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?