Gūng Lihk 功力 is like a tree. It takes time to grow, and it needs water, soil, and light, amongst other things. A big tree must have deep roots, and this is the same as Gūng Lihk: we need strong legs.
Our legs are our roots, so they need to be strong; however, it is not the muscles, but the bones, that must be strong, and the muscles must actually be soft. When the bones are strong, the muscles will naturally be strong.
So, standing is like the water, sun, and soil for the tree. If we stand every day and do our Siu Lim Tao, even if it is just for five minutes, we will find our legs getting stronger, and other people cannot easily push us. Then, when you do Chi Sau on a table, your opponent cannot make you fall because you are strong—this is Gūng Lihk.
You will also find you are faster and lighter, and this is, again, because of your Gūng Lihk. When you practise Ten Star Footwork, your footwork will be very quick. High-level Wing Chun uses less energy to defeat stronger energy, and being able to do this relies on Gūng Lihk.
Practise every day, starting from five minutes, building up to 15 minutes, and then even longer.
Grandmaster Tse’s Wing Chun Note 518
If we take a close look at all three of these forms, we will see that Bīu Zī is in all of them.
Grandmaster Tse’s Wing Chun Note 517
The hardest part of the training is holding the leg up and keeping the position. As we get tired, the leg will start to drop.
Grandmaster Tse’s Wing Chun Note 516
When we kick, we do not just consider the kicking leg; we need to maintain our balance and not move the upper body very much.
Grandmaster Tse’s Wing Chun Note 515
Before we can use the punch, we must practise connecting the whole body, from the stance to the waist and then through the body,
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