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that our own power will be added to it. When we attack, we

should make sure that we will not miss and there is no way an
attack can backfire. That is a good skill.
The more we practise the more careful we are, not like
beginners who use a lot of strength. This is a low level of skill
and ends up in a match of strength vs. strength. I once said to
my class, If you just rely on strength and speed, then someone
young will come to class one day and in two weeks time they
will be able to beat you up. With a good skill it does not
matter how old you are because the more you practise, then
no junior can be better than you because you keep developing
yourself.
When you use a skill and your opponent can hit you
back, then you must not use that skill again. If you use a
skill and you have to struggle to do it, then also you
must not use it again. It means that you are not using
the right skill or you have misunderstood it. Even you
know 100 or even 1000 different skills, but only a few
are safe and use less energy, then those that work are
those that can be used again and again as these are
the good skills. The others you should not use.
Studying Wing Chun is the same as studying
Taijiquan in the end, because they are both a high
level of martial arts. They try to teach us to use less

help you? If you treat it like a sport and rely on strength and
speed more than skill, how can an older person manage?
Of course, if we have to fight against too many
opponents, the way in which Chinese martial arts deal with
this situation is through using many different kinds of
weapons:- long weapons like the spear and short weapons
like the knife or sword and throwing daggers. Even the principle
of the throwing dagger is this:- If the enemy is strong we
avoid, if the enemy is weak we go ahead.
Nature is fantastic. An elephant, which is big, can scare
all the other animals and a mouse, which is small, would not
be able to scare an elephant but it can get into an
elephants trunk or on its back and cause
him irritation. Big animals are
slower (especially in changing
directions) and small ones are
faster. So everything in
nature is balanced. No one
can be absolutely sure of
winning; it is all about the
situation. Humans are big
and a virus is small but so
many humans die because
of viruses.
So when we practise
Tui Shou, we should not avoid
training with someone stronger
and when we train with them we
should not try and use strength
to compete with their strength. We
need to follow the principles of
Taijiquan which are the principle of the
Yin and Yang circle. An opponent will not
be able to push you as long as they
cannot break your centre of gravity. You
should be able to change your centre
of gravity as the situation changes
and you should be able to
energy to defend ourselves. When a normal
yield with your waist or
untrained person is attacked they will become
even step to avoid their
tense and use strength to defend themselves
strength. This is what
and so they use force against force.
the
Taijiquan
Studying Wing Chuns Chi Sau and
principle, Stance
Taijiquans Tui Shou is unlearning our bodys
must be strong,
natural reactions to dangerous or tense
but the steps
situations. We are learning how to let go
must be light.
and use disadvantages to change the
means.
situation so that it becomes an advantage.
Thus,
Today, most people who practise Tui
when we are not
Shou use too much strength, particularly in
moving we are strong like
Tui Shou competitions. First they are matched
a mountain and we are
against someone of similar weight and then
connected from the top of
they have to compete within a circle. It is a
the head to the soles of our
bit like Sumo wrestling where you have to
feet once we are still. If
push the opponent out of the circle or throw
your opponent wants to
Simon Bedford using the technique, Lap Sau
them down. If you win then you get a point
move, you they will feel that
(Grab and Pull Hand), on Rob Bailes
and the first to win so many points wins the
you are firm and your body
match. In this way, it becomes a sport.
is strong (but not tense). However, if we feel that we cannot
Any martial art that becomes a sport is not longer a
maintain our centre of gravity, we will move and then your
martial art because the thinking has become only how to win
opponent will feel that there is nothing there. This is what
and how to get one more point. In reality, if we are confronted
Taijiquan calls Ting Jing which means listening energy. It is
by a bigger person or more than one person, how will sport
the same as in Wing Chuns Chi Sau. Once the hands touch

Chi Sau and Tui

Shou is unlearning
the bodys natural
reaction.

Qi Magazine Jul/Aug/Sept 2006 page 17

together, you can feel how much you can put in or

how much you can pull out. Your response it based on
what you can feel, but you must make yourself secure
before you respond.
So we must know how to let go, how to make
the body unlearn its normal response of tensing up
and blindly fighting back straight away. If we can relax
and listen to an opponents energy, then we can learn
so much. This is particularly important for beginners.
In Taijiquan, beginners must learn to relax and allow
the opponent to do anything and use the waist and
stepping to change their attack. Once you can do this
you can easily find a way to attack back. Remember:defence is more difficult than attacking. If you can
handle any attack made against you, then eventually
you will become a master. On the other hand, if you
only concentrate on attacking, then your skill will be
limited. Once you find you cannot attack certain
people, you will always become stuck in that situation
and your skill will not improve.
Anyone who can stand the difficulty in allowing
their opponent to attack in any way and keep using
Master Tse uses Pek Jeung (Chopping Palm
the soft and
Strike) on student Peter Diesner.
relaxed way to
defend will have
follow their principle. A Wing
no limit to the
Chun man (or woman) must use
level they can
Wing Chun Chi Sau principle and
reach.
skill and a Taijiquan man (or
In the end
woman) must follow Taijiquan
Wing Chuns Chi
and Tui Shou principles. They
Sau
and
must not forget what they have
Taijiquans Tui
learnt and start using other
Shou are the
strange hands, otherwise their
same. The only
Wing Chun skill never be good.
difference is that
The same is true for someone who
Wing Chun is a
does Taijiquan. They must follow
straight line and Taijiquan is a circle. Straight
the principles of Taijiquan and Tui
lines and circles are good for attacking and
Shou and use the circle principle to
defending.
touch the Wing Chun hands.
When I teach, I emphasise to beginners
Otherwise their Taijiquan skill will not
who practise Wing Chun that they must
be good.
practise Chi Sau a lot if they want to improve.
If your Wing Chun is good,
My Sifu, Grandmaster Ip Chun, says, If you
you should be able to handle all kinds
want your Wing Chun Chi Sau skill to be good
of situations and it should be the
then you should touch at least one thousand
same if your Taijiquan skill is good.
different hands.
In the end it is about how good your
For those who practise Taijiquan, then
skill is and it is not a problem of the
they should do Tui Shou a lot to improve their
style you do.
skill. Otherwise they will only be able to know
When we can do this, then we
the forms to a certain level and they will not
can understand all martial arts and
really understand Taijiquan. It is like buying
see why traditional martial arts have
the best food and getting all the best
lasted hundreds and thousands of
equipment for your kitchen, but you still do
years. We can also see how they have
not know how to cook. So if Taijiquan students
been developed with experience and
or even teachers do not do Tui Shou, then
they are all quite amazing. If we are
they might not know enough about Taijiquan.
beaten, then it is because of
When my Wing Chun students and
ourselves not the skill we are trying
Taijiquan students have reached a good level
to learn. Any martial art that comes
and understand how to do either Chi Sau or
to the top of the mountain is the
Tui Shou properly and have a lot of good
same and at that level, there are no
experience, I encourage them to touch hands
Vidyo Videv finds that strength does not styles
with each other. When they interact they must
by Michael Tse

Wing Chuns Chi

Sau and Taijiquans
Tui Shou are the
same.

work with his Sigong, Master Tse.

page 18 Qi Magazine Jul/Aug/Sept 2006