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“If you steal the enemy’s balance, you steal his power” –Grandmaster Ip Ching
No self defense system is complete without an intrinsic understanding of the principle of balance. The Chinese have a saying, “If you steal the enemy’s balance, you steal his power.”
Without balance you will be incapable of defending yourself. How then, do we maintain balance while fighting? First, you must understand your own center of gravity. Your center of gravity is approximately two inches below your belly button, (three inches for women) and directly in the center of your body. If you could reach into your opponent’s body and grasp this center of gravity, you could control him like a small child. In Wing Chun, you draw an imaginary line from the top of the head to the feet directly through the center of the body. This line is called the core line. If you can attack the core line of your opponent, it will affect his balance in exactly the same way as attacking his center of gravity directly. Consequently, if you attack off this line, your opponent will be able to simply turn his body to dissipate the force of your attack. Attacks to the core of the body must be absorbed either by the opponent stepping back or, at a minimum, accepting all of the force of your attack.
Since you now understand the concept of center of gravity and the core line, let’s talk about your stance. Just as a house cannot stand on a sandy foundation, you can not fight without a powerful stance. To understand your stance, you must understand what your balance base looks like. Simply put, your balance base is the way that your body weight is distributed between your feet. Don’t get me wrong. Obviously, if you are lying down, your balance base would include your entire body area. However, we are talking about combat fighting; you definitely do not want to lose your mobility by lying down.
Your natural stance is about shoulder width apart. If you stand with your feet together, like dancers, you are very agile but not powerful. Standing with an extremely broad stance, like football linemen, increases power while sacrificing mobility. Therefore, your natural fighting stance will be shoulder width. The outside of your shoulders should be the same distance as the inside of your feet. Ideally, your toes will point slightly in and your hips will be pulled underneath you. You can feel this stance by just walking across the room. Walk normally across the room and stop. Now, without stepping, rotate so your hips and shoulders face to the side. Your feet should be shoulder width apart.
Take a marker or chalk and draw a box around the outside of your feet. When you step out of this rectangle, it will be the length of your feet and the width of your stance. This represents your balance base. Now cut this distance in half from either the front or the side and it will tell you how far the center of gravity must move for you to lose your balance.
A simple partner drill can be used to demonstrate this principle. Have a partner push on your core line from the front and side and feel the exact point at which you begin to lose your balance. You will find that taking a person’s balance is much easier than expected.
Generally, when fighting, you will use one of three types of stances: back, balance and side. The balance stance is where your feet are shoulder width apart as discussed previously and your hips and shoulders are aligned. This stance is powerful and mobile as it allows you to shift or step in any direction. We will discuss shifting and stepping later in another article . The back stance is the most common stance used in a fight. You place one foot in front of the other using the natural walking stride position. The weight of your body rests on your rear leg and your body leans slightly to the rear. This stance places your head and neck farthest from your opponent. Your lead leg can also now be used to defend the rear weight bearing leg. Finally, you can use a side or angled stance. This stance looks much like the back stance but is used during shifting applications and can be discussed along with footwork.
Although, these stances are ideal for fighting, they are not without strengths and weaknesses. Every stance regardless of fighting style has a strong and a weak side. The strong side of a stance directs any force applied into the feet much like the legs of a triangle. For instance, in a back stance, force applied from the front presses directly into the rear leg and then to the ground. Conversely, force from the rear of the stance presses into the front leg. However, from either side the balance base is shortened and you are easily displaced. The balance stance is similar. The weak side is to the front and the strong side is to either side. This stance, as mentioned earlier, allows for shifting quickly to either side for increased mobility. Generally, speaking, you will want to align your strong stance with your opponent’s weak stance whenever possible. Simultaneously, you will use your hand and footwork to protect your weak side from attack. Maintaining your balance provides the critical element for a strong stance and practical self defense.
About Ron Heimberger
Master Ron Heimberger was a direct disciple of Grandmaster Ip Ching, the youngest son of the famous Grandmaster Ip Man. Sadly, he passed away in 2008. He had been a Director of The Ip Ching Wing Chun Athletic Association in the USA, and Director of the Wing Chun Kung Fu Council. He has left a Wing Chun Kung Fu legacy in his written works, and through his students within the United States, South America, Europe, and the Middle East.
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