Take that same analogy and use it in daily life and you can learn from it. An example is driving your car through traffic. Watch yourself react to other road users. Do you get easily riled up and become aggressive? Does that help you or simply raise your blood pressure and put you in a negative state of mind – which can ruin the rest of your day. Small mini aggressions can completely ruin your day over the course of a few hours if you allow them to affect your calm state of mind.

Keeping Calm Is Your SuperPower – An Analogy

Here’s an analogy I heard. Imagine there is a bank that every morning deposits $86,400 into your account. Someone steals $10 from you. Would you get upset and throw all of the $86,390 away in your anger? Yet this can be what we do to our state of mind at the slightest hint of adversity or personal slight. There is such a bank and we all have 86,400 seconds in every day. Do you want to let someone’s negative 10 seconds ruin the rest of the 86,390?

Ip Chun is an advocate of preserving a positive internal state, and has talked about not letting anything affect his state of mind throughout the day. He attributes his good health in old age (now 96) to this mindset and of course practicing Wing Chun and staying fit physically for years. “If you want to reach my age, don’t let anyone annoy you. It harms your body when you get angry.” – Ip Chun

Of course Wing Chun also allows you to gain confidence in extreme physical conditions and under physical attack. But it also gives you confidence in threatening situations which most would be more disturbed by. If you are able to remain calm and measured in such circumstances, you can calm situations down much more easily without ever needing to resort to physical violence. Knowing you have it in reserve can give you this power. If you were more easily unnerved by verbal threats of violence and posturing, during a conflict, you would be much more likely to become disturbed by such a conflict and entangled further into the argument. You would react negatively and potentially enrage an aggressor further, until physical conflict is inevitable.

Keeping Calm Is Your Superpower – Stop Fighting

The Chinese character “mu” that is translated into the word “martial”, literally means “to stop fighting” or “to put down weapons.” The word “arts” in martial arts points to skill, expression of beauty or creativity. The combination “martial arts” may be interpreted to mean ending conflict skilfully. Peace is the ultimate goal of the martial arts.

So by remaining calm during conflict, you can end disputes more peacefully, without the use of violence. It can also help you live more peacefully and therefore longer!

Problem De Escalation + Avoidance

A friend of mine runs problem avoidance and de escalation for various services in the UK. Studies were conducted around the violence towards health care staff. They put staff members through training of de escalation and conflict resolution. They also trained staff in breakaway techniques and some combat training. What they found was than in the cases where they gave people just training in fighting/combat, it raised the levels of physical altercations, rather than lowering them. Staff trained in some fighting skills wanted to “try them out” and so entered into conflict much more easily. With de-escalation techniques trained the levels of physical altercations were lowered.

What lowered altercations even more was when staff got training in both de escalation and hands on techniques. With only de escalation theory while under the duress of threat of physical attack, your body language can give away your levels of fear and uncertainty, which can draw more aggression.

A little bit of fighting training can make you more likely to enjoy the idea of getting embroiled in a physical altercation and you may even seek one to try out your new skills!

Getting both de escalation and problem avoidance training along with some martial techniques can give you a more rounded approach when it comes to dissolving and minimising aggression when it’s about to spill over into a physical altercation.

Knowing you can handle something can give you a calm superpower! Still, it’s also worth knowing that training doesn’t make you superhuman, and anyone can have an off day. Better to not take the chance if a problem can be dissolved before it gets started! Perhaps that’s the real skill of a proficient martial artist..

A beginner martial artist might think “can I take him”, whereas a more experienced practitioner might think “how can I not trigger him and dissolve the problem without violence“.

“Before I do anything, or go anywhere I think about whether someone will annoy me. I am in my 90’s now, I still haven’t thought about retiring. I will keep teaching until I can’t.” – Ip chun

For more information on classes please visit Leeds Wing Chun.

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This is what chi sau can give you after years of practice with other experienced Wing Chun practitioners. Each individual training parter will give you something different too. Everyone has different techniques and strategies they gravitate towards. With 100 training partners you get thousands of unique experiences within the safe training practice of chi sau. Actual fighting can cause injury and there’s greater risk. But with chi sau, you get to “play” within the confines of the game and its rules. This gives you experience in close quarters and with actual hand to hand contact.

To simulate what’s going on in chi sau and in a live class online can’t be done through online videos alone. Just like you can’t learn how to ride a bike by watching videos of other people successfully riding bikes! Even with a willing partner who has zero experience of Wing Chun, it is near impossible to learn Wing Chun from videos without an instructor present, correcting your mistakes.

Can Your Really Learn Wing Chun Online? – No

If the answer is no, you can’t learn Wing Chun online through watching videos, not properly, then what’s the value in bothering? Well there’s plenty of value actually. Even without live training and learning chi sau, you can still learn a lot and practice for the time when you can join a class. When our class shut down in 2020 due to government lockdowns, we moved online.

Some students kept up their training by joining the weekly webinars and some did not. When we returned shortly afterwards, before the second lockdown, there was a growing gap of skill between those who had kept up practice and those who had not! It was pretty apparent that the people who only trained in class, and didn’t join the webinars to continue online had fallen behind.

This could have been because those people (the lazy ones!), tended not to train as hard as the others anyway, and this of course is probably true. Some training is definitely better than no training at all! But these students all had received actual live training before switching to video and zoom class learning. What about those who have had zero class training in Wing Chun? Is it worth them learning Wing Chun online?

Well doing something is nearly always better than doing nothing. Some fans of Wu Wei might disagree of course!

What Can Your Learn Online From Wing Chun?

There’s plenty you can gain from Wing Chun even without learning the combat element of it. It is after all an art, and not just a fighting system. Learning the concepts and philosophy can help you understand how effective it can be in combat, even without practicing the actual practical elements such as sparring and chi sau.

In First form you’re learning a number of elements which can help in combat but also in daily life. The Siu Lim Tao benefits are huge. Just the stance training element on its own can give you a much lower centre of gravity and a great leg workout. The mental focus you develop from practicing first section is hugely beneficial for mental awareness and health. First section is similar to meditation which has been shown to reduce the heart rate and boost the immune system.

Second and third sections of the form teach you the use of explosive energy and block and counter techniques. First form alone can be very beneficial to your health and understanding of Wing Chun as a whole; theoretically containing the entire system hidden within the moves, (at least in principle).

Since going online with classes since lockdown I’ve personally benefitted from focusing on improving the forms within the Wing Chun system, mentally and physically. Exercise of the mind and body is hugely important (especially during a pandemic) to boost the immune system and create good exercise habits.

What Martial Aspects Of Wing Chun Are Useful Through Video?

Without considering the obvious health benefits of daily exercise, is there any point training Wing Chun through videos without practical training from the point of view of fighting? If you want to learn to fight, you really need to actually fight! Like with swimming, learning from the pool side will likely not help when you fall into the water!

However, there are aspects of Wing Chun you can learn online which can help you become better coordinated and focused. Some training is better than no training. Training exercises designed for fighting have their limitations too – even sparring has rules for safety. Chi sau is a good exercise but it can give you a false sense of security and it’s still ultimately a drill with its own limitations.

In real fighting you prepare to react to things automatically and instantaneously. Here lies some of the problem of learning from videos. With videos and no training partner there’s no live feedback loop which gives you better understanding. However, you can learn some beneficial drills and movements which will definitely help you in a combative sense. Chain punches are an aspect of Wing Chun you can learn alone. You can increase your speed and coordination through practicing from videos.

Lowering your stance is another useful training exercise you can learn alone too. You’ll need to be hugely disciplined to practice regularly and to a good level. It’s all too easy to let yourself off the hook when training alone, or get an element wrong and drill incorrect technique.

Use Of Weapons

The pole and knives are useful for training elements of Wing Chun while developing strength and stamina. The wooden dummy form too can be learned mostly remotely and drilling the dummy form is a good place to start if you’re training from home.

On the whole there’s many aspects of the Wing Chun system you can learn from videos which can help you learn some basic fighting moves and techniques. You can improve stamina and maintain your physical and mental health using the forms and drills.

In terms of actual combat, learning from videos brings certain challenges which you simply can’t deny. Wing Chun’s most beneficial “ace card” is through hand sensitivity and that comes only through training in sticky hands (chi sau). But you can certainly learn some useful techniques and movements which may help you when the chips are down.

At the very least, learning Wing Chun online will help you stay in shape, boost your immune system and keep you in good mental health when practiced regularly.

If you’re passionate about learning Wing Chun, you can get started here with the free video series on this website.

The post Can You REALLY Learn Wing Chun Online? appeared first on Learn Wing Chun Online.

I managed to accomplish this quite well for some time but it didn’t help me in some ways. Jobs, work, relationships would suffer because stress and anxiety would take me out of this tranquil state. I thought something was wrong and would often quit the situation completely, rather than using Wu Wei to deal with the problem as it occurred in the moment.

Wu Wei doesn’t mean dropping out of society and sitting under a tree your whole life, as I thought it did. It’s more a philosophy of living while maintaining a good inner state. A good analogy is that nature doesn’t strain to grow, but yet everything is accomplished.

We, as humans can easily create more problems out of small obstacles; making them bigger than they are by focusing on them or getting upset about them when they arise. But water will flow around a rock, rather than clash with it. This, I believe is the nature of Wu Wei. It’s apparent in the martial arts of course too and particularly in Wing Chun.

In chi sau, if you get upset and annoyed with your opponent/partner, you’ll tense up and this will block your flow. You’ll struggle to be as sensitive to the movements of your partner. I always thought how chi sau was such a great battle ground for the mind, and for wu wei also. In chi sau, you use just enough energy to accomplish the job in hand, no more. An over commitment of movement or energy would give an opportunity to your opponent to use that energy or strike down the centreline. But using more than you need is also bad advice for life and your health too. Overworking is an example of this because stress, fatigue and burnout can often mean your life comes to an abrupt end.

Ip Chun talks about using his Wing Chun to maintain a consistent state of mind and not getting emotionally upset. “Don’t let things in your day upset you”, he says. This, and his regular training regime, he puts down to his good health at 95 years old.

Of course, things in life will test and challenge you. So what of Wu Wei in challenging times? Well, my solution was to walk away from difficult situations but I don’t believe this is necessarily the essence of what Wu Wei teaches. Wu Wei is useful in difficult times too because it teaches you to find solutions rather than dwell in problems and remain static. Don’t worry, be still and the solution will come.

Wu Wei is particularly important today with the stress of busy life. Often, we can accomplish much more by doing nothing, rather than running around trying to keep busy to stop the endless talking of our mind. If you’ve ever had a particularly bad day you’ll know what I mean. Some days you create more problems by trying too hard.

Here’s a video I found on the subject of Wu Wei.

The post Wu Wei – Effortless Effort appeared first on Learn Wing Chun Online.

Since March we have gone through all the empty hands and weapons form with even new students learning the entire system in terms of the forms! Obviously there’s a chunk of chi sau time missing from that training which will show once we are back in class.

Once of Bruce Lee’s “isms” he talked about in his film Game Of Death, was “broken rhythm”, a concept used in chi sau. Broken rhythm refers to the timing in a fight or sparring match. In many matches there’s a start stop action, an attack and defence timing. But in Wing Chun we aim to find the gaps between this rhythm and capitalise on the weaknesses in the opponents defence while they attack.

Since training the forms in much detail I came to notice my own limitations in the way I taught. Since I was teaching mainly to new students, I had broken the forms down into slow, constituent elements to make a “step by step” join the dots kind of layout. But this repetition also has been a limiting factor for me. Changing the rhythm is therefore something we have focused on in class, to break the monotony and timing of the drills/form.

I wonder what other Sifu’s and teachers think about this concept. Of course it is partly through boredom with drilling the forms endlessly, but it is also through realising the futility of doing the same things over and over and not putting them into practice in chi sau.

When we learn the forms, we learn them in a step by step manner. We learn to keep the pace the same throughout. But when training elements from the forms, we can experiment a little and change the pace. The third section of 1st form is a good place to start. Take the first move from this section and we can elaborate on this idea.

The move is an outside pak sau followed by returning the hand and elbow to centreline and followed by a palm strick (keeping the elbow in). When I first learned this move, it was broken into three parts. The pak sau, the return to centre, and then finally the palm strike. Ultimately this is only two moves and of course ideally only one – in the perfect world (one move is faster than 2).But just taking this as an example we can see how from the pak sau, moving into the palm (through centre) is done in one fluid movement.

Of course this isn’t taught to beginner students because if it were, they would fail to keep their elbow in for the strike. They need the groundwork to consolidate ideas so they are intuitive and embedded – which requires a lot of work and study. But if you are a more senior student, just consider this as an analogy. How often are you trapped by old concepts within your training which cause you not to flow?

When you practice your forms, are they always the same, at the same pace? Or do you experiment?

Of course what you practice repetitively becomes embedded in your subconscious mind and naturally extends into your chi sau. Whether what you practice if useful or not, your unconscious mind simply obeys! This is true of life too – read Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich for more on subconscious programming.

So after months of practicing the forms, and looking deeper into them, I realise that training too can be limiting if you don’t step out of the boundaries of your entrenched habits. Pauses in your form timing will most likely lead to gaps and spaces in your chi sau which can be taken advantage of. Or a pause before an attack will make your strikes less effective and slower.

So is the answer to drill your forms with an element of blending techniques into fewer moves? I think so, especially if you’re been doing the same thing for many years and have “peaked” in your training.

As a former teacher of mine once said, “you’re good at that now, do something else“!

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Benefit #1 – Exercise

That’s because you’re not used to training your legs in this way. The leg muscles are some of the largest in the human body and include the Gluteus Maximus and the Quadracepts – Quadriceps are the largest group of muscles in the body. Quadracepts, hamstrings glutes and calves are all getting hit when you practice Siu Lim Tao.

Exercise is known to be of far greater benefit for mental well being than the most powerful drugs. But when we get stressed, anxious or depressed, the last thing we think of doing is exercise. Once we are in a negative state, and/or have been for some time, it becomes ever harder to exercise. By making a habit out of practicing Siu Lim Tao (first form) daily, you can vastly improve your mental and physical health.

Read this article on the mental health benefits of exercise. It shouldn’t come as a shock but it’s surprising how many people neglect their health, getting caught up in their busy lives. Over time this has a compounding effect which can be altered significantly with a simple daily routine of exercise.

Benefit #2 – Mindfulness/Meditation

Another huge benefit which Siu Lim Tao has is the mindfulness aspect of the hand pattern. When performing section 1 of the form (see wing chun first form step by step), you are focusing the mind on what you are doing and should really concentrate. This has huge implications on mental health alone and aspects beyond simply building internal strength and coordination for use in the martial aspect of the Wing Chun system.

Meditation can produce a deep state of relaxation and a tranquil mind.

During meditation, you focus your attention and eliminate the stream of jumbled thoughts that may be crowding your mind and causing stress. This process results in enhanced physical and emotional well-being, reduces stress and promotes mental well-being. See benefits of meditation for more on this.

Benefit #3 Of Learning Wing Chun First Form

Learning any new skill has been linked with reducing stress and boredom, improved self esteem and breaking us out of our normal every day patterns of behaviour. Continuing your education and working at something you love are the two most beneficial ways to treat mental health issues like depression and anxiety.

Learning something new has been shown to change brain development too and can help socially by connecting with others too. Even though working too much can leave negative consequences to people’s mental health, a healthy amount of work is very beneficial and learning various things is connected to reduction of dementia, depression, anxiety and loneliness.

See how learning and working help improve mental health. This is particularly important right now what with the stress of the global situation while many are either out of work, or working from home juggling busy family life.

Benefit #4 Of Learning Wing Chun First Form (A convenient portable “Gym”)

I’ve personally used Siu lim Tao as my personal “swiss army gym” for many years and found it to be incredibly helpful in terms of mental and physical health. What’s great about the Wing Chun system is that it is very practical. Wing Chun relies on simple straight forward strikes, centreline theory and low kicks. It’s not at all flashy or flamboyant. You see this in the first hand pattern of the system too. In Siu Lim Tao, you don’t step, turn or move your “base”. It’s a static form and the only things to move are the arms.

This also makes it a very easy form to drill wherever you are, particularly during lockdown when gyms are closed! You can learn the Wing Chun first form even in a tiny office, in your spare room or even in a phonebox! Once you’ve learned the first form, take it with you everywhere and drill it whenever you like!

Benefit #5 Of Learning The First Form

Whether you’re a martial arts enthusiast or not, the first form is a deceptively simply looking hand pattern with a number of martial applications and principles. To the untrained eye, it looks rather too simple. But the Siu Lim Tao hand pattern contains the entire Wing Chun system, at least in theory (and if you know where to look). Simple wrist stretches are building up strength and agility in the wrists, and helping the circulation. Punches are seen in the form as well as the centreline theories and principles. Just the stance alone when practiced regularly will help you lower of your centre of gravity and develop a ground routed-ness which will help you “stick” to the ground.

There’s several benefits of this such as making it difficult for an opponent to move you and developing force from the ground using the stance. The second section is teaching use of explosive energy. If you’re a Bruce Lee fan, this is something he was known for and which came from Wing Chun. In the third section you see both explosive energy and attack and defence combinations which are very practical.

Learn the first form through the free video series here. Or see first form step by step in pictures here.

You can also join the live sessions here and learn step by step through Zoom classes live. These sessions are suitable for complete beginners.

The post Why Learn First Form (Siu Lim Tao) appeared first on Learn Wing Chun Online.

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.

The post Third Section Chum Kiu appeared first on Learn Wing Chun Online.

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.

The post Chum Kiu Second Section appeared first on Learn Wing Chun Online.

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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