Originally posted by Eric
Since 1975, for the last 37 years, all the way up until today, our Sifu, Grandmaster Garrett Gee has been teaching Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kung Fu. In all this time, 8 generations of students have been trained, totaling over 1000 individual members. However, as most of our members over the years have been training more in a sense of “passing through” or intermittent workshop attendance rather than as hardcore disciples of the system, training over the last several decades has focused mostly on Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun free sparring techniques.
Now, at this historical workshop in Arizona, Grandmaster Gee will introduce to the public the Kiu Sao Chi Sao of the Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun core system. Unlike Tahn/Bong/Fook style of Chi Sao which focuses primarily on two handed trapping, Kiu Sao Chi Sao is all about how to engage with different styles' structure. The 8-point Kiu Sao Chi Sao answers the question of “how as a wing chun person can I engage a grappler or a boxer using only my bridging arm?” This type of training is driven by the technologies in the opening and first section of our Siu Nim Tao Form:
Moving from Nowhere to Somewhere (Engagement)
Occupy Space Concept
Saam Sing Jong 3-triangle structure
In the past, I have seen many Wing Chun systems with variations in the opening of their forms, usually the hands crossing, flipping, coming high or staying low. Whenever asked about it, most wing chun practitioners point to a technique as the answer such as “This is Gahn Sao”, or “Huen Sao” or “Jiang Dai Lik” depending on the lineage. For Hung Fa Yi Wing chun practitioners this is not the case as the precise opening of our Siu Nim Tao form points to the underlying Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun formula. To see the difference between Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Siu Nim Tao alongside another WC lineage view the video at
http://vimeo.com/35817461 and see if you can pinpoint the differences.
Having seen a preview of this material under the roof of our Sifu, I highly encourage any members past or present to attend this workshop and gain an insight into the system core of Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun Kuen.