Grandmaster Ip Chun 葉準 Seminar Part 4 Grandmaster Ip Chun 葉準 went on to say, “Wing Chun is no secret. You can see it and you can follow it. All you need is to practise more Chī Sáu 黐手and forms, and to think about it. Then eventually you will work out.” He then invited anyone […]

2019 Grandmaster Ip Chun 葉準 Seminar Part 3 Grandmaster Ip Chun葉準 demonstrated the Fāt Sáu 拂手 and Jyún Máh 轉馬 and then invited everyone to try it. As he walked around the room he noticed that many students’ energy was not right even though they were repeating the techniques, this is because they needed more […]

2019 Grandmaster Ip Chun 葉準 Seminar Part 2 After the Chī Sáu 黐手 Grandmaster Ip Chun 葉準 said,”I am 95 years old. At my age I am not as strong as both of them. They become tired I am alright. This is because they used energy while I did not. If I tried to use […]

Laaht Sáu 捺手 Laaht Sáu 捺手 is a technique found in Siu Lim Tao 小念頭, it comes after Bīu Zī 標指, when both hands quickly press down. Many people do not know the name of this technique. In February 2019 I saw my Sīfú, Ip Chun葉準, and asked him again to confirm (as he told […]

Ng Mui Si Tai 五枚師太 – Part 27 Sadly Wing Chun 詠春 was right, she never saw her Sīfú, Ng Mui Si Tai 五枚師太 again. Ng Mui Si Tai travelled across China to meet up with the other leaders of the Shaolin Temple, and together they began and rebellion against the Qing Government. Yìhm Wing Chun […]

Ng Mui Si Tai 五枚師太 – Part 25 Wing Chun 詠春 thought about it, “What should I do with all these people?” She asked herself. After a while had an idea and then said to them with a very serious look on her face, “I will be your leader, you will listen to me and follow […]

Ng Mui Si Tai 五枚師太 – Part 23 It was too fast!  The Leader was struck twice on each side of his face!  Fortunately for him he was strong and he did not fall, but his face was red!  In a rage he swung his right arm across to Wing Chun 詠春 who stepped back […]

Ng Mui Si Tai 五枚師太 – Part 21 There were now six or seven injured bandits rolling in pain on the floor. The other three or four were too scared to move forwards. Fortunately for the injured bandits, Yìhm Wing Chun 嚴詠春 had not used the sharp edge of her Dōu 刀 to cut them, instead […]

Ng Mui Si Tai 五枚師太 – Part 19 In a situation like this, Yìhm Wing Chun 嚴詠春 knew that she had to eliminate them quietly, one-by-one when they were not expecting it. She snuck up on each of them and using just one strike to the neck they each fell unconscious. Very quietly, Wing Chun entered […]

Ng Mui Si Tai 五枚師太 – Part 17 Yìhm Wing Chun 嚴詠春 left her Sīfú 師父 and returned to Tai Leung (Da Liang) Shan 大凉山. She immediately went home to see her father, Yìhm Yee 嚴二, but as she approached she could immediately see that the house was damaged, broken furniture was scattered about and […]

Ng Mui Si Tai 五枚師太 – Part 14 Ng Mui Si Tai 五枚師太 also made Yìhm Wing Chun 嚴詠春 stand still in a wide open space. She would then make some sounds, some far away, some close and some very quiet to see if Wing Chun could hear her. Wing Chun had to train her […]

Ng Mui Si Tai 五枚師太 – Part 12 Yìhm Wing Chun 嚴詠春 practised day and night. First she stood, in order to develop her Gūng Lihk 功力 and footwork. Second, she practised all the forms, eventually learning Siu Lim Tao 小念頭, Tsum Kìuh 尋橋and Bīu Zī 標指.  Third she recited all the poems relating to […]

Ng Mui Si Tai 五枚師太 – Part 10 Yìhm Wing Chun 嚴詠春 repeated Ng Mui Si Tai’s 五枚師太 words and swore she would obey her Sīfú 師父 and be a good student. This is the traditional Chinese way. Sīfú and student perform a ceremony which is witnessed by Buddha or heaven and this creates a […]

Ng Mui Si Tai 五枚師太 – Part 8 Seeing that something was wrong, Ng Mui Si Tai 五枚師太 asked Yìhm Yìh 嚴二 what was wrong.  As Yìhm Yìh had come to know her well he told her the whole story. He said that there was a group of gangsters and the leader of the gangsters […]

Ng Mui Si Tai五枚師太- Part 6 How about the Baat Jáam Dōu 八斬刀 and Lùhk Dím Bun Gwan 六點半棍? When were these created? All styles of Chinese Kung Fu have weapons. If we think about what kind of weapon would be most suitable for a lady, we would usually think it should be a sword […]

Ng Mui Sitai 五枚師太- Part 2 Ng Mui Sitai 五枚師太 had a very high level of Shaolin Kung Fu. Her skill used gentle energy and lighter moves and so when she saw the crane defeat the wildcat this inspired her to develop the gentle and light skills even further. She knew there was no point […]

Examination by Grandmaster Ip Chun 葉準 Part 7 All the students now had their examinations and received comments from Grandmaster Ip Chun 葉準. The information and knowledge they were given was the most valuable thing. Grandmaster Ip Chun is the eldest son of the late Grandmaster Ip Man 葉問 and so all his advice is […]

Examination by Grandmaster Ip Chun 葉準  Part 5 After the students finished their demonstration of Biu Zi 標指 ,  they all gathered around Grandmaster Ip Chun 葉準 to listen to his comments. Grandmaster Ip Chun began to advise them in a very gentle, but firm way. He said, “Your Biu Zi is not bad, but […]

Examination by Grandmaster Ip Chun Part 3 As part of their test, the students had to demonstrate Siu Lim Tao 小念頭. On the demonstration some students were very nervous, some was confident. After their demonstration Grandmaster Ip Chun 葉準 gave them some comments. He told them, “Your Siu Lim Tao is not too bad after […]

Examination by Grandmaster Ip Chun Part 1 Every year I return to Hong Kong to visit my Sīfú 師父, Grandmaster Ip Chun 葉準. This year he is 95 years old! I find it amazing that at 95 years of age he can still go to classes, five times in the morning and twice in the […]

Benefits of Wing Chun pt4 Then we learn more footwork with the Seven Star Footwork 七星步. We cover Jyún Máh轉馬, Wàahng Máh横馬, Jeun Máh 進馬, Teui Máh 退馬, Bui Máh, Faai Máh 快馬 and Gee Yàuh Máh. We train from stationary to turning, walking sideways or in a circle, walking forwards, backwards, thrusting step, fast step (including forwards […]

Benefits of Wing Chun pt2 When we practise Chī Sáu 黐手with our brothers and sisters we learn how to use our Wing Chun techniques and how to attack and defend against them. At the beginning you get hit a lot, and then after a few years you get hit less and hit others more. After long time […]

Face the Problem My Sīfú 師父, Grandmaster Ip Chun 葉準 says, “Everybody gets hit when they study Wing Chun.” This is the truth, when you are studying Wing Chun you must get hit in order to learn not to be hit. Some people who get hit, start to become afraid of doing Chī Sáu 黐手 […]

When Smaller People Chī Sáu 黐手 So what should smaller people do during Chī Sáu 黐手? I am normally smaller than my students who I Chi Sáu with. The most important thing is to know how to control the distance myself and my opponent. Either I am at a longer distance so that we cannot […]

Safe to Hit Low I have come across some people who like to hit but low during Chī Sáu 黐手 and they do this because they cannot hit your face or chest. This is not good since your opponent can sometimes hit your face at the same time as you hit low. So you not hit […]

Pulling Back the Hand Some people like to pull their hand back whenever they are grasped. This is actually not a good idea. Pulling away from your opponent’s hand means you do not want to be held down and so you try and pull your hand out. Whilst you are doing this it gives your […]

Kicking while doing Chī Sáu Sometimes we come across people who will try to kick us while we are practising Chī Sáu 黐手. Generally this is wrong.  Why is it wrong?  Chī Sáu should just involve the hands and not kicking, but it does not mean we should not use kicking techniques.  If we want […]

Like to Páak Sáu 拍手 a Lot pt 2 If your opponent likes to use Páak Sáu 拍手 when we have one hand in contact, we can sometimes use Gūng Lihk 功力 in our Wuh Sáu and let them hit our forearm a couple of times without letting go of our Wuh Sáu.  If our Gūng Lihk is strong […]

Rolling slowly in Chī Sáu 黐手 If somebody likes to roll slowly in their Chi Sáu 黐手 it can mean they are very good and have very good sensitivity. Anybody who has good skill usually rolls more slowly because they want to find out where their opponent’s energy is and whether they are strong or soft […]

 Less Energy and Time A good martial art always uses less energy against someone stronger than you. With regards to fighting techniques, there are many, but a lot of them use a lot of energy in order to win or might put us in a bad situation, for example grabbing someone on the floor. If […]

Tall and Long Arms In Chī Sáu, if your opponent is taller than you and has long arms, what should you do? My Sīfú, Grandmaster Ip Chun, is only five foot two, he is a very small person. In the past someone asked my Sīfú the very same question in one of his seminar in […]

Hit Us Suddenly at the Beginning of Chī Sáu During Chī Sáu 黐手I often come across people who I do not know very well and some who I have never met before. They may be beginners or may have done some other martial arts or even have done Wing Chun somewhere before. Once we touch […]

Be Gentle and Light First From my experience when we begin Chī Sáu 黐手 we always start off being gentle, light and quiet. Chī Sáu is not fighting. My Sīfú 師父, Grandmaster Ip Chun 葉準師父, always says Chī Sáu is partner training where we learn the Wing Chun way and skill. It is preparing us to fight […]

Patience Studying Wing Chun requires patience. Many people just study for one or two years, some might just study for a few months and then stop. This is because they think that Wing Chun is not powerful enough and they want to be able to fight immediately.  Yes, you can learn Wing Chun and fight after […]

Think About the Problem The second important thing studying Wing Chun is to Chī Sáu 黐手 with as many people as possible.  I have had very good opportunities in the West to do this and have come across people of all sizes: tall, short, fast, slow, strong and tricky. Every time I Chī Sáu I have […]

When Should We Start Practising Kicking? There is another question I was asked in the seminar, “When should we start to practice kicking?”  We should actually start practicing from the very beginning, but we should focus on developing the strength of a leg not actually kicking. Wing Chun does not suggest kicking higher than the […]

Ancestor Instruction IX pt II “Carry on our ancestors’ path.” As Wing Chun practitioners this is what we should do. “Strictly follow their instruction.”  This is more difficult. Chinese actually says, to follow of the ancestors’ instructions with discipline, however I have translated it as strictly. No matter what, to tell somebody to do something strictly or […]

Ancestor Instruction 詠春祖訓  VIII pt2 Ancestor Instruction VIII, “Protect the weak and small. Use your Kung Fu skill in a good way with integrity 扶弱小  以武輔仁.” Anybody who loves Kung Fu and martial arts wants to use it to find out how good they are.  It is true, when we are studying we do not […]

Ancestor Instruction 詠春祖訓 VII Pt 2 We should not use our skill to fight when we have a problem, we should be calm and gentle and so give other people a good image of what martial artist is like. A good martial artist should be educated and well read, reading booking on good morals, like […]

Ancestor Instruction  詠春祖訓 VI  pt2 Wing Chun Ancestor Instruction VI, “Nourish your Qi.  Confrontation and fighting are forbidden 學養氣 戒濫鬥爭.”  Many people, once they have learnt a martial art skill like to fight. Of course, martial arts are for fighting, but someone who knows a martial art has an advantage over someone who does not. […]

Wing Ancestor Instruction IV – pt2 The second part of Wing Chun Ancestor Instruction IV says, “Protect the Jing and Shen 保守精神”.  Protecting our Jing 精 and Shen 神 is important.  Jing is our sexual energy, we say that no sexual addiction helps save our energy.  Every time we have sex we will feel tired and many […]

Ancestor Instruction III 詠春祖訓 – Pt2 The second part of the third Ancestor Instruction is, “Unite and enjoy being a group 團結樂羣.”  As a group, a Wing Chun school under the same Sīfú 師父 we should unite and enjoy being together as a group.  When we love Wing Chun training and have a good Sīfú who we […]

Wing Chun Ancestor Instruction II 詠春祖訓 Pt 3 The last part of the second instruction is “Love your country and respect your parents愛國尊親” This is quite right. We should love whichever country we are from. In the past, when these instructions were written, they were of course talking about China. Every Chinese person should love […]

Wing Chun Ancestor Instruction I 詠春祖訓 Pt 2 Every Wu Guan 武館 or schools has its own rules and discipline that it follows. That is a basic requirement for a Wing Chun student. They should follow the rules otherwise the Sifu cannot teach them. For a student to learn they must listen and follow the […]

Instructions from Ancestors 祖訓 In the old, traditional times, families had, and some big families still have them today, instructions for the family. We call these Jia Xun (Gā Fan in Cantonese) 家訓 – Instructions from the Family Ancestors. These are guidelines for the family’s offspring to follow to show them how to be a […]

Double Bóng Sáu 雙膀手 Pt5 When we are in a situation where we are using the Double Bóng Sáu 雙膀手, we need to make sure our hands are soft and sensitive. If our opponent does not do anything then we can change one hand to a Tāan Sáu 攤手 and at the same time turn […]

Double Bóng  Sáu 雙膀手 Pt3 If our opponent only lightly touches our Double Bóng Sáu, we can move our palms to above their wrists and quickly Laap Sau 擸手 them, pulling them in towards us, a little like Jaht Sáu 窒手.  This will make them loose their balance and we can quickly strike using Pek […]

Double Bóng Sáu 雙膀手 – Pt1 In Wing Chun training we use Bóng Sáu 膀手 regularly. The more we use it the more comfortable  we are and the better we are at using the Bóng Sáu energy. During my early days of Wing Chun whenever I used Bóng Sáu it was always a single Bóng […]

Continuous Cùng  Kyun 冲拳 When training Wing Chun there are many techniques that we can repeat many times. However, most of the time I do not suggest that you use them more than three times, but there is one technique that you can use more than three times and that is Cùng  Kyun 冲拳 – […]

Kwan Sau 綑手 In Chi Sau黐手, when we are being attacked, Kwan Sau 綑手 is one of the best techniques to us, although it requires a certain Gung Lihk to do well. Kwan Sau is formed using a Taan Sau攤手and a Low Bong Sau低膀手. Once they attack we use Taan Sau to block their front […]

Ordinary In martial arts we need a certain amount of strength and power. In Wing Chun this comes from the legs. We develop a strong root during Siu Lim Tao 小念頭 by training on two legs and also on one leg.  This is how we develop our power.  We do not need to do a […]

Turn the Front Foot I have also see many people step forwards with their front foot turned to the side, in the same way does in Jyun Ma 轉馬. This means that when they step it is like doing Waahng Maah 橫馬. However this means the body is facing to the side and so we cannot walk very quickly. With our position […]

Leaning Forwards when Attacking When we are attacking, whether it is in Chi Sau 黐手 or fighting, we must keep our weight on back leg. This is one of the principles of Wing Chun. Many beginners, when they are learning attacking techniques, for example punching, often lean forwards and we can see their weight is on the front leg and the heel of their back foot lifts […]

Turning Sideways During Chi Sau黐手 When practicing Chi Sau黐手 some people like to turn their body to the side.  This means they have one leg forwards and one leg backward, one hand is more forward than the other and also the shoulders are not square.  This causes an imbalance when rolling the arms as obviously one arm becomes longer than the other and whilst this may […]

Do Not Move Your Head Many beginners, when they start doing Chi Sau黐手, will move their head when they are attacked. Of course this is quite normal for a beginner as who is not afraid of being hit? However, in Wing Chun training we need to face it, even if the fist is very close […]

Single and Double Hand Contact During Chi Sau黐手 some students always keep contact with one hand only and this is also a bad habit.  They do this because they are afraid of being too close whilst doing Chi Sau.  However what they forget Chi Sau is actually about close distance.  When we have a long distance the opponent can use kicking, jumping, and long punches. When […]

Do Not Hit Back Another bad habit during Chi Sau黐手 is ego. When we practice Chi Sau we need to think of it as training so there are no winners or losers only improving together. If this is the case we do not need to worry about being hit. My Sifu, Grandmaster Ip Chun 師父葉準 says, “Without getting hit we […]

Relaxation in Chi Sau Every time we Chi Sau we should try to relax. Naturally when we are fighting or in a situation where somebody is attacking us we will become tense. When studying Wing Chun we need to learn how to relax during these situations during the confusion and during the danger. Relaxation is the key for Wing Chun and for […]

Do Not Be Afraid If Your Hands Are Grabbed As I said last time, holding on to your opponent’s hands is a very bad habit in Chi Sau黐手. Having said that, from time to time we will hold our opponent’s hands, but we will not hold on for too long and we will also not hold […]

Do Not Hit Low I have been studying and practicing Wing Chun for over 40 years. During this time I have come across so many different hands. At the beginning of learning Chi Sau 黐手, I did Chi Sau like I was fighting, later I did Chi Sau like I was learning more about defence than attacking, much later I […]

Teui Ma 退馬 – Part1 As we talked about last time, the first four methods of footwork in Wing Chun training are Jyun Ma轉馬, Waahng Ma橫馬, Jeun Ma進馬 and Teui Ma退馬. The first three are covered in Tsum Kiu尋橋and so this leaves on Teui Ma, which is stepping backwards. Because we do not have Teui Ma […]

Two Dai Bong Sau低膀手 When we practice Tsum Kiu尋橋 we learn to do the Dai Bong Sau低膀手 whilst we do the Jeun Ma進馬, in the third section. however when we continue practicing Wing Chun and go on to learn the Wooden Dummy 木人椿 we will learn another kind of Dai Bong  and this time the technique is what we expect the Dai Bong […]

Dai Bong Power In Tsum Kiu尋橋, after using Dai Bong低膀 we change to Taan Sau 攤手. As we step forwards we push with the Dai Bong and when we stop we change the Dai Bong to Taan Sau. This must happen in the correct way. As we start our Jeun Ma進馬 our palms turn up […]

Third Kick In Tsum Kiu (Chahm Kiuh) 尋橋  we kick three times. The first kick is after Jyun Ma轉馬 and Waahng Laahn Kuen橫欄拳, where we do Chaan Geuk鏟腳. The second kick is after Wang Ma, when we have withdrawn our fists and turn the body then we do the Dang Geuk蹬脚.  The third one is the same Dang Geuk which we do after the […]

Chaan Geuk 鏟腳 In Tsum Kiu (Chahm Kiuh) 尋橋 there are two kinds of kicking techniques. The first is Chaan Geuk鏟腳 and the second is Dang Geuk蹬腳. We do Chaan Geuk when we are standing in Jyun Ma and holding Waahng Laahn Kuen. Chaan Geuk means shovel leg. The leg is like a shovel throwing soil from the ground into the air. […]

 Jeun Ma 進馬 The other kind of footwork is Jeun Ma進馬. Jeun 進 means forwards. Ma 馬 means step, so Jeun Ma means step forwards. During fighting or Chi Sau 黐手 we need to step forwards in order to get a better situation for position. For example, if we want to attack and the distance is not close enough we need […]

 Jyun Ma轉馬 – Part 2 Practising Jyun Ma 轉馬 takes many years to get it correct. I have never come across a beginner who can do it straight away. This is because non trained people do not know where their weight is and in Wing Chun we need to put out weight on our heels and […]

Three Sections in Tsum Kiu 尋橋 Tsum Kiu尋橋 has three sections, just like Siu Lim Tao小念頭. When we study Wing Chun we will notice that Wing Chun likes to do things three times and there are three and also eight sections. How do we know there are three sections in Tsum Kiu? For this we […]

 Mai Jarn Kuen埋㬹拳 Once we know Waahng Laahn Kuen 横欗拳, we should also learn about its brother, Mai Jarn Kuen埋㬹拳. Mai Jarn Kuen is a bit like Tann Sau 攤手, only holing a fist instead of an open palm. In Tsum Kiu 尋橋 the first three steps with the Bong Sau 膀手 and Wu Sau護手 […]

Tsum Kiu 尋橋 Part 3 – Wan Lan (Waanhg Laahn) Sau横欗手 and Chong Kuen冲拳 In Tsum Kiu there is a Sequence of techniques that link together: Wan Lan Sau  and Chong Kuen. When I first leant it I did not understand the application was until my Sifu, Grandmaster Ip Chun葉準, explained it. When we use the […]

Tsum Kiu (Chahm Kiuh)尋橋- part 1 After we have finished Siu Lim Tao (Siu Nihm Tauh)小念頭 we will start to learn Tsum Kiu. Siu Lim Tao is basic training, training Gong Lik功力, Fa Ging發勁 and basic techniques. Tsum Kiu is the second form and is about footwork and the using the forearm which we call […]

 Story of Ip Man studying Wing Chun part 19 After studying with Uncle Leung Bik for six months, Ip Man treated him as his Sifu. Although Chan Wah Shun was his Sifu, Ip Man was only 12 years old when he studied with him, and Chan Wah Shun was already old. Most of the time […]

Wing Chun Note 117 Story of Ip Man Studying Wing Chun葉問學習詠春的故事 Part 17 “One red spot in the centre of China (this means it is a very important thing in Chinese Kung Fu World). Do not teach and tell the bad people about it. If you teach and tell them, then it will cause your […]

Story of Ip Man Studying Wing Chun葉問學習詠春的故事   Part 15 As Leung Bik梁璧 Chi Sau黐手’d with Ip Man he found that Ip Man attacked using punches and palm strikes, because of this Leung Bik could tell that Ip Man did not know enough about body structure. Then as Ip Man punched at him he suddenly […]

The Story of Ip Man Studying Wing Chun 葉問學習詠春的故事  Part 13 Each time Ip Man went to visit Uncle Leung Bik梁璧, he learnt more about Chi Sau黐手 from him. Leung Bik told him, “Chi Su is the most important part of Wing Chun training, but Forms are combine some of the skills to make movements, […]

Story of Ip Man Studying Wing Chun葉問學習詠春的故事   Part 11 Ip Man was very happy. He missed his Wing Chun training. He could practise his forms on his own, but he missed Chi Sau黐手. He had a wooden dummy in Foshan, but he could not practise here in Hong Kong. He knew that the essence […]

Story of Ip Man Studying Wing Chun葉問學習詠春的故事 Part 9 After three days, Uncle contacted Ip Man and invited him to come and see him again. Ip Man was very happy to hear from Uncle as he wanted to find out how his Wing Chun skill was so good. He also thought he might be able to learn […]

The Story of Ip Man Studying Wing Chun 葉問學習詠春的故事 Part 7 When Ip Man touched Fung’s uncle’s hands he immediately knew that he had a very high level of skill. Ip Man remembered what his Sifu, Chan Wah Shun陳華順 had told him, “When you Chi Sau with someone and their hands are hard and full […]