Main points to remember in this first stage are:

• Sit low in stance. See the video series for basic stance and first form.
• Keep shoulders square facing your partner
• Elbow as high as possible for bong sau
• Hand relaxed in bong sau position
• Elbow as low as possible in punch position
• Don’t over extend your arm (don’t lock out elbow)
• Make a fist for the punch
• Make sure you’re punching down the centreline

Wing Chun Beginner Drills

Next we introduce the second hand into the drill. The back hand will be doing the pulling and the front hand will be doing a punch and a bong sau position.

Things to keep in mind during this part of the drill are:

• Either have a bong and a guard, or a punch and a lap
• Keep the elbow low during the lap (pulling)
• Don’t let your back hand get trapped as your partner laps (pulls) your hand
• As soon as you feel the pull, react by throwing up your elbow directly upwards into bong sau position

Wing Chun Beginner Drills – Add Turns.

Next we add a turn into the drill. Only add turns once you’ve drilled the first two videos many times and are very comfortable with every movement.

Turns can be learned through the video series here. You’ll learn to pivot on your heels and sink your weight over one foot. This allows you to move your head off the line of attack very quickly.

Main points to remember for the turns are:

• Turns should be on the heels
• Turn for the bong and square up for the punch
• Don’t rush this drill make sure you hold your guard position in place with each movement.

Dan Chi Sau

Here’s another Wing Chun beginner drill which will help you develop hand sensitivity and learn not to over commit an attack.

Dan chi sau, or single sticking hand is one of the first drills I learned as a beginner. Here’s a quick video explaining the drill.

Main things to remember in this drill:

• It’s a drill, it’s not a fight. The drill teaches a few principles which should be integrated into your chi sau and Wing Chun as a whole as with lap sau drill
• Stay square to your partner and keep your shoulders square
• Only move the arm in question, nothing else moves.
• Sit in your stance while training this drill
• As soon as your partner reacts to your attack, stop. If your attack continues it will be off course should you proceed and will likely have less of an impact

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The above simple diagram shows some of the main principles of Wing Chun Kung Fu and the 3 main centrelines.

• The Say “M” Seen – centreline
• The Jik Seen – Straight Line
• Chung Sum Seen – Central Heart line

The Say “M” Seen connects both yours and your attackers/partners centreline. The straight line running down from the top of your head through your tail bone is known as the Jik Seen – Straight line. The main targets of the body run through the Chung Sum Seem (Central heart line). All attacks are made down the Say “M” Seen towards the Chun Sum Seen and into the Jik Seen.

Online Kung Fu Classes – The Say “M” Seen

The Say “M” seen is the line connecting yours and your attackers Jik Seen. If you attack down this line not only will you reach your target faster than by going around in a circular manner, but you’ll also contact any opposing attacks travelling down this same line. Therefore you’ll either counter a fast attack or land a strike faster than your opponent can.

Chung Sum Seen

The Chung Sum Seen is the central heart line. For an attack to be effective it needs to do as much damage as possible. Hitting to the side of your opponents body reduces the impact due to rotation. If you strike to the Chung Sum Seen, the line down their middle, they must take the full force of the blow. In addition, most of the vulnerable areas are down this line: the heart, eyes, chin, throat, solar plexus and groin. Striking down this line also means you can control the fastest attacking line in a fight by controlling the Say “M” Seen.

The Jik Seen

The Jik Seen is the imaginary line running down the centre of yours and that of your opponent from the top of your head to the tail bone. This line is where we strike towards. At any given time, one person or another has an advantage relating to this line according to their body positioning. To control this line in a short range bout means keeping both shoulders square facing your attacker. Should you face off at any time, and lose this line, the other person is said to have “centreline advantage”. In Wing Chun terms this means they theoretically would gain an advantage and win control in chi sau – sticky hands practice.

Kung Fu Online Classes – Centrelines

The Kung Fu Online Classes offered in this free video series offer a detailed break down of the basic hand patterns First Form (Siu Lim Tao) and Chum Kiu (Second Form).

Both forms offer a blueprint of the Wing Chun system with hidden detail of the style within the movements. As you’ll see while learning the patterns, your centreline is central. In first form you won’t move out of your stance and all movements are made using only the arms and hands.

In second form you’ll start moving the body using turning and stepping techniques while maintaining an understanding of where centreline is according to your direction of attack.

Access online kung fu classes here.

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The forms are a set of blueprints and so should be looked on as principles rather than a set of fighting techniques to be used against multiple opponents or in a particular order. Drill the forms regularly and use them as “textbooks” to understand the underlying principles of the Wing Chun system.

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The centreline refers to the attacking line of an opponent, or the direct line between you and their centreline. Each time you take a step, this line can change, so it’s important to understand where your focus of intent is directed after each step.

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Once you have a contact, the hand sensitivity and chi sau training can kick in to find the centreline and attack down it very quickly. But before you can do this you must “bridge” the gap between you an your opponent. Of course an attack straight down centreline can also be a bridge too – and you can “bridge” with a punch, or a kick as well as a contact/blocking movement.

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Here’s the dummy in the video below however the original arms have been replaced by some more professional ones than I made! Mine were less than professional!

The first exercises I used on the dummy were simply lap and pak type movements. If you’ve done any Wing Chun at all in a class setting, you can simply take out the drills and attempt to use the dummy to replicate them.

I first used pak sau drill, stepping in with a pak and a punch to hit the dummy. Here’s another drill taken out of lap sau exercise which you can use to help with your speed and elbow position.

If you’ve done the dummy form, you can of course practice the form and take elements out of it to drill too. Here’s a video of the dummy form which you can use to learn it. You’ll also find several dummy form videos on YouTube too! If you already know the form, take some small elements out of it to drill and get more understanding from. Here’s an example:

Wing Chun Dummy Exercises – What You Can Learn

You can learn a lot from drilling each individual element of the dummy form. And then you can freestyle it a little too if you wish. Ideally find a qualified instructor to help you learn the form properly and then drill each part thoroughly.

Here’s a video of the dummy form from over the shoulder view:

Here’s a video of “Mojong”, or “no-dummy”. Dummy form without the dummy.

If you’re lucky enough to have a Wing Chun school nearly you with a quality teacher and lineage, you can learn the dummy form usually after a few years of dedicated training. Usually you’ll learn the first form (Siu Lim Tao) first which teaches you the basic principles of the Wing Chun system. See this article on Siu Lim Tao detail and Wing Chun first form step by step. You can also sign up on this website for the free video series which will walk you through a daily video of the form broken into parts.

After the first form you’ll usually learn Chum Kiu (Second form) which involves turns and steps. Then you’ll progress to Biu Gee or the dummy form will start there. I didn’t start learning the dummy form until well into my training for a number of years.

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Wing Chun is of course a system which uses hand sensitivity and reflex to develop speed and reaction. Without a training partner and an instructor, there’s a limit to what you can learn. But if you’re without a training partner or school to train at, there are things you can do at home. For example you can train the forms and dissect them to understand them better.

Wing Chun Training At Home – The Wooden Dummy

The wooden is one of the best bits of kit you can get to help you with Wing Chun training at home. You can learn the dummy form from videos and use it as your 24/7 training partner! See also wing chun training equipment for other things you can do. Even if you don’t know the dummy form, you can drill techniques on using the dummy. Here’s a couple of ideas to use if you’re lucky enough to have a dummy at home.

Wing Chun Training At Home – Control Training

One of the first things I did when training Wing Chun at home was use an A4 piece of paper and some blue-tak! Stick your paper to a wall and use a nice large blog of tak to hold it in place. Then punch to the paper without hitting the wall behind. As you improve your control, move the paper closer to the wall. Here’s a video explaining it!

Punches Training

There’s several ways to train the “lin wan kuen” – single thrusting punch and chain punches in Wing Chun. First off if you have a basic knowledge of your punches you should train them every day. You can train multiple punches for speed and use wall bag training for power. See wing chun training equipment.

Here’s a short video explaining the basic punches.

Once you’re comfortable with basic punches, train them in sets of 3 at a time, but without any power. This can be used to train your speed. You can train single punches and go up in sets of 3’s, 5’s, 7’s and also 9’s! Here’s a quick video drilling punches in sets:

Since March 2020 I started running online webinars for my students when the Covid-19 crisis hit and my class got closed down. Since then wing chun training at home has taken on new meaning. You can access some of the videos I’ve created to help my students learn the basic hand patterns and drills here; starting with the Siu Lim Tao first form.

Forms Training At Home

Training forms at home is definitely something you can do alone. If you already know at least one for (usually siu lim tao is taught first), you can practice it. Make a daily habit out of drilling your forms and delving into the deeper aspects of what they mean also.

Siu Lim Tao (little idea form) is a great place to start learning wing chun at home. Once you have learned the basic pattern, you can use the form in a number of ways:

• Train your legs and get a workout
• Focusing the mind
• To train yourself to be calm
• Learning basic positions and techniques

Although your forms won’t teach you combat as such, they are an important part of Wing Chun. If you can’t get to a class right now, the forms can help you progress when there’s nothing else you can do! Siu Lim Tao (or Siu Nim Tao) can be translated into meaning reducing thought to nothing. Literally it means the way of the little idea. But it is also a meditative practice whereby the student can turn off their thinking by focusing intently on their movement and position.

The first form can therefore be used as a practice for increasing focus and concentration. The more you practice Siu Lim Tao in a meditative state, the more easily you can access this calm state at will when you need it.

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In this video I’m covering First form in more detail. It should be practiced at least this slowly (ideally slower so you can’t see the arm moving).

Use a deep stance and extend the time each time you practice.

You can also see this article with some notes on the Siu Lim Tao form; Siu Lim Tao Step By Step.

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The punch is also a major principle of the Wing Chun system. You’re not only punching here but also reloading the back hand. This movement can apply to lots of situations too such as pulling someone forwards into a strike or retreating the back hand to avoid a possible trap.

The punching movement can also be used with palm and even blocking movements.

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