# Tang Yick



## paitingman (Jul 11, 2018)

Anyone seen this yet? Neat interview.
I'm not really familiar with Tang Yick or W(e)ng Chun, so I found this interview pretty interesting.

Anybody from this lineage and would share some insight about this style? Are there big differences with the pole? Any influence to or from Yip Man?

I could google around, but I'd rather hear some experiences from you all here before reading some more marketing-friendly descriptions online


----------



## yak sao (Jul 11, 2018)

KPM's your man on this.


----------



## wckf92 (Jul 12, 2018)

yeah I watched that. Interesting. Also use the search function... I had a thread about TY a while back...

Tang Yik pole vs "others"


----------



## KPM (Jul 12, 2018)

wckf92 said:


> yeah I watched that. Interesting. Also use the search function... I had a thread about TY a while back...
> 
> Tang Yik pole vs "others"



Thanks wckf92, that is definitely the thread to reference rather than repeating everything here!    I don't have time to watch that whole interview right now, but will definitely check it out later.   Just a couple of initial comments.....that is Sifu Sunny So.  He was one of Tang Yik's last students when he was a teenager and Tang Yik an old man!  He "finished" his training (and probably more truthfully did most of his training) with Sifu Michael Tang.  But they had a "falling out" and now I don't think Sunny So gives Michael Tang as much credit as he should.  That huge pole he is using right at the beginning of the video is for training and conditioning purposes only.  The "fighting pole" used is a bit smaller and lighter!


----------



## paitingman (Jul 12, 2018)

KPM said:


> Thanks wckf92, that is definitely the thread to reference rather than repeating everything here!    I don't have time to watch that whole interview right now, but will definitely check it out later.   Just a couple of initial comments.....that is Sifu Sunny So.  He was one of Tang Yik's last students when he was a teenager and Tang Yik an old man!  He "finished" his training (and probably more truthfully did most of his training) with Sifu Michael Tang.  But they had a "falling out" and now I don't think Sunny So gives Michael Tang as much credit as he should.  That huge pole he is using right at the beginning of the video is for training and conditioning purposes only.  The "fighting pole" used is a bit smaller and lighter!



very cool. I'll check that thread out.


----------



## paitingman (Jul 12, 2018)

KPM said:


> Thanks wckf92, that is definitely the thread to reference rather than repeating everything here!    I don't have time to watch that whole interview right now, but will definitely check it out later.   Just a couple of initial comments.....that is Sifu Sunny So.  He was one of Tang Yik's last students when he was a teenager and Tang Yik an old man!  He "finished" his training (and probably more truthfully did most of his training) with Sifu Michael Tang.  But they had a "falling out" and now I don't think Sunny So gives Michael Tang as much credit as he should.  That huge pole he is using right at the beginning of the video is for training and conditioning purposes only.  The "fighting pole" used is a bit smaller and lighter!



Is there another thread that discusses more Tang Yik empty hand?
Is it a mainland style? Correct me if I'm wrong, but mainland styles just seem more "grapply" to me than HK. 

Also any footage of you doing some pole work anywhere?
Will WC Boxing ever see the pole??


----------



## geezer (Jul 12, 2018)

paitingman said:


> ...Correct me if I'm wrong, but mainland styles just seem more "grapply" to me than HK.



Did you say... _grapply? _ ...I'd like to learn some _grapply WC! _


----------



## KPM (Jul 13, 2018)

*Is there another thread that discusses more Tang Yik empty hand?*

---I don't think so.

*Is it a mainland style? Correct me if I'm wrong, but mainland styles just seem more "grapply" to me than HK. *

---Yes.  It is a mainland style from southern China.  Now it is primarily taught in HK and Europe.  But it wasn't altered in HK like Ip Man Wing Chun was.  And I guess you could say it is more "grapply."  I think this is true of most older Wing Chun as well.   It was all intended as a close range fighting method.  When you get in close people will just naturally want to tie up the opponent's arms and end up "grapply."  Dave....who does Vietnamese Wing Chun, which grew out of Yeun Chai Wan's teaching, has said that he would consider it a "standing grappling" system more than a punching system.  I think that may have been one of Ip Man's adjustments/changes/refinements.....making his Wing Chun more of a punching system.  I think then Wong Shun Leung took that even further from a conceptual standpoint and made it "all about the punch."   At least according to some WSLVT experts that used to post here!  

*Also any footage of you doing some pole work anywhere?*

---I did share some awhile back.  But the gold standard is that classic footage of Tang Yik himself doing the form.

*Will WC Boxing ever see the pole??*

---No, simply because it isn't a practical weapon in the modern day.


----------



## Poppity (Jul 13, 2018)

Da Saam Sing: Tang Yik Weng Chun

The Tank yik website has all their forms, their 11 two-man sets, the stick form, the stick dummy form and their dummy forms.  Its quite interesting.


----------



## KPM (Jul 14, 2018)

You guys inspired me!  So we broke out the poles today during our workout.  My group trains at a local park during the summer when the weather allows, and in my basement in the winter.  So I hadn't picked up the pole in close to 6 months. Thankfully it all came back pretty quickly!   We have been working on Escrima/Kali lately, so naturally we pole to Escrima sticks.  The pole is a formidable weapon when used properly! And, unfortunately, when I say "properly" I mean NOT like most Wing Chun guys do it!  

I pointed out earlier that the large heavy pole is only for training.  The "fighting" pole is lighter and only 7 feet long.  The danger point for the pole fighter is when the opponent gets past the tip of the pole.  As long as the pole fighter can maintain centerline and keep the tip of the pole between himself and his opponent, he is golden!  With a 7 foot pole, an opponent standing opposite typically cannot reach your front arm/hand with a stick, sword, etc.  When the pole is any shorter, the opponent can more easily reach those targets!   The key for the pole fighter is to have fast and agile footwork.  If the opponent tries to knock the pole out of the way and charge in, the pole fighter has to be able to quickly move back and at an angle and recover centerline so the the tip of his pole stays between him and the opponent.  So with a pole that is longer than 7 feet and fairly heavy, it is harder for the pole fighter to use fast footwork and adjustments of the angle to recover his position and keep his opponent away.  A big heavy pole is much easier for the opponent to get past the tip. 

Just check out that classic video of Tang Yik doing the pole form.  Look at how fast and agile his footwork is.  In comparison, most Ip Man pole methods have very little footwork.  They have stances that are very deep to help condition the legs, and the pole is large and heavy to help condition the arms.  This is simply Wing Chun specific weight training, not really a viable fighting method.  If you are going to actually fight with a pole, you must have a variety of fast and mobile footwork, and be able to turn and use multiple angles.  This is why Tang Yik was known as the "King of the Pole." 

We played with this today.   I'm pretty fast with the sticks.  But even using double sticks, if I tried to knock the pole off line and charge in, my partner simply quickly moved back at an angle and recovered the line making it very difficult for me to ever get close enough to strike him.

Sifu Tang told me he was often annoyed with the Wing Chun guys when they showed the weapons.  They almost always demonstrated the Bart Jam Dao against the pole, and almost always show the Bart Jam Dao winning!  It just isn't that easy if the guy is actually using the pole properly!


----------



## wckf92 (Jul 15, 2018)

KPM said:


> You guys inspired me!  So we broke out the poles today during our workout.  My group trains at a local park during the summer when the weather allows, and in my basement in the winter.  So I hadn't picked up the pole in close to 6 months. Thankfully it all came back pretty quickly!   We have been working on Escrima/Kali lately, so naturally we pole to Escrima sticks.  The pole is a formidable weapon when used properly! And, unfortunately, when I say "properly" I mean NOT like most Wing Chun guys do it!
> 
> I pointed out earlier that the large heavy pole is only for training.  The "fighting" pole is lighter and only 7 feet long.  The danger point for the pole fighter is when the opponent gets past the tip of the pole.  As long as the pole fighter can maintain centerline and keep the tip of the pole between himself and his opponent, he is golden!  With a 7 foot pole, an opponent standing opposite typically cannot reach your front arm/hand with a stick, sword, etc.  When the pole is any shorter, the opponent can more easily reach those targets!   The key for the pole fighter is to have fast and agile footwork.  If the opponent tries to knock the pole out of the way and charge in, the pole fighter has to be able to quickly move back and at an angle and recover centerline so the the tip of his pole stays between him and the opponent.  So with a pole that is longer than 7 feet and fairly heavy, it is harder for the pole fighter to use fast footwork and adjustments of the angle to recover his position and keep his opponent away.  A big heavy pole is much easier for the opponent to get past the tip.
> 
> ...




Nice job. Glad we were able to help get the cobwebs off hahaha... Yeah I've always heard and was taught the same thing about the pole lengths... 10 ft for training, 9 ft for tradition, 7 ft for fighting. And this is from an old thread...
Pole both sides?


----------



## KPM (Jul 28, 2018)

Finally found the time to watch the whole video.  Pretty good!   At the end of the video with the pole he touches on a lot of the things I talked about in those other threads!


----------

