Читать книгу Complete Wing Chun. The Definitive Guide to Wing Chun's History and Traditions онлайн

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Master Hawkins Cheung squares off with his opponent (Fig. ssss1). As the opponent punches, Cheung Sifu moves in quickly, intercepting with his forearm (Fig. ssss1) and flowing straight into a counter strike (Fig. ssss1).

Tan sao, bong sao, and fook sao are the most important hand maneuvers in Wing Chun and are often thought of as fixed techniques. In actuality, however, they are very much alive and adaptable. The names are merely convenient terms for the ideal positions of the bridge arms in relation to an opponent. Since their feeling is alive, they only exist when in contact with an opponent and only for the time it takes to actually perform them in transition.

FORMS AND TRAINING

Yip Mans Wing Chun contains three empty hand forms that capture the core skills that define the art of Wing Chun.

It is interesting to note that while different branches of Yip Man Wing Chun all teach forms that follow the same basic principles, there is a great deal of variation in the sequences themselves. Perhaps Yip Man learned different variations from his different instructors, continuously strove to refine and improve his art throughout his teaching career, taught the sections with emphasis on conceptual points rather than fixed sequences, tailored the sets to suit each individual student, or the sets have simply been changed by current-day instructors to fit their own needs. Of course, mistakes, misunderstanding, and misinterpretation may have also led to such variation. In the end, it is not important which variation of the set is the “original,” but rather that these sets give the practitioner a feel for the systems concepts, tools, and the basic knowledge necessary for their application.