For those of you that remember my last blog entry about the Chum Kiu you'll realise that words can rarely do justice to something as complex and fundamental as form to a martial art such as Wing Tsun. I'm doing my best to have a go though!

However it is important to recognise that the first "new" section in the form is one which equips a student with the ability to understand the defensive capabilities of the system whilst improving the relationship between moving the arms and body correctly within the IRAS.

A double jum sau allows one to sink not just the arms but the centre of gravity into the stance with the realisation that Chum Kiu operates on two lines not just one as in Siu Num Tau. Using the undualtion of the spine to lift the jum saus along with your centre of gravity parctices balance and structure, particularly when thrusting the arms out into Biu Tze saus.

The relaxtion needed not to uproot the student during Biu Tze sau promotes good balance and control. Usually thought of as an eye strike the technique offers a student solutions to drawing an attackers arms down to the centre of mass.

This is followed by a very tricky idea within Wing Tsun forms. The arms must be folded into double lan sau - elbows kept at 90 degrees in front of the solar plexus, and the full range of motion within the stance is needed to allow you to sink into a 90 degree turn. "Sitting" on the back leg places you into a very traditional Wing Tsun stance with the front leg free to step/kick as necessary. It also reminds us to draw all of your power in and down so you are not floating in a precarious position.

From an application point of view the technique offers various uses. Conceptually it teaches us to turn with power, speed and balance. When grappling this can be useful to shake off attackers looking to grapple the upper body or pin the arms. It also teaches us to move around a solid object or force without pushing against it or into it - this allows the Wing Tsun exponent to be soft and difficult to track by an attacker. It also implies that from the Biu Tze saus you can pull an opponent's head sharply down and to the side destroying their stance and leaving them incredibly vulnerable to counters.

By building up a solid base which can move, the Chum Kiu emphasises the need for balance and keeping the arms moving in proportion to the body. If one moves without the other your power and structure is broken. This leaves you weak and twisted in structure. While this may be less of a problem in more advanced systems and emergency techniques it is important to establish good practice amongst beginners.

From here the opening of the arms with double fook saus invites us to expand the chest and lever apart both our arms and those of our attackers. The three pak saus with tok saus have simple applications to break the balance of an attacker using the disruption of their joints. Followed by three palm strikes the student is given a clear message to attack back in using quick and powerful strikes whilst an assailant is off balance.

Drawing the arm back across the body it is important that as the student splits the arms into a lan sau and sau chong that they return to neutral stance. Skipping this point encoruages bad habits and poor structure. Pausing albeit briefly demonstrates great control. It also reminds the student to focus on holding the lan sau at chest height and not towards the throat or even chin as some people will commonly do.

Moving all the way over to the other 90 degree turn with a lan sau teaches the student the depth of IRAS and our ability to move. The split amongst the lan sau and sau chong as well as the sink into the stance is crucial in teaching the student how to keep out an opponents force. Turning the forearm upwards slightly allows the lan sau to become stronger and more resillient.

Forming a double tan sau reminds the student that Chum Kiu also uses one line and nods towards the lessons of the previous Siu Num Tau. Compression of the double tan into the hip allows the student to push themselves around the own centre and make a bong sau wu sau at a 45 degree angle. It is crucial the student understands to face "forwards" looking over the bong sau and in line with their wu.

These steps are teaching us how to move around a changing attacker not multiple attackers or one which can teleport! Constant referral to the direction of an attack is necessary in all aspects of Wing Tsun. Moving between the double tan and bong sau wu sau three times emphasises the use of three repetitions throught the Wing Tsun forms to teach an important idea. It also shows how we can change easily between very defensive and deep 90 degree turns and more attacking 45 turns which help us slip and evade attacks rather than contain them like the former.

The punch over the top of the final lan sau reminds us to keep our arms over the lan sau to avoid them being trapped by being pulled down and develops power and range whilst in the 90 degree stance. Likewise when drawing the arm across into the fak sau it is important the legs are pulled back into neutral stance and the "whip" of the fak sau is then achieved using the softeness in the shoulder joint to make the technique powerful.

The arm is withdrawn and sunken back into the hip. This ensures the following strike is at eye height but launched from a solid and stable base. Be careful that the hand finishes on the centre line as crossing it will pull the shoulders apart and destroy your structure. The heun sau and return to sau chong signifies the end of the section as inkeeping with the Siu Num Tau.

The fact this is repeated on the other side shows how important the lessons contained within these movements are. Likewise it teaches us to train both sides with the mechanics and spatial awareness handed down by the section. Overall it is an important preparation not just for learning to defend and move coherently but for assigning the weight and balance onto one leg allowing us the ability to kick and step in the subsequent sections. That however is another long and complex blog post for another time!

Happy training!  

Here at Altrincham Martial Arts Club we believe that every child is special. Honestly we do. More to the point we believe that every child can benefit from what we do – we know because we’ve seen it.


The aim of our kids’ classes is to do more than show techniques and ask children to repeat them back to us. We use a range of ideas and approaches to offer our students more than that.

As I’ve just started on my PGCE course (trainee teacher) I’ve been reappraising how to educate people. Looking at how learning styles, needs and objectives all have a massive impact on students from infants to the elderly – we all have basic characteristics which as a teacher I need to accept and cater for.

My experience working with SEN (special educational needs) children has convinced me of the fact that every child can benefit from our classes. The reality being that as a teacher, a student (and as a parent in this case) we must have realistic aims and goals. To provide a safe and enjoyable environment and framework is essential to letting everyone succeed.

While it’s not possible for every child in a school to receive the highest grade, it is possible for them to fulfil their potential. That’s why at AMAC we focus on where a student is at when they walk through the door for the first time, and what they can do when they walk back through it. After an hour; a month, a year or longer it matters not to me. What I want to do is ensure that when they leave us they are better than when they started.

At AMAC you won’t see our kids lined up in silence – they move, they shout, they interact! But there is discipline and respect for themselves, for us, for their parents. We instil that through rules, rewards and positive correction.

The latest theories and established practices in education, psychology and the martial arts themselves are at the heart of what we do. I believe this makes us very much unique in delivering effective teaching and getting more from and for our students.

If you’d like more information on what we do, how we do it or you want to see it in action for yourself then get in touch!

Martin Rooney founder of Training For Warriors and expert in conditioning for martial arts has just published his rules. As a philosophical outlook it's great to see what Wing Tsun can compare and contrast with others. I've copied them out down below however please visit his website here: TFW

Rooney’s Rules:


1. The Road to Success does not intersect with the Path of Least Resistance.

2. To be successful in life, you must commit. If you freeze, you lose. There should be no halfway in anything you do.

3. When you take consistent action toward any endeavor over time, small gains will eventually equal large ones.

4. What is easy to do is also easy not to do. Your personal definition of “easy” will determine the height you reach in life.

5. In order to reach greatness, it will not be because of an absence of obstacles, but in spite of them. The Obstacle is the Path!


6. The greatest mistake is to keep making the same mistake over and over again without ever learning from it.

7. You can never gain Momentum if you never get moving. If anything is going to stop you, don’t let it be the start.

8. The success is much less commonly the man with the most natural talent as he is the man that continued to train while everyone else gave up from some self-created excuse.

9. You must first accept responsibility that you are the only one in control of your destiny. Where you are in life is exactly where you are supposed to be as a result of either the things you have or have not done, thought, said, or attempted.

10. If you want what other people don’t have, you must be willing to do what other people won’t do. Find out what stops everyone else and do it!