Sifu Fung Sang Interview - Part Two
Pin Sun Wing Chun Has its Origin in Skills Left Behind by Leung Jan
Excerpt from Wulin Magazine
Pin Sun Wing Chun is a kind of internal martial art that, by
controlling the intent (yi), the posture, the waist and horse, allows
you to achieve a higher state of mind that, when combined with certain
movements, allows you to enter in on an opponent or retreat at will,
and to use the hand techniques according to the situation, all of
which allows you to dominate other methods of kung fu. As far as the
style goes, it got the name of "pin sun" because of the side
positioning used for both attack and defense. There are several
reasons for using this position. Firstly, when in the side body
position, the arm reach is increased by about six inches, which
affords an advantage when attacking an enemy. Fung Sang went on to
say, regarding the rationale for side body positioning, that when
attacking you present only your flank to the opponent, which offers
him few direct opportunities to strike the heart or internal organs.
As for the forms in Wing Chun—Siu Lin Tau, Chum Kiu and Biu
Jee—orignally they were all one form that was subsequently divided
into three.
The horse stance is the foundation of the fighting arts. What is Pin
Sun's horse? Fung Sang replied that it is Yi Ji Kim Yeung Ma. When
practicing in strict yi ji kim yeung ma you sink the waist and drop
the shoulders. In addition, and this is the most important point, the
hands and elbows occupy and protect the center line, the buttocks is
pulled in and the knees are a fist distance apart. The bones of the
spine must be straight and the posture erect. This is the proper
horse stance.
In reality, yi ji kim yeung ma is both useful and easy to use. Fung
Sang then brought up an example: just by keeping your knees a fist
distance apart, not only can you defend against the rising foot kick
(mo ying gerk) {to the groin} so that it cannot directly hit you, but
also you can use your gwai ma (literally: "changing direction horse")
to trap his leg between your knees and send him to the ground.
Another advantage of this horse is that it is difficult for your
opponent to try to trip you when you are moving in the yi ji kim yeung
ma, since it is relatively narrow, and if he tries, you can use the
turning horse to capture his leg and regain control of the center
line.
Pin Sun Wing Chun has one other important characteristic, which is
emphasize sensitivity of the hands. In order to improve the
responsiveness and dexterity in the bridge we practice chi sao.
