Grandmaster Tse’s Wing Chun Note 505

Chī Sáu 黐手 is not fighting, but it is one step away from fighting. When you Chī Sáu with people you know, like your brothers and sisters who train under the same Sīfú 師父 – Teacher training is very safe. However, when you Chī Sáu with someone you do not know, the Chī Sáu can easily end up in a fight. This is because everyone wants to win. This is a martial art and so people want to beat their opponents. Chī Sáu competitions are just fighting, where the strongest and fastest wins. However, when we study Wing Chun, we learn how to use less energy against someone who is strong and fast. To do this we need to use more footwork to manage the distance and be more skilful to catch the right opportunities to hit and be able to hit continuously, not just once, as we need to end the fight. When fighting, we have two hands and one leg which we can use all together against someone who is fast and strong. However, a lot depends on the condition of the opponent. If they are strong, fast and have skill and lot of fighting techniques, then we do not only use our hands and legs, but we will also fight them using other things, as in a real fight there are no rules.