2008年4月2日星期三

Our Training

Our Training

Siu Nim Tau - Siu Nim Tau(The Little Idea) form is the first and probably the most important form of Ving Tsun. Through prolong practice of this form, practitioners would develop good rooting, body-structure and most importantly - the ability to use thought over physical strength. Practitioners who train well in this form is able to combat against hard forces with very little energy.
The first form also contains all the basic moves of Ving Tsun. Through correct posture, body structure alignment and a focused conscious intent; each move would carry substantial power but yet very little energy is invested. The ability to relax while maintaining good structure is the key to succeed in this form.


Chi Sau (Sticking Hand) - After learning the first form, practitioners should put their Ving Tsun skills into play! Although this exercise does not look like real sparring, it helps practitioners build up the foundation and energy for close-distance combat.
Chi Sau exercise is also called Sticking hands or Rolling hands. Students learn how to use the three basic moves of Ving Tsun: Tan, Bong and Folk through rolling hands. Most importantly, the exercise teaches them how to use body structure and mind intent to perform the three basic moves. Advance students are able to develop very heavy and powerful hands through this training, the key is to optimize the use of body mass in every movement.
Through Chi Sau, practitioners learn to sense, control and finally conquer their opponents. Again, correct posture, body alignment and focused intent are the keys to do well in Chi Sau. Failing to do that practitioners would tend to use "local muscle" forces and forget to use their complete body structure; thus wasting valuable energy during combat.

Chum Kiu - This is the second empty handed form of Ving Tsun. Literally the term Chum Kiu means "to search for the bridge". In Chinese martial arts, "bridge" represents the arm. To control one's opponent, he/she must close the gap, find the bridges (arms) and finish the job. Chum Kiu contains many moves that do just that.
On a different level, if we were to compare training Ving Tsun with the building of an automobile, Siu Nim Tau is the equivalent of the frame of a vehicle and Chum Kiu is the equivalent of the engine. In the second form, there are many stepping and turning sequences. All these moves would carry the practitioner's body mass in them as if the engine is carrying the momentum of the whole vehicle. Through Chum Kiu, one learns how to move as one unit.


Bil Gee - Aim!... Fire!! Bil Gee is the third and the most advance empty handed Ving Tsun form. After completing Siu Nim Tau and Chum Kiu, the practitioner will have the proper structure and energy; Bil Gee will transcend the foundation into aggressive firing power. In short, Siu Nim Tau teaches one how to build up his/her structure; Chum Kiu teaches one how to mobilize the structure; and Bil Gee teaches one how to mobilize the structure at high speed to achieve martial power.
An important theme of Bil Gee is to "aim" at the opponent from every possible angles, even from unsafe positions. In Bil Gee practitioners will learn to use elbows, leg sweeps, finger jabs etc. Every move combines "aiming" and "firing" together.
At the most advance level, the practitioner is able to focus all of his/her body mass and energy into the finger tips during attacks. This takes years of dedicated training to achieve. In the past, Bil Gee had a secretive impression to the martial art circle because it is rarely seen "outside the door" of a Ving Tsun training hall. Some believe that with Chum Kiu's good arm/bridge and center of gravity control, most combat situations are taken care of with ease. There is no need to elevate a fight with so much firing power of Bil Gee. Others may say that without an extremely solid Chum Kiu and Siu Nim Tau foundation, it is very hard to deliver the true power of Bil Gee. Therefore it was seldom taught in the past and only few elite students had managed to reach such level. Bil Gee should be done at the highest speed possible, without a good foundation the student may fail to maintain his/her structure after a few elbow strikes.


Wooden Dummy - You have a stressful day at work? Want to bang on something to release your anger? I suggest you go back to do some more Siu Nim Tau! The wooden dummy is not a frozen target that lets you blindly hit a thousand times a day, hoping that some day you can break the wooden arms with your bare hands. It is in essence a training companion that lets you test your structure, improve your judgment of space and distance, and practice your drills, stepping, and turning. The whole wooden dummy set contains 108 moves; it helps practitioners prepare for real-life combat situations.
To train well in the wooden dummy set, the practitioner should always maintain close contact (sticking) with the wooden arms. Every drill should be done with a well-aligned body structure. One should never practice the motions with their hands only and ignore the structural details. Most of the 108 moves come from the three empty handed forms. Although practitioners are already familiar with the moves, they will find many new insights through the training. The flow of movements in the set is so dynamic and fluid that all the Ving Tsun techniques learned in the past seem to come together all at once!

Baat Cham Tao - Weapons are extensions of the arms. Baat Cham Tao (also known as eight-slash knife) is Ving Tsun's trademark weapons. Once a practitioner has reached a high level of skills and power, Baat Cham Tao further extends the hand techniques. Through the empty handed forms, practitioners learn to transmit body mass into every attack. When combining the weapon's momentum and body structure power, Baat Cham Tao becomes a deadly combat tool.
The Baat Cham Tao form employs direct and effective movements. Similar to Bil Gee, every slash in the form is aim to kill. To combat against long weapons, it also contains special footstepping techniques that compensate for the weapon's short range. Accomplished practitioners of this weapon will find the knife form extremely enlightening!

Six and a half pole - Ving Tsun is as refined as it is rich in combat experience. Ving Tsun never emphasizes "flowery hands", nor does it tolerate fancy weapon techniques. Old sayings is so true: "the pole never makes two smashing sounds in a fight". In real weapon combat, life and death happens in split seconds. There is hardly any chance for a recess. Ving Tsun's Six and a half pole has been passed on through generations of experienced masters, it is so refined that it contains no excessive movements. The practitioner simply combines all of his/her power and energy into the attack. Every move aims at breaking the opponent's defense circle. Once an opening is made, the fatal hit then penetrates through. That is why the pole never smashes twice. Bang! Finished!

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