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Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun's Combat Blueprint

Authored by Michael Pyun

Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun is more than just another martial art or style. It is the ultimate reality in combat because it ignores weight classes, does not use protective equipment, and allows every part of the body to be a target as well as a weapon. Hung Fa Yi is not diluted for sport. It exists separately from all other martial arts because of its strict adherence to nature and science. Every movement has a purpose and no energy is wasted. Hung Fa Yi practices maximum effectiveness and maximum efficiency. The ultimate goal for Hung Fa Yi in combat is to react without thinking (your mind understands but your body knows). This is all made possible as the result of Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun's Combat Blueprint.
Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun's Combat Blueprint consists of a three-step process in order to learn it. First, you must develop the Hung Fa Yi mindset of combat-reality (its concepts, theories, and principles). Second, you must learn to properly express Hung Fa Yi's physical tools (body karma). Lastly, you combine both the mindset and body karma together to form Hung Fa Yi's Wing Chun Engine (the ability to react naturally, instinctively, and instantaneously). In the following paragraphs I intend to give examples of these steps in more detail.
One of Hung Fa Yi's key principles is that it lives and dies on the centerline. However, this is not the same centerline other martial arts talk about. Hung Fa Yi is unique in that it has three: a vertical, a horizontal, and a three-dimensional centerline. All three must be used and recognized simultaneously in a combat situation.
Another key concept of Hung Fa Yi is that there is no sidestepping, ducking, or retreating in combat. You accept what comes and escort what leaves (Loy Lau Hoy Sung). By intercepting and dissipating incoming energy then following it as it leaves, Hung Fa Yi allows a person to accept a tremendous amount of incoming force all the while staying in perfect striking range. In addition, the upper gate is always occupied so that your opponent cannot land any uninvited strikes (otherwise known as the sucker or lucky punch).
Finally, a third important rule that Hung Fa Yi follows is the act of occupying space rather than chasing shapes. Since only one object can occupy a given space at a given time, Hung Fa Yi chooses to dominate the space between you and your opponent so that things such as speed and power are no longer relevant. This idea, coupled with attacking a person's centerline and center of gravity, allows the Hung Fa Yi warrior to survive in a close-quarters situation with a larger or faster opponent.
Once the Hung Fa Yi mindset has been established, the student can now learn the physical tools needed to express each principle. Building your body karma allows you to recognize what is required to produce the strongest structure in space. Hung Fa Yi teaches a concept known as Tin Yan Dei (Heaven, Human, and Earth). On a basic level, Tin Yan Dei is the perfect alignment of your upper, middle, and lower body in space. It expresses the three-point one-line principle in which your body forms the strongest structure in space (a triangle) while keeping your limbs equidistant apart from each other (imagine a straight line with three dots that are equally distant from each other). In addition, your whole body must move in harmony with one another. Hung Fa Yi works in one beat, one rhythm. Your arms, legs, hips, etc move in unison and therefore support each other in space. You should never be out of balance and your entire energy should be pointed and directed at your opponent.
Now, when learning Chi Sau (sticky hands), a Hung Fa Yi student immediately realizes the real-life combat application of this technique. Chi Sau is not a game and does not need to start in a static position. In fact, Hung Fa Yi's Chi Sau is so alive and precise that it requires you to learn three different kinds! The first is known as Taan, Bong, Fook Chi Sau. The second is Kiu Sau Chi Sau. And, the third is called Kin Kwun Jong Chi Sau. Each of these applications have their own unique purpose in combat, however, in the following paragraph I would like to discuss the third one, Kin Kwun Jong Chi Sau.
Kin Kwun Jong Chi Sau is referred to as the "square inside the circle". In essence, it is what defines Hung Fa Yi in combat. For instance, if you can picture all fights as a circle, then Hung Fa Yi is the square that divides that circle into four gates. In other words, Kin Kwun Jong Chi Sau enables a Hung Fa Yi warrior to put any fight into a "box" timeframe or reality where the only truths are the laws of nature and science (the two things that make Hung Fa Yi exist) - not speed and power. Moreover, Kin Kwun Jong Chi Sau allows Ng Ying Sao (Five Short-Range Hand Techniques) to exist because it deals with close-quarter engagement. But, unlike Ng Ying Sao which focuses on wrist energy, Kin Kwun Jong Chi Sau focuses on energy on your wrist, forearm, and elbow while always challenging your opponent's center-line and center-of-gravity.
Only when understanding Hung Fa Yi's key combat principles and being able to express its body tools naturally and proficiently, can the Hung Fa Yi engine finally be built. Now that the engine is running though, it is much easier to learn and understand Hung Fa Yi's more advanced concepts and techniques (Chum Kiu and Biu Gee Levels). It is similar to learning how to run. One must learn how to crawl and walk before they can run. However, once they are able to run, then things like jumping, leaping, skipping, and climbing become that much easier to learn. So is the way with learning Hung Fa Yi.
After reading all of this, I understand some may think that Hung Fa Yi is too complicated or difficult to learn. Some may even ask "What's the point"? The point is this. In Hung Fa Yi you learn how to fight! You do not spar for points and trophies, wrestle for sport, or practice flowery forms. The highest expression of Hung Fa Yi is the one-punch knockout. If you require multiple techniques to deal with an opponent, you are not practicing maximum efficiency. By our very nature we are human beings. Therefore, shouldn't we fight like one? We must accentuate our strengths and limit our weaknesses. To do otherwise would go against nature. Why do humans want to fight like animals when animals don't even consider fighting like humans? We may think an animal fights like a human but that's just an illusion. Think about the dog known as a boxer. It gets its name from the playful way it uses its paws. But, if it really wanted to attack you it would just bite you. I guarantee you it wouldn't get up on its hind legs and throw a right hook, left uppercut combo on you. Moreover, do you really think a lion says I wish I could do a flying side-kick? No, he says I'm going to charge you, claw you, and bite your head off because that's what I do. Why go against Mother Nature? Use what you were built to do. That is what Hung Fa Yi is all about.

Phone / Fax: 415-596-5997 San Francisco Hung Fa Kwoon Email: worldhfy@gmail.com