Straight-forward Art

Many people in Wing Chun circles talk about the importance of keeping the hands on the center line of the body when practicing first form. I, on the other hand, have found that this idea of placing the hands on the center is secondary to the idea that they hands should be moving (or have the intension of moving) forward at all times. Please, don't get me wrong. The idea of occupying the center line of an opponent is another foundational idea in the Wing Chun system, but it is not the first idea expressed in the first form.

Many teachers and students of Wing Chun have over-rated the importance of placing the hand on the center line in such a way as to make its placement uncomfortable, unnatural, and even impractical. If your first concern is to place your hand on the center, you miss the energetics required to correctly practice chi sau training. I have touched hands with people so concerned with pinching the elbow into the center line that they can not extend their hands forward as required by the drills that lead to entry level chi sau.

If the first idea is to move forward, toward the center of an opponent, the hand will be placed on the opponent's center line, but its placement will not impede the power to penetrate the center and thus move the opponent. Elbow position is not to be pinched toward your own center, but pointing in a downward direction. With the elbow pointing down and the wrist on the opponent's center, your body has all of its mass behind the strike as it extends freely forward.