I was once asked to make a name card (like a business card, but a modern tradition in many Asian countries for introducing yourself in and out of business, and passing on your important information) for a Chinese Wing Chun Kuen teacher. He’d trained under his teacher for a dozen or so years, and after moving away, continued training and teaching for two dozen more.

I set up the card under the name “Sifu” (in Chinese and English).

Upon reviewing the draft, the gentleman requested a change. He wanted a different set of characters used, which meant “transmitter”

He said “My sifu is still alive, and so he is the sifu, I am merely a transmitter of sifu’s knowldge”.

30+ years in and he was a merely “transmitter”, yet in the West we have magazine after webpage of nascent “Masters”, “Grandmasters”, “Gods” and more…

The fifteen year old had been learning Wing Chun kuen for the last couple of years from a fellow Foshan restaurant worker. During those years, the he’d oticed that every once in a while, a slender looking old man would come to the restaurant to take tea. Sometimes, following dinner, the old man would remain behind long after the establishment closed and watch their Wing Chun kuen practice. Although the old man looked on intently and was presumably quite interested in their activities, he always sat quietly, never criticizing anything he saw. Thus, it came as quite a shock to the youth when, one day, his teacher came to him and stated that the old man was in fact a Wing Chun kuen master of highly advanced skill. His teacher went on to tell the youth that the old man had been impressed by his dedication and hard work and had offered to take over his training. The youth was uncertain how to proceed. He turned his attention first to his teacher, large and powerful and then to the old man, who was small and thin and presumably long passed his prime. The youth’s observations led him to express doubts about the old man’s abilities. Nevertheless his teacher, Cheung Bo brought him over and introduced the youth, Sum Nung, to the old man, Yuen Kay-San. They spoke for a few minutes and Sum again stated his reservations. Intrigued by the youth and sensing his potential, Yuen decided to offer him a potential solution. The old man told the youngster that he was going to place eggs inside his pockets and then they would have a match. If, during the match, the youth succeeded in breaking even one of the eggs, the old man vowed he would admit defeat and be on his way. The youth quickly agreed to the simple sounding challenge and the contest was soon underway. Sum attacked repeatedly with all the power and skill his hard work and training had given him, yet each time he felt himself cut off and unable to continue after only one or two actions. Yuen remained calm throughout and hardly seemed to be moving at all. Nevertheless, when the match ended, Sum Nung stood back, confident that he had been victorious. It took mere moments for that confidence to shatter, however, as Yuen Kay-San slowly pulled all the eggs from his pockets. None were broken, not even so much as a crack.

Wing Chun kuen is not a technical style, it is a conceptual system. More than a set combinations of pre-patterned movements, it is an ingenious index and guide to the core principles of Southern Chinese martial arts. Thus, in the Wing Chun kuen of Yuen Kay-San, as taught by grandmaster Sum Nung, it is the yiu dim (yao dian, important ideas) that are vital, since from them come the many individual applications and implications.

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It’s not uncommon in Chinese martial arts to see titles like “master” and “grandmaster” used and sometimes abused. Indeed, the internet now sometimes makes it seem like there are more masters and grandmasters today than there were students in the last generation.

But what does it really mean?

If we westernize the Si-To (teacher/student) relationship into the master/apprentice paradigm in trade and craft, and we accept the usage of the parent to grand parent progression, then sifu being master, sigung (sifu’s sifu) would be grand-master (and sijo would be ancestral master).

If we westernize to the master/slave paradigm, in language (and worse, behavior), then we need startling intervention, asap.

So, using westernized terms like master or grandmaster, while counter to the familial convention of Chinese martial arts, and more than a wee bit pretentious in common usage (like a judge calling himself “My Honor”), could be useful in an archaic or commercial marketing sense.

For most, I think sifu, sigung, etc., properly and familial-ly expressed, is probably better karma.

Is the [Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma] stance used in fighting?

First, I would preface this by saying that Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma (Trapezoid Shaped Yang Pressing Horse) is not a stance, just like Tan Sao is not a pose.

We don’t just hold out a Tan Sao and hope that someone punches us in the exact way that Tan Sao will intercept. Rather, we put out an arm, and if the opponent reacts in a way that creates Tan Sao, Tan Sao is created in that moment, and the bridge is on to the next job.

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Toby asks:  

[What about] anti-grappling?

Great question!

There are four main kinds of “anti-grappling” in Wing Chun Kuen.

The first is the basic, core mechanics of almost all Wing Chun, where the paths and positions themselves make it difficult for an opponent to initiate or counter with a joint lock or throw. Keeping the elbow down and in, for example, makes it hard to lock the elbow; keeping the weight far-loaded makes it hard to sweep the closer-leg for a takedown.

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Toby asks:

Everyone here should be aware of the surface level knowledge that is taught to a white sash student.

Traditionally, Chinese martial arts (of which Wing Chun Kuen is one) do not use “sashes” to denote student level, rank, or instructor experience. They don’t use anything.

Judo began the practice of using colored belts (initially a few, later more) to designate experience levels for competition. Philosophically, Judo was trying to move away from the older practice of Jujitsu and into a modern, sport-based structure. In martial arts, you know something or you don’t; you can use it or you can’t.

But the Judo idea quickly spread to Karate and other Japanese arts, and into Tae Kwon Do, American Kenpo, and other arts. Instructors realized that belts were a motivator for students (status being desirable) and a financial incentive for themselves (desire creating demand). White, brown, black became White, yellow, orange, blue, green, brown, black, became purples and reds and half-colors and stripes and all sorts of other ways to increase the steps, increase the motivation, and (for those who instituted belt fees, testing fees, association fees, and other surcharges) increase the profits.

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I just want to ask, what would a wing chun practioner do while being on the floor in the guard position. Would you rely on chi sao skills? to controll the opponent’s hands or would you rely on grabbing him close to you to avoid getting hit?

Wing Chun Kuen tends not to chase hands.

If you’re being blitzed, you may have to worry about immediate protection, but just like standing, if all you do is engage the hands, eventually the hands will engage your face.

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KPM asks:

I understand that Sum Nun and Yip Man weren’t on the best of terms.

I believe Sum Nung and Yip Man were mostly on good terms. Sum Nung visited HK before China closed the borders, did a brief seminar on locks and throws, and had dinner with Yip Man sifu. It’s my understanding that this is when a lot of stuff got patched up in terms of Mainland relations as well.

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I just saw the WVTAA awards and didn’t realize I was being inducted alongside Wang Kiu sifu. How terrifyingly humbling.

Wang Kiu sifu holds a special importance for me, as the simple statement he released over a decade ago (about a lot of the “history” people had been quoting was the product of Lee Man and his own (Wang Kiu was a journalist, I believe), putting together old Wuxia stories with famous figures from Foshan to try and help Wing Chun, a previously closely held and seldom taught system, get a foothold in Hong Kong.

That profound act of straight forwardness (and bravery, given the climate back then), that huge and amazingly selfless gift to succeeding generations of Wing Chun Kuen inspired me (and I’m sure many others) to look beyond the surface, the public perpetuations, and realize there was something more, and people who were there willing to talk about it. It helped motivate Complete Wing Chun and much more since.

Congratulations to Wang Kiu sifu, an amazing man, an amazing legacy.

I remember asking my sifu how he applied a certain technique so well. He said “feeling”. I asked him how he developed such good feeling. He smiled. “Practice.”

Good answer, but frustrating.

Training sometimes requires specificity — not just what to do, but specifically how to train to do it.

When a boxing coach tells a boxer to “Counter! Counter!”, what exactly is the boxer supposed to do in order to react in such a way that they a) don’t get hit, b) stay in position to counter, c) keep the timing to land a counter before the opponent can react.

When a grappling coach tells a grappler to “stay tight! stay tight!”, what specific sequence of movements and anatomical references is the grappler supposed to do to a) maintain weight and/or eliminate space/restrict movement, b) transition to a better position and/or setup an attack, c) establish the better position/finish the attack without allowing the opponent to escape (or otherwise regress the situation).

I use these as separate examples because Wing Chun, as some employ it, require both the boxer’s control of detached dynamics and the grapplers control of contact dynamics. We have to do specific things to achieve both.

So, in that why, specific measures/references and triggers can be helpful in learning application and analyzing problems during exchanges (sparring, chi sao, what have you).

Like with learning a new language (or any skill), in the beginning they may be over-obvious, stuttered, clumsy, part-remembered, or otherwise awkward, but with time and experience (and the elusive mastery we see but often seems so far off), the mechanics becomes all but invisible, the expression all but effortless; a distilled slang that hits all the necessary points in a hyper-efficient manner.

What do you think? Are you sometimes told what to do but not how to do it? Have you asked for help or figured out a way on your own? Is there any Wing Chun skill you’re looking for specific help in improving? Let us know!