Co-Authored By Garret Gee and Richard
Loewenhagen
Any serious
student of modern Wing Chun has encountered multiple names or
representations of the first level of Wing Chun Kung Fu knowledge and
learning. In some families it is called "Siu Nim Tau" meaning "Little Idea
Head (System)", while others refer to it as "Siu Lim Tau" or "Little Drill
Head (System)". Many discussions have arisen as to which is correct. In Hung
Fa Yi Wing Chun Kung Fu, both are correct, but they do not refer to training
in the same way. Each represents a different approach to training with a
specific military purpose attached to that approach. The Siu Nim Tau
training track was employed to develop leaders who could reproduce combat
warriors in whatever numbers were required. Out of military necessity, very
few practitioners were trained to this level of knowledge. In contrast, Siu
Lim Tau training was employed for the vast majority of practitioners who
were expected to "produce" results on the battlefield, but were not expected
to "reproduce" fellow warriors. In truth, this is how military training has
been approached for millennia.
From a technical
standpoint, when Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kung Fu was created in the Southern
Shaolin Temple 330 years ago, it represented a true paradigm shift in combat
thinking. Its main purpose for existence was to employ the culmination of
Shaolin philosophical and physiological knowledge in support of battlefield
strategic and tactical necessities the remnants of the Ming Dynasty Army and
numerous revolutionary societies could use against the conquering Ching
Dynasty. Maximum combat efficiency in use of resources (physical and
energetics alike) was the imperative that drove the creation of this style
around martial self-awareness in relation to space, time, and energetics. In
essence, it required both philosophical and physical comprehension of the
realities of human hand-to-hand combat. Complete three-dimensional control
of the shape of the battlefield and all of its players, as well as complete
control of the interactive relationship between space and time, became the
central focus of the science that developed as Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun.
Creation of the
maximum efficiency required for human combat mandated strict adherence to
the laws of physics and the realities of human structures, geometry and
physiological motion. All movement had to be natural and realistic for the
human body. All structures had to support maximum strength and power
delivery with the most economic use of space and time while simultaneously
precluding the opponent from any efficient use of that same space and time.
In other words, the opponent was compelled to fight in the Hung Fa Yi
warrior's universal reality. The opponent was never allowed to fight in his
own subjective reality.
During the past
18 months much has been written and published by the Ving Tsun Museum about
the history of Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun and its philosophical core surrounded by
scientific principles. In essence, that information highlighted the Siu Nim
Tau track of training for leaders and reproducers of warriors. Included in
the information presented were the philosophy of Saam Mouh Kiu (Three
Connecting Bridges) representing the three stages of martial reality and the
Wing Chun Formula with its 1-line, 2-line, 3-Reference Point, 5-line,
5-Stages of Combat, and 6 Gate theories. Also included were discussions of
the principles of Yee Ji Kim Yeung Mah, Leung Yi Mah, Bun Yuet Mah, Saam Dim
Bun Kuen, Saam Dim Yat Sin, Triangular Theory and numerous others. All
constitute the technical knowledge base of Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun training.
All build upon one another to create a knowledge base that leads to the Wing
Kiu (true focus) stage of martial reality. For example, the 1-line concept
gives the practitioner the core of human structure and balance. The 2-line,
3-Reference Points, and 5-Line theories give the practitioner 3 dimensions.
Combined with Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun's Triangular Theory, all give rise to
comprehension and efficient use of the 6-gates of offense and defense
universal to human combat.
Wherein the above
principles, concepts, and theories are absolutely essential to training at
the Siu Nim Tau technical knowledge level, they constitute an expense of
human and time resources that cannot be militarily defended in terms of
training common combat troops in large numbers. Every troop does not need to
know how to defend against every threat or every weapon. In battlefields of
300 years ago, armies adopted the fighting style of their respective
generals. Therefore, troops to be employed within the sphere of influence of
any given enemy army needed strategies, tactics, and body skills tailored to
the specific style or threat to be confronted. A teacher with extensive
technical knowledge could quickly create reaction drills and body mechanics
drills that would counter specific threats without having to train troops
for threats not anticipated in that same region. Since large numbers of
troops are needed for production, rather than reproduction, a simpler, more
efficient training track is needed to produce effective fighters in 6 to 8
months. Such a track is provided in Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun's Siu Lim Tau
training. It was used 300 years ago to quickly train practitioners who did
not require the knowledge to reproduce and be just as easily used in much
the same way today. Siu Lim Tau employs body mechanics and reaction drills
in conjunction with a clever structural heuristic called "Triangular Theory"
to build true martial reality skills into warriors without having to train
their mental awareness of how those skills were gained or could be
replicated in others.
By way of
example, we'll identify some of the body mechanics drills employed by Hung
Fa Yi Wing Chun's 4th Generation leader, Hung Gun Biu, to train combat
troops. The name "Hung Gun" means a high level revolutionary leader given
the responsibility for fielding fighters. Hung Gun Biu's real name is
unknown, but he may have been a nephew of the Chan family with the birth
name of Chan Biu. The attached Hung Fa Yi lineage chart reflects that the
second and third generation leaders were indeed inheritors of the wealthy
Chan family whose members both supported and were trained by Jeung Ng, the
1st Generation leader of Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun. It is known that Hung Gun Biu
also had a direct connection to the Red Opera.
Siu Lin Tau
training under Hung Gun Biu began with wrist and elbow and punch structure
development. The first exercise focused on moving the punching hand wrist
from the centerline of the body to a reference point described by triangular
theory. That theory reflects an isosceles triangle with the striking point
of the fist forming the apex and the nose and diaphragm forming the root of
the two equilateral sides of that triangle. Another triangle is formed by
the elbow of the striking hand forming the apex with the two equilateral
sides terminating at the centerline and the shoulder line on the striking
hand side of the body. Once the reference point was mastered through
drilling, the punching structure would be emphasized with the same drill,
but the punch would extend beyond the reference point out to the upper gate
(nose level) centerline.
Some subsequent
drilling sequences are pictured in this article. They follow a logical
progression of drilling from a stationary posture, then advancing to an
attack stance with the same structural drilling of the wrist-elbow-punch.
This trained the body mechanics of moving into an opponent's space.
Subsequent exercises incorporate chain punches and strikes and ultimately,
exercises with partners to include Paak Da (redirect / punch), Gum Da (trap
/ punch), etc. The nature of any technique or strategy / tactic could be
trained through such drilling. For example, the nature of Hung Fa Yi Paak is
to redirect up/down or left/right. All directions could be trained with body
mechanics drilling. Each exercise enabled the trainer to drill the
structural time frame of space into the body mechanics of the trainee
without expending the time and resources to communicate and teach in-depth
concepts, principles, and philosophies.
After body
mechanics training, skill and challenge exercises are employed to determine
whether true combat skill levels have been reached. Weaknesses are quickly
identified and appropriate drilling is resumed to correct them. The ultimate
tests of combat worthiness are the actual combat applications and they are
trained at every skill level in Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun. All exercises and
drills reflect the exact same motions to be employed in actual combat, so
retraining is minimal and "deconditioning" of training methodologies is
unnecessary.
Hung Fa Yi's
Two-Track training system fully addresses the military training imperatives
of any organized fighting force. Siu Nim Tau track training provides
complete technical knowledge for developing a few highly skilled and
knowledgeable leaders / trainers. These leaders in-turn are equipped with
the ability to instantly assess the strategies, tactics, structures, and
tools of the enemy and quickly develop/adapt body mechanics and reaction
drills that build the necessary Wing Kiu skills into front line warriors.
Those same warriors are able to express the entire Wing Chun formula in
their bodies and weapons without the lengthy training time required to
develop the in-depth knowledge of their leaders. They are not, however,
prepared to develop new drills/exercises to counter different threats. Nor
are they prepared to reproduce other fighters. These abilities lie only
within the grasp of the select few practitioners given full Siu Nim Tau
track technical knowledge. Certainly, there are more advanced levels of Hung
Fa Yi Wing Chun training to include Chum Kiu and Biu Ji skill and knowledge
levels, but, under the guidance of skilled trainers, even Siu Lin Tau level
fighters could be employed in combat including the use of weapons as well as
hands and feet. This proves the effectiveness and combat training efficiency
of the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun system.
