9 Shapes Southern Chinese Boxing
What is Gau Jing/9 Shapes Wing Chun?
Wing Chun is about simplicity and less is more. It's about mastering a limited amount of techniques, that you though the understating and internalizing of the underlying principles, can use in many situations. Which is the opposite of spreading your time and attention over many arts, with diverging principles.
If you analyze Wing Chun, which is based on human anatomy. Then everything can be boiled down to 9 basic shapes. Therefore Gau Jing perfectly exemplifies the very essence of the Wing Chun philosophy.
Of all the things Siu Nim Tau represents, a form with 8 sections and 108 movements is without a doubt the least of what it is. The form that most people know today, was only developed much later in history. How do we know that to be true? Well because I can teach you the "Small Idea" without teaching you the basic form.
Siu Nim Tau is the core of the system, it's so fundamental the even the idea of the Centerline springs from it. Even in modern day, almost all students regardless of lineage are taught the same thing when it comes to Siu Nim Tau:
"You learn the core of Wing Chun first, the most important part of the system"
That is true, Siu Nim Tau is indeed the core of Wing Chun. However it's not necessarily a form.
It's a blueprint, a structure, a mentality, a strategy and ultimately a specific method of training to keep you on the right track of the system. It's an understanding, so you know what principles to use and which to avoid. The small idea literally means, that less is more.
So when the principles you do no longer fits the definition of a small idea, then you are no longer doing Wing Chun. Hence mixing Wing Chun with other arts that contains diverging principles, will turn the little idea into a big idea. Which will water down the system and make it less effective.
Siu Nim Tau contains an upper body structure and a lower body structure, that has to be developed separately. The third element that's required to make it functional, is the ability to coordinate the two.
So if I mention that we cover Siu Nim Tau in our training, and you think of it as the basic form everyone knows. Then in spite of your fighting ability with the system, you have a very limited perception of what the core of Wing Chun is.
鬥心 Dau sam. Fighting heart.
Your ability to endure and perservere in training. Your motivation will never last, and that's where your discipline has to take over.
小念頭 Siu Nim Tau. Small idea.
SNT is not a form per se. But a physical structure and a mental frame of mind, that you have to develop.
企龒馬 Kei lung ma. Dragon stance.
Our basic stance, that's related to our specific way of stepping.
It's slightly different from the more widely known Yee gee kim yeung ma.
迎身 偏身 Jing San, Pin San. Straight body, Side body.
The Yin/Yang strategy of facing the opponent.
來留去送 Loi lau hoy sung. Receive what comes, escort what leaves.
Our key fighting strategy. Wing Chun is neither offensive nor defensive. But a counter attacking system.
連環拳 Lin waan kuen. Linking together your fighting techniques.
Maintaining a continuous flow in everything you do.
連小大打 Lin siu dai daa. Linking together small and big strikes.
On Cham Kiu level 尋橋 Yin/Yang hands in relation to the Yin/Yang position, opens up a different set of striking options.
連消帶打 Lin siu dai daa. Continuous eliminating while bringing attacks.
Your defense and attack should be linked together.
鬥心 Dau sam, Fighting heart
Solo training is a crucial part of your Wing Chun practice. Fighting heart or discipline is one of the first things you need to become aware of as a beginning Wing Chun student. When you start training, your first priority should be to establish a daily training routine.
Even as little as 3 minutes a day, 5 days a week at home is sufficient in the beginning. At first it's not important how long you train. The most important thing is that you stick to the decision you have made, about the duration of your training.
Discipline is doing something now, that will benefit you later. Discipline is doing something, even if you don't feel like doing it right now. Discipline is the maturity that separates men through their actions from boys. And without the proper fighting heart to guide you, you will be a slave of your emotions and eventually fail at doing Wing Chun.
The problem with looking at Wing Chun through the eyes of JKD, is that you will reduce the entire Wing Chun system to a hand motion. When you then try to use what you have learned in sparring, you will violate most of the major Wing Chun principles. Because the other styles you do, contains diverging principles from Wing Chun. By undermining the Wing Chun system this way, you automatically reduces its effectiveness. And that's how your JKD that's supposed to liberate you, turns into a Catch 22.
So that puts you in dilemma. Because if you really want to be good at Wing Chun, and that includes being able to fight with the principles. You really have to drop the multiple style approach, and make the Wing Chun principles the major inspiration in your daily training.
Unfortunately most instructors today in both camps, are unable to distinguish between a principle and a technique.
Notice that even though Bruce Lee felt he had developed more effective training methods, than the ones he had learned in Hong Kong Wing Chun. He was never able to defeat his Wing Chun Sihing Wong Shun Leung in sparring. What does that tell you?