More About This Video From Nima King

Coconut was actually the man responsible for bringing the lineage’s chisau legend Akeung to Master Chu’s school. At the time Akeung was practicing Mui Thai for a similar amount of time that Coconut was practicing Wing Chun with CST. Akeung was no match for Coconut when they fought and so after he asked if he would introduce him to his Sifu. That’s how Akeung’s journey began with CST…

This footage was taken in the 70s. During this time, challenge fights and ring fighting was the norm at CST’s school so sparring session like these were the norm. If you didn’t do ring or challenge fights in those days, then you weren’t considered a serious student. Many of the students had some experience in other arts like western boxing, Thai boxing and other forms of Kung FU like Hung Kuen and Choy Lei Fut which were the 2 biggest forms of Kung Fu at the time before Wing Chun picked up momentum (thanks to Bruce Lee)

Master Chu himself used to strongly encourage his students to not only practice sparring, but to take challenge and ring fights as much as possible to gain better experience. Almost all of CST’s students in these days were working class and some even struggled to pay the monthly fees. A lot of them worked in construction which back then was a field that saw a lot of violent fighting.

The ref in these videos Mui Chung Chi (Joe Mui) was actually one of the top fighters of the lineage at the time – and some of his students were present in this footage – and so was the first person in the footage ‘Choi Tsi’ and they had many street fights at the time. I personally have had the pleasure of having many hours of practice with Choi Tsui and many of these old school legends of the lineage and have learned from their technical abilities which were still very impressive at their ages of late 60s. I have also had the privilege to pick their brains about their ideas of CST’s teachings in those days, heard many fighting and other stories of the time, and learned much about the underground Kung Fu culture of the 60s and 70s in Hong Kong.

In those days Kung Fu schools were packed with triads and learning Martial Arts was literally for life and death as getting stabbed, chopped up on the streets in gang wars was a very common occurrence (60s and 70s in HK) and it wasn’t uncommon for 30 vs. 30 ppl gang fights with machetes and bats in broad daylight. Having said this, Master Chu was clear that he didn’t allow triad members to join his school however a couple did slip under the radar according to some of the students from those years, one of them being very high up in a local triad gang. When Master Chu found out he asked him to leave but by then many of the students shown in this video were already acquainted with him and even though (to my knowledge) they never joined the triads, they were highly respected by them due to their street fighting ability.

I uploaded this old footage for the main reason of encouraging schools within the CST lineage to spar more as I know the vast majority of them do not, hence why I often say (with all due respect) that even though most as practicing aspects of what CST was teaching, if they don’t spar they are missing a big chunk of the system. So pad up brothers and sisters and get to work.

Nima
Mindful Wing Chun

Learn the entire CST Wing Chun method Online: https://www.mindfulwingchun.online

Mindful Wing Chun is one of the biggest Wing Chun school in HK and is located in the Heart of Central. Our mission is to pass on Grandmaster CHU SHONG TIN’s ‘internal’ method of Wing Chun which promotes health through cultivating MINDFULNESS and Deep RELAXATION resulting in a BALANCED Body and Mind.

For more information about Nima King and Mindful Wing Chun:

Website: https://www.mindfulwingchun.online/
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日期已定，其他詳情將於日後公佈。
The date is confirmed, other details will be announce later. This event is hosted by 徐尚田詠春同學會 Chu Shong Tin Ving Tsun Alumni.

On The Concept of Chain Punching

During the week of September 20, 1990 we had the honor of meeting Master Wong Shun Leung and Master Tsui Sheung Tin from Hong Kong.
Master Tsui Sheung Tin was the third official student of the late Grandmaster Yip Man in Hong Kong and Master Wong Shun Leung was probably THE most famous fighter of the Wing Chun clan in the early 1950’s. Bruce Lee was a student of Yip Man but it was mostly Wong Shun Leung who taught Bruce Lee his Wing Chun.

The following question is an excerpt from the interview, translated by Yvette Wong.

What is the idea of the Chain punches in Wing Chun?
WSL: In Wing Chun if you throw two fast punches to someone’s head they’ll be knocked out. The first punch causes the brain to go to one side of the skull. If a quick second hit comes, the person is knocked out. If you withdraw the hand to give the second punch, then the brain can recover (will have more time to recover), but if you don’t give this time then a knockout results.

Insight from Wong Shun Leung

Something to Consider: “In Hong Kong we don’t use a lot of drills. We teach sticking hands and build everything into it.” – Wong Shun Leung

Sifu Nima. Calm, Confident Living. from Rooftop Film Company on Vimeo.

On the subject of Bong, Wu and Pak in Chum Kiu

“If you throw a left punch at someone and they use the right Bong sau, you can pull their Bong sau down with your right hand to pull them off balance and then hit with the left hand. If the Wu sau (guarding hand) is lined up with the wrist, then the opponent will have no protection if he is really pulled down. He can’t recover with a sideways Pak sau. But if the guarding hand is held closer towards the shoulder, it will naturally block the incoming punch.

Also, if the Wu sau is in the center, like we have it, then a hit can come to either side of the Wu sau. But with the hand towards the shoulder, which is actually your new centerline when you are shifted, the opponent’s punch can only come to one side of your guarding hand. This makes the punch easier to deal with.

The second set has three quite different variations of the Bong sau. One is to really whack the opponent’s arm away. Another is if your Bong sau is already in contact with the opponent’s arm, and he is pressing you – for example, their left arm presses your right Bong sau. In this case you can change the Bong sau to a Lan sau. The Lan sau is performed with the wrist higher than the elbow, not level, in the Wong Shun Leung version. This brings the opponent’s force down.

On the subject of Double Bong in the Second Set of Chum Kiu

“The double Bong sau in the second set, is not really used in a double way (also the wrists in Master Wong Shun Leung’s version are not together). This movement tells you how to use the Bong sau in combination with a moving stance in order to get rid of a force. For example, if someone tries to put his arms around you from the front (a front bear hug), you can create a circular defense by putting your left arm in the Tan sau position, and your right arm in the low Bong sau position. At the same time, charge into the opponent to unbalance him. The opponent’s arms have a hard time me crushing you because you’ve created an extra circle around you (circular defense). Also if your arm is grabbed, you can charge in and change to a step and Bong sau to get rid of an opponent’s force. Part of the second set assumes you already have contact.”

In the second set, Master Wong Shun Leung starts with the left low Gum sau, followed by a right low Gum sau. Chu Shong Tin does six sliding down hands (same as Wong Kiu) in the first set, followed by six punches.

On the subject of Lan Sau in Chum Kiu

“The Bar arm (Lan sau) in the second set should not be done high (shoulder level) or else it isn’t a practical movement. The Lan sau should be performed at about the solar plexus level. The use of this movement is, for example, if your right arm has been grabbed and a left punch is coming, then your left bar arm jams that punch before the punch gets too far. There are a variety of these kinds of jamming movements. If the Lan sau is too high, then the Lan sau is not effective for jamming any punch”.

Words of Wisdom

Why We Train: “When defeated ask yourself what mistakes invited the attack. This kind of positive thinking, any fighter must possess.” – Wong Shun Leung