Snake Reel Crane Withstand

The basic concept of hand skills of the Snake Crane Wing Chun is "Snake Reel Crane Withstand". The so-cal...led "Snake reel" is the applied technique softly sticked on or tied opponents bridge hand to attack or defensive activities being blocked, loss of the original intention, such as TanSau, LanSau, FokSau and etc. They are belonging to the Snake hand techniques. The "Crane Withstand" is the applied techniques hardly to resist the opponent with a bridge or foot violent attack, such as the BongSau, TonKiu(swallow bridge), Gan Sau and etc. They are bleonging to the Crane hand techniques. Both Snake and Crane techniques are being used mainly on the "Guard Centreline and Use Centreline" concepts for the offense and defense applications based.

蛇纏鶴頂
蛇鶴詠春拳手法基本慨念是「蛇纏鶴頂」；所謂「蛇纏」者是粘貼或捆綁對手橋手，使其攻擊或防守活動受阻、失去原有的作用，如攤手、攔手、伏手等以鬆柔為主，屬蛇手法；而「鶴頂」者是抵禦對手用橋或腳猛烈攻來的勁力，如膀手、吞橋、耕手等以剛勁為主，屬鶴手法。所有手法都以「守中用中」拳理作攻防應用為主。

Ton Kiu (crane)

Lan Sao (snake)

Author: Sifu Wayne Yung

My way on Snake Crane Wing Chun

In ancient china, there is a slogan on practicing kung fu for "protecting home and guarding the country" because of the political unstability over thousand years in China. Today, do we practice Kung Fu for fighting in order to protecting home and guarding countries. Of course not.
I started practicing my first martial arts, Judo, in 1974 with some other martial arts such as Hung Kuen, Tai Chi, Wing Chun, Northern styles, TaekwonDo and etc, due to the influence by Bruce Lee. Hong Kong life in that period was very simple and not too much entertainment. In 1978, I already got a lot of championships in Hong Kong Judo open competitions.

In August 1978, I was referred to my Snake Crane Wing Chun sifu, Mr. Law Chiu Wing by my secondary school property in charge to learn the Chinese bone setter. Sifu asked me a lot of my martial arts background and read the lines on my both hands. Then he asked me to learn SCWC from him as well. In September 1978, I decided to learn SCWC, and in November, I did very traditional discipleship ceremony with my sifu. I also saw the picture of my sifu grandfather Law Tiu Wen, the 3rd generation. However, at that moment, I was noted that this arts was descending from Southern Shaolin and creators are Abbot Chi Sim and Num Ng Mui. More, I realized SCWC was a closed system descending in my sifu family for few generations, not open to public, even cannot say too much about the arts with others including my parents. Because of my martial arts training before, I learn and understand the arts quickly.

I was a Civil Engineering graduate majored in Structure from 1980-1983. Then I worked as a tutor in Computer Science from 1983-1986 in my Baptist College, today it is upgraded to Hong Kong Baptist University, same college of Master Leung Ting. IN 1986-1987, I was sent by the College to studying MSc in Computer Science in UK. Till 1990, I left Baptist College to go to Hong Kong University of Science and Technology till today. During these periods, I stopped all other martial arts except Judo coaching. Since SCWC is a closed system, Judo make me enjoying championships in my youth age. In 1993, there was political struggle in HK Judo associations, I decided to give up Judo coaching life and start my long time studying on Snake Crane Wing Chun.

At the time 1993, I start to study SCWC only. Then what I found a lot of doubts in our SCWC history. The keys are listed.

1) Abbot Chi Sim :
why almost all southern arts treating him as creators
2) Southern Shaolin :
i) why its existence in the past querying a lot, just less than 200 years,
ii)southern part of China is populated, no one could locate where it was.
3) Traitor Ma Ling Yee with long bridge big stance:

Why need to create SCWC to train Shaolin monks to deal with one person
From the Kung Fu wck community, there are some history stories about the wcks, but they are different. Just based on my education background, they cannot be acceptable.

Then I started to see all I have in Snake Crane Wing Chun family. I witness the picture of 3rd generation, and his written note in 1890. Then by means of more scientific mathematic approach, to calculate the year back and knowing scwc arts was created after the fire of redboat. The fire of redboat seems the pseudonym of the fire of Southern Shaolin. It relates to the anti-qing activities at that moment.
 
After the fire of southern shaolin, monks escape, seems the rebellions escape. Training the monks to deal with the traitor Ma Ling Yee, mean training the southern arts rebellions SCWC arts to deal with.
Ma Ling Yee, eventually, I found is the traitors with long bridge big stance of the Tai Ping Heavenly Kingdom who bribed by Qing government.

Then the whole picture coming out and accepted by Foshan officials after their investigation.
Then today, we can totally understand why the close contact combats arts created.

My paper "Investigation on Some Forgotton Wing Chun Kuen History" was criticized a lot by those who still believe the stories around in the WCK community for decades. However, how many of them have using some minutes to read it, then make their comments and still believe their stories. However, my paper is totally accepted by Foshan officials and totally filling up the holes in wck missing history and the missing holes in a lot of Southern arts why the same creator Abbot Chi Sim.
In the arts itself, based on my structural engineering knowledges, I analyse a lot with our kuen kuits how the forms and the techniques created and used. Why it is internal arts to oppose the external long bridge big stance. Why it is close contact and how it function. How the importance of the stability in close contact combat ....... More, my sifu in my youth age, he emphasis a lot, forms and techniques cannot be changed. Otherwise, it will not be SCWC any more. That's why SCWC is still maintained what my sifu taught me in my youth. SanSiks term is introduced by our ancestor. Today, how many people know what Siu Lim Tau mean, Chun Kiu for, and BilGee usage. As I wrote in other papers on naming the techniques not casually by our ancestors. The names they used can tell you what the forms or techniques for. If you get a wrong meaning, then you will go to other direction. More, Chinese to English translation also cause a lot of problem as well, not 100% meaning can be translated.

Seven years ago, I had submitted a paper to New Martial Hero magazine, Wing Chun Kuen changes in the last 60 years". I mentioned that today, people like to evolve a lot of others to the WCK for few generations, and make it more modern. More, most like to use their name added becoming their own arts, and still call them wck, which is totally deviated a lot from the creation of Wing Chun. Anything added can be said is wck.

In the past, I would like to share my scwc study and to discuss openly in forum about the wck. However, today I won't because I found we are from different background, different culture. It is really wasting time on discussion, debating, arguing. Mostly struggling will come out. Sadly! Facts are facts. Need to be proofed, not just on discussion, debating, arguing, then coming out the FACTS!!!

Wayne Yung

My SCWC historical research

If we are studying the WCK history, you may find a lot of legends about the creation of wck, the

transmission of wck, the existence of the people around.... and etc.  Today, wck is becoming commericialized and more and more legends and people coming out.  Which are truth an which are fake, hard to know.  How to identify it ? Of course, we need put time to collect information and to study it.

To study history, we need to know what's happening in the past.  Today, wck no any documentary to saying the its own history, mostly verbally.    How do we find out the fact, at least we need to have some solid information today, then we can trace back to more and more decades ago, even the origin.

I observe one key point today wck researchers are missing to the civilized culture and the political culture in each generation.  Today, we realised WCK from redboat, but no people today relating wck with the Tai Ping Heavenly Kingdom.  Why the redboat being fired ? Why chinese opera being banned from 1855-1870?  How the redboat people survive in this period ? Why there are different pseudo stories and pseduo names coming out ? How come the wck can be transmissed in the situations ?  Why some lineages need to be hid ?  Why some other lineage could open to teach ?  Who is hiding ?  Who open to teach ?  Why? and How ?   More, today people intrepete the kuen kuit from today Chinese view, not from the ancient view.  Of course, a lot of differece meaning coming out.  As a good researcher, if really like to study the wck history, we need to study and analyse the collecting information based on what the culture at that moment is.  In the southern part of the China from 1800-1911, it was totally chaos because internal conflicts, a lot of uprisings and revolution and the external attacks by foreign countries forcing china to open the market for them.

Today, as you read the wck histories in the community, most only describe how this wck hero is and who that wck heroes are.  However, no one realize how the southern part of China was in that period.  Nothing more, they just concentrated on how good the arts is.  Does it mean they know wck  history?

 

Honestly, how many years you spend on the studying, collecting information, going through the history in GuangDong at that period, knowing the china culture at that moment, how many different dialects in the South China, how the transmission of kung fu in that period, people literate or not.  Any mis-understanding on different dialects via verbal transmission.......   How many of you can do that ? 

I stopped discussing scwc history openly because, people always why, how, and where the source from.  I had issued a lot of papers about scwc in the last 7 years on the magazines, all collected and put on the slideshare.net, people just like to simply ask and never going through the papers before asking even I refer them to read.   Honestly, 100 of you coming, then I need to write 100 times.

My paper on "Investigation of some forgotton Wing Chun Kuen history" has been issued in early 2014 and was totally validated by the Foshan Wushu History Research Centre and the Foshan WCK Oral History Research Centre.  They spend time to investigate, site visit the whole Foshan and down to Vietnam to get the son of Yuen Chai Wen to proof my paper.  Then last year, sending their people down to Hong Kong to interview me, and inviting me to visit our root of Snake Crane Wing Chun with the China media, Foshan TV, and finally broadcasting in the China National TV CCTV4.

Paper on "Investigation on some forgottonWing Chun Kuen history"

      

20151024 FoShan TV News

Snake Crane Wing Chun - CCTV4 FoshanSeekRoot

     

Honestly, the Foshan Mr. Tang Kwong Man, he is the chief government Wushu expert in Foshan, and he discovered Leung Jan exclusive picture in Leung Jan old house, sent people to turn the whole Foshan bottom-up to find SCWC root, and sending people to Vietnam to get more SCWC with YKS family.  He collected a bundle of real information about my third generation Law Tiu Wen and all getting proofed.

 

He is going to record SCWC to his government subsidized book "GuangDong Wushu History".   Can you do that if you are really a researcher, not gossiping?

My Investigation scwc history paper, from different point of views, reading a lot of history book, collecting information from Hung Mun, analyzing the Chinese characters meaning in our ancient note written by Law......., I spent over 20 years to come out. How many years and what you have done.

As what I mentioned above, I won't like to open to struggle any your history or my SCWC history.  I won't response anything and really get tired on arguing.

Author Wayne Yung

Why Snake Crane Wing Chun history is so important

A lot of people studyign history because they like to know what really happening in the past, and learnt from it. Just like some historical scholar, businessman, emperors, they can learn a lot from the past, how an empire was established, how to run the empire, how it can be strong, why it going down, and eventually collapsed.

Me too, I spent over 20 years on studying SCWC history, because I had a lot of doubts about my Snake Crane Wing Chun history. More, I also have a lot of questions on some other arts. The following key issues I cannot make myself believing
1. Was there any Southern Shaolin existing in the past ?
2. Why almost all the Southern arts, of course including Snake Crane Wing Chun are sourced from the Southern Shaolin and created by the same person, Abbot Chi Sin ? The arts are totally different ways to present and their creation dates may span over serveral hundred years. How can an abbot live over hundreds years and create different arts with totally different fighting ways?
3. In SCWC, the creation is split from the Snake Crane Fist to 3 forms set to train the Southern Shaolin guardian monks to fight again a Shaolin traitor, Ma Ling Yee ?

All these bringing me about our SCWC legend, and start my studying the history and the skills again since 1993.

Collecting information from the different legends make me more doubts on the Wing Chun histories, not really realistic. Ridiculously!

Five years ago, I started to publish papers on my studies piece by peice, and finally, my paper "Investigation of some forgotton Wing Chun Kuen history" had been issued in 2014. This paper floating around the different ways, via magazines in Hong Kong, Europe, some public forums and my websites and facebook pages to the public. Eventually, one of the reader, Mr. Tang Kwong Man, is the Chief historical expert of Foshan Wushu Historical Research Centre, he read the paper and tried to get me in 2014. Through Sifu Tam Kit Hung, who is the researcher from Foshan Wing Chun Oral History Research Centre, Mr. Tang eventually got me and asking about the content of my paper and Snake Crane Wing Chun. Then they went through the whole Foshan to get the root of Snake Crane Wing Chun. More, he also resolved some questions he cannot resolve from my paper, such as the traitor Ma Ling Yee, and the Abbot Chi Sin not a real person, just a belief from Confucian only.
In my study, based on the Snake Crane Wing Chun ancient documents and the forms themselves, we know why Snake Crane Wing Chun is for closed contact combat, who the traitor is. Why using Newly created no one known at that period close contact combat to deal with the open known long bridge big stance arts(Today, all know what scwc is). Today, scwc 3 forms are still maintained since it created. Then we can clearly see what the Snake Crane Wing Chun is.

Through the Snake Crane Wing Chun document, we also see what 'Chi Sin' is and explain why most southern arts they are created by Chi Sin.

More, how the term 'Wing Chun' coming out, what is its real meaning ? Why it is named Snake Crane Wing Chun, because it is splitted from "Snake Crane Fist", the long set SNT.

Last year, Mr. Tang Kwong Man invited us to Foshan to meet and to exchange. We had discussed a lot of my studying based on my scientific approach and scientific reasoning. Then we can see clearly what the evolution of the Snake Crane Wing Chun from the long set, Snake Crane Fist. How the Pao Fa Lin wck come with the long set and a lot of other southern arts, why Cheung Bo wck has only san siks which are the same techniques and application with SCWC, eventually the SCWC is formed without any knives and dummy at early stage.

Mr. Tang also showed me his kuen kuits finding of Snake Crane Fist. There are some common names appeared in the Snake Crane Fist and Snake Crane Wing Chun.

SCWC passed down to my generation is a legend only, like other southern arts. Without putting time on studying it, how come we understand the arts more and know more the applications of the forms. I know most people they just followed what sifu said without any reasoning TODAY, because they just care about how it can use to fight only.

Today, people like to add or to change the forms or techniques, because they don't really understand how it built up, starting from what point. Once you start in a wrong direction, you will totally lose what the arts giving you.

The usage of terms in Snake Crane Wing Chun are still maintained since it was created around 1860. The Chinese our ancestors are stilly using ancient Chinese, not today Chinese. If we don't realise this, by using today Chinese, sure may mis-intreprete them and understand wrongly.

An example here, SLT most people intreprete it as 'Little Idea' or other meanings because of these three Chinese characters.「小念頭 」
In ancient Snake Crane Wing Chun,
「小」 means "Little or Small"
「念」means "Concept"
「頭 」means "Beginning/Starting"
SLT means "Let begin/start from a small/little concept"
If you don't know what the historical is, sure you should not understand what SLT means.
What the small/little concept is ? It is using the concept "Close contact to deal with long bridge big stance"

Then you can see why SLT just stands as a jong instead of stance. Jong can built the Qi channel running smooth, then Jin can be issued, then application on combat. The three palms down and the wing foldings in the fourth session is for handling grabbling and the fifth section is used to handle the short striking.

Without understanding historical background, how come you know SLT really for close contact combat in 1860, not today. It is totally a conceptual close contact combat system.
Like the emperor in ancient, as they understand how an empire built up, becoming strong, going down, eventually collapse cycle from the past, then they will avoid doing the same. However, mostly as they are strong, they will forget, then following the cycle, then collapse.
Studying the arts history, we can also learn the same concepts. How and why the arts built, for what
However today, a lot of wck practitioners like to change it.

Author: Sifu Wayne Yung

Snake Crane Wing Chun Sil Lim Tau stance

All 3 forms set Sil Lim Tau stance is Yee Gee Kim Yeung Ma. Why we play the form with... this stance only, because it is for close contact combat only. We don't need any big move during combating.

For close contact combat, stability is the key issue. Without stability, offense and defense cannot be done perfectly. In offense, we need power generation. Most arts they generate power by making use of the body and more space is required. However, close contact cannot because of limited spacing.
Most internal arts including SCWC, they will use the soft body stance to let the body weight sinking into the ground to build up stability Then power can be easily borrowed from the ground, and lead the incoming force brought to the ground easily. That's why SCWC stance is soft.

Once with the correct posture of yjkym, then internal qi flows smoothly. As qi flowing smoothly, jin power can be easily generated on offense and incoming force can be easily brought to the ground on defense. Then we can apply to the techniques to deal with opponent. SCWC Lim Tau Song is totally describing this senerio, and also lead the SCWC slt form playing.

Author: Sifu Wayne Yung

SCWC Seminar in Montpellier-France

By Sifu Ridha LHIBA SCWC 7th Generation

« On Sunday 16 of October I gave a Snake Crane Wing Chun Seminar in Montpellier in the South/West of France

I did it following the invitation of my Disciple Stephan REMY, a Physiotherapist and a Wing Chun lover and practionnar.

The Seminar was very well running, some of the participants did wing chun already for many years and find SCWC Siu Nim Tao internal approch and Fighting strategy very interesting

Eventhough they were inthousiast, I find out that teaching and srpiding this wonderful art is not easy at all. It will take a lot of Effort to bring it to a  brighter audiance as it’s content is very subtile and deep. »

Taoists Principles inspired in Snake Crane Wing Chun

SCWC is a Taoist inspired ancient fighting System. It is the manifestation of Taoist principles in his two kind of hands.

Taoism is based on the Yin and Yang principles and their correlations

In SCWC The Snake hand represent the Yin aspect, it’s smooth, adaptable and taking the shape of any object it contacts.

The Crane hands represent the Yang Aspect. Solid, strong and it allows withstanding incoming force.

In the Taoist way, Yin contains Yang and Yang Contains Yin.

The same is on the snake Hands they have Speed and big range of motions wich is more a Yang aspect.

The Crane Hand (Arm) has to have great flexibility and harmony between the arm, body and floor to can absorb and release great power witch is more Yin Aspect.

 Only if we can combine these two different hands we can rich the harmony between Yin and Yang

Then we can be able to use SCWC in a real fight

In this video you can see a discussion around these principles that I realise with my students in France last Year

The video is in French with English subtitle.

Text and video from Ridha LHIBA 7th Generation (FR) Snake Crane Wing Chun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkkuRBOcYd8