The Uniqueness of VING TSUN by Stewart H. Fung VING TSUN js a very scientific yet atticificial form of martial art. Its specialty is in close contact combat utilizing quick punches combined with tight defence, and coordinated through agile stances for quick advance and retreat. The effectiveness of VING TSUN is achieved by well-coordinated attack with simultaneous defence and vice versa, delivering strength yet maintaining flexibility and finesse with minimum dissipation of energy. ‘The principles, theories and techniques of VING TSUN is founded on the three training sets and the wooden dummy techniques. The three training sets being Siu Lim Tau (The Little Idea Training Set), Chum Kiu (The Bridge Searching Training Set) and Biu Gee (The Thrusting, Fingers Training Set). Training is achieved mostly through the unique VING TSUN Chi Sau (Sticky Hands Practice) which, in addition to putting the principles, theories and techniques of VING TSUN into practice, it also develops the practitioners Kum Kok (the perception of information through arms/legs contact), and the respective reflexes. VING TSUN utilizes an explosive form of energy called Tsuen Ging (Inch Power) in offence and defence. Taking advantage of the shortest possible distance and timing in both attack and defence. some of the principles and theories of VING TSUN emphasize the following.: = Jung Sein (The Central Line) = Mai Jaro (Centre-adducted Elbow) —Facing the opponent's Central Line = Paying attention’to both left and right simultaneously at all times - Retaining oncoming forces to deflect or accelerate it to another direction ~ Launching instantaneous reflex offence the moment an opponent's hand disengages = Simultaneous offence with defence (2) Principles and Theories (1) Jung Sein (the Central Line) Theory ~ Jung Sein is an imaginary line that passes through the vertical axis of a person. When facing an opponent, this is the centre line ‘or median of the opponent. The Jung Sein’ of two persons connect to form the Jung Sein Vertical Plane. By constantly facing the opponent and co-ordinating all attacks and defences along th eJung Sein Vertical Plane, maximum advantage is achieved. By attacking along the Jung Sein Vertical Plane, punches will reach the opponent faster and with maximum impact since this is the shortest distance between the two ‘opponents. Tf-an attack 1s launched along either side of the Jung Sein Vertical Plane, the punches could be easily deflected resulting in much weaker impact. By the same token, defending along the Jung Sein Vertical Plane while facing th eopponent allows punches to be deflected within the shortest possible time to the left or right away from the body, hence achieving full effectiveness. (2) Facing the Opponent’s Central Line ~The VING TSUN practitioner should maintain a direct face-to-face position with the opponent whenever possible. In case the opponent circles around or constantly shifts positions, the VING TSUN practitioner would adjust his/her position to face the opponent's Central Line. The advantages of such a tactic are as follows: (i) From the a defence point view, facing the opponent's Jung Sein would effectively Feduce the opponent’s attacks to fall only in nine areas. The nine areas are: the upper left, the mid-left, the lower left, the upper middle, the centre. the lower middle, the upper right, the mid-right and the lower tight. In this way. the ‘opponents attacks become mere predictable and hence much easier to defend.@) (a) ) 6) o @) (ii) In launching attacks based on the Jung Sein Theory, facing the opponent's Jung Sein allows punches to reach the opponent faster in the shortest possible distance with maximum impact. (ii) By maintaining a face-to-face position with the opponent’s Jung Sein, the VING TSUN practitioner can reach the opponent with both hands since they are at equal distance to the opponent. Therefore, a punch can be delivered with either hand without shifting the shoulder, effectively keeping the forewearning of the attack to a minimum, In addition, attention can be paid simultaneously on bath sides at all times in co-ordinating attacks and defences. Mai Jarn (Centre-Adducted Elbow) Theory ~ VING TSUN’ attacks and defence are launched with the elbow as close to Jung Sein Vertical Plane as possible. The advantages are: (i) Auacks can be launched within the shortest possible distances and timing while achieving maximum impact. (ii)_Tn defences, Mai Jarn allows some of the most important parts of the body to be protected. In addition, attacks can be deflected within the shortest possible distance. Sau Jarn (Flexed Elbow) Theory = In VING TSUN, upon completion of an attack or defence move, the muscle tension in the hand and the arm should be released. The elbow is retracted and remains bent, this is Sau Jarn. In the Sau Jarn position, the VING TSUN practitioner is poised to attack again with the same hand. From a defence point of view, Sau Jam makes the elbow less vulnerable to attack and also tightens the defence. The principle of retaining an oncoming force to deflect and accelerate it to the other direction ~The ideal VING TSUN defence is to block the attack and at the same time, detain the opponent's arm or leg used in the attack. Using Kum Kok (the perception of information through arms/legs contact), the VING TSUN practitioner would be able to control the opponent's attacking arm or leg. If the opponent’s attack is a forceful ‘one, the attacing arm or leg could be deflected out af harm’s way or even accelerated to other directions by using appropriate techngiues. The principle of launching instantaneous reflex offence the moment an opponent's hand disengages from yours - If an opponent’s attacking arm or leg suddenly disengages from contact, the VING TSUN practitioner's trained reflex will launch an instantaneous attack at the opponent. This form of instantaneous reflex offence is acquired through Chi Sau (Sticky Hand) practice Simultaneous offence with defence ~ In blocking an attack, the VING TSUN Practitioner should also launch a simultaneous offence whenever possible; thus turning areactive defence situation into a proactive offence position. Other VING TSUN principles — (i) No uncessary excessive defence - As a rule, the blocking of an attack must not exceed the necessary area of defence. If an attack cannot reach the VING TSUN practitioner, there is no need to launch any defensive moves. By avoiding any unnecessary excessive defence, energy can be reserved and at the same time, counterattacks can be launched quicker. (ii) Do not “chase” the opponent's hands ~ “Chasing” an opponent's hands means leaving the necessary area of defence to follow the opponent's hands in order tomake contact with the opponent. Since VING TSUN emphasizes on Kum Kok and reflexes upon contact with an opponent, it is not unusual for the novice VING TSUN practitioner to subconciously “chase” the opponent’s hands outside ‘of the necessary defence area. If the opponent's hands fall outside of the necessary defence area, instead of chasing the opponent's hands, the VING TSUN practitioner should launch an attack along the Central Line Vertical Plane; this forces the opponent 10 block the attack and in so doing, arms contact is achieved; this is also one of the Chum Kiu (Bridge Searching) techniques. (ii) Maintaining body blance by keeping the upper part of the body upright ~ It is important to maintain body balance during attacks and defences through proper co-ordination of stances, This will minimize the VING TSUN practitioner's attacking moves from being finessed to the opponent's advantage by not losing body balance. (iv) Launching attacks or defences from any position - VING TSUN’s training aims at teaching a stage where attacks and defences can be launched from any position In other words, no matter where the VING TSUN practitioner's hands are, attacks can be blocked or punches launched with maximum effectiveness without having to return to a pre-determined position (I) Tuuen Ging (lnch-Power) ‘Tauen Ging or Inch-Power is @ short-duratioon and explosive form of energy used in VING TSUNS offence and defence. It is also sometimes referred to as Tam Ging (Springy-Power) or Duen Ging (Transient-Power). Tsuen Ging, as the name (inch-power) implies, is able to deliver knock-out punches at the opponent within a very short distance of approximately two inches. Tsuen Ging is acquired through the Siu Lim Tau training set. air punching training and sand bag punching (refer to Chapter Two for further details) (IIT) Chi Sau (Sticky-Hands) Practice ‘The objectives of Chi Sau or Sticky-hands practice are: (1) Toenhance Kum Kok and respective reflexes upon contact with the opponent's hands (2) To cteate ot seek the opponent's weak areas. G) To give simultaneous attention to both left and right an to co-ordinate different moves Taunched by both hands. (4) To turn the principles and theories outlined in (1) above into practice. (5) To practice attacking and defensive moves and combinations, (6) ‘To practice the co-ordination between hand techniques and foot stances. Kum Kok is the perception of information through arms/legs contact. Such information includes th eopponent’s potential weak areas, the opponent's strength and the direetion in which it is applied an changed. VING TSUN emphasizes extensively n Kum Kok and reflex. It is believed that reaction as a result of seeing through the eyes ins far slower than the reflexes through Kum Kok. This is because anything seen through the eyes has to be processed through the central nervous system to the brain before a reaction such as a punch or a block can be initiated. In contrast, reflex through Kum Kok is delivered from the spinal cord, which is much faster. Kum Kok is acquired through extensive practice in Chi SauThe importance of turning stance ( ) Tere have been many articles written about the stances and footwork within the Wing Chun system, some even claiming to reveal the so-call “secret” footwork, however the true key to the footwork is the “Yee” Gee Kim Yeung Ma ( ) and the Juen Ma ( ) ‘and the only secret is HARD WORK and UNDERSTANDING. The “Yee” Gee Kim Yeung Ma ( ) trains the leg muscles antagonistically (ie: one against the other), develops triangular skeletal and muscular structure, equilly distributing the tua Uke body across the hip girdle, down through the legs and to the heels (see photo 1), aaa ot ten stance has been practised and worked can you begin to train Suen Ma corectly. “The Juen ma utilises the leg muscles and triangular structure developed in “Yee” Gee Kim ‘Yeung Ma and adds to that the torque twist from the waist to increase the acceleration, force aes wh of the strike, whilst shifting the body away from the focus of the attackers strike, “The skill ig to coordinate the hands the waist and the legs to move in unison. This appears visually to be very simple, and in truth once fully understood and appreciated it is, however to ® bepitiner attempting to learn Juen Ma, the movement can seem complex to achieve correctly and requires a lot of practice ‘The initial training involves turning the body from directly facing the opponent / parinet and angling to.45 though later, in Chum Kia, you also learn to tum the body through a full 90 to face to the side, (though the hips remain angled at 45). When turning, the “Pivot” point is the centre of the heels, the feet and toes sweeping around maintaining contact with the ground at all times (see photo 1 & diagram 1); This is very important, if you were to pivot on the centre oF the balls of the feet your mass would essentially be “uprooted”In Juen Ma ( } the hips and shoulders turn through 45 and the body is shifted across from the centre to above one teg, the hips are locked forward, the spine and the body held vertical (see photo 2) ‘There are many advantages to turning correctly, first, by coordinating the legs, hips, shoulders and arms together in a short sharp twist you can generate an extremely powerful and efficient strike, and because the body is shifted across over the one leg the mass of the body is behind the strike. In addition the action of twisting as a. response to an attack is to avoid their strike to your centreline ( ) whilst enabling you to counter strike unimpeded along an alternative meridian line ( to attack their centreline ( ) By turning the hips and hsouldes to 45 your counter strike can be accompanied by 4 simultaneous defensive technique (Wu sao for example) to receive and parry the opponents strike. Because the Juen Ma moves the body away from the attacking line, the defensive technique does not need to physically “block” the strike but simply makes contact to control and gather information, (see diagram 3) Another benefit to angling the body to 40, is that you present a narrower target to your ‘opponent and should any strike manage to penetrate your fefences it will land as a glancing blow rather than a direct strike, and well away from the centre line ( ). It is imperative in Jaen Ma that all the weight is placed over the one leg and not distributed say 70/30 between the legs. By sitting the body over the one leg the leg muscles train and develop to accept and support all th ebodies mass which is essential when kicking or stepping, (see photo 4) If your weight is split between the legs then you will have to adjust your weight distribution and centre of gravity when you want to kick or step and that shift in balance will be scen by your ‘opponent, and if you are in contact with your opponent, it will be felt. Either way the shift in balance will indicate your intention and can be used against you, however by supporting the body over the one leg a kick or step can be employed at any time without signalling your intentions. An additional benefit of the correct weight distribution is that th eknee of the supporting leg will automatically cover and guard yur cetreline against a frontal kick (see photo 5), whilst the other leg automatically covers the centreline from a kick from the side. Because the hips and shoulders are angled at 45 the arms can cover a full 90 arc and a single twist means that the full 180 can easily be covered. (sce diagram 4)‘The Juen Ma is trained even harder in the first section of Chum Kiu, the emphasis being on the correct application of the turning stance in conjunction with the appropriate hadn techniques to find and receive an opponents attack. Since the art of self defence lies in knowing first the angle, line and force of an attack so that you can then offer a direct defensive response base upon that information, you first need to make physical contact with the attacking limb in order ‘© gain that information. Chum Kiu contains many turing and stepping movements in conjunction with various hand techniques to train you to turn and step to safely receive an opponents attacking technique When turning in Chum Kiu the hips turn through 45, as previously discussed, though now as ell as the upper body angling at 45 you also turn the shoulders to 90 to face to the side. (see photo 6). However, if the hips are also twisted through a full 90, then the stance will be unstable and unbalanced (see photo 7), in order therefore to regian stability you will need to shift the front leg across (see photo 8). It is of course vital that you do not over twist and that you maintain a balanced and triangulated stance as you have to be strong in your stane ein order to be forceful in your attacks and effective in your defences. In photo 9, the stance has been over twisted and though the hips are at 45 the spine has been placed directly over the heel of the supporting leg, this means that the stance is not triangulated and it feels as though you are welking a tightrope. In photos 10 & 11 the weight is still completely over the rear leg but now itis the right hip that is directly over the heel and the left hip is aligned with the lead leg, this then perfectly triangulates the stance making it very strong and well balanced. Once this position has been trained and “mastered” then turning, stepping and kicking become much simpelr manoeuvres.