WingChun Articles
13th May 2009
The Forms in WingChun
The intention of this article is not to go into the technical detail of the forms as this can and should only be done in class, and only at the relevant grade level. Rather it is intended to perhaps highlight the importance of the forms and to demonstrate that your ability to apply Wingchun techniques is totally controlled by your ability to execute each movement of the forms perfectly.
Your competence and confidence in a real self defense situation are inextricably linked to how you perform the forms, footwork drills, punching drills, range and awareness training in class and, as importantly at home on your own.
The forms are the core of the WingChun system. They are a datum point for everything else in the system. We constantly refer back to the forms in order to check that our movements during lat sau, chi sau and application training are correct. This means that our forms have to be of an extremely high standard and it is not for nothing that the first form is introduced at the very beginning of training in student program one.
In order to reach a high standard with our forms training we must practise at home as well as in class time. Which of the following categories do you fall into with regard to home training?
Do you:-
Never train at home.
Go through the forms once or twice a week when you remember.
Have a set training schedule and focus totally when training.
Now ask yourself where you fit in with those around you in class. Are you the best in your group or are you struggling to remember the skeleton of the form let alone the technical details?
It is all about practise!!
O.k so now let's put things into perspective. We all have different goals within our training. Some of us want to go all the way to master level and with a huge amount of hard work, dedication and perseverance this is possible. We are fortunate in that we do not have the same motive for learning the system as those who devised it. They needed to take a fighting system to war-to attack an enemy intent on destroying their way of life. This meant that they trained day in, day out to hone the necessary skills needed. Most of us will only ever need to study WingChun as a hobby and so the intensity in which we train will be less. The down side to this is that we have to train for much longer as we will only do an evening here and there and for the most dedicated "part timers" some solo training at home.
Unlike many things in modern life where you work your butt off for hours on end for little or no reward, training WingChun with dedication, determination and passion simply WILL bring you results. If you spend time practising your forms, footwork, punching and chi-sau sections, you will improve. It is not possible not to improve (Assuming of course you are practising the right movements!!!).
...And this is where the crunch comes. Your Sifu cannot show you everything you need to train all at once. Nor can they correct all of your errors at once. Nor can they teach you the whole form at once. There is too much information involved to be processed, memorised and committed to muscle memory for this all to be done in one hit. It takes months if not years (depending how much time you spend working material) to be at the level where you have all the sections of the form in enough detail to be executing it perfectly every time. So perfection is extremely rare but possible, and should always be our intention.
Once you have attained a high level of competence with the forms, your lat sau, chi-sau and free fighting will undergo rapid improvement as you are able to see where mistakes are being made, and you will be better equipped to correct yourself by referring back to your form.
We all have to start somewhere. We all have to work hard to improve. None of us can nor should expect instant results or improvements. We can only learn what we are shown, but we must make sure that we work hard to reach the standard set by our instructors.
Above all, enjoy your training. At times you will become frustrated, but this is normal. Turn this frustration into energy and train even harder.
Keep Going!!!!
Sihing Steve Rose © 2009