Forms don’t work.

Do you train the Wing Chun forms? This is a question that I get asked occasionally by trainees. The answer is yes and no. If you train with me, you’ll find that there is an emphasis on keeping good form – relaxation, correct posture, efficient structure and whole body mechanics. I endeavour to  adhere to the essential principles of the system as found in the “oral tradition.” Regarding the hand forms, we train what David Peterson calls the “Cream of the cream” – the pray three times to Buddha section of the first form. We also train the wooden dummy form; my version of it, like the rest of my Wing Chun, is streamlined, direct, and avoids repetitions and impracticalities. When I met Non Classical Gung Fu’s Jesse Glover shortly before his death, his advice to me was “forms don’t work.” 

Too much technique kills the spirit, as the Zen saying goes. I’m indebted to the Dublin based artist Peter Hanan for the print shown in the image. Stay with what comes, follow as it retreats, thrust forward as our hand is freed. This is the true essence of Wing Chun, and how well one is able to do this is the only true reflection of one’s level of ability and understanding. In my 35 years of Wing Chun I’ve met so many Wing Chun trainees and instructors who plod through the hand forms, often without the slightest idea of what they are doing and the concepts that underlie the movements. If you are able to stay with what comes, follow as it retreats and thrust forward as your hand is freed, then you are actually doing Wing Chun rather than parroting a choreography that lacks real value. Don’t get hung up on the hand forms – don’t concentrate on the pointing finger, look at where the finger is pointing to.