Grandmaster Tse’s Wing Chun Note 459

In Chinese Kung Fu we always had the phrases Máh 馬, Bouh 步, Jōng 樁. These are used when we are talking about position, and footwork. What do they actually mean? Mah Mean horse. In Wing Chun we have Yìh Jih Kìhm Yèuhng Máh 二字鉗羊馬 – Basic Wing Chun Stance, Jyún Máh 轉馬 – Turning Stance, Jeun Máh 進馬 – Forward Step etc.  All of these are Mah. Horses like to run, but they also like to stay still. In Chinese Kung Fu, Mah is used in stationary positions and also moving – footwork. There is another common term, Bouh 步 -walking. Bouh is slower than Mah, but it is also used when describing positions and footwork, like Mah Bouh 馬步 which as you can probably tell literally means horse stance.

In the Wing Chun’s Lùhk Dím Bun Gwan 六點半棍 – Six and Half Point Pole, we have the position Dīng Bouh 丁步. Dīng 丁 means little so Dīng Bouh is Small Bouh. In Dīng Bouh, most of the weight is on the back foot and there is only a little bit, in fact almost no weight in the front foot. Also, in Chinese Kung Fu, we have Seuhng Bouh 上步, which means step forwards and is almost the same as Jeun Máh. Shang means forwards, but there is one difference between Seuhng Bouh and Jeun Máh, Bouh is a step and Mah is a horse, so Seuhng Bouh is lighter, and Jeun Máh is stronger. However, a lot of the time, people will use both terms, Bouh and Máh, when they are describing Kung Fu.