An Interview With Grandmaster Yip Man From 1972: Wooden Dummy
An Interview With Grandmaster Yip Man From 1972: Wooden Dummy
An Interview With Grandmaster Yip Man From 1972: Wooden Dummy
Along that same tangent, the first rule of Wing Chun is therefore focused on aggression and
speed; one must be able to inflict harm on an enemy at the wave of a hand, so that the enemy
will know that he must retreat. Wu Mei passed on her skills to yet another woman, whose
name gave birth to this particular school of martial arts. Her name was Yim Wing Chun, and
she then taught what she had learned to her husband, Leung Bac Chou. When it was Leungs
turn to teach his disciples, since the art itself was yet to be named, Leung named it in memory
of his wife and aptly called it Wing Chun.
Wong Wa Bo, one of Leungs student and who worked in a performance troop, then taught
the art to Leung Yi Tai. Yi Tai then taught Leung Zan. We all now familiar with the fact that
Leung Zan rose to fame in the city of Foshan (in the province of Guangdong, China). His star
disciple, Chan Wa Shun (whose nickname was Loose change Wa), eventually became the
Master of Master Yip Man himself. Chan operated his martial arts school for thirty-two years,
but only taught sixteen disciples; Yip Man was the last of his students.
forward and grabbed hold of the pistol. He then gave it a strong shove and the barrel actually
broke under his force. It hit the ground and had everyone at the scene utterly shocked. To this
story, Master Yips explanation was that the axis within the barrel was already a bit loose, and
it was no thicker than a toothpick. For this reason he could easily dismantle the part with
force, and that this incident should really be heard with a grain of salt. He was being very
modest indeed.
Another story recounted Master Yip standing on the ground in a standing asana pose
(where one folds one leg and the entire body is supported by one leg rooted to the ground).
Several people pushed him with force at the same time but were not able to make him budget.
It can be seen that he has some very strong stamina. When asked about this story, Master Yip
responded with a smile: I dont have the same kind of strength anymore.
increasing its stamina in attacks, one can also use it to train oneself in defensive moves.
These are inclusive of freestyle boxing moves. Chi Sao is, in essence, key to any self-defense
practice!
When we speak of the variety of routines Wing Chun, we are essentially looking at three
forms: Fuk Sao, Tan Sao and Bong Sao. Compared to your regular martial arts routine
(punches and kicks), you are essentially looking at three types of defense acts. According to
Master Yip, these three routines have merged all of the multiple formations of Wing Chun
within. Essentially, all of Wing Chuns movements are combinations of three types of
movements made by the arms, the flipping of the forearm, and the lowering of arms. Regular
defense moves used in other martial arts routines are typically characterized by the move
where, when someone throws a punch at you or delivers a kick, one defends oneself by
blocking the move with one arm, and then striking back with the other arm or using both legs
to launch an attack. In terms of the order of movement, the blockage always occurs before the
actual attack; similarly, the defense and the attack usually cannot occur at the same time.
Wing Chun, on the other hand, is entirely different; when one faces a punch, upon receiving
that punch, a Wing Chun practitioner is able to attack at the same time. Simultaneous
dissolution of an attack, or turning an oncoming attack into a defense, is the most unique
concept of Wing Chun. This effectively calls for the slogan (in memorizing and practicing the
move), whereby an attack is a defense.
Master Yip Man demonstrates Tan Sao, Fuk Sao and Bong Sao during the interview. The
person whose back is facing the camera is his student, Leung Ting.
One more thing to note is the concept of centerline. What does it entail, exactly? Master
Yip mentions that all moves targets the core center; in other words, turning ones bridge
hands into a core, so that when an opponent strikes, one is too always ensure that their
bridging hands are outside of ones own bridging hands, so that you may hang onto the
advantage of being able to both attack and defend. Citing an example, Master Yip says that
all punches thrown are in a rectangular shape, resembling the Chinese character for the
sun; we start from the heart and throws a straight-lined punch, acting in the form of the
string on a bow. If the opponent throws a punch in the form of a hook or a hyperbole, that
attack comes in the formation of a curve, much like the shape of the actual handle on a
bow. We call these moves riding along the bow (anyone with a slight understanding of
algebra will know that the curved line is longer than the straight line). Simultaneously,
even compared to a straight punch that starts from the waistline, Wing Chuns version is
still of a shorter distance; therefore, all of our punches move strictly from the area near
the heart.
Other than using the example of a string and a bow to illustrate this example in Wing Chun
movements, Master Yip also talked of Wing Chun as bamboo and hammer. In theory, a
bamboo stick, a hammer and a bow string have nothing in common and are not comparable.
However, what makes Wing Chun indicative of a bamboo stick is that when the opponent
strikes close, if one uses Tan Sao, Fuk Sao or Bong Sao to receive the attack, that actual strike
will be as if hitting on a bamboo stick ones defence will, at that moment of attack, becomes
pushed back as a result of the force, just like bamboo. When that strike retreats, however, one
immediately strikes back at top speed, much like a bamboo stick will bounce back after with
great force.
In terms of the example concerning a hammer, this is speaking of the way one exerts force
in Wing Chun movements. The force exerted should be exactly like the way one strikes a
hammer into the wall. Everyone who has used a hammer to hit a nail knows that if you struck
it with brute force, not only does the nail fail to penetrate the wall, it might actually becomes
deformed. One must strike the nail cautiously, using the wrist as an axis and lightly
hammering it in. This is what Wing Chun is all about.
Many of you might think now that Wing Chun is all about softness, with the focus on using
flexibility and softness to overcome strength. I posed this very same question to Master Yip.
+ Master Yip Man and his student Leung Tin demonstrate Fuk Sao; when the opponent
attacks with a punch, Master Yip firmly blocks the attack with Fuk Sao, then dissolute the
attack and moves forward with an attack of his own, all of which aptly captured by the force
1. Master Yip Man demonstrates Tan Sao, Fuk Sao and Bong Sao during the interview.
The person whose back is facing the camera is his student, Leung Ting.
2. Master Yip Man and his student Leung Tin demonstrate Fuk Sao; when the opponent
attacks with a punch, Master Yip firmly blocks the attack with Fuk Sao, then dissolute
the attack and moves forward with an attack of his own, all of which aptly captured
by the force of the opponents attack.
3. Master Yip holds onto the opponents wrist, and immediately raises his right leg for a
kick aimed at the small of the opponents stomach.
Sources:
[1] Lixi(?), New Martial Hero Magazine, Hong Kong, 1972(?)
When Grandmaster Yip described his past, he did so with great warmth. Here is a segment of
the interview in its original format.
New Martial Hero: "Did Chan Wah Shun have the nickname Jau-Chin Wah (Wah the
Money-Changer)?"
Yip Man: "This nickname does not represent my instructor's character. Other than 'Wah the
Money Changer', he had also a less graceful nickname. 'Ngau-Chin Wah' of 'Wah the Bull'.
He was the head student of Dr Leung Jan".
New Martial Hero: "This name indicates that Wah the Money Changer was a very bad
tempered person who liked fighting all the time, right? How many students did Wah the
Money Changer admit? How were you ranked amongst your kungfu brothers?"
Yip Man: "Including me, Wah Kung only admitted 16 students since opening his kungfu
school. I was 11 years old when I became his student during his later years."
New Martial Hero: "We Chinese have a saying that the last son is the most beloved one.
According to the Chinese custom, since you were his last kungfu son, you must be the most
beloved student of his. Right?"
Yip Man, smiling: "You're right. When I learnt under Wah Kung, he was already 70. He was
a bit weak at that time. However, he still corrected my mistakes with great patience.
Furthermore, he also told his other students to teach me. As a result, my techniques improved
at high speed."
Grandmaster Yip stopped for a while. He then talked in a rather low tone: "The fact is, not too
many people could afford to pay for such a high school fee. For example: at the time I paid,
the red packet for the 'Student-admitting Ceremony' had to contain 20 taels of silver. And I
had to pay 8 taels of silver each month as my school fee."
A Lot of Money for Learning Kungfu
New Martial Hero: "How much was 20 taels of silver worth, in terms of your living
standards?"
Yip Man, after thinking for a while: "For 20 taels of silver you could marry a wife, say if
you did it economically. Also, with no more than 1 and a half taels of silver you could buy 1
picul [around 60kg] of rice." The Grandmaster continued: "That was why, at that time, most
of the people who learnt kungfu were rich people. These people could leave their jobs and
live in the old temples in deep mountains for training. It is not the same as today when people
can easily learn kungfu anywhere."
New Martial Hero: "After the death of Wah the Money Changer, you left Fatshan and came
to Hong Kong to study in St. Stephens's College. Did you learn Wing Tsun kungfu again
when you were in Hong Kong?"
After six months, one of Yip Man's classmates, surname Lai, whose father ran a big silk
company named "Kung Hang Silk Company" in Jervois Street of Sheung Wan, told Yip that
there was a friend of father's living in their house. He was in his 50s. This man knew some
kungfu techniques. He offered a friendly sparring with Yip Man.
At that time Yip had never been defeated, and so he wasted no time in accepting the
challenge. Lai made an appointment to introduce them to each other on one Sunday
afternoon.
On that Sunday, Yip went to the house of his classmate. After being introduced to
this middle-aged man, Yip looked at him appraisingly. To Yip's eyes, he looked
more like a typical slim-gentleman than someone who really knew kungFu.
After a short, Yip Man frankly challenged the man to a sparring match.
With a smile, the middle-aged man said: "Well, Yip Man, so you are interested in doing some
sparring with me. Before your fight me, I can tell you not to worry about me. All you need to
do is attack me to any part of my body with your full strength and that's all!"
After learning the truth, Yip Man thought to himself: "Gosh! That is why he is so good in
kungfu techniques. Actually this time I w as fighting with a high-rank Wing Tsun expert!"
Immediately Yip Man's realized what an opportunity this was. He was still not that highly
skilled in the kungfu techniques taught to him by his si-fu Wah the Money Changer. This
would be the best chance for him to learn the more advanced Wing Tsun techniques.
Therefore, he wasted no time in asking Lai, his classmate, to take him to the Kung Hang Silk
Company to meet Leung Bik.
Since Yip Man was a genius in terms of learning kungfu, Leung Bik was very happy to teach
all he knew to Yip Man.
A few years later, Leung Bik got tired of living in Hong Kong and was thinking of going back
to Fatshan. At that time Yip Man had already attained the highest proficiency in kungfu
techniques.
Back to Fatshan. At that time Yip Man had already attained the highest proficiency in kungfu
techniques.