Grandmaster Tse’s Wing Chun Note 473

When we practise Wàahng Máh 横馬 – Sideways Step we walk across from one side to the other, back and forth. When we step, we must do it quickly as there is always danger when we are moving as at that moment, we only have one foot on the floor. This means we are weaker and if the opponent attacks us, then we can easily lose our balance. So, we must step quickly and get two feet back on the ground. We must also maintain the shoulder width distance between our feet as this is the distance for the Wing Chun stances. The stance makes us firm and easily mobile. When we are walking, we must remember to look in the correct direction, we should not look in the direction we are walking, as our opponent is not there. They are at the front, to direction we were facing when we opened the Yìh Jih Kìhm Yèuhng Máh 二字鉗羊馬 – Basic Wing Chun Stance. The application of Wàahng Máh is walking in a circle, but we must first get the movement right. It is easier to do this walking in a straight line to the side. Once we have everything right, we can walk in a circle, and we can go either clockwise or anticlockwise. When we attack, we should always try to go to the opponent’s back, then we can use both hands. When we are defending, we do the same, walk around to their back, then we can attack back.