Sifu Fung Sang Interview - Part One
Pin Sun Wing Chun Has its Origin in Skills Left Behind by Leung Jan
Excerpt from Wulin Magazine
Pin Sun Wing Chun is one of the branches of the Wing Chun art.
Practitioners outside of the art's inner circle are few, and the art's
origins are obscure. Therefore this writer made a special trip to
Hong Kong to talk to Sifu Fung Sang and ask him to speak about his
art.
Speaking of the origins of Pin Sun Wing Chun, Fung Sang said, "The art
was created by Mr. Leung Jan! It has been passed down to the present
day because of its profound origins."
Facing style and Pin Sun Wing Chun come from the same family.
Originally from Hok San county, Kulo village, Mr. Jan was teaching in
Futshan. Having reached the age of 73, and realizing that he did not
have much longer to live, he decided to return to his home village to
live out his waning years. When he returned to his village, the area
around his ancestral dwelling had small families with a variety of
different surnames. Every morning he would rise early and go for a
walk, and every day he would see a young man in front of his house
practicing martial arts, pounding on a tree, diligently practicing his
bridge hands. Mr. Jan was impressed by his devotion. One day he
asked the young man his name and inquired why he was practicing so
hard? He replied, "I am Wong Wah Sam". Since there are few people in
the area with my surname, I am frequently discriminated against, so I
practice my martial arts very hard, in case I have to defend myself.
Mr. Jan agreed, saying he felt the same way! So you could say it was
fate that this old man, at the end of his life, accepted a few
students to be his disciples; Wong Wah Sam, Yik Ying, Leung Bak
Cheung. He taught them everything he knew.
Mr. Jan said to his students; The Wing Chun taught outside of Kulo
is the Facing style, which is divided into three parts; Siu Lin Tau,
Chum Kiu, Biu Jee. The Wing Chun of our village is Pin Sun Wing Chun.
The hand methods are taught in one part, but differ very little from
the Facing Style, and are really from the same family. The pole
methods of the Facing style are the Luk Dim Boon Gwun, but in our
village style it is the Som Dim Boon Gwun.
After devoting his full attention to teaching his students for three
years, Leung Jan, at the advanced age of seventy six, died of old age,
leaving the Pin Sun style to be passed down to the present day, over a
century later.
Koo Siu Lung teaches Fung Sang
How did Sifu Fung Sang enter into the Pin Sun tradition? Speaking of
that, he said that there were a number of influences on him.
Originally, Fung Sang's father, Fung Lim, was from Hok San Kulo.
He became a practitioner of Southern Shaolin, in which he studied for
approximately eighteen years. He was over the age of thirty when he
returned home to Kulo. He would often exchange ideas with the other
martial artists of the village and found nothing he knew was as quick
and agile as the Pin Sun Wing Chun. Fung Lim was keenly interested in
the martial arts. Never mind that he had spent half his life learning
another system, he decided to devote himself anew to the study of Pin
Sun Wing Chun. His son, Fung Sang, liked the martial arts as much as
he did. He decided to send Fung Sang to his Kung Fu brother Koo Siu
Lung to help his Pin Sun Wing Chun, because he felt his hands were not
as pure and because he felt he would not be strict enough with his
son. Since Fung Lim's classmate, Koo Siu Lung, was also Wong Wah
Sam's disciple, Fung Sang would still be considered fourth generation
from Leung Jan!
After Fung Sang had studied with him for three years, Koo Siu Lung
unfortunately became ill and died. Therefore, Fung Sang continued his
studies with his Kung Fu uncles Fung Min and his junior Fung Chun as
well as other family members including, Fung Dat, Fung Chiu, Fung Wun,
Fung Hoi, Fung Chu, Liu Xi Hong and others. He continued his studies
for more years until he had mastered the whole system. Regarding Pin
Sun Wing Chun methods, Fung Sifu said; The bridge is short and the
stance is narrow. The principle stance is Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma. The
elbows are down and the shoulders dropped. The horse is lively and
agile and the head turns like a windmill, while the feet rotate like
wheels. Pin Sun has fist methods and palm methods, as well as the
pole techniques. When forming the fist, the fingers are together but
with the fist loose, with a space between the fingers and the palm,
except when making the phoenix eye. Palm methods include the piercing
palm, shaving palm, flinging palm, pushing palm, throwing palm (i.e.
take down), wrapping palm, hooking palm, pressing palm and controlling
palm. When using the palm strike, sometimes you use the center of the
palm, sometimes the back and sometimes the edge. Palm methods can
utilize either a hard or soft palm; the soft palm is soft like cotton
thread, while the hard palm is hard like iron and steel. When
engaging an enemy, use quiet to overcome the active and at the highest
level, stick and hit!
Pin Sun Wing Chun has few leg methods. Fung San Sifu said; Block
kicks with feet, kick ten times, lose nine times! As for pole
techniques; why is it called Som Dim Boon Gwun? Fung Sang Sifu says,
"With the pole there are only a few basic moves. Five altogether! A
name is just a name! The Luk Dim Boon Gwun is kind of Shaolin pole,
but so is the Som Dim Boon Gwun, except that it's simpler and more
practical."
