I love Wing Chun. It’s simple, subtle, and effective. It combines sensitivity and somatic “listening” with speed and external power. It requires a searching intelligence, quick reactions, and the facility to switch instantaneously between states of tension and relaxation. Its mechanics are fascinating, especially when you start exploring the internal techniques of Chu Shong Tin’s, which seem to have a lot in common with the internal Jins of Taijiquan.
But one thing about Wing Chun that I’ve found kind of baffling is why we use Yee Gee Kim Yeung Ma for Siu Nim Tao, with its peculiarly pigeon-toed foot positioning. The stance is explicitly just for first form practice; we use a parallel stance for the other forms, and for Chi Sau – so why use it at all?
I’ve heard a few half-convincing reasons:
“It stabilises the hips…” Yeah, maybe.
“It helps with grounding…” Er, does it?
“It helps to develop intention by focusing the line of the feet towards a point…” Um, okay.
“It helps broaden the lower back and lengthen the spine…” But do you really need to rotate the legs to encourage posterior tilt?
“It strengthens the legs…” Doesn’t any “sitting” stance do this?
“It symbolises the potential to move into a turning stance…” That one actually makes the most sense to me.
“It trains the legs in an extreme position in order to develop certain power lines through the body…” Yes, I like that one, too, as it conforms with the way a lot of hand techniques are trained.
Oh, and even: “It conforms with the philosophy of triangles in Wing Chun…” Should I start wearing a tricorn hat then, too?!
And this stance does seem to cause a lot of problems. I’ve spent far more hours than is good for me in a skiing snow plough, as well as teaching many thousands of beginners to plough, so I have a pretty good feel for how to take strain off the knees by keeping them in line with the hip and ankle joints, and also for the importance of staying soft and pliant in the inguinal crease.
But looking at other Wing Chun beginners, and even some long-term practitioners, I see an awful lot of knees collapsed inwards at eye-watering angles, or people shifting their pelvis forwards and leaning back to compensate, putting undue and ill-advised compression into the lumbar spine. So why stick people in this bizarre (but admittedly brilliantly named) Goat Squeezing Stance, with so much room for error? 🐐
I was watching Marcus Brinkman’s latest video (https://youtu.be/Ted7XAr3SWA), in which he shows how to develop Baguazhang’s piercing palm from a walking motion, eventually generating power through medial rotation of the leg on the piercing side, connecting hands and feet through turning of the hips and waist. And it made me wonder, is this what’s really codified in Kim Yeung Ma?
Wing Chun uses Juen Ma to add turning power to punches (as well as to change angles and get out of the way of incoming strikes). But in terms of a basic Ma Bu parallel stance, square on to your partner, does the medial rotation of the legs in Kim Yeung Ma actually suggest that you should use this rotation to generate power for square punches, just as Marcus demonstrates for piercing palm? In Kim Yeung Ma the heels are grounded, of course, but that doesn’t mean rotation on the strike isn’t implied. It would seem to make sense biomechanically, but I haven’t heard it advocated anywhere else, nor seen it used in practice.
I’m only a relative beginner at Wing Chun, so I could be way off the mark here. I could be compromising some fundamental principle of the art – for one thing the waist turn means the shoulders will no longer be square to the opponent. I suppose that would compromise the effectiveness of follow-ups or traps with the other hand.
But the external similarities between Tan Sau and Piercing Palm are hard to ignore. And if it adds power and connective integrity through the body from the ground, doesn’t it make sense to incorporate that medial twist of the leg? Is that what the Goat Squeezing Stance is really hinting at? (Or is it just a bonus goat-herding technique buried in the Wing Chun system?)
Just an idea…
💡
🤔
The Azure Dragon 