Master Tse’s Wing Chun Notes #98

Sau Ma收馬

After the three punches at the end of Siu Lim Tao 小念頭 we close our stance and this is the end of the form. When you watch someone practising Siu Lim Tao, just the very beginning and the very end, you can see how good their Wing Chun is. Wing Chun relies on clarity and footwork. This is the reason is why footwork and stance is so important.

When we do Hoi Ma 開馬, Opening Stance, and Sau Ma收馬, Closing Stance, we can see how stable, clear and structurally correct they are. We can see whether they move their hands or move their legs first, move their left hand or their left leg first. This makes their energy and posture balanced and we can see whether they will be able to form the good positions when fighting.

In Sau Ma, we withdraw both fists to the sides of the chest. We then close the heels and then close the toes. At the end we straighten our legs and then drop our hands down. That must in order, no other way if we want to have good balanced and structure. So we are now back to the original starting position, where we are standing straight, back straight, arms relaxed at our sides. In the beginning we start the form like this and we finish the form like this. This is a good beginning and good ending.

Michael Tse