“Wing Chun is all about guarding your center line,” Downey tells me, talking about the place where the touchy-feely art of Wing Chun kung fu meets philosophy of life. “Don’t fight force with force; use to hands at the same time; concentrate on your own thing; and after you have that dialed in, effect the balance, look for openings, look for arms to be crossed.”

So that’s the secret to his newfound prosperity?

“Oh, yeah, dude,” says Downey.

We step onto the mat. While Robert Downey Jr. has been practicing Wing Chun for almost seven years, I have been practicing Wing Chun for almost seven minutes. “Seriously, don’t worry about looking like an idiot,” he tells me. “It’s like life: The less self-conscious you are, the better it works.” He pounds on a wooden dummy, blocking with one hand and then delivering a combination to a padded face.

“Wing Chun teaches you what to concentrate on, whether you’re here or out in the world dealing with problems. It’s second nature for me now.”

“When he first came to me, insurance companies wouldn’t bond him for movies; he couldn’t get roles,” trainer and sifu Eric Oram says. “He has committed himself to Wing Chun…and turned his life around.”

Continued in the print edition of Men’s Journal.

For almost twenty years, Qi Magazine featured original articles on kung fu, qigong, and other facets of Chinese culture, many written specifically by and for martial artists. (Qi Magazine is not to be confused with Qi Journal, which seems more targeted to the Goji berry set.)

Qi Magazine ceased production in early 2009, and publisher Michael Tse has since opened the archives. Each of the ninety issues is now available for free download in PDF format. Read two issues every week; that should keep you busy until next year.

Chi sao with knives
From the 2008 movie Bangkok Dangerous

What is the most natural method for safely evading a knife thrust, while simultaneously positioning oneself for an effortless disarm and throw? How does one naturally reverse a guillotine choke? People who know the answer to these questions don’t need an instructor or a class; for the rest of us, more detailed guidance is appropriate.

With that said, I am a strong advocate of “natural breathing” for martial applications, in contrast to the more exotic approaches advanced in some dojos.

While it may be true that one’s strikes are more powerful during an exhale, and least powerful during the inhale, this fact is subordinate to a higher truth. If your movement and breathing are strongly linked, then your opponent(s) can more easily control them both. Despite your best intentions, this coordination can quickly become a self-imposed suffocation, of the muscles and the brain.

I’ll illustrate with a short story from my own training. When I met my first Taiji instructor–whom we shall call James–I already had years of experience in Wing Chun, Aikido and other martial arts. With this experience, I had developed the habit of breathing out to meet an unavoidable incoming strike.

One day, James and I were working on a close-quarters sticking exercise, and he noticed this subconscious habit to his great amusement. When I started to breathe in, he laughed and hit me. So I let the air out, waited a second or two, and tried to breathe in again. James laughed again, and hit me again. After a few more rounds of fun, I got his point. Until I was willing to abandon this habit, I literally could not breathe without his permission.

Although this was only a training exercise, similar constraints are present in a real fight. We do not always have the luxury of choice when timing our attack and defense.

If we attempt to match the rhythm of our breathing with the unpredictable pace of our opponent’s movement, the most likely results are hyperventilation and auto-asphyxiation. Neither of these is conducive to power, sensitivity, or relaxation.

Since I cannot predict in advance when the opponent will drop their guard, or how many times I will need to punch them in response, I don’t even attempt to coordinate my breathing with the attack. By the same principle, I am very careful about creating defensive space through exhalation, recognizing that a poorly timed breath may be my last.

It seems that the only safe time to exhale decisively with a strike, is after the opponent is already knocked out. Be advised however that that referees frown upon such behavior.

Looking at ridiculous news reports of bamboo laptop computers and recycled toilet paper, it would be easy to conclude that the so-called “green revolution” has gone too far.

I think it hasn’t gone far enough. While many embrace the concept on a shallow and symbolic level, fewer people are asking themselves difficult questions about sustainability.

What does it mean to be green? Surely there is more to it than purchasing a slightly different set of consumer products. In the days before the great greenwashing, we were given simple instructions, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, to be used in that order. As originally intended, “green” is an attitude and a set of behaviors—not just a list of organic ingredients.

The person with a genuine concern for sustainability or social ethics will reflect that concern in their every action, and the most basic human action is movement. Philosophical theories, reasoned arguments, and ex post facto rationalizations are all secondary; if you do not exhibit ethical movement, then you are not an ethical person.

Wasted effort is unethical. Excess physical tension is unsustainable. Inefficient movement is the opposite of green movement.

In public, Kung Fu teachers often claim that their art are not for attacking others. That is true, but Kung Fu is not about personal self-defense either. The basic meaning of Kung Fu is skillful movement.

My martial art is green. How about yours?

Grandmaster Ip Man—the man who ushered Wing Chun kung fu out of obscurity, and presided over the instruction of a young Bruce Lee—is the subject of a exciting new Hong Kong biopic. Action star Donnie Yen portrays the petite but powerful Ip in early adulthood, as wealthy playboy and martial arts fanatic.

Thanks to the influence of Ip Man and his disciples, Wing Chun is one of the world’s most widely practiced Chinese martial arts today. Its sparse representation in kung fu cinema might be attributed to its preference for short, straight, and simple movements. The obscure but photogenic style of “drunken boxing”, by contrast, can be found in dozens of movies, comic books and video games.

Yip Man (played by Donnie Yen) accepts a friendly challenge match

My current list of Wing Chun movies worth watching:

• Ip Man (2008, Donnie Yen)
• The Prodigal Son (1982, Yuen Biao)
• Warriors Two (1978, Sammo Hung)

Rumors state that quality footage of the real-life Ip Man still exists, in the private collection of Wing Tsun instructor Leung Ting. He declines to share it.

Update: The USA edition of Ip Man has been officially released to DVD. Ip Man 2 is also currently available on all-region DVD from YesAsia.

2. Chu Shong-tin (徐尚田)

3. William Cheung (張卓興)

4. Austin Goh

5. Wong Shun Leung (黃淳樑)

6. Edmund Fong

7. Nenad Koviljac

The muk yan jong, Wing Chun’s signature training tool, is not a worthy fighting opponent. It never executes a defensive maneuver, or runs away from your attacks. It never hits back. Basically, it just stands there, jiggling around every so often.

There is only one way to lose a “fight” against the wooden dummy, and that is to abandon Wing Chun standards while you are using it.

The five basic guidelines for Wing Chun posture are:

• kim sut – Press the hips and knees together
• lok ma – Sink the horse stance
• ting yu – Hold the spine straight
• dung tao – Raise the crown of the head
• mai jiang – Draw the elbows inward and forward

Rephrased for direct relevance to the dummy form:

• Do not stare at your own hands.
• Do not lean on, or into the dummy.
• Do not stand on tiptoe to hit the dummy’s “head”.
• Do not forget your stance, footwork and whole-body unity while striking the dummy.

Wikipedia’s advice notwithstanding, observing these points will not guarantee that you win every fight. It will guarantee you avoid undermining yourself, by attempting to use Wing Chun strategy and techniques with an inappropriate body structure.

Wing Chun: Not an art for punishing logs
Although the muk yan jong is just a fancy wooden log, it somehow manages to outsmart some martial artists. Such fellows “straight blast” their dummies with maximum strength and speed, and the dummy responds by shaking violently, pretending to give positive feedback to these indecent liberties. In revenge, the dummy offers no lessons in relaxation, alignment or flow—all important points when battling something other than a log.

Considering these points and your own experience, which of the form demonstrations above do you think is best?

“What is the best book or DVD for learning zhan zhuang?”

My zhan zhuang background

My formal introduction to zhan zhuang (standing meditation) was provided by “Michael”, a master of Taoist self-cultivation methods. With his expert guidance, and my previous years of training in the martial arts of karate, aikido, wing chun, xingyi and BJJ, I was confident in the direction of my practice.

Within Michael’s xiu dao system, zhan zhuang prepares the body and mind for the demands of seated meditation and neigong practice. At the first level of training, students are to hold the standing postures from one to three hours daily. I followed his instructions, to the extent that my schedule and willpower allowed—all in addition to my ongoing martial arts study.

During the occasional period of intensive training, I practiced upwards of 40 hours per week, with standing meditation as a major component. And in my free time, I read much of the English-language material written on the subject.

Having met Michael and other genuine masters of their arts, I held no illusions regarding my own level of mastery. I did, however, believe that I knew how to train properly.

Ten seconds, six inches

Some years later, a wing chun friend introduced me to “Stan”, a third-generation master of Wang Xiangzhai’s Yiquan. I asked Stan for a critique of my posture—the posture I had refined over hundreds, if not thousands of hours of dedicated effort.

He observed for three seconds or so, before giving his reply. “Your zhan zhuang is upright, but incorrect. It is ‘wing chun’ straight, not ‘yiquan’ straight.” With a few minor physical adjustments, Stan fundamentally altered my experience and my understanding of zhan zhuang. Thanks to his input, my standard is higher, and both the health and martial benefits of my practice are greater.

Before I met Stan, my standing meditation already exhibited all the salutary qualities you would read about in a book, or hear in a DVD lecture. It was “relaxed”, “aligned”, “expansive”, et cetera.  At the most basic level, such gross physical and energetic descriptions are helpful, but at a higher level they are worthless; the description is not a prescription. The issue is not whether, but how precisely to relax—and it will not be settled by words, by references to a shared experience that you do not already possess.

How do you learn zhan zhuang from a book? In my experience: you don’t…at least not well. If such books inspire you to take the next step, and locate a good teacher, then they have served their purpose.

Jim Fung (and students)
Zero years of professional fighting experience
45 years of Wing Chun Kung Fu training

Explaining the relationship between stance training and effective kicking, Jim Fung writes:

Wing Chun emphasises low kicks because we believe them to be faster, easier to apply and less risky than high kicks. It is most important to keep your balance when kicking, otherwise the opponent may be able to grab your leg, or move in and push you over.

The Wing Chun stance teaches you how to keep your balance. In training, always practice your stance, and do all kicking from the stance. [In application], bend the knees slightly to lower the center of gravity and allow ease of leg movement, apply your internal contraction to hold the upper and lower body together as one unit, and keep the back up straight.

The stance teaches you how to kick without telegraphing…most people find it hard to stop a fast, powerful low kick.

(continued at International Wing Chun Academy website)

Martial arts are systems of codified practices and traditions of training for combat. While they maybe studied for various reasons, martial arts share a single objective: to defeat a person physically or to defend oneself from physical threat.
~ Wikipedia

Wikipedia’s simplistic definition begs the question: martial arts are martial arts. The statement itself is neither true nor untrue—it is a game rule—but it does reflect an ignorance of, or perhaps a malevolence towards historical facts. Taken at face value, it encourages a dismissive, one-dimensional analysis of the arts’ tremendous potential.

To avoid limiting our achievement in the martial arts, we should begin with an honest and dispassionate accounting of the past. What was the real original purpose of various “martial arts”?

The first clues may be found in our forefathers’ own speech and writings. The Japanese “martial arts” of Aikido and Karate were both systematized less than one hundred years ago, and there is relatively little controversy over their origins.

Morihei Ueshiba left no room for ambiguity when he described his vision of Aikido:

There is no enemy in Aikido. It is wrong to think that having an opponent or an enemy, or trying to be stronger than him and trying to overpower him is true budo. True Budo has no opponent, True Budo has no enemy. True Budo is to become one with the universe. The purpose of Aikido practice is not to become strong, nor is it to fell an opponent. Rather, it is necessary to have one’s heart at the center of the universe, then as little as it may be, help maintain peace among the peoples of the earth. Aikido is both like a compass that enables each person to realize his own individual destiny, as well as a way of unity and love.

Conclusion: Aikido, by Wikipedia’s definition, is no martial art.

Gichin Funakoshi

Not everyone in the Karate world appreciates Gichin Funakoshi’s assertion that “the ultimate aim of Karate lies not in victory nor defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants,” but they do acknowledge he said it. Apparently, Shotokan Karate is no martial art either.

While the historical origins and inventors of older “martial arts” styles are more widely disputed, the practices themselves discredit the martial arts classification—unless you believe Taiji (the metaphysical model) was created to justify Taiji Boxing, or that Ving Tsun’s most fundamental training method was conceived as a fighting stance, or that a bunch of genuine Buddhist Shaolin monks were obsessed with hand-to-hand combat.

Siu Nim Tau
Basic training of Ving Tsun Kuen

And we can look beyond China and Japan, to the so-called “martial arts” of other cultures. Capoeiristas are expected to sing and play musical instruments during practice. How exactly does this further the objective of “defeating a person physically, or defending oneself from physical threat”?

The historical data support one rational conclusion: martial arts are not martial arts, they are merely used as martial arts. The distinction is critical for its consequence: everything is potentially a martial art, and therefore every time and every place presents an opportunity for study.