Grandmaster Tse’s Wing Chun Note 374

108 Movements – Part 3

Wherever we stand there is always the front, back, left and right – four directions. Also, if we count the forty-five degree angle in-between each direction, it creates eight directions and so we have, north, south, east, west, northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast. For Chinese we call this Baat Gwa (Bāguà in Mandarin) 八卦– Eight Situations. We must also consider where we are standing and this is the centre and so we have nine situations. This is all described in the Yihk Gīng (Yìjīng in Mandarin) 易經 – Book of Changes. The nine situations are like that squares in Sudoku. Did you know that Sudoku was originally based on the Yihk Gīng’s nine situations?

The number nine represents all directions including the centre. Wherever we are there is always nine directions. It means everything we do has its space and without that space it will not exist. For this reason, Chinese people like the number nine as it covers all situations and spaces, and there is always space and a place for us. We also like the number eight, as it covers all eight directions and the sound of eight in Chinese is also the same pronunciation as the word for rich. Nine, however, is better than eight as nine also means forever.