The Three Pillars

The Three Pillars of Ving Tsun : Tan – Bong – Fook

The three basic hands of Ving Tsun are;

Tan Sao – Spread out hand (as in to spread something out, like butter on bread)

Bong Sao – “Birds Wing”

Fook Sao – Smothering Hand

These three hand positions are not static but should be understood as dynamic or transitional movements. The purpose of each hand position being to redirect incoming energy away from your centerline.  Imagine you are facing a clock, at the top is 12 o’clock, to the immediate left is 9 o’clock, to the immediate right is 3 o’clock, and at the bottom is 6 o’clock. Now, imagine you are practicing these basic hand positions with your right hand as you face the clock. Tan Sao will redirect energy towards 3 o’clock away from your centerline. Bong Sao will redirect energy towards 9 o’clock away from your centerline. Fook Sao will redirect energy towards 6 o’clock away from your centerline. Also keep in mind that energetically each hand position has a forward component.

The hand positions should not been thought of as blocks. They can be used that way but it is not optimal and indicates a low level of skill. Ideally you want to be in a position to attack, in offense we attack, in defense we attack. In the process of attacking we may meet an obstruction. What we want to do is remove or redirect the obstruction based on sensitivity. Sensitivity and relative position determine which hand position is most optimal. This is not easy to do, and cannot be an intellectual process as things happen to quickly in the heat of combat. This is an ability that must be developed naturally and applied intuitively. The method used to develop this skill in the Ving Tsun Kung Fu system is Chi Sao (sticking hands). Chi Sao is not fighting and should not be thought as an equivalent or substitute for sparring. Chi-Sao does develop skills that are useful in fighting. That usefulness may only be for a fraction of a second, because our primary goal is striking, not sticking, we only stick when we cannot strike. Chi Sao gives us a skill set that helps us instinctively problem solve if something prevents us from accomplishing our primary goal of striking.

Tan, Bong, and Fook must be understood in this context, as dynamic changing shapes meant to meet and redirect energy away from center line, not as static techniques. Your homework assignment is to determine what hand positions within the Ving Tsun system redirect energy towards the 12 o’clock position on the previously described clock?

Can you use it for fighting?

 When considering the possibility of studying Ving Tsun people often ask the question, can it be used for fighting? I think this topic can also be approached in the context of my previous post concerning refinement and accumulation. Ving Tsun is a system, as such its effectiveness is determined by its results. Once you have a decent understanding of Ving Tsun as a system for gaining knowledge then it becomes relatively easy to map out a path to gaining fighting ability. Ultimately the answer to the question “can Ving Tsun be used for fighting?” is yes. The real question is are you willing to do the work necessary to make YOUR Ving Tsun useful for fighting. Unfortunately for most the answer to this question is often no because they are simply too lazy to do the work.

How does one become a fighter, one way is to simply start fighting. Through trial and error and probably several injuries you may actually become a decent fighter. Unless you have a great deal of natural ability your chances of success will be pretty slim with this method. Or you could take the Ving Tsun approach; identify the necessary attributes, internalize the essential principles; research and refine. There’s that word again…”refine”.

Another question to ask your self is what type of fighting are you trying to train for; sport fighting, professional, sparring with a few friends? Testing out the local biker bar? Have you identified what is necessary to be successful in these arenas? Have you determined what aspects of the system are applicable in these circumstances? Have you applied these observations to your training? Does the level of your effort match the level of the results you would like to achieve?

With all that said, this intellectual approach does need to be balanced with some practical experience. Any competent Sifu should be able to guide you safely through a training progression that leads up to full out sparring. Again it is important to be able to identify what your goals are so that your Sifu can help ascertain the most efficient path to that goal.

What do you want?

Refinement Vs Accumulation

In learning Ving Tsun it is important to remember that increasing your skill level has more to do with refinement than accumulation. It’s often the case that a junior will see what his seniors are doing and have a desire to learn what they are learning.  The fact of the matter is that if you don’t concentrate on your current level of training then you will not be able to do what your seniors are doing. It won’t be because your Sifu refuses to teach it to you, it will literally be the case that you cannot do it.

For example one of the weapons in the Ving Tsun System is the Luk Dim Poon Kwan (6 ½ point pole). There is a training process that gradually gives you the attributes necessary to be able to use the pole. Each stage in the training process is dependent upon the satisfactory completion of the previous stage. If you cannot hold a decent Jin Ma, you cannot use the pole. If you cannot do at least 10 jin choi forward and backward you cannot use the pole. If your biu kwan is inaccurate you cannot play chi kwan. Are you starting to see my point? Every skill in Ving Tsun is developed through a methodical training process that must be followed in order to obtain the desired results.

You have to be patient, you have to be disciplined, and you have to be smart. As a student it will not serve you to have the expectation to learn something new every time you come to the school. Of course your Sifu could humor you and teach you a new technique every day. The result would be that you would have the type of Kung Fu that fits in your pocket. When you need it, it might be there. Then again it might not; it might have fallen out of your pocket. You may have left it in your other pants. It may be lost in the cushions of your couch, who knows? What you want is the kind of kung fu that is a natural expression of yourself. If something happens, you will handle it, because that is what you do. Trying to memorize one million techniques does not produce that kind of Kung Fu.

So, don’t rush, take your time, absorb as much as possible at each level of your training. Test your understanding by sharing with your juniors. Get input from your Sifu and your seniors. The training floor is your laboratory, make good use of it. Approach your training like a scientist, identify and refine the elements of pure skill.

 

Ving Tsun has everything

When people make the statement Ving Tsun does not have this or Ving Tsun does not have that, it is my opinion that they speak from a lack of understanding of the true nature of Ving Tsun. If you want to be a traditionalist then of course you can look at Ving Tsun and say it has a very limited set of physical techniques. However those who truly understand Ving Tsun know that techniques are really a secondary concern. Ving Tsun is a system, for more on that check out my previous blog post. As a system Ving Tsun is concerned with the answer to two questions;

1. What is most appropriate?
2. How do I train myself to naturally do what is most appropriate.

This line of thought can be applied to almost anything, for right now we are concerned with unarmed combat. There are a limited number of techniques and tactics one can apply within the context of unarmed combat but there are limitless stylistic approaches. These techniques and tactics can be broken down into three categories, they are as follows;

1. Striking with any part of the body
2. Pain Compliance - Joint Locking – Limb destruction
3. Takedowns and or Throws

The Ving Tsun approach would be to ask, when it is appropriate to apply any of these three methods. How do I train myself to recognize that? What are the most effective techniques within a particular category, how do I train to apply the correct technique in the correct situation, spontaneously. For example let’s look at the second category, what one might call “Chin Na”, seizing and controlling techniques.

Many people would say that Ving Tsun does not contain Chin-Na; I would argue that the three forms of the Ving Tsun system contain all the necessary information required to study and develop Chin-Na techniques in addition to throws and takedowns. Something I am more than happy to demonstrate.
In order to execute an effective Chin-Na technique you must do one of, or any combination of the following things;

1. Unbalance your opponent
2. Diminish his capacity to resist
3. Lead his mind

The Ving Tsun curriculum develops a skill set that can be used to easily accomplish any of these goals. Any of Ving Tsun’s striking techniques combined with the uncanny ability to control the “Window of Combat” facilitates the ability to diminish your opponent. The practice of Chi—Sao gives Ving Tsun practitioners the ability to sense and control balance. Intermediate to advanced level Chi-Sao players also develop the ability not only to sense intent based on energy but also to lead or distract using energy, this ability also lends itself well to Chin-Na.

Here is a study and experimentation outline to get you started for different types of Chin-Na techniques;

1. Fingers
2. Wrist
3. Elbow
4. Shoulder
5. Head & Neck
6. Combination

Any skill development in Ving Tsun depends on finding a good Sifu. Working on developing your understanding and building a strong foundation. And last but not least hours and hours of training, experimentation, and discussion with your Kung Fu brothers and sisters.

Well, what are you waiting for… get to work!

 

The implications of Pak Sao, a Ving Tsun initiation.

As a child I always wanted to learn Kung Fu, being inspired by Kwai Chang Kaine and Black Belt Theatre. Having somewhat of a bad temper (believe it or not), my father thought it better that I learn the primarily defensive art of Aikido. My father had significant training in both Aikido and Judo himself so he may have had a bias towards Japanese arts. I spent roughly 15 years studying Aikido with a variety of instructors. In the back of my mind I still wanted to learn Kung Fu.

One day while walking down the street in Lindenwold NJ I came across a Moy Yat Ving Tsun Kung Fu school, the Sifu (chief instructor) was no other that Master Moy Bah Hugh (Pete Pajil). I knew very little about Ving Tsun (“Wing Chun”) at that time. I had some brief exposure to it in the early 80’s when Phillip Holder paid a visit to Sensei Robert Danza’s Aikido school in Collingswood NJ to teach a seminar; other than that I had only seen Ving Tsun in martial arts magazines. Although I was a huge fan of Bruce Lee during the 70’s and 80’s, I did not know enough about Kung Fu to recognize what he was doing was primarily Ving Tsun. So, on a warm spring day in 1995 I walked into the Moy Yat Ving Tsun School in Lindenwold NJ, Sifu and I talked for a bit and he introduced me to Pak Sao.

To the uniformed Pak Sao looks like patty cake, not very combative at all. Having studied Aikido for so long I understood the importance of sensitivity and the ability to read energy and respond in real time. However my understanding of sensitivity was in the context of how to use another person’s energy to apply a throw, joint lock, or take down. I had not thought about using sensitivity in the context of striking, at that time it was a completely new concept to me. In addition, the idea of being able to use sensitivity for either effect was very appealing.

As I began my Ving Tsun training I realized there was a great deal of Kung Fu to be learned from what on the surface appeared to be a very simple exercise. In playing Pak Sao we begin to experience the efficient practicality of occupying centerline. We also have an opportunity to experience and develop the structure necessary to both dissipate and generate forces. Lastly, Pak demonstrates how we can redirect a strong force using a lesser force applied at a tangential angle.

Here is a video of two of my students, Russell and Tom, playing Pak Sao, it's not as easy as it looks, come on out to the school and experience it for yourself! www.vtkfsystem.com

 

 

 

Styles and Systems

I have often made the statement that a style is distinguished by its appearance and a system is distinguished by its results. What I’d like to do is explain what I mean by this statement.  For the most part there are two different methodologies when it comes to martial arts training. The stylistic approach is more specific looking at specific responses to specific combat scenarios. The systemic approach is more general, building general skills and or attributes that can be useful for combat. With that being said there are few if any martial arts that are 100% stylistic or 100% systemic in their approach. Some fall somewhere in between, some lean more in one direction than the other.

Often you will find curriculums that start with one way of training and then change to the other as you get further along in the curriculum. In some martial arts curriculums you can spend 5 to 10 years learning nothing but technique, again by that I mean specific responses to specific attacks. Later, at the more advanced stages of training you will learn the underlying principles that explain why those specific techniques work. Also you will learn how to generalize on that principle and create techniques on the fly as the situation dictates.

The systemic approach can be more difficult especially if the student has no previous martial arts experience that allows him or her to put what they are learning in context. There are many martial arts system that teach you the skill of taking balance, or the skill of using sensitivity to maintain a mechanical advantage, positional advantage, or both. The exercises and drills used to develop these types of skills are often somewhat abstract and may not even have a direct correlation to some type of combat scenario. This can cause even more difficulty for the student who will often lose interest, being unable to make the connection.

This I think is the reason why many teachers in the old days would change how they taught based on the inherent mental and physical attributes of the student. Say for example your curriculum contained forty empty hand forms, each one emphasizing a different area of martial application and physical expression. Some might emphasize power, others speed, and others agility. Often the teacher would prescribe which forms the student would learn based on what they brought to the table. The big strong guy would learn the power forms. The small quick guy would learn the speed and agility forms. Only the student who was being trained to be a teacher would learn all the forms. For anyone else it was really unnecessary. In addition to that, not only would teacher customize the material, he would also customize the teaching method. Let’s be honest, everyone has a different style of learning, and some of the knives in the drawer are a little bit sharper than some of the others. A good teacher can take these things into account and teach the student in a way that produces results. Some people may not have a grasp or appreciation of scientific thinking or philosophical abstraction, so a more technique oriented pragmatic approach is better. Others may be able to appreciate a broader more abstract approach, for those people a more systemic approach is appropriate.

As I have said in previous post, it is important to understand who you are and what you want as far as your martial arts training. Having a good deal of self awareness will help you to determine what is best for you in both what you want to learn and how you want to learn it.

Punching & Kicking

Ving Tsun Kung Fu is more than just punching and kicking, yet if you don’t have powerful, explosive punches and kicks then your Kung Fu is not so good. Even if you manage to control the line and strike your adversary, it will make no difference if you punch and kick like a two year old. Here are just a few ideas for developing powerful punches and kicks.

Punching

First, start of with air punches, you want your chain punches to be loose, relaxed, and well timed using optimum hand replacement. The set I have my students do is what I call a counting set. You start in yee jee kim yueng ma and begin to count. When you say one you throw one punch, two, two punches, and so on all the way up to ten. After you get up to ten drop and do ten pushups, which would be one set. When you can do five sets in a row you are doing great. (Extra credit: how many punches and pushups is that?)

You can also add a focus mitt to this drill; have your training partner hold a focus mitt in front of you for you to punch as you perform the exercise described above. Your partner should give you a little pressure on the focus mitt and you should time your punches so that the focus mitt does not have the opportunity to move forward. See if you can come up with your own variations of this drill that include shifting and foot work.

You may also want to invest in a Sao Bao which is a wall bag that you can fill with whatever you like. My suggestion is to start with something soft like sand or rice and the very gradually, say every month or so move up to coarser materials like gravel. You want to condition your hands so that they can withstand the force of punching but at the same time you do not want to damage your hand. What good is it if you can smash a cinder block but you can’t sign a check?

Kicking

Can you play Siu Nim Tau on one leg? It’s not easy and it’s a great way to develop your horse and build the foundation for powerful kicks. Start off playing just section one, try to play all of section one, first on the right leg and then on the left. Each month add another section with your goal being to play the entire form on one leg at the end of three months.

Another exercise is to have your training partner hold a kick shield, stand in Hau Ma (a rear stance) in front of the kick shield. Raise you leg and touch the shield with Dim Gerk, make contact with the entire surface of the bottom of your foot. Do not use any power and do not use the shield for balance. Also do not straighten the supporting leg. Do ten of these on each leg, feel the burn!

Alright…get busy!