Importance of structure

A lot of people are finicky about structure.
Sifu explains that while it is important, it isn't the be all and end all. Having good structure simply makes it easier to balance, open little idea and maintain the basics.

Once you have got the structure to a certain level you have to stop thinking about it. You are not trying to make the movement perfect. You are trying to make each movement relaxed so that you can use your little idea to power it.

Si Gong says something similar in his article about Siu Nim Tau

Improve Your Basic

 In a class with Sifu we spend a lot of time Standing to help open our 'little idea.' I've mentioned this before and I said clearly that it is not just standing we are improving our basic. These are things that never change regardless of what we are doing. In Chi Sau, fighting, completing the form we should always keep our basic the same, and ignore any external forces.

So what is the basic?

1. No 'Big Idea': It is important not to think about what you are doing with the big idea, don't concentrate to hard, don't think about training or improving, don't feel, don't doubt yourself, don't want to do anything. This is probably the most important one as thinking like this will block you using your little idea.
2. Balance: Not just side to side, but vertical. Imagine a pencil balancing on its point; it can fall any direction just like us.
3. Rotate your joints: any adjustments to your body should come from your little idea including rotating your shoulder joints back and down.
4. Lift the anus: imagine you are making a straight light with your spine and you are lifting it from the bottom, and it is being pulled from the top
5. Naturally relaxed: when you are relaxed it should be natural, don't force it. As long as it isn't tense it is relaxed, it shouldn't be floppy. Separate the muscles from the spine to open up the chest.
6. Finally you must improve it all with your little idea, Don't be scared of it. Subtle gentle movements with the little idea. If you are scared of moving for fear of using the big idea, you will be using that big idea!

Ip Man, Yes man

Sifu told a story the other day.

It was after saying 'No shape, no form, Tan Sao is Tan Sao only when you use your little idea.' He said, 'Ip mans nickname was yes man' because whenever his students asked if their Tan Sao, or Lap Sao was correct he would just say 'Yes' regardless of what it looked like.

Now without being there, knowing what Ip Man meant by that is just what has been passed down by Chu Shong Tin. Sifu says that this is just further proof that there is no specific way to to a Tan Sao etc, except to use your little idea.

My own conjecture is that saying yes to any shape will boost the students confidence in themselves. Sifu has often said that you need to believe you are doing the move right so that you are not thinking 'is this right?' all the time. It is also to remind the students that structure is such a small part of the movement.

In later lessons Sifu has said that having good structure is good for people at a very beginner level, as it makes it harder for you to give up the little idea. He did explain that this does depend on the individual though.

Purpose of Siu Nim Tao

The purpose of the form is not to teach you the movements of Wing Chun. This is the beginner stage only. You need to use the 'big idea' to copy the intent of the movements and the structure however this is a simple and quick process.

The main purpose of the form is to distract you. To make you go back to using your big idea and give up your little idea. To make you think 'is this right?' And tense up. It is hard enough to keep from thinking when standing. Hard enough to maintain the 'little idea' state whilst not moving because you should feel nothing and it is natural to want to and try to feel something.

So one must not just to know the movements one must complete the movements with your little idea, completely relaxed and not weak. You must imbue each motion with the full force of your minds power.

It is almost pointless repeatedly practicing the moves of the form unless you are using the little idea for each one. It is possible that you may be able to distinguish some difference in your ability to use the little idea to complete the movements when directly challenged however I feel that it is more likely that you are simply removing one of the thoughts that we all get hung up on. "Does this look right?" "Am I moving the right way?" And it only helps to remove this by giving you confidence. You have done the move so many times that you don't care about the external structure and shape any more.

To summarise:
The main purpose is to distract you from maintaining your little idea. To try and trick you into bringing back your big idea and react to the movement. Your purpose when doing the form is to maintain your basic!
In the Three Stages I've mentioned before, this is the second stage.

Three stages.

Standing. Moving. Maintaining

When standing still it is hard enough to maintain the state. To keep your frontal lobe away and feel nothing so that you can balance and relax enough to use your cerebral cortex (little idea). 

There are constant moments were you 'feel' that you are doing something wrong which can bring you right out of the state. You use your frontal lobe to correct and this only exacerbates the problems.
So you have to 'stand' and balance to open your little idea, then you have to try (but not try) to maintain it. You have to use your little idea to become more relaxed, more balanced the whole time not thinking or caring how can I improve whilst still improving. A tall order and it is all just your Basic.

Once you have got somewhere with this you have to start moving. This is where you do all of the above whilst also completing movements. A Tan Sao using your joints not your muscles, using your little idea, not thinking about it. Never wondering if the movement is right and the whole time maintaining the Basic.

Then once you are somewhere with this you need to start maintaining all of this when there is an opposing force present. When someone is physically trying to stop you competing a Tan Sao. And what do you have to do? The same as before, except you have to ignore the opposing force. You have to relax, and balance, and open the little idea. You use that to move your arm. You cant care whether you are doing it correctly, or you wont do it correctly, you cant feel or resist or oppose the incoming force, you simply have to complete the movement.



Three stages, not all, and maybe not even the first three however I certainly feel like I am going through each. Each has its own intricacies though they are all essentially the same. The kicker is you can never be sure that you are doing it right and at least to start, at least what I have to do at the moment, you have to not care if you are doing it right...

Watching

Occasionally we have people that are interested in training and ask Sifu if it is OK to watch the class. He normally chuckles and says yes, but that watching is very high skill level.

He always says this and you can feel it when he walks around the room. He can tell when you are using the little idea, he can tell when you are thinking too much, or are trying too hard. He can tell when you are in balance and when you are not.

Seeing this has made me realise that there are many levels to watching. It is easy to see when someone is tense. It is almost as easy to see when someones structure is compromised. It gets harder to explain to someone what they are doing wrong. It is extremely hard to connect their mistakes to the 'little idea' and another level again to see these mistakes within you.

I think this is one of the many reasons that Sifu tells us to do first and feel later. In the beginning years of training we are not going to be able to understand when we are doing it right and in trying to hard we will bring back the big idea and compromise the training.

It is really interesting having just six months training behind me, I look at people and can see little nuances of structure. I can see that they are not balanced but I cannot explain to them what they are doing wrong. One day I will be able to see through the superficial 'structure' and be able to see the subtlety that Sifu sees.

Good Foundations

We often spend a lot of time standing in class. I really should stop describing it as such and this has been made clear to me twice recently.

The main reason we stand is to help broaden our little idea and make it stronger. It is the key to Wing Chun. If one can maintain the little idea state then every movement will have power.

The second time was when I arrived at class early and it was just Sifu and me. He quickly asked me to do Chi Sau with him. As a beginner I struggle with rolling up in to bong sau. After a while I could feel myself tensing my legs and my lower back.

He said it was because I was forgetting about the basics. Relaxing 'lifting the anus' separating the joints and muscles in the back and chest and rolling down the shoulders. He explained that we don't just do this to open the little idea. We do it because it is our structure and our structure cant change when our arms do. If anything maintaining this state is more important when moving our arms.

Well, that isn't exactly what he said though I think I grasped at what he was meaning. He also gave an example: -
When learning a language you learn the words and the grammar. No matter what you try to say you must keep the grammar consistent or it isn't English anymore. The grammar holds it together and ensures it makes sense.
An example I thought of is the foundations of a building. They never change even when rooms change shape and position above them.

Again, a simple concept that is hard to put into practice. Your structure must stay relaxed and in place and powered by the little idea or anything that interacts with your top half will not be deflected to ground.

I'll go back to standing for a bit...