First Form: Siu Nim Tao

0:04 — Opening the stance, heels together, turn your toes out as far as possible, some like to go to 180 degrees, but that is not necessary. Slightly less than 180 degrees will be fine. Then shift your weight to your toes, and move your heels outward. Your toes should now be aligned inward with your heels flared out. If you bend your knees, they should track inward to a point where if you go down far enough, they would touch. The key to the stance is that you are comfortable, and reasonably pain free. If you feel pain in your knees, ankles, etc…adjust your stance, go a bit wider/narrower, or don’t drop down so low.

0:07 — Two Punches — Make sure that your punches are traveling forward with a slight upward movement. You will know you are doing it incorrectly if you are moving circularly (the punch moves up and back down to hit the target. The Huen Sao or Circling hand at the close of each punch has several applications, but in this case, it is to strengthen the wrist. So when you perform the Huen Sao, with your palm facing up, bend your hand upward as far as possible (you should feel tension), then rotate it around until your fingers are now pointing downward, close your fist and withdraw it back to the side.

0:13 — Tan Sao, Fok Sao, Wu Sao — There are several important keys to a proper Tan Sao. First, the angle that is formed with the forearm and elbow. This angle should remain the same going forward and back, remember, it is only the elbow that moves, if the forearm moves, you have lost your structure. Second, your palm must be flat and facing up. When your palm is flat, your Tan Sao is much more structurally sound, the hand locks the block in place. When the hand is not held flat, it leaves the forearm susceptible to being moved much more easily.

The key to the fok sao is NOT the hand. The real key is the wrist. As you are examining the Fok Sao, make sure that your wrist is on your centerline, and the back of your wrist is what is guiding you forward. The angle is exactly the same as the Tan Sao, the only difference being the placement of the hand. The hand is utilized as a safeguard, to wrap (NOT GRAB) around your opponent’s arm.

Wu Sao is the final hand in this sequence. It has similar structure to the Tan Sao, except that the hand is now held vertical. Contact can be achieved either through a contact point along the arm, or on the hand itself. This hand appears to be the same as the Pak Sao, but in fact is very different. With the Pak Sao, you are slapping your opponent’s attack out of the way, but with the Wu Sao, you are actually guarding and sliding along your opponent’s arm.

0:56 – 2nd Section. As discussed in class, the first section is performed slower, and is generally thought to be for gathering energy. The second section is then the release of the gathered energy. The two downward palm strikes at the beginning of the section have several applications. Could be to block a lower leg attack, or if someone is rushing in for a tackle, palm strike the back of the neck, and they will, at the very least, fall off balance, if not completely fall to the ground. Working around to the back, you then execute a strike with the heels of the palm, which act as an attack if you are being bear hugged from behind. These two movements are key, the palm heel strike behind you, and then immediately raising your elbows. This is especially so if you are being bear hugged. The raising of the elbows will give you room to move and get yourself in a better position. That is followed up by a double low palm to the front to stop a low kick to the front (you would be looking to make contact on the knee or higher.) After this, you bring your arms up in front of you, left arm over right, both forming a 90 degree angle. Shoot (don’t swing) your arms out to the side of your body (as if your body were forming a “T”, then bring them back so that the right arm is now over the left. After this, immediately drop your elbows, so that your edges or forearm bone is facing out. Then slightly drop your arms as you rotate your hands so that your palms are facing you, and finally drop your hands to waist level, and bring your hands close to your body in an inward motion. From this low position, shoot your hands up and out, to eye level, executing what is called a BIU SAO (shooting hand). Turn your hands (huen sao) and bring back to the side

1:04 – Pak Sao to neck strike. Beginning with the left side, bring your hand to the center, execute a pak sao, moving your hand towards the shoulder, but rather than bringing your hand back to the center, immediately drop your elbow, and send your hand forward, with the attacking point on your had being the pinky side of your hand. Execute the huen sao (turning hand) and return your hand to the side of your body. Repeat on the right side.

1:10 – Tan sao, Gaan Sao, to lower side palm. Bring out your tan sao as you did in the beginning of the form. once you have reached the maximum one fist distance away from your body, stop and use your elbow as the pivot point, moving your forearm down to cover your lower center line, but DO NOT go any lower than your waist. Then execute a low side palm (your fingers should point away from your body) as if you were targeting your opponent’s ribcage. Again, perform the huen sao and close.

1:20 — Bong Sao to Tok Sao. There are two ways to execute this section. For beginners, bring out a tan sao, and then from the tan sao position, turn your elbow up into the bong sao. Otherwise, with your hands at your side, immediately bring out the bong sao. Once you have executed the bong sao, turn your elbow back down to tan sao position, and use a wrist-flick movement upward. Use the huen sao and close

1:26 – Scraping hands and punches. Drop your left hand in front of you, place your right hand just above your elbow line, and scrape downward toward the hand. Your lower hand should also be rotating as the other hand is scraping downward. This is executed three times (left, right, left). At this point, the right hand should be down, the left hand up, execute a series of three punches, left, right, left, execute a huen sao with the left hand and close.

Chum Kiu details coming! Here are a few pictures of Sifu working on our new dummy.

Siu Lim Tau

Question: When you hold the fist at the side of the body, doesn’t this promote some tension?
Master Ho: As long as it’s natural, it’s all right.

Question: If one wished to teach someone that was well built the Siu Lim Tau, how would you go about it?
Master Ho: Tell him not to use excessive tension, just do the motions–don’t force it.

Question: What’s the application for the downward Cross Hand (Sup Jee Sau) position at the beginning of the form?
Master Ho: This motion is useful for when you’re losing your balance and falling forward. If someone is kicking up whileI’m falling, this motion is useful.

Question: Could you talk about the elbow line?
Master Ho: The elbow line is close, but don’t force the position. Just bring it in as close as it’s naturally possible. Some people with larger muscles can’t bring the elbow in too far–that’s all right. Bring it in as much as you can. It really depends upon the build of the individual.

Question: There seem to be two schools of thought on the Taan Sau position. Could you comment on the true position of Taan Sau?
Master Ho: If the Taan Sau is held pointing upward, you have no control of the motion, it’s weak. If it’s held horizontally it is braced–it’s like a bridge. A Taan Sau position which points upward is wrong.

Question: After the Pak Sau, why does one bring the hand back to the center before executing the straight palm?
Master Ho: Basically, one learns one motion at a time. When you get used to the technique you can execute the palm strike from Pak Sau. Like the basic punches, you bring the punch to the center first. But once you know this, it’s not necessary–just punch out. The form teaches one step at a time. Later, one can edit the motions. At the beginning it’s important to learn the correct line.

Question: What’s the significance of going in and out in the first part of Siu Lim Tau?
Master Ho: Well, Taan Sau is executed once because it’s a strong position. Fok Sau is performed three times to allow more practice. Fok Sau develops the elbow by bringing it inward–this needs to be practiced more.

Question: After the Cross Hand position at the beginning of the form, some people come straight up while we “roll” up and out slightly. Why is this?
Master Ho: If you come straight up, when people trap you, you have no way out. If you roll from the inside out (Quan Sau) you can easily get away. This is better than coming straight up.

Question: I understand Fok Sau develops the wrist. Are there other applications?
Master Ho: The Fok Sau motion stabilizes the arm. This promotes a strong motion.

Question: What’s the proper height for Taan Sau motion?
Master Ho: The perfect position for Taan Sau is the palm flat and the forearm slightly upward. Taan Sau should be on the centerline, not too high or too low. If it’s too high it will make the shoulder muscles tight. However, if your arm is larger, it may be higher, if you have a shorter arm, it may be lower.

Question: What’s the relationship between Siu Lim Tau and the practice of mental clarity?
Master Ho: If you clear your mind when you practice it’s much better. You can concentrate on what you’re doing; nothingwill bother you.

Master Hawkins Cheung noted: “Ho Kam Ming began training when he was about 29 or 30 and therefore concentrated on theory. This is what he’s best at. He received all the best information.” Cheung questioned the listeners, “The Wing Chun style is based on what? It’s based on feeling, sensitivity. And what do I mean by sensitivity? Information. Do you have the correct information or not? Wing Chun (boxing) uses what? Unity. Earlier today stances were mentioned … We don’t fight with separate movements, we fight with unity. That’s the key. And yet, theory is very important. You can’t copy anyone … Ho Kam Ming will teach you the correct motions, theory. This is better than learning a lot of movements. If you start good, you learn good. If you start no good, you learn no good, understand?”

La primera forma del Wing Chun es, como solía decir Wong Shun Leung, el conjunto de letras que, más tarde, nos permitirán escribir palabras o expresarlas en formas siguientes.

Se trata de la expresión de la línea central como concepto base, de las manos del Wing Chun, la enunciación de un parado (caballo) básico que nos entregará la noción de la distancia correcta entre pies durante la mayor parte de nuestro entrenamiento y el combate, y técnicas concretas de uso inmediato.

La primera forma, así como todas las demás, deberá practicarse con relajación absoluta y poniendo atención en cada detalle, llevando el codo y, por ende, la muñeca y la mano a las distancias correctas respecto al cuerpo.

Resulta vital describir algunos de los errores que se cometen a menudo durante su práctica:

• La tendencia a realizarla con tensión y dureza.
• La tendencia a perder la flexión en rodillas, así como la alineación y postura de la espalda.
• La tendencia a perder la concentración en los movimientos y su precisión.

No importa cómo es que te hayan enseñado a practicarla y si ves que varía respecto a otras Siu Nim Tau que hayas visto en la internet u otro lugar, lo importante es mantener la relajación, mantener la precisión y la alineación correctas y poder tener la disposición y alconfianza de preguntar y cuestionar cada movimiento que hagas.

Tu Sifu o instructuctor debe ser capaz de contestar todas tus preguntas con lógica y amplitud. Puede ser que encuentres que no tengan una variedad de vocabulario o no sepan expresarse con claridad, pero resulta de mucho provecho abordar tus dudas con una amplitud de criterio.

Lo anterior es muy importante porque, si no hemos sido acercados a los conceptos del Wing Chun con anterioridad, la lógica detrás de tus técnicas probablemente se verá afectada y tu disposición  y confianza se verán mermadas, por ende, tu entrenamiento y aprendizaje.

El Wing Chun es un arte marcial basado en conceptos, no consta, como todos los demás artes marciales ampliamente conocidos, de una serie de técnicas que se aprenden y se aplican sin más ni más.

Por ello es que cada quien hace suyo el Wing Chun y éste termina siedo tan variado como las expresiones personales de cada practicante.

“Los artículos aquí enunciados no pretenden ser la emisión de la verdad sobre el Wing Chun, tan sólo son la expresión de mi experiencia y una ayuda humilde a quien, como yo, empezó alguna vez su práctica y carecía de alguna guía en muchos de los conceptos del mismo.”