. It is with great honour that he has permitted the use of it here. The WordPress website shows any posts I have uploaded as 'By Craig Sands' which I do not have any control over. It is therefore important to note here that I take no credit for his amazing work.
This is an interview of Hawkins Cheung by Robert Chu and published Inside Kung-Fu magazine in November, 1991. Beginning in November 1991, Inside Kung-Fu published the following four-part interview with Hawkins Cheung. The articles detail his history of growing up in Hong Kong with Bruce Lee, learning Wing Chun from Yip Man, and it trace Bruce’s development of his own technique from Wing Chun principles.
Part 1: Bruce Lee’s Hong Kong Years
Hawkins Cheung began his training in 1953 under the late grandmaster Yip Man. He attended high school with the legendary Bruce Lee and during evenings, the two would diligently practice Wing Chun together. To gain combat experience, they would engage in challenge matches; when they didn’t have opponents to fight, they fought each other. They were later separated when Bruce went to college in the U.S. and Hawkins attended college in Australia. Throughout the years, the two kept in touch through letters and phone calls. Bruce would detail his martial arts development through their conversations and correspondence using Cheung as a sounding board. Hawkins Cheung is one of the few individuals who experienced the progression that Lee went through in his martial art development from Wing Chun to Jun Fan to Jeet Kune Do. The two were reunited in Hong Kong in 1970, when Lee returned home to make movies. The two shared and exchanged fighting experiences and training methods. They remained in close contact until Bruce’s death in 1973. Hawkins also is well schooled in other martial arts styles. He is particularly skilled in the Wu style of Tai Chi but he is familiar with the Yang, Chen and Sun styles as well. Master Cheung has also gained experience in Japanese karate-do and currently holds a fourth-degree black belt. In 1978, Cheung immigrated to the U.S. to promote Wing Chun. He is currently head instructor of the Hawkins Cheung Asian Martial Arts Academy in Los Angeles. He has appeared in several issues of Inside Kung-Fu magazine, given numerous public demonstrations, and appeared on television. He has always been low key about his relationship with Bruce Lee. Now that his friend has died, he finds that many of Bruce’s followers are distorting the real meaning of his Jeet Kune Do. In this four-part series on Bruce Lee and Jeet Kune Do, Cheung examines Bruce’s development, from his early days in Hong Kong to his final days as a film star, his creation of JKD, and the characteristics of the now-famous art.
Hong Kong in the l95Os was a depressed place. Post-World War II Hong Kong had suffered from unemployment, a poor economy, over-crowding, homelessness, and people taking advantage of each other. Gangs roamed the street, and juvenile delinquents ran rampant.
I met Bruce in intermediate school; he had been expelled from the famous European LaSalle Intermediate School to the Eurasian Francis Xavier Intermediate School which I attended. I used to make fun of him and call him “Bad Boy” because he was expelled. That was the beginning of our friendship. There was a real political situation in 195Os Hong Kong. The British led the colony and would sometimes treat the Chinese like dogs. Bruce wasn’t a big star then, he was just an ordinary guy. We started to learn Wing Chun to survive. When we weren’t fighting others, we fought each other. We would argue about our Wing Chun training, and would argue about our personal experience and knowledge. Everyone wanted to be top dog. We would purposely hold back information that we gathered. Everyone had to find his own source, and not let the others know what we learned. We would purposely hide a trick that we would get from Yip Man, the Seniors, or friends from other styles. We weren’t concerned about how good the gung-fu looked, just whether it worked. Everyone wanted to know how to get the job done. We were good buddies. We wouldn’t openly share our knowledge, but we tried to steal each other’s card. Whenever we learned a new method or technique, we would add it to our repertoire. Bruce would use a new trick on me, the next time I would throw it back to him first. We always asked ourselves where was the other’s source?
Against outsiders we were allies, but with no one to fight against, we fought each other. To test and see Bruce’s skill, I would purposely instigate or set up a fight. I would watch Bruce fight, and be a bystander to see how well he did. He would do the same. If he won, we would laugh; but if he lost, he would lose face and work harder to find a better means of beating an opponent. We would play tricks on our opponents to psyche them out, sometimes hiding our best techniques. What someone would throw to us, we’d throw the technique right back to him.
Our competitive spirit was not only in martial arts, but extended in daily life. Everyone knew that Bruce was good at dancing the Cha-Cha. At school, I knew some Filipino friends who were pretty good too, so I would pick up steps to show up Bruce. The next time I saw Bruce, he had a bunch of new steps! I questioned my friend to see if he had taught Bruce those new steps, but he denied any knowledge. I later found out that he went to my Filipino friend’s dance instructor to learn more steps! That was our character—to always look for a new source. I later went to the same dance instructor and tried to persuade him not to teach Bruce.
William Cheung and Wong Shun Leung were Bruce’s source of information on wing chun. They were our seniors, but we couldn’t openly let them know what level we were at for fear they wouldn’t show us more. If a senior got into a street fight, however, and lost, we could find out his standard. If we couldn’t figure out a problem, we would have to ask the old man (Yip Man) from different angles. When we matured, we began to share more openly.
I lived a couple of blocks from Bruce. Being from well-to-do families, we would sometimes have our driver pick up one another, if we wanted to hang out we would sometimes spend a weekend at each other’s home. When we had final exams, we would study together. We still kept up our old game. We would play tricks on an unsuspecting participant, one guy playing “good guy,” the other being the “bad guy.” One time, we persuaded two younger European classmates to fight each other. They were a grade younger than us and were good friends. Bruce and I separated them, and to find out who was the better instructor, we each picked one and trained him to beat each other up.
Bruce’s nickname at school was “Gorilla,” because he was muscular and walked around with his arms at his sides. Everyone feared him, but I was the only one who called him “Chicken legs.” He’d get really mad and chase me all over the school yard. Our friendship was very close.
Our school was the best in soccer, but Bruce and I never participated in any team sports. One day, there was an announcement that there was an inter-school boxing championship. The all English Saint George Intermediate school held the championship. Our school didn’t have a boxing team. Someone in our school suggested that we get a boxing team together. We had a reputation in the school as being the naughtiest, so someone suggested that Bruce and I get involved.
The night of the match, I went into the champ’s dressing room. He was my friend’s brother. Bruce was supposed to face him. I spoke to the champ and warned him that he was facing the Gorilla now, who was an expert in gung-fu, not boxing, so he’d better watch out!
The champ was intimidated, because he heard that Bruce and I practiced gung-fu together. Bruce, on the other hand, was concerned that we never boxed before. At the beginning of the fight, Bruce attacked his opponent from the inside with a tan da and cut to his opponent’s center. The champ was psychologically unbalanced, while Bruce continued to use tan da with a follow-up of straight punches to the champ’s face, and blew him out. Bruce won the championship!
The next match was myself and another for the lightweight championship. I was disqualified for using pak da, which the judges considered against the rules. In 1958, we graduated from high school. Bruce said that he was going to the U.S. upon his father’s request. Bruce didn’t want to go, but his father forced him. Bruce feared his father and had to comply. I was deciding to attend college in Australia. I asked Bruce what he wanted to study. Bruce replied he was going to be a dentist. I cracked up and laughed in his face! “You, a dentist?” I said, ‘Your patients would lose all their teeth.”
Bruce said that his father would support him and pay for his expenses in the U.S., but he wanted to be independent. To make money on the side, he said he would teach Wing Chun. I replied that he didn’t have much to teach at that time; we had both only learned up to the second Wing Chun form, Chum Kiu, and 40 movements on the dummy. We had a friend whom we called “Uncle Shiu” (Shiu Hon Sang), who taught northern styles of gung-fu. Bruce thought it would be a good idea to learn some of the more pretty, showy styles before he left. Bruce learned northern style for showmanship. In the late 195Os, Bruce had already planned to hide his art. Many were looking for the showmanship, not the killer. Bruce would give them what they wanted.
We went to Uncle Shin’s gung-fu club at seven every morning. We began to learn lam ad (a basic northern style gung-fu set). I hated master Shin’s dog, and his dog hated me equally, as he would bark at me every time I visited. Finally, the early mornings and the loud dog made me drop out. Bruce continued for two months more and learned gung lik kuen (training power fist set), bung bo kuen (a basic praying mantis set), and jeet kuen (quick fist), all northern style sets.
Prior to any Hong Kong resident leaving for a new country, you had to check with the police station to make sure your record was clean. Bruce applied for this certificate, and found that our names were on a blacklist of known juvenile delinquents. He called me at home. “Hawkins, big trouble,” Bruce exclaimed. “Our names are on a known gangster list. I’m going down to the police station to clear my name, and while I’m there, I’ll clear yours, too”. I thanked him.
A few days later, a police investigator came to my house and questioned me about gang relations. Bruce’s efforts to clear me actually got me more in trouble. My father had to pay off this investigator to have my name wiped from the record, or else I wouldn’t have been able to attend college in Australia. I hated Bruce for that!
The day he left, I escorted him to the dock. After many years of being as close as twins, we would be apart for the first time. It would be many years before our paths would again cross.
Part 2: Bruce Lee Discovers Jeet Kuen Do
After Bruce left Hong Kong, I went to Australia to attend college. We still stayed in touch by writing to each other. He told me he was working part time at Ruby Chow’s restaurant in Seattle and teaching a few students Wing Chun as well as some of Uncle Shiu’s northern style kung-fu high kicks. He wrote that he loved Wing Chun very much and he wanted to go back to Hong Kong to learn the rest of the system.
He told me to carry on with Wing Chun and not to give up. Actually I didn’t have the time to give up my Wing Chun. I arrived in Sidney, Australia, in the late 195Os. Just 14 years after World War II, Australia had suffered much from the Japanese occupation. I found myself involved in fights because at that time there was a great resentment for Japanese. They always confused the Chinese for Japanese. Sometimes, I had to fight against people twice my size to stay alive. Many Southeast Asians also attended the university in Australia. At times, racial tension and cultural differences would result in violence. Fights would start up without warning. I had trouble with a few Thai boxers.
They would call themselves “prize-fighters” — they fought for prizes, I fought for my life. The Thai’s were hard to fight because they seemed to have four hands. I wrote Bruce about these fighting experiences. I learned how to apply my Wing Chun against multicultural martial arts. Bruce told me if had any problems in Australia to come to the United States and study. He would take care of me.
I returned to Hong Kong in 1964. One day, as I was ready to drive my car out of my parking space in the street, I saw someone toward my left window. I couldn’t see this person’s face. I thought that this person was looking for trouble, and I opened the car door ready to fight. I then saw it was Bruce. I was so happy to see him, and just as I was about to say “Hello!” he said’ “Hawkins, stand here, I have something to show you.” Bruce stepped back two steps and suddenly charged in very quickly. I was surprised that his movement was so fast.
Another surprise was that Bruce’s character hadn’t changed at all. He still wanted to be top dog. He still wanted to show off. If he liked you, he would always tell you what was on his mind.
If he didn’t like you, he’d be very tricky to deal with. Bruce had that rare ability to draw your attention somewhere else. Sometimes you didn’t know what he was thinking. I was often suspicious if Bruce was too nice; it meant he wanted something or was about to take advantage of you. This character made people like him, and at the same time, made it easy for me to trick him.
I asked him how he developed the ability to close in that quickly. He said’ “Look, Hawkins, in the United States you don’t have any good training partners to practice Wing Chun with. You can say that my Wing Chun is better than any so called Wing Chun masters there. I can’t go any further. But I have had a lot of challenge fights. My opponents are fast, so I have to be faster; they’re strong, so I have to he stronger than them. There’s no other way, because in the U.S., I’m a ‘gung-fu’ guy. Because my Wing Chun is limited and my structure can’t hold up against larger opponents, I have to use no way as the way, no limitation as the limitation.”
That was the first time I heard Bruce say that. There is a Chinese saying Called, “Bik fu tiu cheung,” meaning, “The cornered tiger has to jump over a wall.” It is the equivalent of saying, “Having no way out” in English. I realized that Bruce felt frustration in his martial arts training. Although Bruce was becoming Westernized, he still felt pride that he was Chinese and he never wanted to appear inferior when comparing Chinese gung-fu with other nations’ martial arts.
Bruce continued: “I have to train very hard to beat my opponents. So I’ve come back to further my training in Wing Chun, and I hope to learn more of the dummy techniques from the old man (Yip Man). Hopefully, sifu will let me film him on 8mm so that I may show my students in the U.S.” Bruce said his acting career was beginning to take off. “By the way,” he noted, “I just signed a contract with 20th Century Fox to do a ‘Charlie Chan’ movie (it later turned out to be the “Green Hornet” series). I’m on my way to see the old man now.” I knew that when he wanted to accomplish a task, I’d better not get in his way, so I left.
A few days later, Bruce gave a demonstration on a popular talk show on television. Bruce didn’t mention anything about Wing Chun, but referred to his art simply as “gung-fu.” I realized that something must have happened between Bruce and Yip Man. I knew Bruce’s character, and when he desired or wanted something accomplished, no one could stop him. If not, Bruce would go out on his own to get the job done. Bruce would then come back and show you and try to embarrass you.
I found out that the “old man” refused his request to be filmed doing the dummy set. I knew that the “old man” was very Chinese tradition minded and that Bruce was very direct and Western in his thinking. Bruce wanted to learn everything overnight, but the ‘old man” felt you had to train to get it. Later on, I found that Bruce formed his own method and called it ‘Jeet Kune Do.”
During 1966, a friend and I were involved in bringing Japanese karate to Hong Kong. I found myself having to change when sparring with the Japanese karate instructors; their attacks were very fast with emotionally charged quickness. They would attack and disappear as quickly as they came. Their punches were so quick that when I attempted to pak sao, they would retract their punch and I couldn’t connect. When I tried to step in, they would use a front kick. I found that defensively, I was fine, because they found it difficult to land on me. But when it came to attacking, I was unable to score. I became frustrated with this type of sport fighting. It differed from real fighting in that it emphasized skill, not just guts and endurance.
I remembered what Bruce had said about his “opponents being fast, but he had to be faster; opponents being strong, and he having to being stronger.” Then I thought, these Japanese karate instructors train years to develop their speed and power. If I were to train as Bruce did, I would have to spend two or three times as much time to beat them at their own game. But I also had a limitation of power because of my size. If I sped up my Wing Chun straight punch, I found myself unable to reach my opponent because I was used to the Wing Chun back horse stance. And if I utilized karate’s front stance, I could reach my opponents, but in turn, I lost my wing chun structure. I found myself in a dilemma, as I would literally throw myself forward to reach my opponent. This may have worked well against a one-punch kill stylist, but I often wondered what would happen if I fought another gung-fu stylist or a street-fighter and they could take my best punch. If I managed to land my best punch and the opponent kept coming, I would certainly be in big trouble.
I wanted to keep my wing chun structure. I asked myself how could I hold back or stop a bigger opponent charging at me without that structure? The structure was also important to handle combination-type fighters. I also asked myself what would happen when I get older and my speed and power have decreased? It would mean that I would have nothing when I’m old.
I couldn’t take my dilemma to my Wing Chun seniors. They didn’t like the fact that I practiced Karate. They didn’t understand that while I practiced Karate, I could sharpen my skills against a legal opponent. Karate’s sparring allowed me to get legal fight experience. (In the old days, Chinese martial artists would test out their skills in illegal fights termed “gong sao”- which literally meant “talking hands.” Outsiders who watched me thought that I was doing Karate; the instructors didn’t realize I used wing chun to combat my Karate opponents. later on, I found a way to adapt my Wing Chun to their way of fighting. Bruce would throw his power hand out with his high speed and timing to intercept the opponent’s punch or kick. I thought, why don’t I throw my Wing Chun structure forward with one hand intercepting while the other attacked at the same time? My time training in Karate gave me a good chance to develop my new method. Every year, Japan sent new Japanese instructors to Hong Kong to teach. I was always the first guy to fight with the new Japanese instructors. They knew me in the school as the “Chinese boxer.”
Thanks to Bruce’s ideas’ I learned how to handle my opponents. My way didn’t mean other Wing Chun practitioners did the same; but I developed my way to satisfy myself and keep my beloved Wing Chun style. I was able to make the Wing Chun style alive and understand the Wing Chun concept in combat. Bruce’s way of the intercepting fist (Jeet Kune Do) is one of the principles of Wing Chun. Bruce’s standard was limited; he made intercepting into his concept because of the circumstances he told me of during his last Stay in Hong Kong. Before he died, he told me that “Jeet Kune” meant Pak Sao in Wing Chun or intercepting an opponent’s punch before it landed on you. I asked him if he meant to create another style. Bruce firmly told me, “No! It is only the expression of the motion! You can say it is my expression of the Pak Sao in Wing Chun (note: Pak Sao is one of the fundamental movements from Wing Chun and depending upon circumstance, it may be offensive or defensive in nature.) I didn’t betray sifu, I didn’t betray Chinese martial arts. I wanted to show others the application way of Jeet Kune. I wanted to prove I could stop their fast attacks coming at me.”
I knew Bruce’s character. I knew he wanted to prove what he said was right and that he would prove it to wing chun people as well as the world, that he was top dog. Bruce would always change his way of fighting to improve himself to be the best. I never read his books or books that others wrote about him, but I would watch his application whenever I could in his real fights or as an actor in his movies. I found his martial arts to have two versions: one in real life and one in his movies. In real life, Bruce’s speed and power would scare his opponents and would prove what he called “jeet kune.” His movie version would show his showmanship with fancy movements to satisfy his fans. I didn’t see his “Jeet Kune” action in his movies.
I believe those who knew Bruce Personally could tell his moves were sharp, clear and to the point. People who didn’t know Bruce in person were attracted by his action movies and philosophy. I have been in the U.S. for 12 years now. I have seen many of Bruce’s students and grand students change a lot of his way, even when they didn’t even understand what the original meaning or essence of his “Jeet Kune Do.” Some have even gone on to teach jeet kune do as a style! Some of them claim to be teaching Jeet Kune Do and add their own personal style, calling it “JKD so-and-so.”
To my memory, Bruce explained that jeet kune do was the method of intercepting or cutting off an opponent’s action. So Jeet Kune Do was the method of striking an opponent as the opponent attacked. The concept of intercepting or cutting is used in all systems of martial arts. if you don’t want to get hit, you’d better cut off or block an attack without running from or skipping away. Each style or person will demonstrate intercepting in a different manner. Bruce demonstrated in his personal attitude because of his emotional anger and hunger for winning character. He simply wanted to be the best and would accept nothing else. That is the trademark of Bruce’s style or action in entry. Only Bruce could do that.
Bruce changed his methods for the job on hand, not for you or me. He became an expert in intercepting or cutting off an opponent’s attack. He had to continually train to prove what he said about “Jeet Kune.” If Bruce couldn’t intercept, he would have to take back the name “Jeet Kune Do.” But he did prove it. He desired to keep the name “Jeet Kune Do” while he was alive. Since he is now dead, it is up to his students to continue giving Bruce credit. The question is whether they can prove they can “Jeet Kune” for him and the public.
We don’t care how Bruce’s students change their way; we want to see someone as good or better than Bruce lee in action, not another style or way. If your results are different from what Bruce did you are not preserving Jeet Kune Do. If you keep the name Jeet Kune Do, then you should strive to become an expert in intercepting. Don’t down grade Bruce’s memory with your own way. This is not his creation. Just as Wing Chun people have recognizable trademark in application, those who follow Bruce’s way should also have a recognizable concept: that of intercepting.
Part 3: Bruce Lee’s Mother Art: Wing Chun
To understand Bruce and his martial art, you have to look at his mother art, Wing Chun. Wing Chun in the 1950s was a popular fighting system because of its reputation in challenge fights with other gung-fu Systems. Wing Chun was noted for its simple, direct, economical movement and non-classical style.
Many joined and wanted to learn how to fight. Because of the reputation of Wing Chun, Bruce and I joined. The thing about Wing Chun is once you start the first form, you feel frustrated. We questioned, “Why do we have to learn this? How can you fight like this?” Everyone wanted to learn the Siu Nim Tao quickly, so they could move onto the sticking hands exercise. The Dan Chi Sao (Single Sticking Hand) exercise was no fun, so the younger students wanted to get through that even quicker. When you finally learned the double sticking hands exercise, we felt excited and thought, “I can fight now! I know Wing Chun now!” We liked to copy the seniors. If you could land a punch on your opponent, you felt very excited. “I can beat him now,” was our first thought. So everyone wanted to beat his partner first so he could be the top dog.
Everyone also tried to please the seniors so they would teach us more tricks to beat up the guy you didn’t like or competed with. So students grouped together and created competition with another group. Each group thought it could beat the other. In my opinion, this is how Wing Chun politics began. Being 100-105 pounds, I had a hard time against opponents bigger than me. During this time I also tried to collect as many new tricks to beat my opponents. Once the opponent knew that trick, you had to find new tricks. When your opponent knew all your tricks, being a small guy, you were in trouble. The old saying of the, “Same game, same way, the bigger guy always wins” applies to every physical sport.
Later, tricks became useless. I always got pushed out because of my limited power when it came to advanced sticking hands practice. I was very frustrated because the opponents knew my tricks and they were stronger than me. If I threw a punch, it was nothing to them; they could take the blow and throw a punch right back. I learned that sticking hands was very different from distance fighting. In distance fighting a lightweight could move faster than a heavyweight. My dilemma was that I was learning Wing Chun, not a system that emphasized distance fighting.
Yip Man’s Hands
I always got pushed out when I practiced chi sao with my bigger seniors. Everyone who learned Wing Chun always wanted to prove that they were better than the others. Most of the practitioners concentrated on the offensive side of sticking hands. They tried to learn how to first hit the opponent. The practice became a sport fighting game. Whoever was stronger would win. Egos ran wild and every one wanted to be the best. There is a Wing Chun saying, “Don’t speak of who is senior or junior. The one who attains the skill first is the senior.” It meant that, “We don’t have seniors,” because we were better than the seniors. In Wing Chun we say we don’t have any seniors because we strove to become better than the seniors and even better than the founder. If you look at your art this way, you will certainly improve.
During that period, I had a hard time. I thought of quitting a few times, until I finally went to the old man (grandmaster Yip Man). He always told me, “Relax! Relax! Don’t get excited!” But whenever I practiced chi sao with someone, it was hard to relax, especially when I got hit. I became angry when struck. I wanted to kill my opponent. The sticking hands game became a fight, with both parties getting hurt. The question was who got hurt more. Because I was smaller, I was the one who usually hurt more.
When I saw Yip Man stick hands with others, he was very relaxed and talked to his partner. Sometimes he threw his partner out without having to hit him. When I stuck hands with Yip Man, I always felt my balance controlled by him when I attempted to strike. I was always off balance, with my toes or heels off the ground! I felt my hands rebound when I tried to strike him. It appeared as if Yip Man used my force to hit me. His movement was so slight, it seemed he didn’t do anything, not even extend his hand! When I was thrown back, it was very comfortable, not violent, yet I still could not see his techniques. When I asked him how he did it, he simply said’ “Like this!” as he demonstrated his extension of his hands, which was the same as practice. I saw Yip Man do this to other students, even the seniors. He never landed a blow on his students, but he would put a student in an awkward position and make the fellow students laugh at the sight. He was the funniest old man. I never once saw Yip Man take a step backward during Chi Sao.
I thought to myself, this old man was my size and weight, how could he control his students so easily? So every time he played Chi Sao with a student, I kept watching his perfect Wing Chun body structure. Whenever he took a step forward, his opponent was thrown back. No matter how big the student was, Yip Man never exhibited a killing attitude. The students would swing his hands, and Yip Man would smile and merely control the movements.
I really felt hopeless, so I asked sifu what should I do to further myself. He told me, “Why do you always want to be the same as the others? You know it won’t work, why don’t you change? Do the form more, don’t even play sticking hands for a while. Do the form slower.” I was confused; I wanted to learn wing chun to fight. I wanted new ways and new techniques. After all these years, Yip Man’s advice were these few words. I felt disappointed, yet I couldn’t argue with him. I had the choice to either drop out or do what he said. So I reviewed all the forms with him and he corrected them during private lessons. I did stick hands with him slowly. He just coached me and guided my hands like a baby sitter. In this manner, I learned the softer, defensive side of Wing Chun.
Who could know Yip Man’s high skill? Yip Man could neutralize his opponent’s force or interrupt his opponent’s motion so that it never landed. If you take an analogy of a big car facing a small car, you can see that the driver of the small car doesn’t have much of a chance. The small car driver has to shut off the engine or interrupt the shift to first gear of the big-car driver. obviously, the big car can just run over a small car and destroy it. The question is how big is your car, and compared with whom?
A larger opponent
When Yip Man faced a larger opponent, his skill was so high that he would shut off his opponent’s engine or never let it start. When you’re old, you have to adapt this way to survive. With my small size, I had to learn this method. I had to be faster than my opponent’s fist or elbow’s extension. I had to see my opponent’s telegraphic body move or see his mind’s intent. Whether in close-range or distance fighting. I have to interrupt my opponent’s engine start or guide his intention elsewhere. Bruce didn’t learn this high level of skill. By Hong Kong standards, he was a big car.
Everyone in Wing Chun has his opinion or politics. The politics arise when each speaks of the “best” method of entry or attack. The “best entry” or “best attack” is a product which a Wing Chun exponent chooses to buy. To a Wing Chun man, every attack is considered an “asking hand.” My fist is a question posed to you. If someone attacks and you solve the problem before it is initiated, how much politics are involved? Politics come from partiality, which is why I say that when Wing Chun is trained to a high level, there are no techniques. Who realized Yip Man’s skill? All my training brothers respected Yip Man because he never hurt them, nor were they skillful enough to hurt him. Yip Man’s skill in the 1950s was the epitome of sensitivity; he could immediately read his opponent’s intention.
Wing Chun is a mental, rather than physical martial art. The system was founded by a lady, and as a result, the art requires mental strategy and physical skill and timing. Wing Chun requires that the mental be ahead of the physical. It is a system to develop skill, not a style. I’m not the best, but I know where I stand in this art.
A good Wing Chun man should practice Chi Sao all the time. You can tell what sort of individuals you are dealing with, his character, his advantages or disadvantages. You can look at a fighter’s body and also determine if he is a boxer, kicker or wrestler through his muscle condition and by the characteristics of his movement. A fighter’s behavior also determines what sort of fighter you are facing. Of course, this is not 100 percent. When betting on a horse race, an experienced gambler will try to gather all the information he can get on a horse. He will look at a horse and check his statistics to make an intelligent decision. You learn to minimize your risk. This is what Chi Sao teaches you.
When you do Chi Sao, you should not attack first, but rather try to collect as much information as you can on your opponent. Many Wing Chun practitioners want to attack first without gathering information. Attacking first is to give your opponent information on yourself. Sun Tzu advised us, “Know yourself, know your opponent, in 100 battles, a 100 victories.” The forms of Wing Chun are for you to know yourself; Chi Sao is the way to knowing others.
Bruce changes Bruce changed his methods when he came to the U.S. Time and experience caused change, but he had help from Wing Chun, which hinted which direction to go. Just like my training brothers who express Wing Chun in their way, Bruce founded a method of teaching his version of Wing Chun in the U.S. Bruce used the offensive side of Wing Chun. Bruce said that he supposedly saw the “limitations of Wing Chun,” but the truth is that there is nothing wrong with Wing Chun. Wing Chun is not a style, but a system of preparation for combat. Wing Chun gives you the information to be one step ahead of your opponent. Wing Chun is not better than other Systems of martial arts, but it offers a practitioner some unique advantages. No matter what style or system of martial arts, to defeat your opponent you must land your tools. I can fight using Wing Chun tools. But I express my own Hawkins Cheung style based on my experience. As a martial artist, one must stand on his own credit, not his master’s.
When I teach Wing Chun tools to my students, I coach them to find which way best fits their character. Some students are very emotional, yet I can’t force them to relax. So I teach them the offensive way of Wing Chun. When the skill in offensive attacks becomes better and they feel they are not improving and become frustrated, they automatically come to me. They ask how to handle this guy or the others. To me, this means they really want to learn. I explain to them that they should relax and pay attention to the defensive side of Wing Chun.
Once the feeling in their hands and body is automatic, I let them go on their own to find a higher level. If the students continue asking questions, it means they haven’t yet developed the feeling of that movement. They want my help and I do all that I can to help them.
Wing Chun is very simple to learn. The system contains only three forms, a dummy set, the 6 1/2-point staff and the double knives set. It is also very easy to teach. The question is if you have tested it out yourself. Can you use the skills in application? Have you forgotten how many fights or whom you have fought before? Each style of martial arts are defensive, so you use what is useful and reject what is useless for the particular stylist. You have to find what is useful for your style of fighting. It may be useless to other stylists, but you have to change the order of using your Wing Chun tools according to circumstances.
In my Wing Chun concept, I like the opponent to start first. I will initiate my timing from my opponent’s start. To my experience, this movement is a trap. When you approach me indirectly, you must have a reason why. I have to first discover your intentions. I just wait calmly. My mind becomes a “referee.” To wait is better than changing. l listen to your own music or rhythm. I pay no attention, and that means that my emotions are not involved in fighting. The big question is when to start. Of course, this takes time to develop.
You will see in the “Westerns,” when there is a gunfight, no one dares to start first. In Japanese samurai movies, during the sword fighting scenes, the opponents may wait for a long time. If you can’t wait, your mind has to find your opponent’s rhythm and starting point. From here you have to find your opponent’s intentions with an “asking hand.”
Wing Chun started Bruce on his way. It was the Wing Chun concepts that he still retained to allow him to customize his personal system of martial arts that he referred to as “Jun Fan.” Wing Chun was the gun that Yip Man gave us; the frustrating part was that you had to learn how to aim and shoot. The problem was your target always moved, you couldn’t get a fix on it. Wing Chun is a problem solving art. You can say that Bruce and I were given a problem from the “old man” to solve. In fact, the “old man” didn’t explain things unless he saw you work for it.
Wing Chun Development Every martial arts student has to solve the problem of applying the physical portion. All martial arts styles tend to be theoretical in application. Bruce may have abandoned some Wing Chun tools’ but he didn’t abandon Wing Chun development. He changed the art for himself, not for you or me. Bruce used the concept of intercepting and “modified the gun” for his own needs. I kept the traditional gun and made it work for me. Yip Man posed the question, it was up to us to solve the problems. Bruce and I sought for practical application combined with the conceptual. You can say there was a parallel development between us through the years.
In my Wing Chun concept, I will say that Bruce had weaknesses. If I faced him, I would try to read his intentions. I would allow Bruce to start his broken rhythm, making his rhythm his starting point. At that time, his feet were off the ground I would rush in with a surprise attack. Rushing in is faster than Bruce’s rhythm. With rushing in, I can break his mind’s rhythm, or blank out his mind in a second. I can then follow up with consecutive strikes. I would give him back a problem to solve. The question is whether your “rush-in” timing was quick enough.
There were some tricks we played all the time when we were teenagers looking for a fight. When we would find a “target, “we would just walk up and say, “Hey! I’m talking to you!” or we would go up and touch or pull him. We would make our victim pay attention. If the guy was hot-tempered, he would try to hit us or push our hand away. Once the guy started, we would initiate our timing from his move. If the guy got hurt, we would say, “What’s the matter with you? I was just talking to you, and you tried to hit me first Mr. Chan (fictitious name we made upon the spot)?” The target would say, “I’m not Mr. Chan!” To which we would reply, “We thought you were Mr. Chan and are very sorry we made a mistake!” If our target didn’t pay attention to us, we would curse his mother or sister. We tried to infuriate our unwilling adversary so we could resume the fight. We were real bad guys!
The objective was to force the opponent’s starting point – we would do or say anything to initiate the fight. Bruce even carried this trick in his movie, Return of the Dragon. In the fight scene with Chuck Norris, Bruce would speed up his footwork rhythm. Norris began to follow the same rhythm then Bruce would finish Norris in the end.
A Flexible Art
Many of Bruce’s students refer to what he taught as a “modified version of Wing Chun” But Bruce’s term, “modify is equivalent to Wing Chun’s “feeling” or “sensitivity.” Wing Chun feeling is to allow modification, to change for the sake of survival. There is no such thing as modified Wing Chun; a good Wing Chun practitioner constantly modifies his art based on feeling. Wing Chun is a flexible art that allows you to change based upon your feeling. When Bruce borrowed other tools, the way he displayed them made their essence different because Bruce couldn’t discard the reflexes he developed from Wing Chun. The essence he displayed almost always had retained a Wing Chun flavor. Bruce’s followers today don’t demonstrate the attributes Bruce displayed and developed over the years.
Bruce used the Wing Chun methods of start timing, spring energy, sensitivity (through the practice of Chi Sao) and Ging (penetration power). Bruce couldn’t teach the feeling of his art. Just like Olympic sprinter Carl Lewis trying to teach someone how to get off the starting blocks faster, it was a matter of feeling, not mechanics or tools. Bruce’s speed was a result of the Wing Chun training he practiced for so long. In Wing Chun, there is a quality that we refer to as “start timing.” It is the ability to start quickly and differs from someone who has fast hands or feet. Start timing is what made him fast. It is not an emotional type of speed. It was Bruce’s use of start timing that made him so fast.
The secret to Bruce’s speed and power was that he combined both physical and mental power. Bruce was an expert in mental intimidation. Bruce demonstrated his emotional anger and hunger for wining character in every tool he delivered. When I asked him how he could get so fast, he explained that he would use his emotional content to speed up his techniques. This was a big departure from Wing Chun in that the Wing Chun mind is supposed to be centered and calm.
I remember when we practiced Wing Chun together as teenagers. Whenever Yip Man taught us new techniques, we would test it out. If it didn’t feel right, we would go back to Sifu again, and ask him to show us the technique. One of us would watch his hands, the other would watch his body mechanics. We would then exchange what we observed and put it together. We would go around asking our seniors, too. Bruce and I did the same with them. One would watch the technique, the other the body mechanics. We would ask the seniors who was right or wrong, and how we could correct the movements. We got used to watching the detail in a person’s body mechanics rather than technique. Good or bad techniques were based on good or bad body mechanics or structure. This is the way Bruce and I stole other styles’ techniques, analyzed them and even did it better than the person showing us. Anyone who knew Bruce knew that he had this ability. Bruce would steal others’ techniques, yet because of his “gorilla” upper body and his forearm strength (in Wing Chun, we call this Long Bridge arm power, meaning that the power is issued from the forearm down instead of from the body), his punch would have two kinds of power: one from the Long Bridge force and the other from his body rotation power (body rotation power is what boxers use the most). That is why whatever style or technique that Bruce would steal, he could perform better than the original. His forearm power is what he developed from Wing Chun through years of training. This is why I say that his followers don’t have what he had.
Strong Arms
I recall when we would chi sao, Bruce’s arms were very strong. He would just extend his arms and you could feel his power. But I knew his lower body part was weak, and I would pull his arm while he extended, and would pull him off balance. He would have to stop his extension to save his balance. I usually used this method to stop his continuous attacks. That was Bruce’s weak point. In the Wing Chun system, whenever we want to attack, the legs have to step out before you extend your arm or punch, so you won’t lose your balance. If your arm gets interrupted by your opponent’s pressure or power, you can still continue your attack because you body equalizes the pressure placed on you. You can still continue to extend your arm or punch while being intercepted. This is how a good Wing Chun man can use the power twice in one motion, rather than having to reload the power. You reload by extending the punch.
Because of Bruce’s poor body structure, he was easy to throw off balance. It was also disadvantageous for him if he came up against a larger opponent that would jam him when Bruce punched or extended his arm during sticking hands. Maybe this is what made him give up the Wing Chun structure. No one could touch his hands while Bruce engaged in a long distance fight. His upper torso strength and body rotation method would create devastating power. It was smart for him to use these attributes to his advantage. In the U.S. Bruce would not fight against Wing Chun men, so no one knew his weak points!
Bruce’s thin legs put all his energy in his upper torso. This gave him an advantage of quickly moving his legs. It also made him a good dancer when we were younger. Bruce enhanced his leg techniques by learning two months of northern style kung-fu high kicks before he came to the U.S. Good kickers require the energy to be in the upper torso, so Bruce had natural advantages when it came to kicking fast and with timing. This was his advantage in kicking and his disadvantage in Wing Chun structure.
Wing Chun At Heart
Despite Bruce’s advanced level in the martial arts, he was still a Wing Chun man. He expounded the use of the centerline principle, as well as simple, direct, non-telegraphic and economical motions. And although he may have borrowed tools from other martial arts systems, he used the techniques to conform to the Wing Chun way. For example, when Bruce used the Wing Chun straight punch, he started from the middle, with his elbows down. Although he may have used a northern shaolin side kick, he still issued power with a stomp as a Wing Chun man. He would stomp into his opponent. His best techniques were his straight punch and side kick. His front and hook kick were fast, but they didn’t have the killing power of his straight punch or side kick. Consequently, he used those tools the most to express his JKD.
When Bruce demonstrated his skill with the kali sticks, you can still see his upright Wing Chun structure. As previously mentioned, Bruce had the skill to copy anyone’s hand techniques quicker and better than anyone.
When Bruce broke away from Wing Chun and his classical Jun Fan system, he pursued his own non-classical, personal style. Because Bruce studied Wing Chun so long, he made his tools into a Wing Chun product, which is why I say his students don’t have his tools and attributes. To Wing Chun people, we feel that Bruce is not complete. Wing Chun stresses ambidexterity, where as in Bruce’s art, it favors the lead hand.
Bruce’s students are also approaching his art in the wrong manner. Jeet kune do was supposed to be non-classical, but now it has become classical. The practitioners fear to create and would rather obey the dictates of the style. Take the finger jab that Bruce taught. Bruce’s students don’t have the practical application. If it hasn’t been developed or used in application, it is useless. Wing Chun backs up its practical application with its sticking hands exercise and uses the partner as a dummy. You have to test your application in practice. I feel that Jeet Kune Do is stepping backward, because of the lack of feel in fighting.
Wing Chun’s energy is on the legs more than the upper body. Because the Wing Chun hands are used to feel the opponent’s hands and read his intentions, the hands must be soft. It is analogous to a baseball catcher. You have to be soft to hold up and receive the incoming pressure. You must feel comfortable. The legs are used to throw the whole body forward, like a hammer striking a nail (a “nail” is your tool striking your opponent). This is what is called the Wing Chun structure power. If we use the analogy of a hammer and nail, the nail must be positioned in the center of the hammer, other wise your nail will be broken or bent crooked while the hammer hits it. In Wing Chun, this means the hand is jammed or has no power transference. A good Wing Chun man first aligns the nail to the target, while the target waits to move. The hammer then follows up. If you think of this, you will see that Bruce gave up the Wing Chun structure, but Wing Chun trained his arms to issue power.
Bruce’s advantages were in distance fighting, and he extended his advantage to a high level. When Bruce stated traditional martial arts are classical, it was because he was free from the classical. He had a hard time before he mastered the martial arts.
Without Wing Chun, he wouldn’t be able to find out his advantage or disadvantage. He didn’t have to create a style, he could express whatever he wanted. Bruce was like the fastest gunslinger, he could kill you in a second, or he could kill you in ten minutes. In the first nine minutes and 59 seconds, he could demonstrate as many fancy motions as he wanted, as long as no one knew his weak points. Sometimes in my classes’ I demonstrate Bruce’s teachings, too. It is fun.
Point to the Moon Jeet Kune Do was Bruce’s finger pointing to the moon. Jeet Kune Do was a goal for which to aspire. Even Bruce couldn’t express Jeet Kune do all the time. The term “Jeet Kune Do” was created too early. He regretted the term “JKD” in the end, as he couldn’t express the intercepting fist every time. Jun Fan gung-fu was his Wing Chun. Any of his followers knew that when Bruce taught Chi Sao (Sticking Hands, a Wing Chun sensitivity exercise), he would put his right foot forward. I knew that he tried to cover up his Chi Sao weakness, which is why he placed his right foot in front. Bruce wouldn’t tell you his weakness, he would tell you something else to cover up his weakness. In distance fighting, Bruce did what we Wing Chun men do: we put our best side forward. Bruce meant for his Chi Sao to be right side leading for long-distance fighting. It means that Bruce’s Chi Sao is meaningless. He would expose his weakness on his left side, whereas his deadly weapon was his right side.
Being friends, I knew his character. Bruce wanted to be the best, and it was his personality that drove him to be the best and come up with his own method. Bruce and I were convinced that offense was the best defense. With my fighting experience and background, I could check and compare his standard. From knowing Bruce and training with him every day for years, I could just about read his mind. In the early 1960s, he was a young, ambitious Chinese gung-fu guy in America against the Japanese- or Korean-trained martial artists. Because of racial tension and being the only Chinese gung-fu guy around, he kept his beloved Wing Chun gung-fu and was hungry to learn more. He changed the Wing Chun fighting stance to look a bit more like the karate cat stance to deliver a front kick on am his opponent as part of a counterattack. The purpose of his changing the stance and structure was to handle the one-punch kill attitude. Bruce wanted to prove that gung-fu guys could fight, too. Because of Bruce’s limited knowledge of Wing Chun, he was forced to use other tools. He created his own classical system called Jun Fan. For his students to attain his level, they have to become free from Jun Fan. Bruce realized Jeet Kune Do when he was finally free from Jun Fan and Wing Chun rules. He changed to fit into U.S. martial arts, not Asian martial arts. If we use the analogy that Wing Chun is a car, if you learn to drive in Hong Kong or in the U.S., the rules are different. You have to change and modify your experience to fit your environment. Bruce drove the Wing Chun car in the U.S. to suit the American way. His Jun Fan is a product of Wing Chun for America. Jun Fan is not Jeet Kune Do, and Bruce’s followers have the classical Bruce Lee martial art Jun Fan, not Jeet Kune Do. Jeet kune do is a goal for which to aspire. If any of Bruce’s followers intercept in every move, then they are expressing Jeet Kune Do. Jeet Kune Do was Bruce’s gift to the world’s martial artists. Jeet Kune Do is just one of the concepts of Wing Chun. He experimented, did research and development for American martial arts. Just as Wong Shun Leung’s fighting experience is geared toward fighting against gung-fu guys, we all had to develop our own product. We all had to become free from Wing Chun to master it. If Wong were in the U.S., he too would have to change. Wing Chun is frustrating to its practitioners because the system tells you to create your own product. There are no fighting forms in Wing Chun. The kata or forms of other styles are a product. How many products can one produce with Wing Chun? A product is partial. Each Wing Chun practitioner has to make his own product with his two hands, sticking, changing and coordinating. To create a new product, you go back to the center. Your mind must be centered to absorb a new product.
Although Bruce and his personal art are gone, Bruce managed to pass on his knowledge to the whole world, not just his followers. He never passed on his tools, but he passed on the concept. The tools were like a boat designed to cross a river; once you get to the other side, don’t carry the boat. Maybe there can be another “Bruce Lee” someday if they can follow the example he set in training, research and application. Bruce wanted the world to know that you should find out what fits.
Credit:
Master Hawkins Cheung was a student of Grandmaster Ip Man. Sadly he passed away in February, 2019. Hawkins Cheung is widely known in the martial arts world for testing and proving his practical Wing Chun skills “on the streets” in Hong Kong, alongside Bruce Lee and Wong Shun-Leung in the 1950’s. Inside Kung-Fu was a monthly magazine in the United States, founded in December 1973. Its last issue was on April 2011.
In Chinese tradition, all parents have high expectations for their children buried deep in their hearts. Their desire is for the next generation to be highly successful as literati and / or martial artists. They also hope that their children’s success will lead them to devote themselves to their government or country. My father had this idea also. With this idea in his mind, he tried very hard to involve me in literature, arts, calligraphy or martial arts to gain experience and knowledge.
I was born in Canton China in 1948. When I was four years old, my father started teaching me Chinese calligraphy and Chinese painting. I had to write five pages of calligraphy everyday otherwise, I was not allowed meals. In addition, he tried to find a famous martial artist to be my SiFu, hoping that someday I would be somebody of worth.
Unfortunately, I grew up during the period of the Chinese Cultural Revolution which was a time of great chaos. Like other forms of art, literature and expression, learning and teaching kung fu was banned by the Chinese government. The only option available to my father was to enroll me in the government sponsored Wushu organization. I woke up at 4 in the morning to participate in programs such as Char Kuen, Hop Gar, Tai Chi, etc. This was my first experience in Martial Arts.
The 1960’s was a period of turmoil when many Chinese fled China to pursue a better life in Hong Kong. In 1962 I joined other refugees in this great escape. As an immigrant in a new environment I struggled very hard to fit in and finish my high school education.
As such I was not the best behaved teenager. I enjoyed fighting with my classmates and often found myself in trouble at school and on the street. At this time, I liked western boxing and enjoyed the ring exploits of Rocky Marciano, Joe Lewis, Sunny Liston and Cassius Clay. However, my interest in the fighting arts did not extend to Chinese Martial Arts. It seemed to me that Chinese Kung Fu emphasized too many fancy movements and was not very practical. Of course this was my immature interpretation of Martial Arts that fate would soon set straight.
In 1967 there was a big anti-British riot in Hong Kong. After the violence, Hong Kong’s society and political situation was very unstable. The economy was very depressed and making a living was extremely difficult. My father opened up business as a Chinese Dit-Dar (Bone setting & injuries) doctor. Unfortunately, where he set up his clinic happened to have a lot of rascals and bullies who harassed the local businesses and tried to collect “protection fees” from us.
My father approached me with his plan for me to learn martial arts. Association with a martial arts club meant a business was left alone, as some clubs were associated with gangsters. While not all martial arts clubs had these types of members, no one would trouble a business that had any club association just to be on the safe side. My dad’s idea was for me to learn martial arts from a famous teacher while he himself taught me Chinese medicine. This would ensure a good future for me.
I had no intention of getting involved with Chinese Martial Arts. However, I respected my father’s wish because I wanted to help him. So, in the end, at 18 years old, I reluctantly agreed to learn Chinese Kung Fu.
Searching for a SiFu
My father had a friend named Mok Dun who was involved in Chinese Martial Arts. Mr. Mok Dun was a student of SiFu Yip Man from the Restaurant workers Union school. Mr. Mok Dun would frequently mention to my father the phenomenal martial arts skills of his teacher. So my father decided that I should learn Wing Chun Kung Fu, a very healthy martial art style that seldom had connections with gangsters.
At this time SiFu Yip Man had gained such a tremendous reputation in Hong Kong as a great Wing Chun SiFu that his peers in the Chinese Martial Arts community honored him with the title of Grandmaster. Unfortunately, Grandmaster Yip Man had already retired from teaching and it looked impossible for me to learn from the Grandmaster.
Under Mr. Mok Dun’s advice and given the Grandmaster’s incredible reputation, my father decided I should study from one of the Grandmaster’s elder students. Twice, my father and I visited SiFu Leung Sheung’s school and both times he was not there. We then decided to visit SiFu Lok Yiu’s school. Even though his school was still under construction, there was something about the place and atmosphere that really appealed to my father and I.
SiFu Lok Yiu, the second disciple of the late Grandmaster Yip Man was famous for his deep knowledge, diligent approach and high criteria / standards in teaching Wing Chun.
During the late 1960’s in Hong Kong, it was still customary for a teacher to accept a student formally as a disciple. Based on a personal recommendation from his younger Kung Fu brother Mr. Mok Dun, and having spoken to my Father, SiFu Lok Yiu decided to take me as his disciple.
Following the Chinese custom, I gave SiFu Lok Yiu some traditional gifts and a red-pocket and he spoke with me privately. He saw me for the mischievous carefree youth that I was and told me that he didn’t like trouble makers. Then he challenged me to find one reason why he should teach me.
When I couldn’t answer him, he told me I had a chance to learn only because of his relationship with Mr. Mok Dun and my father. He told me that he doesn’t take trouble makers like me. SiFu Lok Yiu spoke sternly and strictly and made me promise to follow the rules of his school, work hard and stay out of trouble.
Youthful Ignorance
Even after SiFu Lok Yiu had spoken to me and accepted me as his disciple, I still had no interest in learning Wing Chun. I was only there out of respect for my dad.
I was more interested in having fun with my friends than training hard in Kung Fu. So in my ignorance and youth, I began to excuse myself from training at the school. In the afternoons, I would sneak off and have fun with my friends while I told my father I was training at SiFu’s school. This continued for some time.
One day while at a movie instead of training, I discovered my bicycle was stolen as I came out of the theatre. This caused me to get home very late. My father became suspicious and questioned me. I tried to convince him that I had spent extra time training at the school, but he knew that class was over hours ago; and it should not have taken so long a time for me to get home.
He did not believe my story and decided to call SiFu Lok Yiu to find out the truth. SiFu Lok Yiu explained that I had not been in class and that he hadn’t seen me in weeks. My father was very angry and disappointed. He then granted SiFu Lok Yiu full permission to do whatever was necessary to discipline me, and further my training in Wing Chun. Of course this meant that I would be in deep trouble when I returned to SiFu’s school. This fact did not deter my father from punishing me that night as well.
Cheating myself
When I returned to school the next day, SiFu Lok Yiu was extremely strict with me. I shamefully remembered my promise when he accepted me as his disciple. He said, “Kong Jai (Little Kong), you’re having fun, enjoying yourself, but you’re actually cheating yourself because you’re not doing anything worthwhile with your time. Whenever you work hard, that’s when you’re helping yourself. Yes, you fooled both me and your father, but in reality you’ve cheated yourself.”
SiFu continued to lecture me and gave me my first glimpse into the philosophy of Chinese Martial Arts. It would be many years before I truly understood what he shared with me. He said, “Martial arts cultivates your confidence and allows you to develop a spirit of perseverance so that you can accomplish worthy things in your life.” He also emphasized that martial artists should maintain good conduct and are obligated to maintain a high moral standard.
He asked me to contemplate what I have accomplished in my lifetime and told me that he had the full authority of my father to do whatever was necessary to shape me.
As punishment, I was ordered to practice in the corner of the room by myself. Here I would sit in the horse and practice only the first part of Sil Lim Tau for hours. SiFu was now very strict with me, and I was taught very slowly and meticulously.
While all my other Kung Fu brethren were taught new techniques, I was still doing basics. When mistakes were made, SiFu would make certain that I would not repeat the same ones again. For example, whenever there was a mistake with my horse, he would correct me and make me stand in the corrected horse for an hour. If I repeated the same mistake, I would have to stand in the corrected position for two hours. This type of training was grueling and long, but highly effective in building a solid foundation in Wing Chun.
Seeing the light
One day, after about nine months had passed, SiFu Lok Yiu made me do sticky hands with the other students. All of my Kung Fu brothers beat me up badly, even the junior students. All the other students were learning new things while I was left behind.
The time I spent at the school doing the basics allowed me time to reflect and see how respected SiFu Lok Yiu was by his students and members of the community. People only had positive things to say about him. His students would return to the school with stories of winning the sparring matches they had been in. These stories fascinated me. In addition, the newfound popularity of Bruce Lee and the fact that he was part of our Wing Chun family made him like an Idol to us. All of this contributed to my growing interest in Wing Chun.
It was then that that realization dawned on me. As my fellow classmates were working hard to learn and progress, I was fooling around, getting punished and therefore denied the chance to progress with them. I realized what a great lesson SiFu Lok Yiu was teaching me. He was punishing me for being disrespectful and ignorant, and out of this punishment I saw that Chinese Martial Arts was really something special. It was not just the theory of fighting, but a philosophy based on discipline and dedication.
I realized that I had a good teacher in a great Martial Art system. Now I had a chance to change my ways. I became eager and sincere. I started to do things without being asked, out of appreciation and my newfound sense of pride and work ethic.
A new beginning
I decided to learn Wing Chun by spending more time and effort to work hard and diligently. SiFu Lok Yiu continued to make me do long arduous drills, but now I was willing to work hard, and trained in earnest.
SiFu made me train for months on just defense while others would attack me and I was not allowed to attack back. Then I trained for months on offense without being allowed to actually hit my opponent. This taught me control. I used to be the one that had always been beaten badly in Chi Sau training. However, I made my decision and told myself that in one year, I would defeat everyone in Chi Sau training.
I trained hard every day for at least 5 to 6 hours. Sometimes I would even sleep on the wooden benches at the school using my kung fu shoes and clothes as a pillow. I was determined to work as hard as I could to achieve my goal.
Many of my Kung Fu brothers were really instrumental with my training. There were three elder students in particular with whom I trained – Poon Tung, Lee Wah Chek and Chung Kwok Wing. There were also three senior students, Kong Keung, Kwan Keung and Lo Chi Lai, who were already teaching elsewhere but came to SiFu Lok Yiu’s school occasionally to help me practice. Another was Pang Kam Fat, a high ranking police detective. He was a student of Grandmaster Yip Man, and one of Bruce Lee’s classmates in the early 1950’s. I am truly grateful to all of these people for their patience and guidance.
After two and a half years of training, my foundation was very strong and SiFu made me his assistant instructor. I helped him teach wherever he needed me to. His main school was located in Kowloon, on the eighth floor of 659 Shanghai Street. SiFu also had two other branch schools, one of which was at my home in Kowloon City on the first floor of 50 Nga Tsin Wai road. (This has since been donated to Grandmaster Yip Man’s eldest son Yip Chun, for the Yip Man Wing Chun Martial Arts Association Ltd. Headquarters). The other branch school was located in Wanchai, Hong Kong.
Deeper Understanding
SiFu Lok Yiu’s opinion of me improved as time went by. One day, he took me aside to give me a demonstration. He sat in his horse and raised one leg with the knee close to his chest as if about to kick and said, “Try and move my leg.” So I grabbed his leg and pulled but I could not move it. I tried to push his leg but it still would not budge. I used my entire body weight and full power but still I could not move him. His horse was like a rock. I was truly amazed. I realized that SiFu really had something special in his martial arts training. I also understood his lesson; I had a long journey ahead of me.
SiFu Lok Yiu was my SiFu who gave me my first understandings of Wing Chun. He taught me the “a-b-c’s” of our style. His severe criteria and hard working ethics allowed me to gain the fundamental understanding of Wing Chun theory and methods. He gave me a very solid foundation and legitimate reasons for why we have to learn Wing Chun.
SiFu opened my eyes to another world. This new found understanding and insight drove me to practice harder than I’ve ever practiced before. As a result I was enamored and fascinated with the Wing Chun system.
Traditionally it is the duty of a student to show his respect and appreciation for his SiFu for what is being taught. One-way I fulfilled my obligation was to clean the school before and after practice. I would clean and shine the windows, polish the mirrors, clean the bathroom, empty and disinfect the spittoons and mop the floor.
Meeting Grandmaster Yip Man
Often, I would stay after classes had ended to clean up. At this period of his life, Grandmaster Yip Man was retired and spent some evenings playing Mah-Jong with some of his students at SiFu Lok Yiu’s school after classes had ended.
Sometimes the Grandmaster would ask me to run out and buy him some food. One terribly rainy night, after I had finished cleaning and was practicing alone, no one showed up to play except Grandmaster Yip Man. I remember very clearly that he kept pacing around while I was practicing. After some time, he called me over by my nickname, Kong Jai.
“Kong Jai show me what you’ve learned!” At first I was hesitant, but I played the First Form. “Ah, very good,” he told me and invited me to do some sticky hand. Later on, the guests gradually started to show up, and he said, “All right. Pretty good. Keep practicing hard.”
An unexpected offer
Most of the time, Grandmaster Yip Man’s students and their relatives would get together to socialize or play Mah-Jong. Among the attendants were Wong Shun Leung and his wife; Tong Jo Che; Lee Wai Che; Wong Che Ming; Tam Lai and Ko Sang and Ho Kam Ming. On certain occasions Poon Tung and his wife and Lau Wing also show up for the party gathering. SiFu Lok Yiu would normally go out with his friend Mr. Yee Wing to the teahouse or to some other form of entertainment.
On another occasion, Grandmaster Yip Man called me over again to see how my Wing Chun was progressing while he was waiting for other guests to show up. After some chi sau and lop sau, he told me, “Hmm, your foundation is pretty good…” Then he asked me, “Kong-jai, why do you want to learn Wing Chun?” I told him that I wanted to learn something practical that I could use to defend myself in case of a dangerous situation. I also told him that I felt Wing Chun was a good style, and that it fitted me, and I was crazy about it.
Grandmaster Yip Man told me, “I like you. You are honest, you work hard and you did not tell me that you wanted to learn Wing Chun for some other reason besides self defense. If you really want to learn Wing Chun, come see me tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. at Hoon Lin Restaurant (tea house).”
I was so excited and felt it was a great fortune that I had a chance to learn directly from Grandmaster Yip Man, the one who made Wing Chun famous, and the one who held all the power and authority in the Wing Chun Style. This was an unimaginable opportunity.
It was that very morning that Grandmaster Yip Man offered to take me as his student. I was both delighted and nervous. This was such an honor. However, I told Grandmaster Yip Man that I didn’t want to be disrespectful to my SiFu Lok Yiu.
The Grandmaster told me that I shouldn’t feel bad because Lok Yiu was his student. He said that everything that SiFu Lok Yiu taught came from him. He told me that because he is the leader of the Wing Chun family in Hong Kong, he has the right to choose me as his private student.
However, the other problem was that I was unsure how I was going to afford lessons with the Grandmaster. I had heard that he only teaches privately at a high cost. I told him that I needed a little time to think about it. In my heart I didn’t think I would be able to accept this generous offer.
My kung fu brother’s council
A few days later, while meeting up with my Kung Fu brother Poon Tung, I mentioned my encounter with our Grandmaster. After I told him everything, he grimaced and slapped me on the side of my head and exclaimed, “Idiot! There are so many people lining up, offering large sums of money, begging to be taught by him… He comes and offers to teach you, and you tell him that you’ll think about it!?!?”
I felt like a complete fool. Poon Tung took me to see my father right away and told him about my encounter with the Grandmaster. My father, excited and eager for me to take this opportunity offered to support me so that I can continue my Wing Chun training with the Grandmaster.
My Sifu Lok Yiu is a man of dignity, of strict, severe and demanding work ethics. He diligently built his students’ foundation and basic understanding. His Sifu, Yip Man recognized all of this. Sifu Yip Man mentioned to me with pride that, “Sifu Lok Yiu’s insight of Wing Chun theory and sticky hands surpasses even my own. Lok Yiu is totally outstanding.”
Sifu Yip Man’s advice to approach Wing Chun
The first lesson with my Sifu Yip Man is memorable. He wanted to review everything I learned so that he can correct me. He started from the beginning, the First Form, Sil Lim Tau.
I started to measure my horse by turning out my toes at 45 degrees, once, twice, three times, then four times. “Kong Jai, Stop. Wait a minute. Let me explain. Yes, normally measuring the width of the stance like that is correct, but how about if you’re born with small feet; or you’re born with longer feet. Are you going to use the same method to find the proper width?”
Sifu explained that the correct horse width should roughly be a little wider than the shoulders and described the purpose behind the horse and why we train it just so. Then I understood the idea that even though you’re doing a form, you have to adjust the movements to fit your own body structure.
Continuing with the Form, I did the introductory hand movement that concludes with Tai-sau (holding the two elbows in front of the body and lifting the two elbows upwards straight). I recalled that some Wing Chun schools performed this portion differently by turning the hands in a circle. So I asked Sifu why there is a difference.
He told me every movement in the Sil Lim Tau is a technique and each movement has a meaning to it. He said that you can’t change the movement and still hold true to the meaning behind. Then Sifu showed me the application for the two hand movements I performed and he said, “Think about it your self. Which one is correct and makes more sense.”
In this open manner we kept on training. Nearing the end of the class, Sifu suddenly asked me a very interesting question. “Am I famous? Do you think you can learn something from a famous Sifu?”
I thought of his famous student Bruce Lee and replied, “Of course you are famous! I consider I can definitely learn something from you!”
He then explained to me that even though I consider him famous it doesn’t mean that I can learn something worthwhile from him.
He gave me a scenario. Suppose our founder Yim Wing Chun comes alive to teach you and it turns out what you learn is not practical for use in a real fight. How about someone who is nobody but he can show you some technique – Wing Chun technique that really works in a fight. What do you think? Why do you want to learn from a famous Sifu?
Sifu told me not to blindly believe everything he says. He told me to do my own research using my common sense with his teachings as a guideline. After all, he would tease me, “Kong Jai, how do you know I’m not cheating you?”
He concluded the lesson by saying, “I’m not telling you not to respect me or to question my knowledge. Of course you have to respect the Sifu. I want you to use your common sense. Accept what I say, research it. Test it. Don’t mystify the art. If you can’t see it, and if you can’t feel it, then how do you know it is correct and practical? This is the only way to understand.”
Wing Chun can only be earned
Sifu Yip Man’s method of teaching was completely different from anything I had ever experienced. He was always challenging me intellectually with Wing Chun theory and philosophy. He gave me new ideas and different approaches and was always making me think about what I was doing.
For instance, Sifu had showed me in detail the pull and punch chasing punch (chain punching), a technique which a lot of people would consider a trademark of Wing Chun fighting. He had explained the physics behind this technique and I felt the power when I practiced it. I really liked it, I felt confident using it, and considered it to be very effective. He asked me if I thought this technique was effective. And I replied, “Of course!”
In his typical manner of teaching, he said, “Now that you understand how to perform the technique properly, I want to show you how this technique doesn’t work.” I was startled and confused by what he could’ve meant.
He asked me to use the technique against him. When I did, he countered it easily. “Sifu, what happened? ” I was more confused. He said, “Kong Jai, no technique is a perfect technique. Even if you work diligently at it there are still many things to consider such as speed, power, timing, positioning and range. I want you to really think about this after the lesson.”
As I was leaving, I tried to discuss what happened with Sifu again, but unexpectedly, I got a lecture. “I am your Sifu. I have a responsibility to teach you. But I don’t have to baby you. If I keep answering all your questions you’ll always rely on me. Can you find a way to answer these questions yourself? Tell me! How old am I? Do you expect in your whole life you can keep coming to Sifu for answers? Do your research! Don’t build a habit of relying on other people, even Sifu. You will never gain understanding without figuring it out for yourself. Yes, I can teach you what I know. I can give you my experiences and ideas. But you won’t really get Wing Chun, unless you figure a way to earn it yourself.”
Martial Arts experiments
I spent a lot of time with Sifu Yip Man. I was lucky enough to have a flexible job at the Hong Kong airport which allowed me to workout under my Sifu’s tutelage. As a result I was gaining an even better picture of Wing Chun than what I had before. Whenever I had spare time I would accompany Sifu on adventures around Hong Kong. It was during these precious times that Sifu passed down his knowledge and philosophy to me.
Remembering my lecture, I followed my Sifu’s advice and performed my own research and experiments using his teaching as my guide. I had many close friends in different Martial Art styles and we would get together and spar. I had sparring matches with them as often as we could arrange. From these experiences, I would analyze what works and what doesn’t work. When I couldn’t figure out something I would ask my Sifu. As I was progressing in my understanding, so were my friends in their understanding of martial arts. After all, they had their Sifu’s advice also.
After about two years or so, it came to a point that my Wing Chun wasn’t working properly for me. I was sometimes getting beat up. You see, during these later free sparring matches, I had the insight of how I was being attacked. I knew what I did wrong and why I was defeated. But, no matter how I tried, I couldn’t overcome my opponents. There would come a point during the sparring sessions, that attacks would come to me and I had all the ideas of how to counter them BUT my body just wouldn’t do what I wanted it to do! Then I understood that there was something I was missing in my Wing Chun training.
I practiced and practiced and kept trying, but still I couldn’t figure out how to accomplish my goal. Finally, I went to my Sifu Yip Man and told him about my research and experiences. I told him I felt something was missing. He listened to me and smiled in his special way and said, “Ha! Very good! Now you know.”
He told me, “Yes. Basically you learned everything from me – confidence, technique, power, understanding… You have that. But, remember what I told you? Besides these elements we have to train timing, speed, endurance, flexibility, reflex, etc… Without all these important training, no matter how hard you train, you will only have a shell of the art. It only looks like Wing Chun but it has no substance. Let me tell you honestly. I am 70 years old now. Due to my physical condition and because of my age, I cannot show you how to train these things… But, I have 5 private disciples who trained everything in Wing Chun. They have the power and skill (Gung lek), to show you so you will get it. Do you want to learn?”
He continued to tell me about the training involved, “That kind of training is really tough. Are you sure you want to do it? Do you think you can take the pressure? Are you willing to make the sacrifice? I want you to think about it for a few days. Consider what I said. Then tell me your decision. But, don’t waste my time.”
One day, I told Sifu of my growing desire to travel around the world and maybe settle down in America. I also told him I didn’t make my decision yet but I would let him know soon. This was an important commitment and I wanted to be sure it was what I wanted. I didn’t want to start training and then quit. That would be disappointing to Sifu.
A few days later, Sifu Yip Man asked me what my decision was. I told him that I already committed to travel but I will dedicate myself to train when I return to Hong Kong. He told me the names of his 5 private disciples and told me when I returned from my trip he will introduce me to them.
Sifu could sense my pride in Wing Chun and reminded me that I still had a lot more training to complete the whole system. He warned me that even though I have some talent, I should continue to practice even harder. Ignore your art for one day and it will forget you for two.
My Sifu Yip Man is a man of wisdom and great knowledge, especially in Martial Art. He considered Wing Chun to be his greatest treasure and like any man with a valuable treasure, he guarded it very well; choosing only to give it to the certain people for his own private reasons. My Sifu Yip Man never sold his Art.
I am sincerely grateful to my Sifu Yip Man for sharing his Wing Chun knowledge with me.
Farewell to SiFu Yip Man (惜別恩師)
Some events in your life you will never forget, nostalgic details that reveal themselves to you over time. I was at a cross road in my life deciding whether to move to the United States. I foolishly decided to move to America and before leaving, SiFu Yip Man wanted to show me something, and to have a talk with me. When I arrived at SiFu’s home, he showed me a pair of Baht Jahm Doh 八斬刀 that he had made. He explained to me the training necessary to fight with them and the importance of the details of the design of the double knives. One of his students owned a Chinese Weaponry shop and SiFu said that when I returned from my trip, he would forge a set of the double knives for me made specifically to my body measurements.
After we spoke for a long time, he gave me his copy of Bruce Lee’s 李小龍 first book. SiFu explained to me with great pride that Bruce Lee had dedicated that first edition copy to him. He was so proud of having had such a diligent student such as Bruce Lee and then SiFu gave the book to me. In retrospect, I felt he gave it to me to inspire me to continue my training. After he gave me the book, he asked, “Kong Jai, how long do you plan to stay overseas for your vacation? Somebody told me that you will be going to the United States for good. I hope not, because we don’t have too much time to see each other. My cancer is closing in on me and I worried I won’t have too many days left to live.” To hear him say such sad and heart felt words made my heart ache. I didn’t know what to tell SiFu, because in fact, I had planned to stay in the United States permanently if I could get legal residence status. However, I told him I would be back soon. SiFu then told me due to his age and illness, he could not teach me as well as he wanted and instead he would introduce me to his 5 private disciples. These private disciples had learned almost every thing from SiFu, and they would help to continue my training. Only years later, with the maturity and wisdom that comes only from life experiences, did I understand that SiFu didn’t really want me to leave at that time.
Reasons for leaving 離港因由
I wanted to leave because I was unsure of Hong Kong’s future. The Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China, Mr. Chow Eng Lai 周恩來總理, visited Hong Kong after an Asian tour and I was a member of the greeting group for Jardines Airways at the Kai Tak Airport. He told the public that China will take over Hong Kong after the British leave in 1997. 回歸祖國 The British had only rented the island from the Ching Dynasty 清朝 for 99 years. I was worried about the future because of our family’s brutal suffering during the cultural Revolution in China 文化大革命運動. I recalled how hard we struggled to escape the madness. I remembered how my younger brothers swam to freedom after training for 3 years in heavy currents with rocks tied to their bodies. They swam in the wide ocean for days and the endured the open seas and threats of shark bites. My mother and my older sister were convicted as fugitives from the Great Escape, 香港大逃亡 after they failed and were caught by the Hong Kong Boundary police. They were escorted back to China for free labor and served the Masses. My family, especially my father, suffered the Class Struggle, separation of family, and lost of my grandmother during those years. It was like we were living through the Holocaust 人間地嶽. Frankly, I had no intention to live in a place under the communist rules so I planned to leave Hong Kong and hoped some day I would build my future in a better place somewhere in this world. In my mind, I planned to enroll into college for my further education in Engineering Design or Space Study. This was my childhood dream. With only a high school education and with all of those years of working in the airlines, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t see myself progressing further than a common job. I felt, if I wanted to be somebody outstanding in my lifetime, I would have to go back to college and earn the knowledge to fulfill this dream. This change was a important decision for me.
The Adventure trip begins 尋夢異鄉
I had arrived in London via a British Airways (they called it BOAC at that time) jet. I spent a week in London with friends whom I used to play soccer with when I was younger. I had been the soccer team’s doctor (specializing in Chinese bone setting) 正骨跌打傷科隊醫. Our team, the Sic Ying Athletic Club 息影體育會, had traveled together to Taiwan for the President’s Longevity Cup tournament 總統萬壽杯 and won first prize. It had been many years since we had seen each other so we had a great time in our London reunion. For some reason, I felt England was not a place for me to stay for good, so I continued my trip to the land of dreams, the United States of America. I traveled around all the major cities: San Francisco, Los Angles, Boston, finally stopping in the Big Apple, New York. My friends told me that they could get me a job that would help to support me through college. If everything worked out, I would eventually obtain residency and stay in America. I had actually planned on staying in Los Angles for college and had already enrolled at Woodbury College in downtown Los Angles. However, the problem was, if I studied full time I wouldn’t have time to work. My friends, Monica and David, called me from New York City and told me they had gotten me a job in a Chinese restaurant as a trainee waiter. But if I took the job, I would have to move to New York and I might not have enough time for schooling. As a result of my travels to numerous cities and colleges, my funds were slowly depleting and my vacation was soon coming to an end. I had left my airline job in Hong Kong for too long and would not be able to get my old job back. I was in a tough predicament, and as a young man, it was difficult for me to admit that I made an bad decision. I made some bad choices along the way and I was too embarrassed to face my family, friends and colleagues. So, with a young man’s outlook and determination, I decided that I was going to start an uncharted new life in the United States of America.
Unexpected downs of life 起落無常
I had barely finished my high school education, and had been extremely lucky to have a job with the Airlines. Unfortunately, I was too ignorant to realize this at that time, and had an over-inflated opinion of myself. 目空一切 自以為是 For me, everything had seemed so easy to acquire (including the chance to learn from SiFu Yip Man). 得來容易不懂珍惜 Now I was in America starting a new life and things weren’t going quite as easily as I was accustomed to. The United States government changed their immigration laws and I couldn’t get residence status right away. I was lost, and sought advice from my friends who all advised and persuaded me to be patient and stay a while longer in the US in order to obtain residency later.
Maybe this was my fate, to experience the ups and downs of life. My prospects for a decent jobs weren’t very good because of my legal status, forcing me to survive off hard-working, menial jobs from within the Chinese communities. My jobs consisted of bussing tables, cleaning floors, throwing away trash and/or washing dishes. Waitering was considered the best job that I could get. While I was working these petty jobs, I always had to keep an eye out for Immigration Officers. One frigid winter I was working for a Chinese restaurant in uptown Manhattan. One day during the busiest hour of lunch, Immigration Officers raided the restaurant. As soon as I heard the warning, I slipped out of the side door and ran as fast and far as I could. I left my winter gear in the restaurant and the freezing cold of winter was stinging my skin. Of course that was the last day of my waiter job and the beginning of another miserable period in my life. My prosperity and good luck had been reversed in this new land. I was so disheartened. Was this what my future was to be like in the USA? I could not accept this and was determined not to give up.
Episode in New York 美國遭遇
It was hard for me to acquire a decent job that I liked due to my immigration status so I had to take any kind of occupation that I could to earn a living. It was hard to find a steady job and afford a good place to live. Eventually I met my uncle Mr. Hung Chu Lee 李洪柱 in the Prospect Park area of Brooklyn. He offered his apartment upstairs for me and some of my friends to share at a very good price. My uncle was a visual artist in Traditional Chinese Painting and specialized in flowers and birds. 功筆花鳥國畫 He was a very kind person who assisted and tutored me in Chinese Painting so I could earn a living as an artist. My uncle and I worked together everyday and as a result, we came to know each other very well. We spoke on many subjects. One day he said, “Che Kong, you’re an unusually strong young man, you must have trained some in martial arts.” This is how we began talking about Kung Fu. He then promised to introduce me to his good friend, a famous Martial Artist from Taiwan named SiFu Pang Hop. SiFu Pang was the leader of the Ng Mui style Kung Fu. I couldn’t contain my enthusiasm! According to legend, Ng Mui was the person who taught Yim Wing Chun, the founder of the style I had studied. I was curious about the Ng Mui style and looked forward to meeting SiFu Pang Hop.師父彭俠
The day arrived when my Uncle introduced me to SiFu Pang Hop and I got to see that he really knew something valuable. His style of martial arts was completely orthodox. We became good friends and over time spoke a lot about our different approaches to Martial Arts. SiFu Pang Hop told me that he knew a guy called SiFu Duncan Leung who was teaching Wing Chun Kung Fu in Greenwich village in New York City. At the time, I had never heard of SiFu Duncan Leung so I had no idea who he was.
One day, after painting for many hours, I needed to take a break. Occasionally, when I browsed the Chinese newspapers I had seen advertisements:- “SiFu Duncan Leung teaches the Wing Chun System, Pole and double knives…personally.” Teaching Wing Chun with the Pole and Knives was usually reserved for advanced practitioners so I was very curious to see who this man was. I ended up going to SiFu Duncan Leung’s school at 3 Great Jones Street in Manhattan, but unfortunately SiFu Leung wasn’t there. I sat down to observe the class and waited. I saw the students were doing very basic and fundamental exercises for a while and eventually, one of the students, the young and polite Morris Chisome, started talking to me. He asked if I had practiced before and I told him I studied Wing Chun in the past and was a student of SiFu Yip Man. He got excited and asked if I could do some Chi Sau with him. We practiced for a while, but SiFu Duncan Leung didn’t come back so I left.
Meeting SiFu Duncan Leung 同門相遇
I had a lot of pride and arrogance in the style of Wing Chun I learned. The message in the Chinese newspaper really surprised me. Teaching Wing Chun Fighting, Pole and Double Knives … Personally—WHAT!?! 何方神聖 I wondered who was making these claims. As far as I knew, these weapons were reserved and taught only to the chosen disciples with good conduct and morality. It was absolutely not for strangers. I had to visit and find out who is this Duncan Leung Shiu Hung. This time SiFu Leung was there when I stepped into the school and he was explaining the Bong Sau position and it’s ideas to some students in his class.
After introductions, we were both curious about each other and we started to do some Sticky Hands. I began to really concentrate and was vaguely aware of some of the students watching us. Time flew by, it was time to close the school and he invited me to dinner and some more “fun” at his home, a walk-in apartment in Astoria, Queens. After dinner, we were both excited to meet a new Kung Fu brother and we wanted to learn more about each other and talk about Kung Fu. We spent hours testing each other’s skill, moving all around the apartment, knocking everything over in our maneuvering. I was really impressed with his understanding and skills. What a surprise it was to meet someone of his knowledge. In this Sticky Hand match, we were both totally controlled, doing exactly what SiFu Yip Man taught us to do in training Chi Sau. We didn’t try to hit each other by exchange, instead honestly trying to accomplish the the major ideas behind techniques, coverage, reflex, whole body coordination, and the back-and-forth movements with proper footwork, etc.,
After our Sticky Hands match, SiFu Duncan told me he hadn’t seen someone do Chi Sau like me in a long time. I felt the same way and was very happy to find a Kung Fu brother in this new land. He sincerely invited me to come back to his school for further training. He felt it was good to socialize together and have more fun training. I could tell he genuinely loved Wing Chun and was being very sincere. We started talking about many things and I told him about my immigration situation. He told me I could get sponsored for a special skills employment visa if I was the assistant instructor at his school. This seemed like a good chance to get legal residency status and so I decided to take his generous offer. This was how I first met SiFu Duncan Leung 梁紹鴻師父.
Wing Chun at 3 Great Jones Street 詠春拳館
I first came to assist my SiHing Duncan Leung because he offered me a chance to obtain legal residency through teaching at his Kung Fu School. Eventually, I started to enjoy training again and started gradually recognizing who , 何方神聖 SiFu Duncan Leung was. At that time in our teaching career, we were new to American culture, and wanted to promote the school and promote the Wing Chun style. Unfortunately, no one knew who we were. At that time, Kung Fu started to become popular, due mainly to the influence of our late SiHing Bruce Lee. The popularity of his Kung Fu movies exploded all around the world, increasing interest in Kung Fu fighting. As a result, many people came to our school for information while some came to challenge the Wing Chun Style to find out how it works. They knew that Bruce Lee 李小龍 learned Wing Chun when he was young. Everyday, there were at least 2 to 4 people kicking on the door. Some days SiFu Duncan Leung took on the challengers, and on other days I stood up for Wing Chun. It was a great opportunity for our school because our name and reputation started to grow. Many students joined and number of classes increased greatly. At the end of the day we were exhausted from teaching all the new students.
There were some very memorable encounters that I still recall to this day. I remember one gentleman who came in and said he had incredible kicks that very few Chinese martial arts could stop it. That day was SiFu Duncan’s turn and using the Wing Chun Kicking techniques, he sent the challenger a foot up into the air. Upon landing back on the ground, the challenger couldn’t move and had to rest for a long time before a couple of the students helped him go outside. A few days later, he came back to the school and asked to be a student. There were other encounters that led challengers to join our school and there were also many encounters that sparked friendships. SiFu Wong Tit Wai 黃鐵衛 of the Cantonese Wing Chun, SiFu Wan Chi Ming 溫志明 of White Crane and Hung Gar, SiFu Lee Sun Kit 李新傑 of Dragon Style, SiFu Lee Jun Fu 李振夫 of Xing Yi the Six Harmony, SiFu Chow Wai Ming 鄒偉明 of Dragon style and Ng Mui Pai (and eventual leader of Ng Mui Pai Style), The Black Dragon 黑龍 Mr Ron Van Cliff, 10th degree black belt in Goju Karate and his Sensei Frank Cruize and many, many others too numerous to list. There was no doubt that, everyone gained a newfound respect for this unknown Wing Chun fighter, SiFu Duncan Leung. Every martial art school in New York City knew that the Great Jones Wing Chun School took challenges.
One day, some of the students approached us for permission to enter a full contact All Martial Arts tournament at Madison Square Garden. SiFu Duncan agreed but told them they needed to train extremely hard to prepare for this tournament. So he began to show them a special program which included sparring, timing, stamina training, etc. This made me curious about who this SiHing of mine was. As a result of this training, I came to spar with him. He set me up well. I was sure I was going to get him, but instead I fell right into his trap and experienced a Biu Jee technique that stunned me. I knew his skill level at that moment. He was in a totally different league than me. Also, I liked the way he approached Martial Arts. His outlook and method of teaching encouraged his students to trust their common sense and experience and to not blindly believe what they’re told. He explained to students, “Who I am is not important. The important thing is if I can teach you something practical.” It was exactly what SiFu Yip Man told me. All of these things made me more determined to find out more about this Kung Fu brother, SiFu Duncan Leung.
I recalled SiFu Yip Man’s last conversation about the 5 private disciples, and called my father in Hong Kong to find out if he was able to locate them but he didn’t know where to find them. None of them were in the public eye or teaching openly at all. I remembered one, whom SiFu Yip Man gave the nickname “Hung Jai”, had the real last name of Leung. SiFu had told me that “Hung Jai” from the Tsuen Wan area learned privately with his younger brother and showed me the pair of Parker pens “Hung Jai” had given him as a gift. In those days Parker pens were very expensive, and were considered to be high class collector’s items. Could SiFu Duncan Leung be “Hung Jai” from Tsuen Wan? I felt I had to research this more before I mentioned this to SiFu Duncan Leung.
Closing of the Great Jones School 拳館解散 各奔前程
One day, Dr. John Newton and David Meadow came from Virginia to visit our school. They asked if they could observe the class and then stood very quietly watching us teach and practice with students for a whole afternoon. Afterwards, they asked to speak with SiFu Leung. They said that our school was the school they were looking for, and that they liked the strict and serious attitude of SiFu Duncan’s teaching. They had a unique offer for him, a great proposal to start a new school in Virginia. When SiFu Duncan made up his mind to move to Virginia, I felt very disappointed. I was working towards getting a visa and all of a sudden, my sponsoring company was closing down. This was very hard for me to take, however I realized I needed to move on and I wished my SiHing good fortunes in Virginia. So once again, I had to take on any kind of job to survive.
With the support of my uncle, Mr. Hung Chu Lee 李洪柱, I established the Yip Man Martial Art Association USA in the Elmhurst area of Queens. I had the approval from the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Yip Man Martial Art Association Hong Kong 葉問詠春國術總會. The authorization letter was given by the Chairman, Mr. Yip Chun 葉準 , SiFu’s son. My school opened, I could keep on teaching Wing Chun, and also keep my visa application going. All I had to do was change the employment records of business owner for my residency application. Lucky for me, things were coming along easily this time. I met a wonderful young lady and got married. Afterwards, my student Tse But Moy 梅士拔, helped me to get a job at Fairchild’s Republic in Long Island as an Aircraft mechanic. I decided to work hard and fell into a routine where I worked at Fairchild’s during the day, and in a Chinese restaurant in the evening. Eventually, my wife convinced me to close the Wing Chun school and she sponsored me for citizenship. She felt that the school was a burden on our finances and we should do our best to save for the future.
However, I never stopped thinking of Wing Chun in my heart. One day at Fairchild, I was completely exhausted and fell asleep on the work bench during my coffee break. That day there was a Halloween party at the work shop. A co-worker dressed up as a gorilla, leaned over my head while I was sleeping and screamed like an ape to wake me up. I thought I was under attack and reacted the way I had trained to under such circumstances. We all had a good laugh as his joke turned on him. A Halloween gorilla with a bloody nose! I missed training… Wing Chun was in my bones. I felt I had lost a once in a lifetime opportunity to train with a person who seemed likely be one of SiFu’s private disciples.
The SiFu’s Private Disciple 師門秘徒
One day, out of nowhere, SiFu Duncan Leung showed up at the restaurant where I worked. He had come all the way from Virginia to see me. I was extremely busy, but he insisted that we talk. He had a business proposition for me. Many people in the Tri-State area had been exposed to Chinese Kung Fu movies on Channel 5’s Drive in Movie which aired a different Kung Fu movie 功夫電影 every Saturday at 3pm. What they didn’t know was this was one of SiFu Duncan Leung’s business ventures. Along with his partner, he had been bringing these wonderful films from China to be broadcast in the States. It was a big hit. I’m sure most Martial Arts film enthusiasts would recognize them. Many classics like Master Killer, Kid with the Golden Arm, The Chinatown Kid, 5 Deadly Venoms etc, were shown in this outlet. When he approached me, he wanted a trustworthy person to handle some aspects of the business. We talked about it over dinner and I agreed to help him. From then on, every week he would come to New York and stay with me and my wife. During his stays at my home, SiFu Duncan would often show me different aspects of special Wing Chun training. This I greatly appreciated.
As the eldest son in my family to be married, Chinese tradition holds that we throw a big party, inviting all my relatives to celebrate. It was during this time I was able to return back to Hong Kong. There I asked my good old friend, SiHing Poon Tung 潘東, to find out what he could about who Duncan Leung was. He learned from his uncle, Mr. Poon Yi 潘應 (a senior sales representative in the Hong Kong Garage), that Shiu Hung Leung 梁紹鴻 (Duncan Leung ) worked for Harper Trading Co., 夏巴洋行 an automobile dealer for English Ford and BMW. 英國褔特德國寶馬 He was an outstanding salesperson who was the first and only person to sell the special Taxi licenses (the white plate license) in Hong Kong. From all the information that he collected, Poon Tung discovered that SiFu Duncan Leung was indeed Hung Jai from the Tsuen Wan area 新界荃灣. With this new information, I was eager to speak with SiFu Leung at the earliest opportunity.
I invited SiFu Leung over to my home for dinner so we could talk. I said “Duncan, the last time I was with SiFu he told me about his private disciple Hung Jai from Tsuen Wan area who learned along with his younger brother. He also showed me a pair of Parker Pens that Hung Jai gave him. Are you Hung Jai?” He didn’t say anything, just sat looking at me strangely. A week passed until on his next visit he finally told me he was indeed “Hung Jai”, the student who had given SiFu the pair of Parker Pens as a gift. I had found one of SiFu’s elusive disciples.
A Negotiation in Virginia 維州造訪 拜門求師
With my newfound knowledge, I decided to take a trip to Virginia. When I got there, I told SiFu Duncan my Wing Chun history again, this time in its entirety. I told him what SiFu Yip Man told me about the 5 private disciples and how lucky I felt to have met him. Now I could continue the training that I couldn’t complete with my SiFu. He commented, just like SiFu Yip Man had, that I needed Gung Lek training, and the practical fighting training of Wing Chun.
Later that afternoon, one of SiFu Duncan’s friend, a former Flying Tiger pilot 飛虎隊 was having a party at his house and we were invited. The Flying Tigers was a group of American fighter pilots who were based in China during WWII. At this party, I approached SiFu Duncan Leung sincerely in private and said, “SiFu Duncan, I feel a great regret that I didn’t go back to Hong Kong to see SiFu and finish my training. I had felt that my chance was gone because I hadn’t been able to locate the five disciples. Now I’ve met you and I want to continue the complete training of Wing Chun. Will you accept me as your disciple?” I was very serious. However, SiFu Leung ended the discussion for the moment and we enjoyed the party. Afterwards, he said, “Allan, we’ve known each other for many years, we’ve lived together and between us we’re like brothers. We had some difficulties between us, but we shouldn’t count those. You’ve helped me to teach all those years and you’re already teaching in the public. It is obvious you’re a disciple of SiFu and if I take you as a student, you’ll be demoting yourself by one generation. I shouldn’t take you as my student. But I promise, whatever you’re missing, I will wholeheartedly show you like a younger brother.”
I felt happy that SiFu Duncan Leung gave me this wonderful opportunity, even though he wouldn’t accept me as his disciple. In my heart, however, I consider him my SiFu. He who teaches you for one day, is like your SiFu for life.
Later on that night, SiFu Duncan convinced me to open a Wing Chun School in the New York area, so I can practice on the week days and go back to Virginia to learn under his private tutelage on the week ends.
Tough Training and keep Rolling 艱苦訓練
I had a chance to speak to my father about what happened. He told me that even though I was being treated as a Kung Fu brother, I should respect SiFu Duncan Leung as a SiFu. My father was educated in the traditions of Chinese culture and instilled these values to me since I was a child. The person that gives you knowledge for one day should be remembered and honored for a 1000 years. 得人恩典心年記 一日為師終身為父 It was my father’s way and it is also my way.
I reopened my school at 40 East Broadway in Chinatown, as SiFu Duncan suggested. This was an opportunity I didn’t want to miss. During the week, I worked at Fairchild’s in the day and taught and practiced Kung Fu at night. On Friday afternoons, my wife would pack up food and clothes, and dress up my older son Jones. He was about 2 years old at that time. Together we traveled the 8 hour journey down to Virginia as soon as I got home from work. When I got to Virginia that night, I would practice for a few hours, then we’d have a late dinner. The next day I’d have two or three more training sessions and, if time permitted, a few more on Sunday. We would drive back to NY in time for me to get a few hours sleep before I went back to work early Monday morning. This was my routine for two years.
The kind of training SiFu Duncan put me through was tough, but I kept trying hard. I was determined to keep going. I didn’t want to miss this chance again. In the classes, he told his students to really attack me. “Attack him! Go for real he’s your SiSok! see how he handles it!….”. My schedule and hard training was exhausting, but I kept going. I was so tired, I couldn’t rely on strength, or speed. Exhaustion forces you to train the technique without power, without speed. This is one method for gaining a true understanding of Wing Chun. I was consumed with all the special training methods: Pak Sau training, circle training, power training, speed training, etc. Sometimes I didn’t realize my own power. There were times I would accidentally crush a drinking glass or ceramic bowl just by lifting it. My only desire was to continue training.
During the classes, SiFu Duncan would start his students training something over and over while he kept an eye on them. In his office, he would demonstrate something new for me and tell me to go correct the students. In this manner, he would guide me and give me the opportunity to practice it with different training partners so I could truly earn the knowledge and its application. I sincerely appreciate SiFu Duncan’s kindness and generosity for showing me this way, go for real allowing me the the chance to show the students my knowledge.
After the year of the energy crisis, the US Air Force canceled most of its contracts with Fairchild. I was laid off from the company, so I had more time to train in my school and in my own time. I trained myself at least 8 hours a day and 7 days a week. Eventually the traveling back and forth from Virginia was beginning to take its toll on me, but I refused to give up. I had made up my mind. Then one day, SiFu Duncan told me he had to give up his supermarket business in Virginia Beach and wanted to set me up with it. I discussed it with my wife and eventually decided to take this opportunity. SiFu Duncan and his wife, Amy, were very helpful. They taught us the ins and out of the business, and spent all their efforts to assist whenever necessary. I had no experience in business before that. Now we were all in Virginia Beach and I was able to continue my training with SiFu without driving 8 hours to meet him. I now had even more time to train and as a result of SiFu Duncan and his wife’s generosity, my business began to flourish.
My Father’s Expectation, My SiFu’s wish 師,父期望
My father, a Chinese doctor, operated a Chinese Dit Dar clinic (A Holistic Clinic) 正骨傷科跌打醫館 that was very popular in Hong Kong. He was the kind of doctor that treated everyone, whether or not they could afford it. During periods of heavy flu outbreak he would make huge vats of curative herbal Decortion and offer it to everyone in the neighborhood for free. He really tried to help society and people in need. This was a good doctor’s Morality. 醫德 He earned the appreciation and recognition of everyone who knew him. Ever since I started learning Wing Chun Kung Fu, my father would do whatever was necessary in his power to help anyone in the Wing Chun family. Later on, when I was accepted as a disciple of the Grandmaster, my dad developed his own close relationship with SiFu Yip Man. SiFu also heard of my father’s reputation and there was genuine respect and friendship between them. Before the Grandmaster passed, he asked my father to help the Wing Chun Family in whatever way he could. Of course my father promised to do his best. After SiFu Yip Man passed away, I spoke to my dad and we agreed to donate our home at No. 11 Nga Tsin Wai Road to be the headquarters of the Yip Man Wing Chun Martial Arts Association. This was part of my father’s promise.
My dad was in good standing with most of his patients and some of the Martial Arts community in Hong Kong. Most of the martial artists would visit and socialize with my father, partly because our house was the Federation of the Yip Man Martial Arts Association. This was how he came to know that Wing Chun’s name was deteriorating after the Singapore Full Contact Martial Arts contest 星加坡擂檯大賽 in the late 70s. Still continuing to repay the Late Grandmaster, my dad felt that he should do something to promote Wing Chun Kung Fu and show that Wing Chun can stand up strong in any fighting tournament. When he found out there was going to be another full contact tournament in Hong Kong, he contacted me and SiFu Duncan Leung to represent the Yip Man Martial Art Association in the competition.
He sponsored our fighter to compete, using his connections to publicize and arrange for the fights to be televised through out Hong Kong and the Far East countries. Unfortunately, our fighter was weakened from a stomach ailment that commonly occurs among travelers and simply gave up in the last round of the finals. This was not before he knocked around his opponent a good amount. The spectators couldn’t believe what happened.
However, this was nothing compared to my father’s thorough disappointment. 大失所望 He asked us if quitting was the way to repay our Late Grandmaster? He reminded me that the spirit of Martial Arts training is to never give up. 不屈不撓 As the Leader of the Yip Man Martial Arts Association fighters, I had to take responsibility and admit my failure of negligence of our student’s health condition. It was a bitter and humiliating experience to drop the Yip Man Martial Arts Association’s reputation. We learned some important lessons.
In 1992, there was another full contact tournament in Hong Kong and we were fully determined to succeed. I was the President and SiFu Duncan Leung was the Chief Instructor of our Team, The Yip Man Martial Art Association. 葉問詠春國術總會 He told me, “Allan, get me the determined people, and we will train them hard. This time we are going to take some trophies…” During the training of these fighters, SiFu Duncan Leung revealed more and more insights into Wing Chun training. I felt that no matter how long I studied, SiFu Duncan’s knowledge was as endless as the sea. 天外有天 , 學海無涯.
This time the Yip Man Martial Art Association swept most of the trophies thanks to the knowledge and training methods of SiFu Duncan Leung and the full determination of our fighters. My father was comforted and satisfied. He felt that this was a good way to promote Wing Chun. His expectation was for the Wing Chun Family to come together and share knowledge with each other and continue to grow, just like the message in the poem the Late Grandmaster gave to his disciples. 詠春傳正統 華夏振雄風 He reminded me again “Don’t forget your SiHing, your SiFu Duncan Leung. He is your real SiFu. You must pay him his deserved honor and respect. Always.“‘點滴之恩 湧泉以報
Reuniting Wing Chun
My SiFu, Duncan Leung has taught Wing Chun Kung Fu for more than 30 years. Now he is retired from public teaching, occasionally offering only some private coaching for dedicated students. He is focused on the Chinese Import and Export business. Many people heard about his accomplishments of teaching the Law Enforcement and Military in Virginia area during the past years. While in China, some government officials in the Canton Area knew of his reputation and they were totally fascinated by SiFu’s Training Program. SiFu received an invitation to devote and help train some fighters to represent China in the future Full Contact Gung Fu (Martial Arts) tournament. In addition, Chinese Full Contact Bouts were under consideration for the next Olympic Games. Due to his busy routine, he asked me if it was possible to come help him on this mission. But because of my family and job responsibilities, it was difficult for me to commute back and forth. China is on the other side of the Earth. I was unable to assist full-time and leave my work and school behind. However, I did visit the PanYu training facilities a few times, utilizing my vacation time from my job in the airline industry, to help out however I could. It was there that SiFu Duncan had another opportunity to show me the rest of the fighting training handed down from our Late Grandmaster Yip Man. The secret Art of Wing Chun.詠春絕技
Since the late Grand Master Yip Man passed away, there was no leader in our style, the Wing Chun family has been falling apart, family members criticize each other with narrow minded attacks, claiming legitimacy as the real source or direct successor of the style. Some Wing Chun instructors claimed to be authentic, practical, genuine or what ever style of Wing Chun. However, SiFu Yip Man passed down one and only one style of Wing Chun. It is his knowledge, not “Somebody’s Wing Chun”. I feel its because too few Wing Chun practitioners are open-minded and willing to accepted each others’ ideas and bring together all approaches and really apply all the ingredients in our style. Here I would like to strongly emphasize that I have no meaning or intention to claim I am so and so style, or tried to be any way of a leader. I do believe I am not qualified at all. Our idea is to only help to promote, improve or refine Wing Chun and to promote the ideas and approaches which we considered to be suitable for us.
During many years of teaching, SiFu Duncan organized all that he has learned from SiFu Yip Man and he has created a more complete curriculum from his vast experience. He has asked me to support and help organize an association to promote the Wing Chun Kung Fu we all learned from our Late Grandmaster Yip Man. We both feel SiFu Yip Man taught the same art to all of his students and every member of our Kung Fu family has a unique perspective to this great treasure. It is our hope to avert the decline of Wing Chun by encouraging the open-minded sharing of knowledge among our family. We strongly feel this is the only way for Wing Chun to survive, undiluted, into the future.
Deepest Appreciation for My SiFus
As a result of SiFu Duncan Leung’s genius and exquisite knowledge of Wing Chun Kung Fu, he knew what I missed in my training after our Late Grandmaster Yip Man. He never implied or said, “This is the way.” Instead, he engineered special training opportunities for me to experience, to engage in and earn the knowledge myself. To prove a theory by Experiment. 通過實踐 証實理論 SiFu Duncan Leung is a virtuoso of Wing Chun Kung Fu. His Knowledge gives me enormous leverage in my Martial Art life. His way of approach to Wing Chun is Genuine and totally Applicable. As a result of his teachings he revealed the answer to the question: “What is The secret Art of Wing Chun?”. I can honestly tell the world that without SiFu Duncan Leung, I would not know how to truly apply Wing Chun Kung Fu.
One memorable day, out of the blue, SiFu Duncan presented me with the poem in Chinese calligraphy for the grand opening of my new school in Flushing, Queens. I was moved and humbled by his generosity and consideration. This was the poem our Late grandmaster gave to his own disciples. Even though he treats me as a Kung Fu brother, in my heart I feel he is my SiFu. His knowledge in Martial Arts seems endless and his approach is incredibly practical. I have and will always encourage people to learn from SiFu Duncan Leung. In my experience of martial arts, I submit he is one of the most outstanding Wing Chun Martial Artists in the world .
Some people spend a lifetime trying to find the right SiFu; fate blessed me with three. Three Masters of Wing Chun Kung Fu. SiFu Lok Yiu, 駱耀師傅 the strict and diligent teacher who taught me the a-b-c’s and inspired me to devote myself to training. Grandmaster Yip Man, 葉問師傅 the Martial Art Legend who gave me a lifetime chance to be his student and taught me unique insights and philosophy into Wing Chun and wholeheartedly shared his treasure with me. And finally, my SiFu Duncan Leung Shiu Hung 梁紹鴻師傅 who looks over me with the love of an older brother. He shared the mystery of Wing Chun Kung Fu’s secret training. I have nothing but the deepest respect and reverence for these great Masters of the Wing Chun Style. They are my SiFus .我的恩師
Credit:
Grandmaster Chu Shong Tin (徐尚田, Tsui Seung Tin) was one of the earliest disciples of Wing Chun Grandmaster Ip Man, and earned the reputation as the “King of Siu Nim Tau”. In 1964, Chu Shong Tin officially opened his own school in Hong Kong, and continued teaching full-time until he passed away at the age of 82.
Leg techniques which is also known as kicking attacks or kicking techniques, is our Chinese martial arts’ expression of the skills of the lower limbs in the art of self defense. In my early days of learning under my teacher, the late Grandmaster Yip Man, he repeatedly mentioned that since I am short in stature and size, I should emphasize the training of the lower body (the training of the lower body covers the stances, waist usage, footwork and kicking techniques). There is a saying that is ‘in order to succeed, you have to be diligent enough and also able to endure hardship’.
The late Grandmaster Yip Man’s specialty skill in Wing Chun is that of kicking techniques. This was Grandmaster Yip’s most commonly used skill in overcoming an opponent. During the time when Grandmaster Yip was the group leader of a secret investigation team in Foshan, he already had the reputation of being able to break three wooden poles with one kick.
In another incident which occurred after Grandmaster Yip had migrated to Hong Kong in 1949, there was this incident whereby a strong young ruffian was kicked out with a single leg technique. This incident happened when Hong Kong was still an undeveloped city. Grandmaster Yip was staying in an area with extremely poor living conditions. The living conditions were so terrible that there was no pipe-in water and families had to retrieve water from a public tap by the roadside. There was an incident once whereby Grandmaster Yip was standing in the queue waiting for his turn to fill his bucket with water. Suddenly there was this young muscular chap who thinking that he would use his brawn to get his way decided to cut queue. Seeing this ruffian take undue advantage of the situation Grandmaster Yip went up to him to have a word with him on his unreasonable behavior since everyone else was queuing for their turn. However the young ruffian not only did not want to listen he decided to teach Grandmaster Yip a lesson. In that split second before the ruffian’s blow could land, Grandmaster Yip had already used his Piercing Bridge hand technique to intercept the blow and simultaneously used a front kick to drop the ruffian. This incident illustrates the depth of Grandmaster Yip Man’s skill in the Wing Chun leg techniques.
Although I did not personally witnessed the above incident and only got to know it through words of mouth, during the course of Grandmaster Yip’s teaching, there was once where he demonstrated this technique to me and it left a vivid impression because of its realistic simulation. Especially memorable is Grandmaster Yip’s demonstration of Kwan Sao with a kick. Quickly as a bolt of lighting Grandmaster Yip was able to simultaneously strike with his kick and neutralize with his hands without having to extricate his kicking leg first in preparation or moving his body. Grandmaster Yip’s fierce kick came through so quickly to my stomach that I was not able to stop it yet Grandmaster’s control was so good that he only touch me gently without injuring me. Grandmaster Yip’s precise and nimble control of his kicking power enabled him to demonstrate to me this aspect of the Wing Chun skills.
Another time Grandmaster Yip was demonstrating how to use one’s leg as though it was a hand. He instructed me to extend the Tan Sao posture and then Grandmaster Yip used the Fook Gerk to place on my Tan Sao. Thereafter Grandmaster Yip with a downward retracting motion was able to pull me off-balance and caused me to bend my knees and fell to the ground. This was my personal experience of Grandmaster Yip’s maxim of using the leg as if using a hand.
Grandmaster Yip’s total confidence in the use of Wing Chun’s leg techniques can be seen in another incident. During the early days when Wing Chun was gaining a foothold in Hong Kong, it was common for other martial arts styles to come to try out the new kid on the block by holding a competition whether by invitation or direct challenge. During this time, another Chinese style wanted to test out our Wing Chun school and a competition was organized accordingly. However Grandmaster Yip would only agree to the competition readily on condition that kicking techniques could also be used. Unfortunately the competition was called off in the end for some unknown reason. Notwithstanding the cancellation of the competition, this reflected Grandmaster Yip’s confidence in Wing Chun kicking techniques.
It is only half a century later, when I got to know that fellow Wing Chun practitioners have the intention of publishing a special issue of “Ip Man’s Wing Chun – 50th Anniversary Memorial Journal” that I take this opportunity to briefly touch on the topic of Wing Chun’s leg techniques.
“Southern Fists, Northern Kicks” ?
There is a saying in Chinese martial arts that goes “Southern Fists, Northern Kicks”. This means that southern Chinese martial arts are famed for the use of the hands whereas northern Chinese martial arts are well versed in the use of the legs. Wing Chun is a southern Chinese martial arts that is well known for skillful use of the hands which alone is sufficient to overcome an opponent. From this a misunderstanding has risen that Wing Chun is lacking in kicking skills and its kicks are lacking as compared to the more well known northern Chinese styles which specializes in this area. Actually in the attack and defense skills of Wing Chun there is a special aspect and that is the kicking techniques which is used in combination with the principles of centerline and concurrent striking and defense.
Leg techniques are such a good winning edge that a boxing maxim says that the hands are like two swinging doors to open up the opponent to be destroyed with the devastating kicks. Furthermore there is a proverb that says the fists strikes 30% of the time whereas the kicks are used during the remaining 70%. The role and purpose of Wing Chun leg techniques can be classified into 3 parts :
(a) Making the weak to overcome the strong. The legs are naturally longer and also stronger than the hands. This gives an advantage to the user of kicks in overcoming an opponent. The use of kicks is especially suited for those of small stature and consequently have problem overcoming a much bigger and taller person. Wing Chun as an internal martial art uses kicks that are economical and do not go above the height of the waist. Thus, to launch kicks by shifting, jumping and leaping are not the kicking techniques of Wing Chun.
(b) Giving the opponent an unexpected attack. The Wing Chun practitioner can use his leg techniques within the distance of a single arm bridge to coordinate with the use of the two hands to strike. This requires the use of the hands to distract the opponent while adjusting the lower limbs to strike without alerting the opponent. This is in line with the famous Chinese 36 Strategies of “feint to the east, attack to the west” to steal the thunder on the opponent.
(c) Using the leg to neutralize the opponent’s leg. The Wing Chun practitioner who is using the leg techniques for attack and defense must take note that the upper and middle body zone is the province of the hands with the legs used in the lower body zone to counterattack. When using the legs one must use the legs to neutralize and concurrently in combination with the hands counterattack the opponent’s leg attacks to the lower body zone with one’s own kicks. Only then can one fulfil the requirement of the Wing Chun maxim “when you want to strike to the top (of the body zone), I strike to the bottom; when you strike to the bottom, I will strike to the top”.
Shadow-less Kicking Method
Wing Chun’s kicking attack is not only swift and speedy like lightning but precise and unpredictable. Wing Chun’s shadow-less kick is so called because it is sudden and quick as a flash of lighting; so quick that the opponent does not even have the opportunity to react to the kick. This is how the name “Mo Ying Gerk” (in Cantonese, Shadow-less Kick) came about.
The ability to execute a Wing Chun shadow-less kick is dependent on the following primary requirements :
(a) The attacking motion must be minimal and tight to be sudden and non-telegraphic, yet the reach must be wide and far to retain the power of the movement.
(b) Secondly the movements must be linked by maintaining the flexibility of the posture, stances and footwork. This can only be achieved if one is soft and relaxed.
To achieve minimal attacking motion, the following principles must be observed.
(1) No Movement of the Upper Body and Drawing Back of Leg
When one is using leg techniques the upper body must not move and the kicking leg must be able to kick out straightaway without the need to draw back first. It is common to see martial arts practitioners tilt the body when kicking. Wing Chun’s requirement is that the upper body must remain motionless.
(2) Simultaneous usage of arms and legs
Wing Chun’s leg techniques maintains that “without hands, there are no legs”. This means that if one were to unleash a kick there should be an accompanying appropriate hand technique. One should never hastily use the kicks on their own. With the accompanying use of the hands one can “feint to the east, attack to the west” to simultaneously attack and defense. Only then can one achieve victory.
(3) Leg should not exceed waist height
The kicking leg should never exceed the waist height in order to maintain a tight and close attack and keep the body balanced when attacking with a kick. The correct place to attack with the legs will be discussed below.
(4) Using the leg like a hand
Grandmaster Yip would constantly remind us during training sessions that we should use our legs as if we were using our hands. The requirement for using the hands in Wing Chun is that they must be acutely sensitive and agile, able to react at the correct moment, guarding the centerline closely, maintaining a state of natural relaxation, and sink and drop the shoulders. The elbows and shoulder are likened the knees and the kua respectively. These are the requirements for using the leg techniques in Wing Chun.
Wing Chun’s Kicking Techniques
The fundamental principle in using power in Wing Chun is to relax. One’s leg power must be natural. Before executing a kick the Wing Chun practitioner must first relax the waist and kua, sink the breath to the Dan Tian. Only then will the power reside in the waist and then extend to the knees before reaching the lower thigh and finally reaching the heel. When a kick reaches the target or is being intercepted by the opponent one should be immediately retract back the leg.
Wing Chun’s kicking method is to let the heel do the leading but within this there can be found hooking, stamping, sweeping and flicking. These are the expressions of kicking that can be found in the Wing Chun Wooden Dummy to deal with different situations. The following are the kicks found in the Wooden Dummy :
1. Kwan Sao –Side Kick (Caption 5) 2. Tan Da – Slanting Kick to the Knee 3. Tan Da – Front Kick 4. Chuen Kiu – Front Kick 5. Kwan Sao – Trampling Kick 6. Pak Sao – Detaining Kick 7. Kwan Sao – Low Side Kick 8. Pak Sao –Slanting Kick to the Knee 9. Gaun Sao – Sweeping Kick (Caption 6) 10. Jut Sao – Front Kick (Caption 7) 11. Tan Da – Low Front Kick 12. Pak/Tan – Slanting Kick (Caption 8) 13. Lap Da – Slanting Kick (Caption 9)
The main focus of the attacking leg is the body’s middle and lower zone. The middle zone includes Dan Tian, tail bone, groin, floating ribs and solar plexus. The bottom zone includes upper inner thighs, knees, ankles, instep, calves and shins. Appended below is classification table for Wing Chun leg techniques.
Kicking Technique
Kicking Method
Kicking Target
Stomp – using the heel to thrust
Kwan Sao – Side Kick Kwan Sao – Low Side Kick
Dan Tian, ribs, groin, knees
Tan Da – Slanting Kick Pak Sao – Slanting Kick to Knee
Knees
Tan Da – Front Kick Pak/Tan – Slanting Kick
Solar plexus, Dan Tian, groin
Chuen Kiu – Front Kick Jut Sao – Front Kick Lap Da – Slanting Kick
Dan Tian, groin, solar plexus
Tan Da – Low Front Kick
Knees, calves
Hook – using the foot to unbalance and cause the opponent to fall
Pak Da – Detaining Kick
Ankle
Trample – using the entire foot or the bottom of the foot to forcefully stomp the opponent
Kwan Sao – Trampling Kick
Shins, lower thigh, upper inner thigh
Sweep – using the shin to kick the opponent’s lower body
Gaun Sao – Sweeping Kick
Calves, ankle
Hook – using the sole or tip to kick the opponent’s groin or tailbone
Tan Da – Front Kick Pak/Tan – Slanting Kick
Groin, tailbone
The use of leg to neutralize a kick involves Bong Gerk, Fook Gerk and Jing Gerk.
Essentials of Leg Training
When using legs on the opponent, it is very important to be fast and agile. It is because there is a delay between the time the kicking foot is lifted off the ground to kick and placing it back on to the ground again. And this momentary delay also affects the body’s ability to move fast. If this is the case, leg attacks not only cannot hurt the opponents but also give the opponent a chance to counter-attack. Before trying to attempting to use kicking, one should train the legs first. Before training the leg, one should train footwork first. The training of footwork is beyond the scope of this article. If there is an opportunity, I will touch the topic on footwork in another article. One should strive to achieve kicks which are flexible and supple.
It is because when one is slow in using kicks to attack than it will be difficult to overcome the opponent. It is only when one has attained the stage of supple and flexibility should one try to achieve a high degree of accuracy. Only when one has trained the footwork to be stable, able to control the facing direction and distribution of weight placement between the legs smoothly, is one able to kick swiftly. Otherwise one will be slow and clumsy.
The Chum Kiu form is used to train the placement of the body weight of the Side Stance (Pien Sun Ma) and Frontal Stance (Ching Sun Ma) to be entirely on the rear leg. The front leg should just lightly contact the ground. This trains the stance and footwork to be stable, which is the fundamental requirement when learning to kick.
Wing Chun’s leg techniques has no somersault, leaping or jumping kicks. Kicks are aimed only at the middle or lower body zone. When training Wing Chun kicks there is no need to follow the methods of northern style kicks; it is sufficient to adhere to Wing Chun’s methods which are : 1. Solo leg kicking method 2. Sticking leg (Chi Gerk) 3. Kicking Dummy
(1) Solo leg kicking method
All Wing Chun practitioners who first take up kicking must learn to kick smoothly. This requires numerous repetitions. Without this hard work, the Wing Chun practitioner will not be able to generate power. Different styles have different kicking practices. The following are Wing Chun’s solo kicking practice methods : a) Using the right leg as your center of gravity, stand upright and have the right hand extended in the Biu Jee Sao posture. b) Then have the left leg face forward and execute a front kick. Kick to the extreme extension of the kicking leg to generate power so that upon conclusion of the kick, the kicking leg will automatically retract back to the original position. Thereafter the retracting leg traces a small circle before executing another front kick. c) Repeat number (b), there are no limit to the number of times one can do this. d) Continue to keep the left leg up in the air without touching the ground, turn the body and change into Kwan Sao with Wang Gerk. e) The right leg continues to stand in an upright posture while supporting the entire body’s weight. Then using the whole body as an axle, kick out the right leg once after each turn of the body. Again there are no limits to how many times one can turn in training. f) Reverse number (a) and (e) for the left and right leg. Note that while practicing kicking, the upper body has to remain still.
(2) Sticking Leg (Chi Gerk)
Sticking leg is the second level skill of training in Wing Chun’s leg techniques. There are 3 reasons for training the sticking leg. One of them is to cultivate the supporting leg balance. The second reason is to train the waist, kua and knee to become supple and smooth. Lastly, the reason for training sticking leg is to train the sensitivity of both legs and achieve the stage of using hands and legs interchangeably.
(3) Kicking Dummy
Kicking dummy is a summary of the previously listed kicking techniques in this article consolidated to form a separate dummy form from the normal 8-section Wooden Dummy form. This separate section of kicking dummy was created solely to train the kicks. The main motive is to train waist, stance, stepping, hand strike and kicking to move as one.
The use of kicking techniques has to be realized in sticking hand but because leg techniques is not easy to control its power, the potential for injuring the partner is there. In the beginning of my teaching, I was hesitant to include leg technique within the training of sticking hands. It was later through Grandmaster’s encouragement that assured me of the value of leg techniques in practical usage. The assurance from Grandmaster Yip changed my way of teaching my students.
Credit:
Chow Tze Chuen. Wing Chun Chuen Kwoon. June 2000. Grandmaster Chow Tze Chuen ( 鄒子傳) was a direct student of Wing Chun Grandmaster Ip Man. Sadly he passed away in 2017, but he left a lasting legacy to the Wing Chun community through his role as Honorary President of International Wing Chun Organisation (IWCO).
Many people are of the opinion that the Wing Chun System comprises primarily of arm movements with a few kicks. They do not realize that the Wing Chun system contains a greater variety of kicks than a large number of popular martial arts systems known for their kicking. There are two reasons for this misunderstanding. Firstly, because the hand techniques of the Wing Chun system are so efficient for self-defense, the kicks are not seen as often as the arms. Secondly, most Hong Kong Wing Chun masters do not normally teach students kicking until they have been learning for a good number of years. Students are in fact being prepared to do kicking from the day they start Wing Chun when they learn the Wing Chun stance. Mastery of the stance is an important prerequisite for kicking as it gives both balance and power.
The Importance of the Stance
While practicing kicking without first developing a solid stance will increase force in the kicking to a degree (through repetition training) full potential will not be realised. Wing Chun works on the premise that force is maximised through full use of body mass and acceleration. To achieve this Wing Chun locks the body in as one unit at the waist. If during a kick the body becomes unlocked then the full mass won’t be utilised and full potential will not be achieved. There are no short cuts: Full potential cannot be achieved without the proper stance. Using the Wing Chun hook kick as an example, a student with a poor stance will find that they lack balance and are unable to transfer their full body weight to the kick as the upper and lower halves of the body will be working out of sync. This is due to lack of coordination and muscle control. The result will be poor balance making it difficult to kick with speed as too much energy is used to keep balance, making the movement slow and clumsy and places them in a vulnerable position.
Wing Chun Kicking Characteristics
Wing Chun kicking techniques adhere to the Wing Chun principles of directness, simplicity, practicality, minimum use of brute strength and economy of movement. As with all techniques in Wing Chun, kicking keeps to the same principles as arms, kicks are fast and direct, stable and non-telegraphic, uncomplicated, practical, controlled and uncommitted, low risk and done in the most powerful way through the most efficient utilization of body weight.
Fast and Direct
All kicks are executed directly to the target with one quick movement taking the shortest time and distance. An example of this is the thrust kick to the groin area. This kick is executed by driving the knee towards the target whilst maintaining the angle in the leg from the stance. As the leg is making contact with the target it extends, the knee drives force through the heel; thus utilising the full mass and momentum of the body. Compare this kick to one involving two movements where the body is rotated and the leg is cocked first, before extending to strike. Not only does the kick take more time and distance to reach the target, but as it has been cocked the momentum of the body has also stopped; therefore the amount of force generated becomes limited to the strength of the muscles in the leg.
Stable and Non-Telegraphic
In delivering the Wing Chun kick the body is always kept upright, it does not lean forward, backward or sideways. If your stance is not stable and you lean back for example, your force is being directed away from the target; your bodyweight is travelling in a backward direction, which negates the force of the strike. If weight needs to be transferred to the supporting leg prior to the kick, then this shift will precede the kick telegraphing your intentions. As the body moves much slower than limbs do, the more body movement involved in the kick the slower the kick will be and the more telegraphic. Kicking from an upright position not only maintains balance, but also makes it very difficult for the attacker to detect your incoming kick; due to the lack of body movement. It is of utmost importance not to telegraph your intention to attack in a real fight.
Uncomplicated
As the entire Wing Chun system is geared towards realistic self-defense, any techniques that require complicated movements are excluded from the system. It is believed that the more complicated a technique, the more difficult it is to apply in a real fighting situation. This is simply because complicated techniques require several movements to complete which makes it harder and more time consuming to apply and gives the opponent a better chance of retaliating by intercepting or countering the movement.
Practical and Low Risk
Kicks requiring a lot of room to apply such as turning, flying and jumping kicks are risky and impractical to apply in real situations; as clothing or environment may restrict the application of such a kick. These kicks shorten ones reach and also expose parts of your body unnecessarily i.e., high kicks to the head, which leave your groin and midsection open to attack or take you off the ground are considered very risky. They make you vulnerable to having your legs grabbed or losing your balance. The higher the kick the more power is diminished in the kick so that even if the kick was to land it probably wouldn’t have the power to knock a person out as the body mass is utilised less effectively the higher you kick. Wing Chun would not execute kicks to the head. Instead, Wing Chun makes use of hand striking to attack an opponent’s upper body, while legs are used to attack an opponent’s lower body. This is because the body is designed with the arms nearer to the attacker’s head and legs nearer attacker’s legs therefore making it more logical and practical to attack those areas with those limbs. For this reason kicks above waist height have been removed from the Wing Chun system as they put the practitioner to unnecessary effort and risk. Low kicks executed to the attackers waist and below are harder to intercept and more powerful. The legendary Grandmaster Yip Man once said: ‘Why jump up and try to kick someone in the head when it is much quicker and safer to execute a fast direct punch to the attackers face’.
Controlled
Wing Chun kicks are designed in such a way to be used in close range and in conjunction with the arms. Therefore a properly trained Wing Chun student would not generally execute a kick without first controlling the opponent’s arms, unless the kick is used for the purpose of engaging the opponent ie bridging the gap. By controlling the attacker’s arms the Wing Chun exponent is able to control the attackers balance, latch them into the kick and increase the force of impact. Having this control of the attackers weight will reduce the chance of the opponent countering or avoiding the kick, ensuring that the kick will land.
Uncommitted
A wide swinging type of kick is like an all or nothing type of attack. If you miss your target and do not knock out your assailant you may be vulnerable in the moment before you regain balance and execute the follow up attack. Committed kicks are like wide swinging punches, once the movement is started and the target is missed the body momentum carries you through and the upswing of the whole movement must be completed before the next is initiated. You are then committed to following that course of action making it difficult to change to another movement if the strike misses the mark or is countered. In contrast all Wing Chun kicks are short and sharp, landing with a fast powerful impact. A well a well trained Wing Chun student is able to deliver a series of very powerful close range uncommitted kicks that can easily be executed one after another in rapid succession. For example: chain kicking, where a low heel kick continues into a hook kick in an efficient and economical manner. There is no room in the system for movements that cannot be part of a multiple series of kicks executed in a matter of seconds.
Utilize Body Momentum in the Most Powerful Way
Through a combination of determination force, body coordination and speed, Wing Chun students attain a high level of explosive force on impact from in their kicks, even at very close quarters. Determination force relies on total mind/body coordination and augments the power given to the explosive impact of a kick. Mental power draws force potential from all parts of the body and focuses it with great concentration and momentum to the striking area. Kicks are executed without having to rely on back swings to get momentum up. With an untrained kick for example, the top of the body swings in the opposite direction to the kicking movement which means the directional force of the kick is negated. The Wing Chun student is taught that arms and legs must be coordinated to travel in the same direction to the target. All available force is directed from the upright stance along the centerline thus maximizing body momentum. Newton’s laws of physics states that the impulse of a force is a combination of both the mass of the striking body and the change of the speed that it undergoes. That is, force is a product of mass and its acceleration. Wing Chun applies this physical principle by teaching that the whole body mass must go onto the target, accelerating from the static stance to maximum speed upon impact and beyond. In this way the greatest possible momentum is transferred into the force of the strike. Wing Chun utilises its kicks in the most economical, efficient and practical way possible by keeping the movements compact and direct at the target with full body mass behind the kick to achieve maximum result with the least effort.
Credit:
Grandmaster Jim Fung (Fung Chuen Keung 馮傳強) was a student of Chu Shong Tin, one of the earliest disciples of Wing Chun Grandmaster Ip Man. Sadly he passed away in 2007, but he left a lasting legacy to the Wing Chun community through the creation of the Wing Chun Academy in 1973.
I began training in Wing Chun Kung Fu in Hong Kong nearly forty years ago. Twenty five years ago I established a martial arts centre in Adelaide, Australia. As demand grew my school has expanded throughout Australia and the rest of the world. Since 1988 my school (International Wing Chun) has been accredited by the Australian Government to run full time courses. Students who study at this school are paid study allowances by the Government. Hundreds of students travel from all over the world to Australia to train in my school on work and study visas. Enrolment dates are at the start of the year and also mid-way through.
To date International Wing Chun Academy is the only martial arts organisation in Australia to be recognised in this way. One of the main reasons why I began training full time professional students is that through these dedicated pupils I am able to pass on the traditional and genuine Wing Chun system, also this offers an ideal opportunity for those who want a lifetime commitment to the art and be able to make a living out of ‘preaching’ this incredible art. I consider these students to be my ‘closed door’ pupils and hope that my school will continue to expand and become something of a modern day Shaolin Temple preserving and spreading the genuine art of Wing Chun.
Practicality over Visual Appeal
In over 30 years I have been exposed to nearly all styles of martial art, and have met and exchanged views with many top martial artists. I have come to the conclusion that Wing Chun differs from most styles in it’s primary emphasis on practicality. All movements that are not completely useful have been eliminated, and this is one reason why Wing Chun does not look flashy. People who are accustomed to seeing or doing the spectacular movements of other styles find that Wing Chun does not look impressive. To them it looks too simple, the movements are too small, too direct and relaxed to make a visual impression. The Wing Chun movements can not be judged by looking at them – the best way is to be on the receiving end of these deceptively innocent movements, and to feel and imagine the enormous impact the Wing Chun strikes and deflections can have.
Among all the Chinese Kung Fu, Wing Chun is spoken of as the least “beautiful” but the most effective. Contrary to popular opinion, not all styles of martial art are related to self defence. Some styles are designed and practised with an emphasis on artistic or sporting, rather than fighting aspects. Several styles and schools gear their training towards tournaments or Olympic performances, which involves completely different training than for self defence. All genuine styles that are learnt under a qualified master have benefits to offer. The martial art student should discover what they seek in a martial art by clearly analysing the movements.
Wing Chun’s Effectiveness
Wing Chun has many diverse aspects and benefits, however these do not detract from its essential emphasis on effectiveness. In general most fights start and end with hand contact, usually punching and grappling. With proper training, kicking can be very useful, for example, when dealing with someone who can easily match you with their hands. Wing Chun trains you to use the legs in combination with your arms, adding more possibility of striking and controlling the opponent. Wing Chun emphasises low kicks because we believe them to be faster, easier to apply and less risky than high kicks. It is most important to keep your balance when kicking, otherwise the opponent may be able to grab your leg, or move in and push you over.
The Wing Chun Stance in a Fight
The Wing Chun stance teaches you how to keep your balance. In training, always practise your stance, and do all kicking from the stance. In a real situation, bend the knees slightly to lower the centre of gravity and allow ease of leg movement, always apply your internal contraction to hold the upper and lower body together as one unit, and keep the back up straight. Of course, your guard must be up. If you are arguing with someone, and you feel that a fight might break out, always keep your hands up near the front of the body for speed of movement. Don’t have your hands behind your back, in pockets, or down at your sides – it takes too long to guard and strike.
Wing Chun’s Kicks
Wing Chun basic kicks include the low heel kick, stamping kick, low side kick, snap kick, medium thrusting kick and hook kick. At an advanced level students are taught leg deflection and trapping, involving sweeping, leg locking and attacks such as “Chain Kicking” – a rapid barrage of three or more powerful low kicks, delivered in under a second to targets such as the knee, groin and midsection. In many of the Wing Chun kicks, the heel is used for striking, because this will result in maximum impact to the opponent, with the minimum risk of injury to your foot.
The Wing Chun Stance and Defence Against Kicks
The stance teaches you how to kicks without telegraphing, and this makes your low kicking even harder for the opponent to stop. Most people find it hard to stop a fast, powerful low kick. When your stance develops you are taught in Wing Chun how to use your legs to guard the lower half of the body. Because the kicking movements of Wing Chun are simple, they are easy to learn and apply. This is most important in a real situation. Low kicking is practical in any type of clothing and regardless of the physical surroundings, because it is compact and direct. From the front on stance with the weight evenly distributed over both feet, either leg can be easily used for kicking.
The Effectiveness of Wing Chun Kicks
The Wing Chun kicks save time and conserve energy, and can be very powerful. They can be used to bridge the gap between you and the opponent. If someone shapes up, and is outside your striking range, a kick can be used, usually followed by striking and hand trapping. Wing Chun also trains you to use your legs at very close range. Because you learn to kick and punch at the same time, while using the other arm for deflection or trapping, you must be able to deliver a kick at punching range.
All the Wing Chun kicks are simple, direct and practical, and therefore could be used in many real self-defence situations.
Bruce Lee’s Hollywood Kicking
Through training in the same Wing Chun school in Hong Kong, I was acquainted with the late Bruce Lee. On a trip to Hong Kong in the early 1970’s I ran into him, and the conversation turned to his spectacular kicking. He re-iterated the point that it was for the movies only, and in a real fight he would always use the Wing Chun low kicks.
Credit:
Grandmaster Jim Fung (Fung Chuen Keung 馮傳強) was a student of Chu Shong Tin, one of the earliest disciples of Wing Chun Grandmaster Ip Man. Sadly he passed away in 2007, but he left a lasting legacy to the Wing Chun community through the creation of the Wing Chun Academy in 1973.
If you are interested in delving deeper into kicking within the Wing Chun system, then why not check out this other great article from Grandmaster Jim Fung "The Dynamic Kicking of the Wing Chun System" here: Link
Stance is one of the rudiments of the Wing Chun system. Often a student may spend many hours refining the fine points of a technique, only to find that this time has been wasted because their stance is incorrect. This is a little like spending hours working on the engine of a car and then discovering that your vehicle is not fitted with four wheels. When one has managed to develop a correct stance it is much easier to learn new techniques as a student is able to feel what is, or is not, working. Without a correct stance, nothing really works, and the student is operating by guesswork. In this article I will outline the fundamentals of the Wing Chun stance.
It is important that students develop a reasonable stance before learning bad habits that may take some time to correct. Often a student with a weak stance will fall into the trap of using brute strength to make a technique work. The more time they spend doing this, the harder it becomes for them to learn the movement correctly.
Too High or Too Low
The knees should be slightly bent to lower the center of balance and maintain stability. As with all Wing Chun this is a question of degree. It is not enough to simply bend the knees as much as possible. If one is too low in the stance this will cause the thighs to become tense. This means that the student will lack balance. The legs should work like shock absorbers absorbing force and transferring it to the ground. This is not possible if the thighs are tense. As well as being unbalanced a stance that is too low will lack mobility. If the stance is too high a student may also lack balance and therefore power. They may be pushed over, as they will find it difficult to absorb the incoming force. It is not realistic to give a certain angle as correct for the degree of bend at the knees. Body shape, flexibility and muscularity will vary between different people. By experimenting with raising and lowering the stance slightly students must find the correct height for their stance.
The most important thing is to keep one’s thighs as relaxed as possible. Sometimes students are under the illusion that the knees must be kept close together in order to guard against groin kicks. While holding the knees tightly together may defend against a snap kick delivered between the legs, the resulting lack of mobility will make the practitioner open to almost any other attack. Also you will find that you can be pushed over easily. It is important that the feet are facing slightly inwards. This helps to ensure that kicks are delivered through ones centerline, thereby protecting against groin attacks by striking rather than just blocking.
The Back
The back should be straight in order to transfer weight to the ground efficiently. If it is bent, force exerted on the practitioner may cause his/her stance to buckle. This principle may be illustrated with a plastic ruler. When a ruler is stood on end held straight, it can support a heavy weight. When the same amount of weight is placed on a slightly bent ruler, the structural integrity has been lost and it will collapse. Through correct training in Wing Chun a student will develop the muscles required for good posture.
People with back injuries will benefit from this as those muscles that protect the back are strengthened by the stance. Further health benefits may be found in the relaxation factor of the stance. People often carry tension in their shoulders. In the Wing Chun stance the chest is spread open and the shoulders are as relaxed as possible. This is not easy to achieve, but as students develop, they will attain deeper levels of relaxation. This physical skill of relaxing is a very useful tool for controlling stress. A student should feel relaxed and energised after training. If you find that you leave training sessions feeling uptight, chances are that you have been using strength rather than skill.
The Arms
The hands should be on the centre-line when in the guard position of the stance. The elbows should be forward from the body and the angle at the elbow should be the ultimate angle that is found in the basic Wing Chun positions. The hands must be relaxed with the fingers pointing forward. Thumbs should not stick up.
Thought Force
So far we have only spoken about the stance in terms of physical structure. This is only part of the picture. The skill of directing ones energy or ‘thought force’ forward through one’s centre-line is an integral part of the stance. It is not easy to teach. A student must learn to concentrate while remaining relaxed. Over years as one’s skill develops, a student will sense more energy flowing through their body as restrictions are eliminated and the channels for directing this energy open up. Perhaps the greatest benefit to be found in the training of the stance, is improved mental concentration. Learning to use one’s mind more efficiently is of even greater value than the ability to defend one’s self.
Credit:
Grandmaster Jim Fung (Fung Chuen Keung 馮傳強) was a student of Chu Shong Tin, one of the earliest disciples of Wing Chun Grandmaster Ip Man. Sadly he passed away in 2007, but he left a lasting legacy to the Wing Chun community through the creation of the Wing Chun Academy in 1973.
If you have found this investigation into the 'three teachings' and the interplay of Taoism and Buddhism you might like my article Taoism and Buddhism in Wing Chun. Click on the link here and start reading: Link
Recently an acquaintance gave me a copy of QiGong / KungFu Magazine, the March 1999 issue, which featured an article written by Master Ron Heimberger. My friend did not quite understand the principles that Master Heimberger was trying to elucidate. Because of my background as a private student of Yip Man, and my subsequent involvement in Wing Chun Kung Fu, he thought I might be able to throw some light on the subject. I ask the reader’s indulgence for my attempt to explain what Yip Man taught me.
Since my English is not very good, I read the article several times. I am glad that Master Heimberger is kind enough to take the time to educate the public. If all Wing Chun instructors possessed an open mind like him, amenable to reason, and were willing to go to the trouble of explaining their ideas and experiences to others, I am sure it would benefit everyone interested in the art. However, there are some parts in Master Heimberger’s article with which I do not agree. Certain points that the author makes are somewhat obscure to me, particularly his references to Jacob Bronowski and Albert Einstein. For example, Master Heimberger mentions that Bronowski — commenting on Newton’s Second Law of Motion — said that force equals mass times acceleration squared. This confuses me because, as I understand it, Newton’s Second Law states that S F = ma, which does not square acceleration.
Since Mr. Heimberger discusses speed in Wing Chun, I would like to take the liberty to share my interpretation of the principles and theories about speed based on what Sifu Yip Man taught me and on my own experience. Naturally, what I write here is filtered through my own perceptions and prejudices; I certainly do not claim to speak for the Wing Chun family, and would welcome any correction that is offered. That certainly would help me improve. It is my hope that many Wing Chun members will share their ideas with all of us, no matter who they have learned from. The experience of using the Wing Chun techniques in fighting is what counts. After all, no single fight is the same. We can always learn something new, or — win or lose — find out something from each encounter.
What makes the Wing Chun style so interesting is that one does not have to rely on physical build, but on a logical sequence of economic movements. Certainly speed is extremely important in fighting. However, no matter how hard one trains, how long one works to improve, there are always physical limitations. You can always meet someone faster than you. Some people are simply born with more talent. Wing Chun allows one the possibility of overcoming an opponent’s inherent superior speed by applying the principles of the art. Yip Man taught that in Wing Chun, there are several types of speed. If you cannot overcome your opponent with one type of speed, you can beat him with another. In other words, if you can apply the Wing Chun theory of speed, you can actually become faster. In this regard, there are four areas of concern:
(1) SPEED OF TRAVELING
This is the type of speed we normally refer to, that is, a punch or kick, a speed which speed can be calculated in feet per second. With consistent practice, one gradually improves the speed of the movement.
(2) SPEED OF DISTANCE
Wing Chun straight-line theory states simply that a straight line between two points is the shortest distance. Therefore, punching straight is shorter and quicker than a hook punch or a swing. To bring your foot with a roundhouse kick to the head covers a greater distance than a shorter and quicker punch to the head. It is the same as trying to punch to the shin; that is, it is much shorter and faster to kick to the shin. To use an analogy: if you and I both stand in front of a building and have a race to the back door and you go around the building while I go straight through the building from the front door to the back door, you may be the faster runner, but I may get there before you because I have less distance to cover.
(3) SPEED OF READINESS
From a resting standing position, when one tries to throw a heavy punch or tries to kick with power, it is typical to cock back the leg or arm before executing the movement. This not only telegraphs the move, but also wastes valuable time in the extra motion. In Wing Chun, the power is not generated just by the moving hand or leg, so there is no need to cock. One uses the other side of the body to pull back as he or she rotates to push out the punch or kick simultaneously. For example, if one is going to throw a left punch, one initiates power by pulling the right arm and shoulder back as fast as he or she can, while punching with the left hand at the same time.
(4) SPEED OF REACTION
In general, people spend most of their time practicing their techniques in their forms alone until they are very good with all the techniques, but in actual combat the application is ineffective. This is like learning to ride a bicycle by sitting in a chair moving the legs and arms simulating the bicycle experience. When that person actually tries to ride on the bicycle, he or she will surely fall. This is because the proper reflexes and feeling of balance have not been developed. Yip Man used to say if you want to learn to swim, go down to the water; don’t just move your arms and legs and think that you are a swimmer. A fight requires at least two people. You can train and fight with yourself all day long, but unless you apply the techniques with another person, you will not get very far.
Wing Chun has only three forms. After learning and understanding the first form, one trains with Chi Sau, which requires two people, and from which one develops the feeling of contact and reflex. Then there are the technique drills which also takes two people. When you work with the drills over and over, month in and month out, they become habit, second nature. When an attack comes you will react to it without thinking. Fighting happens so very fast and you may be upset, angry, unprepared or even scared. There is no time to think.
Such are the Wing Chun Theories of Speed that I learned from Yip Man.
Credit:
This is a much reprinted essay by Sifu Duncan Leung, student of Yip Man. I have attributed it to Sifu Leung himself as there is no other clear associated source.
Shafts of light jumped from the polished blades as they sliced through the air, each movement was fast, precise, and undoubtedly deadly in combat.
The face of Sifu Wong was calm and his pleasure was obvious as he became absorbed in a routine of skillful and beautifully rhythmical Wing Chun movements.
Earlier, sitting back on the lounge chatting, Wong Shun Leung had appeared placid—almost meek. But as he ran through some of the Wing Chun movements dressed in his traditional robe, he radiated strength and purpose.
Sifu Wong (Sifu means instructor) is a Master of Wing Chun – one of the many martial art disciplines. As a young man he proved himself as a formidable fighter and excelled at his Wing Chun training.
He was a disciple of the late Wing Chun grand master Yip Man and was both friend and instructor to silver screen hero Bruce Lee.
But Wing Chun is not his life. At 53, the most important thing is that everything goes well. He lives with his wife, two sons and daughter in Hong Kong.
Sifu Wong enjoys dispelling the myths that shroud martial arts – about its inherent mysticism and the reasons for learning it.
“Martial artists are not people who learn magical powers to become mystical monks like the movies portray,” he said, obviously not for the first time.
“A lot of Kung Fu styles in the past have lived off reputations of having some magical secret level that you can obtain and, unfortunately, some instructors have carried on this silly idea.”
Sifu Wong is adamant that Wing Chun is not practiced simply for its fighting skills; it is a skill based on logic and economy of being.
“Wing Chun is a scientific skill that individuals practice to discover their limitations and find peace within themselves,” he said.
“We don’t train simply for the purpose of combat. There are a lot of things to which you can apply the Wing Chun thought process – of being simple and economical in the way you move and think.”
Undoubtedly, Hollywood is largely to blame for placing the martial arts on a blazing pedestal with its portrayal of invincible warriors guided by mystical forces – immune to pain and having unlimited strength.
Sifu Wong said that although Bruce Lee’s career in the movies helped build this image, it also drew a lot of attention to martial arts.
The history of Wing Chun is clouded by legends, but it can be clearly traced from the 1940s in Hong Kong where a Chinese man named Yip Man was primarily responsible for its development and present popularity.
Yip Man came from a very wealthy family. When the communists began their rise in China he feared he would lose everything so moved to Hong Kong. He did not begin teaching Wing Chun until he was more than 50 years old and needed a job.
Sifu Wong became a student of Yip Man when he was 17. He had practiced other forms of martial arts – mostly on the streets – but turned to Wing Chun when he failed to beat the old man in a sparring match.
Sifu Wong said he had achieved a balance in his life through Wing Chun training. This would account for his calm and gentle manner – a contrast to his fighting techniques.
He said the best way to get out of a situation was without a fight, but you didn’t always know if this was possible and therefore the fighting skills were important.
Despite his fiery nature as a youth he has never fought simply for its own sake.
“After I learnt the skills of Wing Chun from Yip Man I often had the opportunity to test them,” he said. “By experimenting with my skills I could discover their limitations and how they compared with other disciplines and so improve myself.
“After a time of this experimenting I learnt that I needed to rely less on the fighting part to get that self-satisfaction and feeling of achievement.”
A feature of Wing Chun is that it does not have set ideas and techniques. “It is a lot more open to your use – it doesn’t use you,” he said.
Sifu Wong said that if the rivalries that existed between the various martial arts was a way of experimenting and testing skills, then that was good thing.
But the popular disciplines had become so well developed that fighting to learn was no longer very important.
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Transcript from a newspaper clip in The West Australian, 1988.
Many people today practice Wing Chun, Chi Sau (sticking hands). However, they only stand in the same position and they do not move their feet. In this way it is very easy to lose a lot of energy, because when your opponent is very strong and they are attacking you, you cannot move to avoid their power.
The most common way we do to avoid an opponent’s power is to change your technique such as changing from the Bong Sau to Tan Sau or the other way round. Of course, there are other techniques you can use by yourselves but because you do not move your stance, you have to use more strength. Therefore we see many people, who do Chi Sau just like they are fighting. With this kind of skill, only the stronger and bigger guy will win easily. Even if you beat up your opponent, you can also suffer injury, so this is not the best way for Chi Sau.
In many Wing Chun training sessions we will train Juen Ma (turning stance). This is about turning your feet and your body 45° by rotating on your heel. If someone tries to attack you, you should turn your body to 45° to avoid their attack. Technically it is very correct, but if somebody who is really strong attacks, turning 45° is not enough so that is why Juen Ma is very good. However, if the energy is too strong, then some more footwork is required.
Personally, I believe that in Wing Chun skills, footwork is actually the most important. Many people studying Wing Chun spend so much time on hand techniques such as Lap Sau (pulling hand), Pak Sau (slapping hand), Gau Cha Sau (crossing hand) etc, that they forget working on their footwork. Footwork is the way to bring the right position in the right place. Without good footwork, even good hand skills would not work.
If you hit someone who does not move, then it is easy. However, if he moves, you will miss him. It is the same if someone wants to hit you, you can move to avoid the attack. Therefore footwork is very important for attack and defense. I have seen so many people keep the same position in Chi Sau and only leaning back to avoid the opponent’s attack.
Actually, this is wrong because Wing Chun does not allow the body lean forward and backward. The body should be straight all the time. That will make all the energy in your body balanced. Also leaning backwards or forwards makes our backs stiff and also you will not clearly see your opponent attacking you. Even if you can block it, the opponent’s next movement will not be clear to you. That is why stepping back is the best way to defend against a strong opponent’s attack. Your back will be straight and your vision and energy will be clear, and you will be able to read you’re your opponent’s energy correctly.
For training the good footwork, we must keep our stepping in accordance with Wing Chun training and be ready anytime for Chi Sau and defend yourself. Always be aware of the distance of the width of your feet and make sure that they are the same as your shoulders width. Wing Chun stance is always shoulder width. That is the fastest and most effective footwork. When we are walking we can walk as Zen Ma (Forward Stance), with every step we walk being in the Wing Chun Stance. No matter whether we walk fast or slow when we stop, the stance should always be shoulder width. When we walk as Teu Ma (Backward Stance), the footwork is still in the Wing Chun Stance, which is shoulder width. It is the same even when we walk to the side or in a circle. Good footwork is not difficult, we only need more practice which will bring us perfection. Just always be aware of the distance of your footwork, make it a habit, then it all happens without thinking.
Actually Wing Chun skills are about using the whole body. You cannot just move one part of the body without connecting it with the rest. This means your hands, legs, body and head should be all connected and cannot be separated. For example, when we punch, we should punch with the footwork in unison with the punch. If we just punch from the arm, without using the footwork and whole body, then this will damage the body every time you punch.
You should consider how your feet move, how your waist turns, and how the body connects and how the other hand balances what the other hand does. We should not just think about the one punch only. A student sometimes will ask me why we only move the hands and not the feet in the first form, Siu Lim Tao. This is because, just like in languages, students learn the vocabulary first not the grammar and sentences.
It is in the second form, Tsum Kiu, and the third form, Biu Tzi, and the wooden dummy technique, that the whole body moves. So therefore, in Wing Chun technique, footwork is very important because it gives the correct angle for our hands and also allows clear vision and sensitivity. If you spend more time in footwork training than on the hand technique training, then this will give you a high level skill of Wing Chun.
Wing Chun philosophy is similar to our lives. We always think about yourself and how much benefit we will have if we do this or that and forget to think about other people. Actually, the other people are just like the rest of our bodies. If you can have a good relationship with the people around you, then you will be balanced with everybody and you will benefit from them and at the same time they will benefit from you as well. At the end, you will have a better life so always be friendly with the people around you instead of making enemies. This is the principle of Wing Chun.
Credit:
Grandmaster Chu Shong Tin (徐尚田, Tsui Seung Tin) was one of the earliest disciples of Wing Chun Grandmaster Ip Man, and earned the reputation as the “King of Siu Nim Tau”. In 1964, Chu Shong Tin officially opened his own school in Hong Kong, and continued teaching full-time until he passed away at the age of 82.
Wing Chun Journey 
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