Note 1: 45 Degrees Run Horse

One of the most important point of the first and second session of the dummy form is about stepping the horse to 45 degrees on the two sides of the dummy. It includes a lot of different horse steps like Press Horse Step and Thrust Horse Step.

The 45 degrees side position is a very advantageous position to be at which allows you to easily control the opponent. Familiarize yourself with this part of the form will give you the ability to occupy this position (both left and right) when the chance presents itself.

1. Right Side Bong Sao
2. Body weight on right leg. Left leg move to 45 degrees position. Bong Sao keep contact with dummy hand while turning.
3. Switch body weight to left leg. Right foot insert into dummy leg.
4. Right hand Tan Sao and Right foot inserting motion completing at the same time. Left hand side palm to dummy or keep Wu Sao.

The procedure of acquiring the 45 degrees position is first to move the leg with little or no body weight to the desired position and then the leg with body weight Huen Ma and insert into dummy leg.

Bong Sao stick to dummy hand during the whole process and turn into Tan Sao. It’s important to keep this hand “sticking”, without either loss of contact or too much opposing force.

When the whole body faces the dummy at 45 degrees position, the Inserting Horse and Tan Sao must be finished at the same time. After this the body weight remain mainly in the back leg.

Difference Between Tan Sao Wu Sao and Dai Jeung

Insert Horse and Tan Sao at 45 Degrees position used to accompany Dai Jeung instead of Wu Sao. Master Ip Chun changed this move into Wu Sao because he thinks that it is too long a distance for him to hit the opponent with Dai Jeung at this position. If this became a habit, during real use, the body would naturally lean forward to shorten the distance and break its own balance.

However, personally I prefer to stick with Ip Man’s form of using Dai Jeung. The balance problem can be tackled by inserting deeper into the horse.

Note 2: Gaan Sao

From the 45 Degree Tan Sao position, keep the back leg unmoved and move back the front leg a little bit so that the body faces the dummy. The Gaan Sao should be executed from the original hand position so that it travels the shortest distance(no retracting).

This Gaan Sao is used to regain own position and center line in case of adverse condition.

Note3: Kwan Sao Right Palm

Right hand Huen Sao complete half circle and change into upright palm with hand sticking to the dummy hand the whole time. While striking with Right Palm, outside of hand still stick to the inside of the dummy hand and through the centerline. At the same time, left hand Gaan Sao and twist horse. When Huen Sao finishes and hit with right palm, left Gaan Sao changes into Jut Sao and twist horse back to front.

Session 2 of the Ip Man Wing Chun Wooden Dummy form is the almost the same as session 1 but in mirror actions. We need to master both left and right for all techniques in Wing Chun system in order to unleash the full power of Wing Chun. I believe the first 2 sessions are the most important part of the whole wooden dummy form, because it deals with the two most useful and common Sao’s of Wing Chun. Gan Sao and Kwan Sao and also a very important horse postion-45 degrees on the sides of the opponent and how to enter and get out of this position.

According to master Duncan Leung, Gan Sao are used to cover when you are backing your horse while Kwan Sao is used for intercepting the enemies attacks and should be done while thrusting the horse step.

Make sure you make these 2 sessions your second nature if you desire to apply real Wing Chun to fighting. Do you Mor Jong on these moves and think about how you can use them in real situations against opponents not using Wing Chun.

1. Right hand in the front. Left hand Wu Sao.

2. Lift up right hand and become Tok Sao.

3. Left hand Laap Gang Sao reach out to dummy through the back of the right hand. Turn right and sit left horse.

4. Pull left hand and do left Bong Sao.

5. Left Bong Sao maintain contact with dummy hand and turn to Tan Sao. Right leg step right and left leg stick to dummy leg. Right hand palm to dummy.

6. Left leg step back and stand front facing side of dummy. Gan Sao.

7. Left leg thrust horse. Right leg follows and do left Kwan Sao.

8. Bring up right hand and do Tan Sao. Right side 45 degree faces dummy. Right leg stick to dummy leg and left hand palm to dummy.

9. Left leg remains. Right leg step back. Right Gan Sao.

Left hand Huen Sao. Right hand Gan Sao. Thrust horse at the same time. Right horse stance. Kwan Sao.

Left hand Huen Sao and lower palm to dummy. Right hand Jun Sao. Front horse stance.

Double Jun Sao.

Double Tok Sao.

OK, now go do your Mor Jong until you can use these movements on a real resisting opponent!

Sifu Duncan Leung Shiu Hung was born on 11th June 1942 in Hong Kong. When he was 13 years old, his friend Bruce Lee introduced him to Grand Master Ip Man. Duncan became the first private student of Ip Man. Ip Man went to Leung’s home to teach him Wing Chun regularly. After 4 to 5 years, Duncan Leung finished all the courses of Ip Man Wing Chun.

Ip Man taught everything he knew to Leung, including the secret to apply Wing Chun in real situations. Leung practiced 6 hours everyday. To practice and make his Wing Chun real, he even picked fights on the street and visited all kinds of martial art school for sparring. His experience in fighting different streams of Kung Fu is unique in the world.

In 1974, He moved to New York and started his own Wing Chun school. In the beginning, a lot of local martial artists went to his school to challenge him. They would guys with all kinds of backgrounds, Karate, Taekwondo, Boxing, Muay Thai, even Chinese Kung Fu. But to Leung, this is a valuable opportunity for him to verify the practicality of Wing Chun and how to fight against different styles of martial arts. Every time they fought “close-doored”. Leung has never lost a fight during those days.

In 1975, his school was invited to participate in a full contact fighting competition. His students won all the fights they did.

In 1976, Leung begun teaching law enforcement personnel like US Navy SEALs, FBI and SWAT Teams.

From the “Forward” to The Law Enforcement Manual of Martial Arts Self-Defense, book Leung wrote in , Duncan Leung said this.

I am somebody who is nobody, and I have spent a lifetime dreaming, learning and practicing fighting. I have had many chances to see if what I know works. The material I have presented in this book may not mean much to you, but I put my life in danger for the knowledge. I have fought for real and, having tried these techniques, I have refined them to eliminate error. I am still alive because of them. These techniques worked for me and they should work for you.

A book called “Wing Chun Warrior” was published recently describing the life of Duncan Leung during his day of testing Wing Chun through real combats.

Leung has made 6 DVDs teaching his Wing Chun. Every minute of the videos are filled with wisdom condensed with sweat and blood.
1.Wing Chun Basics and Chi Sau
2.2nd Level Chi Sau and Fighting Drills
3.2nd Form, 3rd Level Lop, Chi Sau
4.3rd Form, Fighting Drills, Wing Chun Kicks
5.WOODEN MAN – Form, Techniques in Fighting
6.WING CHUN KICKS

Watch some of his moves and way of training in this awesome video.

Bruce Lee’s fighting style relies heavily on kicks, because they are long ranged, they are powerful and they can used to hinder opponent’s rhythm. The images I share here are very valuable, showing the postures of Bruce Lee himself and his drawings.

JKD Kicking Power

The reasons to use kicks includes:

1. Legs are more powerful than hands

2. Legs are longer, therefore it is the first choice weapon

3. It is very difficult to block kicks, especially kicks to the lower body parts like ankle, shin, knee and groin.

Bruce Lee is good at his unique way of kicking. It is different from a traditional side kick. The traditional side kick has power but no speed. Traditional side hook kick has speed but not enough power. JDK side kick has both advantages. Snap kick or front kick do not have enough strength to cause damage or hurt, either.

Characteristics of JKD Side Kick

Bruce Lee’s JDK sidekick has 3 characteristics:

1. When Bruce Lee executes a full power sidekick, the first action is to left up his right leg a little bit (about 12 inches) above the ground. And then he steps it on the ground powerfully and uses the reaction force to rebound his right foot. All these actions are done in the balance of the whole body with on guard position.

2. Just before the impact, he twists his waist (coxa) with his upper body bending away from the target. This produces extra momentum (counter angular momentum) for the kick. This maximizes the impact force like snapping a strap. Great impact force damages the target.

3. At the moment of impact, both legs extends to the maximum. This increases the time of contact which maximizes the accelerating force acted on the target. The accelerating force

would push the target and send it fly off a long distance. That’s why we see people who are kicked by Bruce Lee fly several meters away.

These points can also be applied to other kicks. The most critical point of a successful kick is timing and speed. Rear kicks are not as useful as the front kicks because of the long distance and time needed to arrive on the target.

 
Watch this Guy use it in MMA:

Everyone knows that the wooden dummy form is a very important training in Wing Chun. There are a lot of different editions existing in the Wing Chun world today. And sometimes even when the moves are the same, the interpretations are different. The set we are going to share here is from Master Ip Chun, the son of Ip Man, 116 wooden dummy form. This set is probably one of the most orthodox ones because Master Ip Chun learn it directly from his Dad. This is also the set which Ip Man himself practiced. The moves are very practical and important of advancement of your own Wing Chun Kung Fu. I will share some of the applications of the moves and some points to pay attention to. So stay tuned.

This set of wooden dummy form consists of 8 sessions. This is session 1 which consists of basic hands like Wu Sao, Laap Gang Sao, Bong Sao, Kan Sao and Kwan Sao. The footwork which goes from side to side of the dummy is very important. The main point is how to go to the 45 degrees on the side of your opponent. At this position your centerline points directly to your opponent while your opponent’s centerline is far away from you, plus you only need to handle one hand of the opponent.

Another important point of this session is how to gain back the centerline with Kan Sao when opponent took the 45 degrees position.

1. Left hand in the front. Right hand Wu Sao in the back.

2. Left hand raised and do Tok Sao (contacting left Jong Sao).

3. Right hand reach forward through the back of left hand. Left hand Lap Sao (grap left Jong Sao). Turn left into Right Ma. Right hand Laap Gang Sao grap opponent’s neck.

4. Pull back right hand into right Bong Sao.

5. Right Bong Sao turns into Tan Sao without losing contact. Body moves into 45 degrees against the dummy. Right side faces Dummy. Right leg stick to dummy leg. Left hand side palm to dummy body.

6. Left leg remains at the same place. Right leg steps back. Right Kan Sao.

7. Right leg Biu Ma (right leg move while most body weight is on left leg). Left Leg follow up. Kwan Sao.

8. Left low Bong Sao changes into left Tan Sao. Right hand side palm dummy body. Simultaneously, body faces dummy at 45 degrees. Left leg stick to dummy leg.

9. Right leg stays. Left leg step back. Left Kan Sao.

10. Right hand Huen Sao. Left hand high Kan Sao. Simultaneously Biu Ma. Together becomes Kwan Sao. Left side faces dummy.

11. Right hand Huen Sao changes into straight palm and hit dummy. At the same time, left hand Jut Sao. Body turn back into straight Ma.

12. Double Jut Sao.

13. Double Tok Sao.

Watch Ip Chun sifu do it:

In Ancient China, printing and paper was not available to the public. Therefore, Wing Chun masters gathered Wing Chun secrets and wrote them into a poem so that students can memorize and pass it on. Today, there are very few people left who really understand the Wing Chun secret buried inside this poem.

As I read through the poem briefly, I can understand a few easier sentences and feel that it is saying something very true and important. For example, it says that there are eight different kinds of forces and each have its application and that there are five common mistakes for stance which 9 out of 10 people would commit. I believe it contain some secret and the essence of this unique ancient Chinese Kung Fu.

Today, Wing Chun is one of the most popular Chinese Kung Fu. But how many people really understand the essence of it? The theory and principle of Wing Chun?

Why Wing Chun?

I’m interested in all kinds of martial arts. But the more I look at different kinds of martial arts, the more I feel that many techniques from different styles and disciplines are repeated or redundant. In the pursue to unify all the martial arts, I found Wing Chun Techniques to be highly effective. Understanding the principles and theories of Wing Chun, can help you to understand most forms of martial arts in the world.

Wing Chun Blocking System

The blocking system of Wing Chun is particularly impressive. The highly simplified and efficient hand techniques when combined together and mastered form a impenetrable wall of defense which can block attacks from all kinds of directions. There is no need to study 200 ways of punch and the memorize the “correct” way of response to each of them. All you need to do is to learn the Wing Chun blocking system with 10 – 20 techniques which are introduced in the first form of Wing Chun-Siu Lim Tao. There are also all kinds of drills and training  in Wing Chun that help you to develop the speed and reflex required to execute the blocking system effectively.

Watch this video to get an idea of what Siu Lim Tao looks like:

As you can see the form of Wing Chun is very different from other traditional Chinese Kung Fu like Hung Kuen. There are no big movements, but almost all the Wing Chun hand techniques are included in this little form practice. As I mentioned, there are around 10-20 different hand sleights for blocking in Wing Chun and each has a lot of variations and applications that worth in-depth studying. When these techniques are combined, the fabulous synergy happens and literally all kinds of upper body attacks from the opponent can be blocked or redirected. Masters can even do it blindfolded and by pure hand senses, feeling and reflex. Check out these masters demonstrations. They might just be the motivation you need to start your own practice.

There are many different styles and disciplines of Chinese Kung Fu, all with different combat philosophies. The different thinking behind the moves makes them look very different.

The fighting philosophy is the most important thing in a Kung Fu. Moves and forms are superficial, but what truly makes a kung fu powerful is its philosophy. And that’s why they punch, move, stand and even apply force differently.

Wing Chun’s way of fighting

The way of Wing Chun is the way of directing force, “borrowing” force, weak against strong and soft against hard. Through Chi Sao training, develop a sensitive reflex and flexible footwork. The training process emphasis thinking, changing and experimenting.

Due to the movies series of Ip Man, Wing Chun Kung Fu is quickly becoming one of the best known martial arts in the world. However, most of the people just know the superficial outlook of this sophisticated kung fu system. Worse still, they believe the outward look of Wing Chun is the entirety of Wing Chun.

The core philosophy of Wing Chun is to use soft against hard. That does not mean that we don’t use strength at all, but how to use small force to win large force, how to overcome a physically stronger opponent with timing and technique. I believe this should be the central principle of all martial arts. Think about it. If you are fighting a physically weaker opponent, you don’t really need any kind of skills, you just wrestle him and strangle him. Martial art exists because the weaker guy need to fight stronger guys and effectively overcome them without getting himself seriously hurt. Any kind of so called “martial arts” that are not answering this question does not worth a glimpse.

The ideal martial art should remain effective even when you are not building your body like Shaun T.

Some say the force of Wing Chun is like a thousand pound of cotton. It is absolutely heavy and powerful but at the same time its flexible and not rigid. The journey of Wing Chun training is to collect your thousand pound of cotton, little by little. At the beginning, you might doubt whether it can hurt a fly, but over time, you develop a second nature that is very devastating.

Master Ip Man was very thin and looked harmless, but he is very dangerous.

Wing Chun emphasizes on the training of sense and reflex. It has unique training methods like Chi Sao which is able to help student gain the sensitivity towards forces, direction and energy which is crucial to apply the suitable attack and defense in a real fight.

The Centerline Principle

In addition, the centerline principle is another focus of Wing Chun. Students must learn how to protect one’s own centerline and attack opponent’s centerline with the most simple and direct method.

You would hear many Wing Chun masters say something like “the fastest route between 2 points is a straight line.” Therefore, Wing Chun pay a lot of attention on how the distance or angle between the two centerlines. While I know that that statement is mathematically true, I don’t agree that a straight attack from the center is always the most optimal attack, either is it suitable to always assume the opponent is coming through this line.

I believe the centerline principle is very important and effective. But there are many people out there teaching wrong understanding of it, you can see many of them on youtube. And that’s why you can find quite a number of Wing Chun masters easily knocked out by amateur boxers. This is not saying boxing is better than Wing Chun. Not at all. But you need to understand Wing Chun and training yourself in the right way to make it work the way it should in real combat.

Wing Chun Forms

Ip Man stream of Wing Chun has 3 forms: Siu Lim Tao, Chum Kiu and Biu Jee, together with different trainings and drills like Chi Sao, San Sao, and Lei Sao. Also, there are wooden dummy, butterfly swords and Lok Dim Boon Gwun.

In the beginning, students train with forms as the foundation. All kinds of hand postures and moves are introduced in forms, as well as stances and kicks. Chi Sao training help students develop hand sensitivity and reflex. In Chi Sao, move and theories learned in forms can be applied in a spontaneous, improvised manner. Chi Sao is a very important part of Wing Chun, it adds life to the Kung Fu.

Wing Chun is the thing you have been looking for

I believe all Chinese Kung Fu were very practical in real fights. However, many disciplines and lineages have lost the real interpretation of the forms and more importantly the method to train a person so that the moves can really be applied in real situations.

When you look at Karate, other Kung Fu or other self defense techniques, they teach you sequences of moves that look quite good in demonstrations. If your opponent do this then you do this and then this and then this. I believe they are all useless and not even fun to practice as a hobby. First, all that are based on imaginations rather than real experience. Second, there are one thousand possibilities how your opponent can attack you. There is no one for you to memorize one thousand ways to react. Third, even if you can memorize the sequences, there is no way can you identify the attack and pick the right moves to use spontaneously.

Wing Chun doesn’t only give you the tool you need for defense and attack, it is a integrated combat system that help you develop the sensitivity and reflex required to apply the techniques effectively.

Wing Chun has a rather short history compared to other ancient Chinese Kung Fu, but because of that many secrets of this Kung Fu is still preserved. Wing Chun is one of the most effective and practical combat systems existing today.

You can watch all the fighting scenes of Bruce Lee here.

The best BJJ tutorial video out there. This video includes Gracie Combatives Lesson 4 Take The Back Lesson 5 Rear Naked Choke and Lesson 6 Leg Hook Take Down