Siu Nim(Lim) Tau Concepts -

[Tensei85]

Here's a basic list of concepts that I was trained with in the SNT foundation level. Just wanted to compare & see what others express in the SNT.

Thanks for any input of thoughts on this topic.


對影 - Deui Ying (Facing)
中線 - Jung Sin (Center Line)
直線 - Jik Sin (Straight Line)
二手爲一 - Yi Sau Wai Yat (2 Parts work as one)
短橋 - Dyun Kiu (Short Bridge)
長橋 - Cheung Kiu (Long Bridge)
六门 - Luk Mun (6 Gates)
替挽手 - Tai Wuhn Sau (Hand replacement)
剛柔 - Gong/Yao (Hard/Soft energies)

These are just basic concepts not saying this is the end as there are other concepts trained in the progressionary formats but these are the one's that we apply for beginning students.

 

[chisauking]

Well, you pretty much covered everything....

I would just like to add a little.

SLT practice means different things to different people, and the concepts & comprehension are formed in how you practice.

One of the people in wing chun I admire the most is grandmaster Yip Man. Here's a man that stood barely 5'3, weighing no more than 120lbs dripping wet! Yet even during his 60s, many of his younger, fitter and stronger students couldn't force him back a single step in training, and by all accounts from the people who was there, he didn't try to hit you at all during gwoh-sau -- he would simply control you by manipulating your balance & pre-emting your moves even before you could start it!

I was intrigued by this skill level, from this tiny old man, so I read everything I could find about him. Somewhere, I'd read that Yip Man used to train his SLT for over an hour. He would place a wet towel around his neck at the start, and by the time he'd finished the form, the towel would be completely dry.

Thinking that this was the way to unlocking the secret of his skill level, I decided to emulate his training. I would train my SLT for over an hour every other day. When I'd first started, I could only do it for 15-minutes or so, but graduly, it got longer and longer until it was possible for me to complete 1-hour. Unlike most people, I would not cheat myself, and I would try to get every aspect of the form right. My fist would be placed besides my ribs at chest\nipple level, and I would sit low in my horse. Altough I could perform the SLT for over an hour, the pain from holding the positions would be almost unbearable. Some times the pain was so bad in my knees after standing there so long, that after the hour was up, I wouldn't be able to walk. I got wise after a while, so I started doing the form next to my bed, so that should I not be able to stand \ walk properly after the hour, I could just fall onto my bed! However, no matter how bad the pain was, the 'mind numbing' boredome from staying at this position without much movement was driving me to the point of madness (some say I've already gone overboard).

It was during one of those 'tears in your eyes' boring sessions that my mind started to wonder. Instead of just 'going through the motions', I would imagine how the 'tools' of the system could be applied. I would think in my mind's eye, as I was going trhough the form, how I could flow from tool to tool. By concentrating on my body, I could feel how each shape could be a part of me, and how the 'structure' of each shape could be formed for maximum alignment in relationship to my body, so that I could best absorb my opponent's energy at the point of contact into the ground. I understood what my first teacher said about um-lik, and what it feels like to be 'as one'.

Off course, for the practitioners that's already surpassed this level, what I'd discovered for myself is the 'essence' of the form, which is the power of one's imagination, and the ability to cultivate my 'ni lik' -- or mind\intent power.

So, to me, SLT is about the development of one's mind, and the ability to cultivate this nim lik. Of course there are other aspects of this wonderful form, but I personally feel that the mind aspect is the most important.

Next time, when sweat is pouring down your face, and your knees are trembling like jelly, just think you are not quite there yet.....until the imagination starts to flow from your mind.

happy training

 

[mook jong man]

Excellent post Chisauking , I can't remember ever doing the form for an hour , I'm much to adhd for that .

But there have been times when doing the form or just repeating some of the moves over and over again that I have felt the feelings that you describe .

Its a feeling of oneness that your mind and body are unified and a feeling of being very relaxed , I've also experienced on a few very rare occassions a feeling of warmth going down my arm .

In our lineage we try to cultivate nim lik by having a slight internal contraction called tei gong , straight spine , relaxed muscles and trying to initiate each move of the form with our mind.

All of this is easier said than done of course because we believe that nim lik needs relaxed muscles in order to work , trying to reach deep levels of relaxation is the hard part and then being able to maintain that level of relaxation against the resistance of a partner is the ultimate skill in my opinion.

 

[dosk3n]

In our lineage we try to cultivate nim lik by having a slight internal contraction called tei gong , straight spine , relaxed muscles and trying to initiate each move of the form with our mind.

This is true in our lineage also. Sifu first described the feeling to me saying "Do you remember when you were younger and you would stand side ways next to a wall, arm relaxed and down by your side and then you would start pushing your arm out against the wall for a minute as hard as you could without moving. You would then stand away from the wall and your arm would rise on its own. This is the mind controling the movement."

Im not sure if you actually did this as a child but I know I did. I also used to do it by pulling on the sides on my tshirt for a minute and letting go and my arms would rise.

 

[yak sao]

This is true in our lineage also. Sifu first described the feeling to me saying "Do you remember when you were younger and you would stand side ways next to a wall, arm relaxed and down by your side and then you would start pushing your arm out against the wall for a minute as hard as you could without moving. You would then stand away from the wall and your arm would rise on its own. This is the mind controling the movement."

Im not sure if you actually did this as a child but I know I did. I also used to do it by pulling on the sides on my tshirt for a minute and letting go and my arms would rise.

The same thing would occur when we did Ie Chi Ching training. After several minutes of tensing/relaxing, at the end your arms just float up.

I've heard that Yip Man would spend 30 minutes in the 1 tan 3 fook section of SNT. Do you suppose this was in fact just 1 tan and 3 fook with very slow movements and deep diaphragmatic breathing, or do you think he simply performed numerous tan/fook for the duration?

 

[dosk3n]

Thats some thing I have never questioned. I always presumed it ment that it was the 1 tan 3 fook section due to moving with the mind.

 

[BFL]

I'm much to adhd for that

I'm sorry what were you saying? I was watching a birdy outside the window, wait, there's something shiny over there....was that a squirell, hey look at that cool tree...what?