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INTERVIEW WITH MASTER TAM YIU MING
02/18/2009 - By Angelina Kalahari
Rather a novelty, I found, interviewing Tam Yiu Ming, not only because he is my husband, but because during our conversation, I once again rekindled my fascination for this practical style of Chinese Martial Art.
Starting at the beginning, I felt, would probably be the most useful for those whose first introduction this is.
Q WHAT IS THE HISTORY OF WING CHUN? SIFU TAM According to legend, Ng Mui studied the White Crane style before ever she invented Wing Chun. The name comes from her first student, Yim Wing Chun, who was also a woman. The story goes that she taught her system to Yim Wing Chun so she could defend herself against a local bully. As far as we know, Wing Chun, which is more than two hundred and sixty years old, is the only kung fu system developed by a woman. And because Wing Chun is concerned with conservation of energy, you don’t need to be big and strong in order to overcome your opponent. In the beginning, Wing Chun was taught from Fatshan, a town in Southern China. Most of the teachers there operated a closed door policy, which has led to much controversy about the different interpretations of the Wing Chun styles practised today. Sometimes different teachers use a different spelling to differentiate their interpretation of the style. This is why you find Prof. Leung Ting’s Wing Tsun, or the more well-known Wing Chun, or Ving Tsun and my own Wing Tjun, though most are based essentially on the same original style. Some teachers have also incorporated ideas and movements from other styles but still call what they teach Wing Chun.
Q IS THAT WHY YOU CHANGED THE SPELLING TO WING TJUN FOR YOUR OWN SCHOOL? SIFU TAM Yes, but it is complicated. When I immigrated to the UK in 1997, I wanted to be able to teach in London without having to belong to the British WT Organisation, where I was in fact more qualified than the people who would have employed me there. They are affiliated to the European WingTsun Organisation, the EWTO, who in turn is affiliated to Prof. Leung Ting’s WT school in Hong Kong, the IWTA. I therefore had to resign from the IWTA and because I could no longer use WingTsun in my school’s name, and as I had never studied Wing Chun, I felt it best that I choose something else. After much deliberation, I realized that Wing Tjun is in fact phonetically closest to the Chinese pronunciation of the words that make up the English spelling of Wing Chun. I am lucky, however, that I’m allowed to return to train at the IWTA in Hong Kong and I go every year to spar with my kung fu brothers. This helps me to maintain my level of proficiency.
Q WHY DID YOU JOIN THE LEUNG TING SCHOOL SPECIFICALLY? SIFU TAM There are many different Wing Chun schools in Hong Kong and it can be confusing, so I bought some books written by Grandmaster Leung Ting and I also read some magazine articles he had written. I was impressed with how he explained the teaching and grading systems whereas articles and books by other teachers and practitioners offered no explanations about their teaching systems. I believe that a proper grading system enforces standards of teaching and practice. When I first visited the school, I was surprised to discover that people could just wander in from the street and watch. There were many students and the atmosphere seemed friendly, despite the arduous pace of training.
Q HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TEACHING? SIFU TAM Roughly 25 years, I suppose. I began by assisting my Sifu, Grandmaster Cheng Chuen Fun. I have a hearing impairment and because of that, I had to concentrate harder than my kung fu brothers just to keep up with them. This inadvertently led to attention to detail, which Sifu Cheng Chuen Fun felt assisted me in becoming a good teacher. And I must say, I love teaching this Martial Art and sharing not only the physical exercises and techniques with my students, but also the moral and spiritual wisdom it offers.
Q WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPLES OF WING TJUN? SIFU TAM Wing Tjun is a very practical system. The basic concept is that to defend is to attack, and to attack efficiently requires that we use the shortest distance to the opponent’s body. For example, if I take up a face to face opening stance, my left hand will be closer to your nose. That is the shortest distance of attack. Even though Wing Tjun is actually very fast, we don’t normally talk about speed. We just go for the shortest distance which automatically generates the effect of speed.
Q IF THE FIRST FORM, THE SIU NIM TAU FORM CONTAINS ALL THE BASIC MOVEMENTS OF WING TJUN, WHY THEN ARE THERE THREE FORMS? SIFU TAM Grandmaster Leung Ting investigated the history of this style quite extensively and came to the conclusion that many years ago, there was only the Siu Nim Tau form. We can only assume that maybe Yip Man’s great-grandmaster must have introduced Chum Kiu and Biu Tze forms because they obviously came after Siu Nim Tau. Some assume that they were developed in response to experience gained in actual fighting. You see, there are no leg movements or turning of the body in Siu Nim Tau. As it is, all the movements in all three forms can be used for both attacking and defending.
Q WHAT DOES THE FIRST FORM TEACH YOU? SIFU TAM Siu Nim Tau, the Little Idea form, is easy to learn and remember because you don’t have to spend time remembering foot movements and turns. This frees your mind to concentrate on your movements and your breathing, so you think of nothing else. That’s why it’s called Little Idea form. Siu Nim Tau’s movements are made slowly, which helps you to utilise diaphragmatic breathing. We call this type of breathing Loi Kung. It also helps you to concentrate on developing the body’s internal force. If you perform Siu Nim Tau too quickly, then you will naturally start to breathe higher, in your chest, which leads to feelings of stress. Also, you stand quite still during Siu Nim Tau and diaphragmatic breathing will eventually put you into a state of meditation. Many years ago, people wondered how to develop the body’s internal force and the problem was, how to achieve it. Some said use diaphragmatic breathing. Others were in favour of fast movements. Still others advocated slow movements. In Wing Tjun we use all three. Wing Tjun’s force is developed in the triceps and this being the case, if you cannot relax your biceps, you won’t be able to generate maximum force. This is because the biceps oppose the action of the triceps in making the punch. The triceps also have to be relaxed, otherwise the biceps will put the brakes on. To achieve this, we make a whip-like action when we punch, using punches both against the air and a sandbag.
Q WHAT ARE YOUR COMMENTS ON STICKING HANDS OR CHI SAU? SIFU TAM The basic principle of Chi Sau teaches you the importance of feeling your opponent’s force. For example, if you push my arm, I will stay with your force but if you move away, then my arm will follow you. If you suddenly leave my arm, I will attack you. But there are actually seven sections in Chi Sau training. The first section involves learning to step together, as in the basic boxing concept. Once you learn how to do this, you can go on to spar with an opponent. In this section you also learn how to defend and attack using both hands simultaneously. Although these are very basic techniques, they will remain essential techniques as you advance in your Wing Tjun training. The second section is learning how to deal with your opponent if he grabs you. You can apply some hand movements from the second form, Chum Kiu, here. But this is a study not only in anti-grab techniques, but also you can learn the most practical ways of grabbing an opponent yourself. For example, once your opponent immobilise your hands, you can use your body as a weapon and of course the other way around as well. The third section teaches you how to combine your hand and foot work, together with strengthening how to feel your opponent’s force. This section emphasises strongly the principle of Wing Tjun, which I have given you already. For example, if you push my arm, I will stay with your force but if you move away, then my arm will follow you. If you suddenly leave my arm, I will attack you. In the fourth section, you learn how to use the Kwan Sau, a hand rotation movement which could, for example, be followed with a double punch attack, once you give way to your opponent’s attack. In section five, you continue to learn how to feel the opponent’s force, so you can defend against the opponent’s attack. This means it may be necessary sometimes to break contact briefly with your opponent, in order to attack and to try to establish contact elsewhere as a defence, should your opponent suddenly change tactics. But usually it happens so quickly that it is possible only to attack, not to defend as well, because your defence hand might be made immobile by your opponent. Thus your attack becomes your defence. Section six teaches how to use Fut Sau, Man Sau and high and low Gang Sau, the side palm, at different angles, in a close up attack. In section seven most of these techniques incorporate the same movements made simultaneously with both hands at a parallel level of your body, which helps you to deal with a double attack from your opponent. Finally, you learn how to establish contact with your opponent’s hand, when necessary, if the opponent attacks you from a distance. Q HOW LONG MIGHT I HAVE TO STUDY WING TJUN BEFORE I CAN USE IT TO DEFEND MYSELF? SIFU TAM If you study hard, you can learn how to fight using simple movements within six months. Some of my students were very quick and achieved a fighting level within three months.
Q HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE BEFORE YOU CAN GRADE? SIFU TAM In my school, every student grades every three months and my students receive certificates at each grading. When they reach the eighth grade, they can change their white shirts to black ones bearing a silver coloured logo. For their first primary level, the logos on their shirts and trousers are changed to red to signify their expertise. As a student in Hong Kong, however, rather than using coloured belts to signify a grade, so common to most other styles of Martial Arts, we sew a flower on our clothes. The flower, Mooi Fa, has five petals, each representing a different element. Kun, gold. Mok, wood. Sui, water. Fo, fire. And Chow, earth. This flower became popular all over China, most probably because of the originator’s name, Ng Mui, which in Chinese, is spelt similar to the flower’s name. But in Wing Tsun, the semicircular petals of the flower also represents the semicircles of the Wing Tsun step. Prior to Ng Mui’s invention of Wing Chun, however, she was apparently also responsible for the Five Pattern Hung Kuen Kung Fu, which again, uses the five petals of the flower, Mooi Fa. This time, however, a different animal, signifying the different animal Martial Arts, appear in each petal, dragon, lion, snake, crane, leopard. But this has never been proved although followers of the Five Pattern Hung Kuen Kung Fu fervently believe that she was their founder also.
Q DOES WING TJUN PRACTICE REALLY IMPROVE HEALTH? SIFU TAM All sports and martial practice improve health. When I lived in Hong Kong, I was always very busy and usually very tired, though never ill. I tell you this to illustrate the fact that Wing Tjun produces a healthy internal body, though it does not necessarily build muscles. Of course you will develop natural muscles through working your body, but your aim should be to get fit and to develop the body’s natural internal force. I don’t think it is healthy when people kick trees or hard objects. Wing Tjun does not teach this in the beginning but of course, later we use the Muk Yan Chong or wooden dummy. The wooden dummy is not rigid however, it is built on springs which give way with each punch or kick, so it will not hurt your body. Actually the wooden dummy was originally built for students who, having learnt Wing Chun techniques, had no one to spar with.
Q WHERE DO THE POLE AND THE BUTTERFLY KNIVES FIT INTO WING TJUN? SIFU TAM These techniques are usually learnt after achieving mastery of the wooden dummy. So the order of learning in Wing Tjun usually is Siu Nim Tau, the Little Idea form, Chum Kiu, Arm Seeking form, Bui Tze, Thrusting Fingers form, Muk Yan Chong, Wooden Dummy, Luk Dim Boon Kwun, Six and a half Point Long Pole Techniques, and Bart Cham Dao, Eight Cutting Broadsword Techniques.
Q WHAT IS YOUR SCHOOL’S PHILOSOPHY? SIFU TAM On a practical level, you must adjust tactics according to your opponents’ actions. But for me personally, Martial Arts is not only about techniques, but about principles. I feel that most people seem to get stuck in learning only the physical techniques. But no matter how many useful techniques you know, without adding your spiritual energy to the study of Martial Arts, your studies will be empty. I may equate it with driving a car, for example. The car is a good thing by itself, but without the driver, it is just pieces of metal put together according to a specific plan. I like to make my classes as much fun as possible, because I believe that people study best when they’re enjoying what they do.
07957561398 tamyiuming@hotmail.com www.wingtjun.co.uk
Author: Angelina Kalahari www.angelinakalahari.com
