The Beauty And The Beast (Of Wing Chun)

The Beauty And The Beast (Of Wing Chun)

I am always impressed by the beauty of this style, from the slow meditation of Siu Lim Tau (Little idea), the dynamic explosive energy of Chum Kiu (Bridging the gap), the contact and noise of the Muk Yan Jong Fat (Wooden Dummy Technique) to the sweeping recovery of Biu Gee (Thrusting fingers), and then of course there’s the simplicity of its weapons, one for long range and one for short range.

Now at the height of this wonderment lies Chi Sau, a game, a sparring game of skill and control, training the ability to find gaps in your partners defence while still protecting your own, and learning body mechanics, in the sense of what will bend and what will not.

Then we move onto the street side of the system, the short/sharp togetherness of defending and counter attacking at the same time.

Drills will give us a deeper understanding of what is required, and the addition of sparring will give us an awareness that helps toward having the upper hand when it comes to realizing a situation is arising.

BUT

We must be careful when crossing that bridge between the safety of a class environment and the

hard reality of the street.

In the street no one will stop you, no one will call time or shout for a partner change, in the street it is

not over until it is over.

Enjoying the beauty of the style is one thing, AND, trained with control in a classroom will allow us to better see the structure and precision of techniques such as a Tan Sau for instance, how easily the punch can be deflected from the centerline, gliding past you as you rotate in your stance and return the attack.

BUT

In the street it is different, and there MUST be room for adaptation of your movements.

In application a Tan Sau does not have a fixed position.

To start with YES, get it perfect, but when you know it, allow it to go where it needs to in order to work,

If it needs more power, use it!

If it needs a bigger scoop, scoop it!

A Tan Sau may be higher, lower, forwards or backwards, with or without a step, BUT before you start to move it all over you MUST know where you are moving it from, your basics are your default settings and must be learned, but do not let this also be your downfall.

Remember that you are defending against the bigger stronger opponent and therefore the precision of the beautiful technique will most likely be lost.

All fights are ugly.

Bruce Lee once said:

“What looks good in the movies isn’t practical for the street and what works in the street, is boring to watch.”

In my opinion, in Chi Sau you can do whatever you want providing two things:

You get away with it

It was your choice

With Wing Chun nothing is carved in stone, BUT there are certain guidelines you should follow for your safety, such as keep relaxed and do not over commit, anything else is more of a suggestion really.

It is said that you should:

‘Train hard to fight easy’

This is up to you, for me it is more important that you enjoy your training, make it fun, smile when you train, chat when you play Chi Sau, all I am saying is that you remember that there is a difference between the class and the street that you must be aware of.

Do not learn this lesson the hard way

Happy training everyone and keep safe.