In the light of the above comments, it goes almost without saying that I have no wish to enter into political disputes about what is the real Sil Lum Tao, Chum Kil, and Bil Jee, who is a real master, what is the authentic style of Wing Chun (or Wing Tsun), and so on. These political questions have no part in a truly scientific study of the martial arts; consequently I do not claim to present here the sacred Truth about Wing Chun as revealed to me by God! The scientific method and the true martial-arts spirit are both conducive to humility and selflessness; I therefore give thanks and homage to all of my teachers and the masters of their lineages, and hope that these works are free of the vice of self-promotion and serve to enrich the science and art of Wing Chun kung-fu.
The Sil Lum Tao Form and Chi Kung
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, I shall illustrate and fully explain the meaning of the first form of the Wing Chun system, the Sil Lum Tao, or Small Thought form. Sil Lum Tao is the best known, and perhaps most important, form in the Wing Chun system. It is also the form that causes the most confusion among students. Indeed, some of the errors made in misinterpreting Sil Lum Tao may lead a student to almost certain defeat against a good street fighter. So let me proceed immediately to clear up the confusion. In these three volumes, I hope to place Wing Chun kung-fu on a coherent and scientific foundation, as well as to defend my style against many critics who see it as impractical, illogical, and fundamentally nonviable as a combative art. I shall attempt to show that Wing Chun is a very valuable fighting style, that is practical, economical, and logical.
Writers of books on Wing Chun constantly praise their style as being a logical one, but they never go beyond mere assertion and attempt to justify this by showing how and why the techniques work.
THE THEORY OF THE CENTER-LINE STANCES
Classical Wing Chun kung-fu is typically defined by means of what is known as the center-line theory, which is the foundation of the system, determining both the fighting stance and the logic of combat. The center-line is taken to be an imaginary line that passes through the median axis of the body. It is on this axis that the most vulnerable organs of the body are located. The fighter therefore defends this area by keeping his elbows in the center-line or plane of the body in both attack and defense and seeks to attack the centerline of the opponent. Wing Chun attacks must typically be linear because of the requirement of keeping the elbows in the center-line; in addition, the shortest distance in space between two points (such as a knuckle and a nose), is a straight line, so linear attacks are much faster than circular roundhouse style swings. It is also more difficult to defend against straight-line attacks because they are direct, fast, and tend not to inform the opponent of the intent to attack.
So far so good; all of this is true. However, there is a tendency for Wing Chun practitioners to fight front-on in a Chil Ying position. The fighter stands in a parallel stance known as Kim Nur Mar. This is the well-known, pigeon-toed, foot-adducted Wing Chun stance—the knees and toes point in toward the median axis of the body, with there being no more than a fist’s distance between the knees. Some Wing Chun fighters stand in a much wider stance, suitable for riding goats, and have up to four or five fist widths of space between the knees. There are a number of things scientifically wrong with using the parallel stance, or Kim Nur Mar, as a fighting stance, which I now summarize:
a) It exposes the maximum surface area of your body to your opponent, at least 25% more area than the side-on stance preferred by Jeet Kune Do fighters, boxers, and Thai kick-boxers.
b) The old-time champion boxer Len Harvey said that balance is the key to successful fighting (Len Harvey, Modern, Boxing. [London: Blackie and Son, Ltd., 1937], p. 11). Balance governs advancing, retreating, footwork to the left and right, and checking attacks. The Kim Nur Mar, or parallel stance, is not stable from the front (or back), its stability is from the side (try it with a friend who pushes you). Yet by facing your opponent head-on, you are presenting your unbalanced side. The parallel stance is more stable than standing up straight, but this is only because by bending your knees you lower your center of gravity. Compare the stability of the Wing Chun parallel stance to the side with the normal stance for boxing and note the difference for yourself.
c) The parallel stance simply doesn’t allow meaningful footwork. If there is no footwork, then there can be no victory.
d) It is well known to boxers and kick-boxers that the back hand or the back foot is the power hand or foot. The reason for this is that in kicking or punching with the back foot or hand there is a natural transfer of body weight into the attack. Fighting in the Chil Ying position doesn’t effectively allow this; it doesn’t allow for explosiveness of attack.
e) The large gap between the knees makes the fighter vulnerable to Wing Chun’s sticky-leg or chi gerk attacks (see the second volume in this series, Fighting and Grappling) as well as to front kicks to the groin.
Thus, I believe that the parallel stance should be used in Wing Chun as a training stance only. The knees are locked together while you perform the hand movements of Sil Lum Tao, to place strong isometric tension upon the leg muscles, thereby strengthening the legs for sticky-leg fighting. The correct fighting stance of Wing Chun, Som Kwok Bo, comes from the second form of Wing Chun, the Chum Kil, or Searching for the Bridge set, and is a side-on position with the forward foot turned slightly in and the back foot held at45 degrees to the median axis of the body. The feet are customarily. placed about a shoulder’s distance apart, but you should employ it with no more than a fist’s width between the knees when you are actually engaged in close-range fighting. The reason for this is technical and depends upon a knowledge of sticky-leg fighting. Approximately 70% of the fighter’s body weight rests on the rear foot, and 30% on the forward foot.
When using the side-on fighting position described above in an actual fighting situation, the Wing Chun fighter does not necessarily attack through the center-line by passing through the median axis of his own body. The attack is made through a center-line that runs down from the practitioner’s eyes, through the front defensive hand (which is held up high in order to guard the head), and through the forward leg. This is a powerful and directed line of attack that is aligned to the median axis of the opponent’s body. However, for close-range or street fighting, I prefer to use the Chil Ying position for the upper body, with the legs held as described above.
Attack ideally involves breaking through your opponent’s guard and then attacking his poorly protected side, locking up his leg in order to control his ability (or breaking the knee with a sticky-leg technique), controlling his hands with sticky-hand movements, and then attacking his vital points. Moving into an opponent and getting control of his side puts him at a disadvantage, for now there are two hands against his one. He is effectively fighting two opponents, or fighting at half-strength!
THE STRUCTURE OF THE SIL LUM TAO FORM
The Sil Lum Tao form is performed in a stationary parallel stance and involves only hand movements. It consists of an opening sequence and three sections. As it would be far too boring to describe every hand move verbally, it is better to consult the photographs. What I shall do however, is to discuss some of the least understood Wing Chun hand movements, as well as some of the better known ones that are often misused.
THE OPENING OF THE SIL LUM TAO FORM AND PUNCHING THEORY
The version of the Sil Lum Tao form given here does not begin with the fists placed beside the chest. The form opens with til sao, a defensive movement involving an upward lift of the arm, palms facing the body with fingers open, followed by a sudden lateral jerk of the wrist and the grasping formation of a claw hand, with its withdrawal to beside the chest. The til sao, or lifting deflection, is especially designed for counter-attacking a punch with a grappling hand move. There is a detailed theory of grappling, or chin-na, in Wing Chun that I shall discuss in the second volume of this