No identical signatures

Have you ever tried to duplicate one signature exactly. It is really hard. Sifu says this is because you use your big idea to copy. Where as if you just do your signature you will get very close as you will use the little idea. 

It's the same with all the moves in wing chun. Don't try and make them perfect just do them. Don't worry about how one Bong Sau is different to the last. Just focus and try to use the little idea and shut the big idea up. 

Open the chest

When we train we are trying to open up our chest and relax it.

In terms of posture anyone who understands human physiology will say that this is a good thing. So many people have hunched forward shoulders from leaning over computers/phones/books etc. This puts unwanted and undesirable loads on other parts of the body which are unhealthy.
As a climber I have a strong back which also exacerbates this problem making it hard to relax and open the chest up.

It is slowly coming into the main stream that proper posture whilst climbing puts you in a better position to pull hard. However I have always heard it described as move your shoulders back and down. This is technically true but I feel it is a way of thinking of it that isn't the most helpful.
The shoulder joint is a complex one but it is one that 'Rotates' it doesn't just go up and down and left and right. It is important to remember that you want the shoulder to rotate backwards. The muscles on your back, and shoulder blade should be rotating downwards. No muscles should be 'pulling' the shoulder into place.

To picture this another way, imagine you are out on a really cold day and have forgotten your coat. Most people will naturally close up their chest against the cold.
Now picture it is a comfortably warm day and you are soaking in the heat. Again the standard reflex is to open up your chest in a more relaxed way.
Play with this and hopefully you can see what I mean.

No Urgent

Sifu often tells us 'no urgent' which he explains as don't rush the movements and also don't expect the power to come instantly, it will take time.

He also told an anecdotal story recently of how Si Gong once got in a fight and was too 'urgent,' stiff and tense. He stepped back and realised what was happening. He calmed himself down, removed that sense of urgency, relaxed and then won the fight. 

Clearly it is hard enough to relax and be calm in the class room let alone when you're in a fight!

Someone asked why we don't train for those kind of high adrenaline situations by sparring fully with gloves etc.
From the discussion that ensued what I got from it was that this person was trying to run before they can walk. Sifu says that there is no point training for that until you can open your little idea.  Otherwise this training will only train your big idea and make it harder to open your little idea.

You cannot rush this training.

Gang sau

When you roll down Gang Sau it is the same movement as letting it drop down on its own. There is no need to think about the movement.

When you let the arm drop, It naturally pivots on the shoulder joint first.

This is the first thing to remember. The second is that, as always, you should drop the shoulder onto the elbow. 

Sifu describes this as 'putting your arm on the table.'

Imagine you are stood next to a High table and you lean on it. You're not pressing down but a large proportion of your weight is going into the tables structure. 

Once your shoulders are dropped then you can rotate the shoulder joint and expand the elbow joint.

Easier said than done! 

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

10 years training in 35

How important is it to ensure you always train using your little idea? Surely you can get the same effect by making sure you really intellectually understand what is happening?

Let's put it in simple numbers. Sifu has been training for 35 years. He said that if he had been training the way he teaches now it would have only taken 10 years.

That's 25 years of extra training. 10 years was under a different lineage so it makes sense that he didn't make any progression in this style. Since then he has been training under Chu Shong Tin (my Si Gong) and he spent most of his time asking questions trying to understand the movements, the little idea, intellectually rather than actually training the movements. 

Also, at that time Si Gong didn't understand the best way to teach and explain what he could do. He could show people what he could do and tell people when they were doing it correctly but there was little explanation. 

Understanding is not enough. You have to practice doing it to get better. 

It's not the destination that's important

As the title says, It's more about how you get there rather than the destination. An idea that would benefit people in general life too.

It may sound obvious but it just reiterates that 'Tan Sau' and 'Bong Sau' are not static positions. 'Bong Sau' is the movement that starts as soon as you rotate your joints. 

Don't think about what it should look when you finish the movement, this isn't as important as every step in between being controlled purposefully by the little idea.

Cantonese and Mandarin

Sifu told another analogy comparing learning languages to learning what we do.
He said it is harder for someone who knows Cantonese to learn Mandarin as they are so similar. When someone who is used to speaking Cantonese, it is difficult for them to pronounce the written word in Mandarin as their main habit is to pronounce how they have always done.
Unlike someone who has never tried to learn either language. They have no previous habits to get in the way.

Using the little idea to move is like trying to read from a book where every word is pronounced differently to how you've always said it. This is why you have to slowly train each movement and try and do it with your little idea. Just like when you learn how to pronounce a new word you must enunciate each syllable slowly to practice the word. 

Imagine how difficult it would be if you only said the word at full speed...

Why are we leaning back?

If you watch videos of Ip Mann or Si Gong doing one of the forms it looks like they are leaning back. Someone asked a out this in class today. It is an illusion. Yes thier torso may be angled backwards however the whole time they never compromise their balance. Their centre of mass is still directly over their feet. 

As sifu always says, you should never compromise your balance or your spine. 

So what's the point of angling your torso like this?

Sifu says that they are relaxing their back muscles by rotating their shoulders backwards so that their chests can relax. They also rotate their hips the same way to balance this. 

I still don't quite understand how to do this properly but the the question does show a fixation on the external. How something looks on the outside. Rather than looking at what underlies it. 

'Don't too casual'

Again, a lovely direct to English translation. Sifu has only started saying this again (I don't remember him mentioning it since I started in Jan 2014) and it has been something that really helped me.

One of the biggest differences with learning this martial art as opposed to others is that each movement has to be relaxed and controlled with the 'little idea' or more importantly, not controlled by your big idea.

With this style Sifu tells you to relax but don't 'think' relaxed because that involves using your big idea. So if you are trying to 'casually' move your hand so as to not tense it, you are probably using your 'big idea.'

This could be better demonstrated than when Sifu approaches us when we're standing to test us with various movements. He implores us to not be too casual when moving our arm from hanging by our side to which ever position he is testing. 

Each and every movement needs to be controlled with the little idea and not using the big idea. Casually moving your arm is evidence of you using the big idea when trying not to think too hard.
DONT. TOO. CASUAL...

Don't misappropriate success

It's very easy to fall into the trap of, 'I did it! This time I was doing this!'

I know I've done it. You notice when Sifu is testing you that you moved slightly differently this time and succeeded. 

Maybe your balance was shifted, maybe your arm was slightly lower, maybe your elbow followed more of an arc...

The truth is that you may be right, but was it cause or effect? Was it because your arm moved that way or did your arm move that way because you were doing it correctly?

Even if you are right, you are in danger of falling into another trap. Next time you do it you'll be trying to remember what you did or thinking 'last time my elbow curved in' which will open your big idea. 

It's a vicious circle!