Bruce Lee's Mother Art
Wing
Chun
By
Hawkins Cheung, as told to Robert Chu, in "Inside Kung-Fu"
January 1992
To
understand Bruce and his martial art, you have to look at
his mother art, wing chun. Wing chun in the 1950s was a
popular fighting system because of its reputation in
challenge fights with other gung-fu Systems. Wing chun was
noted for its simple, direct, economical movement and
non-classical style.
Many joined and wanted to learn how to fight. Because of
the reputation of wing chun, Bruce and I joined. The thing
about wing chun is once you start the first form, you feel
frustrated. We questioned, "Why do we have to learn this?
How can you fight like this?" Everyone wanted to learn the
siu nim tao quickly, so they could move onto the sticking
hands exercise. The dan chi sao (single sticking hand)
exercise was no fun, so the younger students wanted to get
through that even quicker. When you finally learned the
double sticking hands exercise, we felt excited and
thought, "I can fight now! I know wing chun now!" We liked
to copy the seniors. If you could land a punch on your
opponent, you felt very excited. "I can beat him now," was
our first thought. So everyone wanted to beat his partner
first so he could be the top dog.
Everyone also tried to please the seniors so they would
teach us more tricks to beat up the guy you didn't like or
competed with. So students grouped together and created
competition with another group. Each group thought it could
beat the other. In my opinion, this is how wing chun
politics began. Being 100-105 pounds, I had a hard time
against opponents bigger than me. During this time I also
tried to collect as many new tricks to beat my opponents.
Once the opponent knew that trick, you had to find new
tricks. When your opponent knew all your tricks, being a
small guy, you were in trouble. The old saying of the,
"Same game, same way, the bigger guy always wins" applies
to every physical sport.
Llater, tricks became useless. I always got pushed out
because of my limited power when it came to advanced
sticking hands practice. I was very frustrated because the
opponents knew my tricks and they were stronger than me. If
I threw a punch, it was nothing to them; they could take
the blow and throw a punch right back. I learned that
sticking hands was very different from distance fighting.
In distance fighting a lightweight could move faster than a
heavyweight. My dilemma was that I was learning wing chun,
not a system that emphasized distance fighting.
Yip
Man's hands
I always got pushed out when I practiced chi sao with my
bigger seniors. Everyone who learned wing chun always
wanted to prove that they were better than the others. Most
of the practitioners concentrated on the offensive side of
sticking hands. They tried to learn how to first hit the
Opponent. The practice became a sport fighting game.
Whoever was stronger would win. Egos ran wild and every one
wanted to be the best. There is a wing chun saying, "Don't
speak of who is senior or junior. The one who attains the
skill first is the senior." It meant that, "We don't have
seniors," because we were better than the seniors. In wing
chun we say we don't have any seniors because we strove to
become better than the seniors and even better than the
founder. If you look at your art this way, you will
certainly improve.
During that period, I had a hard time. I thought of
quitting a few times, until I finally went to the old man
(grandmaster Yip Man). He always told me, "Relax! Relax!
Don't get excited!" But whenever I practiced chi sao with
someone, it was hard to relax, especially when I got hit. I
became angry when struck. I wanted to kill my opponent. The
sticking hands game became a fight, with both parties
getting hurt. The question was who got hurt more. Because I
was smaller, I was the one who usually hurt more.
When I saw Yip Man stick hands with others, he was very
relaxed and talked to his partner. Sometimes he threw his
partner out without having to hit him. When I stuck hands
with Yip Man, I always felt my balance controlled by him
when I attempted to strike. I was always off balance, with
my toes or heels off the ground! I felt my hands rebound
when I tried to strike him. It appeared as if Yip Man used
my force to hit me. His movement was so slight, it seemed
he didn't do anything, not even extend his hand! When I was
thrown back, it was very comfortable, not violent, yet I
still could not see his techniques. When I asked him how he
did it, he simply said' "Like this!" as he demonstrated his
extension of his hands, which was the same as practice. I
saw Yip Man do this to other students, even the seniors. He
never landed a blow on his students, but he would put a
student in an awkward position and make the fellow students
laugh at the sight. He was the funniest old man. I never
once saw Yip Man take a step backward during chi sao.
I thought to myself, this old man was my size and weight,
how could he control his students so easily? So every time
he played chi sao with a student, I kept watching his
perfect wing chun body structure. Whenever he took a step
forward, his opponent was thrown back. No matter how big
the student was, Yip Man never exhibited a killing
attitude. The students would swing his hands, and Yip Man
would smile and merely control the movements.
I really felt hopeless, so I asked sifu what should I do to
further myself. He told me, "Why do you always want to be
the same as the others? You know it won't work, why don't
you change? Do the form more, don't even play sticking
hands for a while. Do the form slower." I was confused; I
wanted to learn wing chun to fight. I wanted new ways and
new techniques. After all these years, Yip Man's advice
were these few words. I felt disappointed, yet I couldn't
argue with him. I had the choice to either drop out or do
what he said. So I reviewed all the forms with him and he
corrected them during private lessons. I did stick hands
with him slowly. He just coached me and guided my hands
like a baby sitter. In this manner, I learned the softer,
defensive side of wing chun.
Who could know Yip Man's high skill? Yip Man could
neutralize his opponent's force or interrupt his opponent's
motion so that it never landed. If you take an analogy of a
big car facing a small car, you can see that the driver of
the small car doesn't have much of a chance. The small car
driver has to shut off the engine or interrupt the shift to
first gear of the big-car driver. obviously, the big car
can just run over a small car and destroy it. The question
is how big is your car, and compared with whom?
A
larger opponent
When Yip Man faced a larger opponent, his skill was so high
that he would shut off his opponent's engine or never let
it start. When you're old, you have to adapt this way to
survive. With my small size, I had to learn this method. I
had to be faster than my opponent's fist or elbow's
extension. I had to see my opponent's telegraphic body move
or see his mind's intent. Whether in close-range or
distance fighting. I have to interrupt my opponent's engine
start or guide his intention elsewhere. Bruce didn't learn
this high level of skill. By Hong Kong standards, he was a
big car.
Everyone in wing chun has his opinion or politics. The
politics arise when each speaks of the "best" method of
entry or attack. The "best entry" or "best attack" is a
product which a wing chun exponent chooses to buy. To a
wing chun man, every attack is considered an "asking hand."
My fist is a question posed to you. If someone attacks and
you solve the problem before it is initiated, how much
politics are involved? Politics come from partiality, which
is why I say that when wing chun is trained to a high
level, there are no techniques. Who realized Yip Man's
skill? All my training brothers respected Yip Man because
he never hurt them, nor were they skillful enough to hurt
him. Yip Man's skill in the 1950s was the epitome of
sensitivity; he could immediately read his opponent's
intention.
Wing chun is a mental, rather than physical martial art.
The system was founded by a lady, and as a result, the art
requires mental strategy and physical skill and timing.
Wing chun requires that the mental be ahead of the
physical. It is a system to develop skill, not a style. I'm
not the best, but I know where I stand in this art.
A good wing chun man should practice chi sao all the time.
You can tell what sort of individuals you are dealing with,
his character, his advantages or disadvantages. You can
look at a fighter's body and also determine if he is a
boxer, kicker or wrestler through his muscle condition and
by the characteristics of his movement. A fighter's
behavior also determines what sort of fighter you are
facing. Of course, this is not 100 percent. When betting on
a horse race, an experienced gambler will try to gather all
the information he can get on a horse. He will look at a
horse and check his statistics to make an intelligent
decision. You learn to minimize your risk. This is what chi
sao teaches you.
When you do chi sao, you should not attack first, but
rather try to collect as much information as you can on
your opponent. Many wing chun practitioners want to attack
first without gathering information. Attacking first is to
give your opponent information on yourself. Sun Tzu advised
us, "Know yourself, know your opponent, in 100 battles, a
100 victories." The forms of wing chun are for you to know
yourself; chi sao is the way to knowing others.
Bruce
changes
Bruce changed his methods when he came to the U.S. Time and
experience caused change, but he had help from wing chun,
which hinted which direction to go. Just like my training
brothers who express wing chun in their way, Bruce founded
a method of teaching his version of wing chun in the U.S.
Bruce used the offensive side of wing chun. Bruce said that
he supposedly saw the "limitations of wing chun," but the
truth is that there is nothing wrong with wing chun. Wing
chun is not a style, but a system of preparation for
combat. Wing chun gives you the information to be one step
ahead of your opponent. Wing chun is not better than other
Systems of martial arts, but it offers a practitioner some
unique advantages. No matter what style or system of
martial arts, to defeat your opponent you must land your
tools. I can fight using wing chun tools. But I express my
own Hawkins Cheung style based on my experience. As a
martial artist, one must stand on his own credit, not his
master's.
When I teach wing chun tools to my students, I coach them
to find which way best fits their character. Some students
are very emotional, yet I can't force them to relax. So I
teach them the offensive way of wing chun. When the skill
in offensive attacks becomes better and they feel they are
not improving and become frustrated, they automatically
come to me. They ask how to handle this guy or the others.
To me, this means they really want to learn. I explain to
them that they should relax and pay attention to the
defensive side of wing chun.
Once the feeling in their hands and body is automatic, I
let them go on their own to find a higher level. If the
students continue asking questions, it means they haven't
yet developed the feeling of that movement. They want my
help and I do all that I can to help them.
Wing chun is very simple to learn. The system contains only
three forms, a dummy set, the 6 1/2-point staff and the
double knives set. It is also very easy to teach. The
question is if you have tested it out yourself. Can you use
the skills in application? Have you forgotten how many
fights or whom you have fought before? Each style of
martial arts are defensive, so you use what is useful and
reject what is useless for the particular stylist. You have
to find what is useful for your style of fighting. It may
be useless to other stylists, but you have to change the
order of using your wing chun tools according to
circumstances.
In my wing chun concept, I like the opponent to start
first. I will initiate my timing from my opponent's start.
To my experience, this movement is a trap. When you
approach me indirectly, you must have a reason why. I have
to first discover your intentions. I just wait calmly. My
mind becomes a "referee." To wait is better than changing.
l listen to your own music or rhythm. I pay no attention,
and that means that my emotions are not involved in
fighting. The big question is when to start. Of course,
this takes time to develop.
You will see in the "Westerns," when there is a gunfight,
no one dares to start first. In Japanese samurai movies,
during the sword fighting scenes, the opponents may wait
for a long time. If you can't wait, your mind has to find
your opponent's rhythm and starting point. From here you
have to find your opponent's intentions with an "asking
hand."
Wing chun started Bruce on his way. It was the wing chun
concepts that he still retained to allow him to customize
his personal system of martial arts that he referred to as
"Jun Fan." Wing chun was the gun that Yip Man gave us; the
frustrating part was that you had to learn how to aim and
shoot. The problem was your target always moved, you
couldn't get a fix on it. Wing chun is a problem solving
art. You can say that Bruce and I were given a problem from
the "old man" to solve. In fact, the "old man" didn't
explain things unless he saw you work for it.
Wing
chun development
Every martial arts student has to solve the problem of
applying the physical portion. All martial arts styles tend
to be theoretical in application. Bruce may have abandoned
some wing chun tools' but he didn't abandon wing chun
development. He changed the art for himself, not for you or
me. Bruce used the concept of intercepting and "modified
the gun" for his own needs. I kept the traditional gun and
made it work for me. Yip Man posed the question, it was up
to us to solve the problems. Bruce and I sought for
practical application combined with the conceptual. You can
say there was a parallel development between us through the
years.
In my wing chun concept, I will say that Bruce had
weaknesses. If I faced him, I would try to read his
intentions. I would allow Bruce to start his broken rhythm,
making his rhythm his starting point. At that time, his
feet were off the ground I would rush in with a surprise
attack. Rushing in is faster than Bruce's rhythm. With
rushing in, I can break his mind's rhythm, or blank out his
mind in a second. I can then follow up with consecutive
strikes. I would give him back a problem to solve. The
question is whether your "rush-in" timing was quick enough.
There were some tricks we played all the time when we were
teenagers looking for a fight. When we would find a
"target, "we would just walk up and say, "Hey! I'm talking
to you!" or we would go up and touch or pull him. We would
make our victim pay attention. If the guy was hot-tempered,
he would try to hit us or push our hand away. Once the guy
started, we would initiate our timing from his move. If the
guy got hurt, we would say, "What's the matter with you? I
was just talking to you, and you tried to hit me first Mr.
Chan (fictitious name we made upon the spot)?" The target
would say, "I'm not Mr. Chan!" To which we would reply, "We
thought you were Mr. Chan and are very sorry we made a
mistake!" If our target didn't pay attention to us, we
would curse his mother or sister. We tried to infuriate our
unwilling adversary so we could resume the fight. We were
real bad guys!
The objective was to force the opponent's starting point -
We would do or say anything to initiate the fight. Bruce
even carried this trick in his movie, Return of the Dragon.
In the fight scene with Chuck Norris, Bruce would speed up
his footwork rhythm. Norris began to follow the same rhythm
then Bruce would finish Norris in the end.
A
flexible art
Many of Bruce's students refer to what he taught as a
"modified version of wing chun" But Bruce's term, "modify
is equivalent to wing chun's "feeling" or "sensitivity."
Wing chun feeling is to allow modification, to change for
the sake of survival. There is no such thing as modified
wing chun; a good wing chun practitioner constantly
modifies his art based on feeling. Wing chun is a flexible
art that allows you to change based upon your feeling. When
Bruce borrowed other tools, the way he displayed them made
their essence different because Bruce couldn't discard the
reflexes he developed from wing chun. The essence he
displayed almost always had retained a wing chun flavor.
Bruce's followers today don't demonstrate the attributes
Bruce displayed and developed over the years.
Bruce used the wing chun methods of start timing, spring
energy, sensitivity (through the practice of chi sao) and
ging (penetration power). Bruce couldn't teach the feeling
of his art. Just like Olympic sprinter Carl Lewis trying to
teach someone how to get off the starting blocks faster, it
was a matter of feeling, not mechanics or tools. Bruce's
speed was a result of the wing chun training he practiced
for so long. In wing chun, there is a quality that we refer
to as "start timing." It is the ability to start quickly
and differs from someone who has fast hands or feet. Start
timing is what made him fast. It is not an emotional type
of speed. It was Bruce's use of start timing that made him
so fast.
The secret to Bruce's speed and power was that he combined
both physical and mental power. Bruce was an expert in
mental intimidation. Bruce demonstrated his emotional anger
and hunger for wining character in every tool he delivered.
When I asked him how he could get so fast, he explained
that he would use his emotional content to speed up his
techniques. This was a big departure from wing chun in that
the wing chun mind is supposed to be centered and calm.
I remember when we practiced wing chun together as
teenagers. Whenever Yip Man taught us new techniques, we
would test it out. If it didn't feel right, we would go
back to sifu again, and ask him to show us the technique.
One of us would watch his hands, the other would watch his
body mechanics. We would then exchange what we observed and
put it together. We would go around asking our seniors,
too. Bruce and I did the same with them. One would watch
the technique, the other the body mechanics. We would ask
the seniors who was right or wrong, and how we could
correct the movements. We got used to watching the detail
in a person's body mechanics rather than technique. Good or
bad techniques were based on good or bad body mechanics or
structure. This is the way Bruce and I stole other styles'
techniques, analyzed them and even did it better than the
person showing us. Anyone who knew Bruce knew that he had
this ability. Bruce would steal others' techniques, yet
because of his "gorilla" upper body and his forearm
strength (in wing chun, we call this long bridge arm power,
meaning that the power is issued from the forearm down
instead of from the body), his punch would have two kinds
of power: one from the long bridge force and the other from
his body rotation power (body rotation power is what boxers
use the most). That is why whatever style or technique that
Bruce would steal, he could perform better than the
original. His forearm power is what he developed from wing
chun through years of training. This is why I say that his
followers don't have what he had.
Strong
Arms
I recall when we would chi sao, Bruce's arms were very
strong. He would just extend his arms and you could feel
his power. But I knew his lower body part was weak, and I
would pull his arm while he extended, and would pull him
off balance. He would have to stop his extension to save
his balance. I usually used this method to stop his
continuous attacks. That was Bruce's weak point. In the
wing chun system, whenever we want to attack, the legs have
to step out before you extend your arm or punch, so you
won't lose your balance. If your arm gets interrupted by
your opponent's pressure or power, you can still continue
your attack because you body equalizes the pressure placed
on you. You can still continue to extend your arm or punch
while being intercepted. This is how a good wing chun man
can use the power twice in one motion, rather than having
to reload the power. You reload by extending the punch.
Because of Bruce's poor body structure, he was easy to
throw off balance. It was also disadvantageous for him if
he came up against a larger opponent that would jam him
when Bruce punched or extended his arm during sticking
hands. Maybe this is what made him give up the wing chun
structure. No one could touch his hands while Bruce engaged
in a long distance fight. His upper torso strength and body
rotation method would create devastating power. It was
smart for him to use these attributes to his advantage. In
the U.S. Bruce would not fight against wing chun men, so no
one knew his weak points!
Bruce's thin legs put all his energy in his upper torso.
This gave him an advantage of quickly moving his legs. It
also made him a good dancer when we were younger. Bruce
enhanced his leg techniques by learning two months of
northern style kung-fu high kicks before he came to the
U.S. Good kickers require the energy to be in the upper
torso, so Bruce had natural advantages when it came to
kicking fast and with timing. This was his advantage in
kicking and his disadvantage in wing chun structure.
Wing
chun at heart
Despite Bruce's advanced level in the martial arts, he was
still a wing chun man. He expounded the use of the
centerline principle, as well as simple, direct,
non-telegraphic and economical motions. And although he may
have borrowed tools from other martial arts systems, he
used the techniques to conform to the wing chun way. For
example, when Bruce used the wing chun straight punch, he
started from the middle, with his elbows down. Although he
may have used a northern shaolin side kick, he still issued
power with a stomp as a wing chin man. He would stomp into
his opponent. His best techniques were his straight punch
and side kick. His front and hook kick were fast, but they
didn't have the killing power of his straight punch or side
kick. Consequently, he used those tools the most to express
his JKD.
When Bruce demonstrated his skill with the kali sticks, you
can still see his upright wing chun structure. As
previously mentioned, Bruce had the skill to copy anyone's
hand techniques quicker and better than anyone.
When Bruce broke away from wing chun and his classical Jun
Fan system, he pursued his own non-classical, personal
style. Because Bruce studied wing chun so long, he made his
tools into a wing chun product, which is why I say his
students don't have his tools and attributes. To wing chun
people, we feel that Bruce is not complete. Wing chun
stresses ambidexterity, where as in Bruce's art, it favors
the lead hand.
Bruce's students are also approaching his art in the wrong
manner. Jeet kune do was supposed to be non-classical, but
now it has become classical. The practitioners fear to
create and would rather obey the dictates of the style.
Take the finger jab that Bruce taught. Bruce's students
don't have the practical application. if it hasn't been
developed or used in application, it is useless. Wing chun
backs up its practical application with its sticking hands
exercise and uses the partner as a dummy. You have to test
your application in practice. I feel that jeet kune do is
stepping backward, because of the lack of feel in fighting.
Wing chun's energy is on the legs more than the upper body.
Because the wing chun hands are used to feel the opponent's
hands and read his intentions, the hands must be soft. It
is analogous to a baseball catcher. You have to be soft to
hold up and receive the incoming pressure. You must feel
comfortable. The legs are used to throw the whole body
forward, like a hammer striking a nail (a "nail" is your
tool striking your opponent). This is what is called the
wing chun structure power. If we use the analogy of a
hammer and nail, the nail must be positioned in the center
of the hammer, other wise your nail will be broken or bent
crooked while the hammer hits It. In wing chun, this means
the hand is jammed or has no power transference. A good
wing chun man first aligns the nail to the target, while
the target waits to move. The hammer then follows up. if
you think of this, you will see that Bruce gave up the wing
chun structure, but wing chun trained his arms to issue
power.
Bruce's advantages were in distance fighting, and he
extended his advantage to a high level. When Bruce stated
traditional martial arts are classical, it was because he
was free from the classical. He had a hard time before he
mastered the martial arts.
Without wing chun, he wouldn't be able to find out his
advantage or disadvantage. He didn't have to create a
style, he could express whatever he wanted. Bruce was like
the fastest gunslinger, he could kill you in a second, or
he could kill you in ten minutes. In the first nine minutes
and 59 seconds, he could demonstrate as many fancy motions
as he wanted, as long as no one knew his weak points.
Sometimes in my classes' I demonstrate Bruce's teachings,
too. It is fun.
Point
to the moon
Jeet kune do was Bruce's finger pointing to the moon. Jeet
kune do was a goal for which to aspire. Even Bruce couldn't
express jeet kune do all the time. The term "jeet kune do"
was created too early. He regretted the term "JKD" in the
end, as he couldn't express the intercepting fist every
time. Jun Fan gung-fu was his wing chun. Any of his
followers knew that when Bruce taught chi sao (sticking
hands, a wing chun sensitivity exercise), he would put his
right foot forward. I knew that he tried to cover up his
chi sao weakness, which is why he placed his right foot in
front. Bruce wouldn't tell you his weakness, he would tell
you something else to cover up his weakness. In distance
fighting, Bruce did what we wing chun men do: we put our
best side forward. Bruce meant for his chi sao to be right
side leading for long-distance fighting. It means that
Bruce's chi sao is meaningless. He would expose his
weakness on his left side, whereas his deadly weapon was
his right side.
Being friends, I knew his character. Bruce wanted to be the
best, and it was his personality that drove him to be the
best and come up with his own method. Bruce and I were
convinced that offense was the best defense. With my
fighting experience and background, I could check and
compare his standard. From knowing Bruce and training with
him every day for years, I could just about read his mind.
In the early 1960s, he was a young, ambitious Chinese
gung-fu guy in America against the Japanese- or
Korean-trained martial artists. Because of racial tension
and being the only Chinese gung-fu guy around, he kept his
beloved wing chun gung-fu and was hungry to learn more. He
changed the wing chun fighting stance to look a bit more
like the karate cat stance to deliver a front kick on am
his opponent as part of a counterattack. The purpose of his
changing the stance and structure was to handle the
one-punch kill attitude. Bruce wanted to prove that gung-fu
guys could fight, too. Because of Bruce's limited knowledge
of wing chun, he was forced to use other tools. He created
his own classical system called Jun Fan. For his students
to attain his level, they have to become free from Jun Fan.
Bruce realized jeet kune do when he was finally free from
Jun Fan and wing chun rules. He changed to fit into U.S.
martial arts, not Asian martial arts. If we use the analogy
that wing chun is a car, if you learn to drive in Hong Kong
or in the U.S., the rules are different. You have to change
and modify your experience to fit your environment. Bruce
drove the wing chun car in the U.S. to suit the American
way. His Jun Fan is a product of wing chun for America. Jun
Fan is not jeet kune do, and Bruce's followers have the
classical Bruce Lee martial art Jun Fan, not jeet kune do.
Jeet kune do is a goal for which to aspire. If any of
Bruce's followers intercept in every move, then they are
expressing jeet kune do. Jeet kune do was Bruce's gift to
the world's martial artists. Jeet kune do is just one of
the concepts of wing chun. He experimented, did research
and development for American martial arts. Just as Wong
Shun Leung's fighting experience is geared toward fighting
against gung-fu guys, we all had to develop our own
product. We all had to become free from wing chun to master
it. If Wong were in the U.S., he too would have to change.
Wing chun is frustrating to its practitioners because the
system tells you to create your own product. There are no
fighting forms in wing chun. The kata or forms of other
styles are a product. How many products can one produce
with wing chun? A product is partial. Each wing chun
practitioner has to make his own product with his two
hands, sticking, changing and coordinating. To create a new
product, you go back to the center. Your mind must be
centered to absorb a new product.
Although Bruce and his personal art are gone, Bruce managed
to pass on his knowledge to the whole world, not just his
followers. He never passed on his tools, but he passed on
the concept. The tools were like a boat designed to cross a
river; once you get to the other side, don't carry the
boat. Maybe there can be another "Bruce Lee" someday if
they can follow the example he set in training, research
and application. Bruce wanted the world to know that you
should find out what fits.