I missed the movement part of the last Biu Zi seminar so I was keen to see where we got up to. I think we just covered the repeat of the lahp sau movement on the opposite side — which meant that this time, the only section left to cover was the last section, and finishing the form! There is still much more to cover though, with Sigong mentioning that we can now go through the techniques and applications in the form. We’ll also look at the alternative hands and elbows from the history of the development of the form, and the true meanings of some of the movements.
To this end, the lecture was passed over to us, to try and work out all the potential applications of the Biu Zi hand. In my group, and I suspect many other groups too, we could only come up with a few. This inadvertently led to us running up against the ‘true meanings of the movements’ issue I mentioned above, when one of us did a “quick google” to see whether there was anything obvious that we had missed. Google found suggestions about Bui Zi being used to block low attacks, which was nothing we had ever heard mentioned anywhere and we were not convinced about it at all.
This reinforces the need for a good teacher who knows the meaning and history of the form! Indeed, when teaching the final section Sigong mentioned that he had heard other teachers say that an application of bending over was to grab sand and throw it at the eyes of your opponent. But the real application is just relaxation after doing the movements a lot! So we can see how easy it is for the wrong idea to get out about some of the movements.
Most of the answers people came up with about Biu Zi when we went back to the main room centred around using it as a finger strike, but I have seen my Sifu use it as a block or redirect as well, opening his opponent’s centre by making contact with an aggressive hand along the Biu Zi forearm and using the thrusting energy of Biu Zi to redirect their strength. There are definitely more applications to think about!
I appreciated Sigong clarifying the sections of the form this time, I was a bit blurry between the second and third sections which both seem to use Mahn Sau (as does the first section!), and with us not having finished the form yet I wasn’t sure whether there would be anything else to go in section 3.
Finally, as ever, it was good to work in groups for this one in the breakout rooms. From the rooms I was in, the number of questions seem to be dying down now — but perhaps that is just a symptom of us not knowing what we don’t know!
Sigong revealed that the next Wing Chun seminar series will be the Wooden dummy, so keep an eye on the Whatsapp for the measurements and where to get a proper dummy so that you’re not training on the wrong thing. I don’t have a dummy myself, so this is likely to restart the old dispute in my apartment about where we could possibly fit one and whether it is allowed!
Thanks Sigong for the rare opportunity to learn the Biu Zi in depth!
by Lee Baylis
Student Comments
Sifu, thank you for another great seminar. I love this form. It is great to go through everything and get the detail. Can’t wait for the next instalment. Thanks Peter W
Lots of great details to polish from the Biu Zi seminar, thank you Sifu. Look forward to going deeper into the applications.
Peter A
It was great to finish the Biu Zi form today! The arm swinging at the end is really good for relaxing the shoulders and back. I’m looking forward to delving into the techniques next time. Thank you, Sigong. Best, Tom Hogg.
A very satisfying Biu Zi seminar today. Interesting session in the breakout room discussing possible applications. Nice to have completed the form – now down to practicing! Thank you Sigong. Peter Hogg🙏🏻
Biu Zi 12: Feels good to finish the form, but I am also glad we’re not done yet because it feels like there is a lot of knowledge there yet to be uncovered. Thanks Sigong for this rare opportunity to learn at depth! Lee B
Thank you Sifu for another great seminar! It is nice to have now finished the form and there is a lot to practice and to polish. Can’t wait for the next seminar to dive deeper into the applications. Andrew O
Thank-you Tai Sigong for an excellent seminar. From the start with the challenging question of the Biu Tze applications to the instruction of the shoulder and back relaxation at the conclusion of the form it was another fully engrossing session.
Aron
I enjoyed the seminar on Biu Zi today, it was great to see the end of the form. Looking forward to exploring the applications and advanced parts in the next seminars. Thankyou Tai Sigong for explaining the form clearly and allowing time for lots of questions. Each time we can polish a little more and listening to other questions makes us think about new things we might not have considered before! Nice to see everyone and thanks for the help in the breakout rooms. Thanks, Rod.
Great Bui Tze seminar today. Good to dive deeper into the movements and nice to have reach the end of the sequence. Now to understand more about the meaning and applications. Thanks Sigong. Matt L
Great finiah the movements of the form. I like how it finishes off with loosening the joints and spine – a good reminder that traditional martial art is balanced and thinks about health too.
Thank you, Sigong.
Paul H
Great to having completed the movements of BiuZi with nice relaxation routine at the end. Looking forward to more polishing and applications next time. Thank you Sigong!
Michalis A
Great to see Bui Zi to it’s completion, but still discovering new questions from start to finish. Looking forward to polishing and strengthening understanding.
Jordan
It’s feels great to finish the Bui Zi form, and the last section is a very nice way to close and relax. Looking forward to polishing and discovering more advanced techniques and applications in the next part. There’s still quite a way to go to start thinking in a less limited way, but this is why these seminars are so wonderful. Thank you Sigong.
Sam P