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(More customer reviews)I remember seeing an article, I think by Jane Hallander, in a martial arts magazine more than a dozen years ago, with an intriguing account of a Wing Chun type style called pao fa lien. I thought it an exceptionally interesting article, and it certainly made me wonder what other forms of Wing Chun were still alive in China and its neighbouring countries. To most Westerners, Yip Man's style has become the standard when it comes to Wing Chun, and so it was fascinating to learn of the existence of other branches.
Not only is this a groundbreaking book, but it could be the start of a new genre in martial arts books. What we have here is a fine compilation of information about no less than eight styles of Wing Chun and briefer mention of half a dozen others. The authors themselves are from diverse backgrounds and styles of wing chun, and I can only applaud their vision and maturity in working together to present such a wide range of information to the martial arts public. Very briefly, they are Robert Chu, resident in California, a practitioner of Yip Man, Gu Lao, and Yuen Kay-San Wing Chun styles; Rene Ritchie, of Eastern Canada, a student of the Yuen Kay-San Wing Chun style; and Y. Wu who resides in Singapore and practices the Nanyang and Yip Man Wing Chun styles.
Since most readers are probably more familiar with the Yip Man style, I'd like to focus on the lesser known styles in this review. You'll be glad to know that pao fa lien is one of the eight styles featured in this fascinating volume, and it was the first one that I turned to when I inspected the book. We are told that the art is composed of 10 empty-hand sets, four wooden dummy sets, and over a half dozen weapon sets. The three trademark empty-hand sets of wing chun, siu nim tao (little idea), chum kiu (seeking bridge), and bui jee (darting fingers), make up the basic level of forms training. While the weapons sets focus on the familiar (at least to wing chun practitioners) long pole and double knives, there are also other weapons such as the 13 section whip, the scholar's sword, the trident, and the Kwan dao. It seems that there are two varieties of sticky hands practice within the various wing chun systems, one resembling more the pushing hands of tai chi rather than the "rolling" sticky hands that are more familiar to most of us, and the pao fa lien system uses the "tai chi" variety.
Among the other little known styles is Nanyang Wing Chun, which, we are told, includes the three typical sets of wing chun, the wooden dummy training, and the typical weapons: the pole and the double knives. In addition, it has a number of other empty hand sets, one of which seems to indicate some kind of relationship between Wing Chun and white eyebrow boxing (Pak Mei). A fascinating insight was the mention of the so-called "separate techniques." In the Gu Lao style, no use is made of forms.
The founder, Leung Jan, passed his style on in the form of a 40 point system. We are told on page 47, that "One should not simply look at the 40 points as techniques, but as to teach the fighting skills of wing chun. When the basics are mastered, a student can then do combinations and permutations of the techniques while moving left and right, with high or low stances, at high, middle, or low levels, to the front and back, and/or while advancing or adjusting the steps. Advanced practitioners can reach the level of being able to change and vary their movements with empty hands or the double knives."
I find this emphasis on perfecting single techniques absolutely fascinating, and it fits in with what Adam Hsu has to say about the importance of perfecting single techniques in his new book, The Sword Polisher's Record, where he asks: "Is it necessary to learn forms?" We are also told in the section on Yuen Kay-San Wing Chun, that some previously "separate" techniques have been formalized into training sets. It makes me think that this movement of techniques from single, separate techniques into sets is the norm, at least in Chinese boxing styles, and would seem to indicate that most styles start with a group of separate techniques which then gradually coalesce into a set or sets.
While this book is probably of most value to wing chun and jkd practitioners, I hope it will serve as a model of more comparative studies of the often amazing variety within a single system. Two related styles from Fukien, Emperor Fist, aka Grand Ancestor Fist, and Five Ancestors Fist, and on the Okinawan side, Uechi-ryu and Goju-ryu, are prime candidates for this kind of study. We need more books like this.
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