Day one, the 1st lesson is always YGKYM, so basic in theory, but yet it could easily rank as the most difficult to master.  At first glance YGKYM is a mere stance, specific to that of Wing Chun.  It is the simple concept of finding, controlling, and being aware of one’s center.  With control of the center we can then use our structure to support our body as well as our hands.   Without this awareness, the Wing Chun man will have to rely on muscle.   Awareness of ones center first has to be done with thought and practice, but in time the center will be at your full control without even having to think about it.

As I slowly took a sip from my cup, I could feel  the warmth of drink start all the way from my tongue till it reached the bottom of my belly.   Macchiato-grande every morning, if only dad knew I was blowing my allowance on this instead of nutritional food at the cafeteria, he’d kill me.  But all Dad’s whether knowing or not, usually give their daughters that benefit of the doubt.   Cough.. Cough.....  Typical winters here in Chicago, cold and frigid and unforgiving to those with lesser means of transportation.  But there were no complaints coming from me this morning, it is what it is.   Winter is winter, and to expect it to be any lesser then that was foolish.   15 more minutes till the bus arrived, killing time was either done the typical jumping up and down to get blood flowing or the Wing Chun way.  


A quick peek to both sides, and I had the feeling I was going to be the only one this morning foolish enough to wait for the bus.  As Sifu had always told me, time regardless of the amount should be used wisely.  One of the rare times he didn’t sound like a fortune cookie and gave me the straight heads up.    


I had to get one more sip.  There was no way this Macchiato was gonna remain warm if I didn’t finish it on the spot.   The opening of the stance always consisted of 4 motions, and considering how hard the wind was blowing the snow, I figure I could get away with this at the bus stop without any witnesses spotting me.  Sifu had stressed upon the point never take for granted the 4 motions, each one, as with all things in Wing Chun served a purpose.  I have to admit, you would think these are one of those times I would break that rule, but I didn’t.


I finally got of the bus stop seat, and started using my boot to clear a tiny path for me to step in.   Man it was cold.  Finally, a path not that big, a mere 2 feet in diameter, but then again I was a mere 110 lbs, maybe 112 with all the snow on me.  Let’s see, let’s see... It was weird, while being with Sifu only 4 years, every time  I practiced by myself, it almost seemed like I could hear his voice echoing and his instructions.  I stood straight up, with both the heel of my boots touching each other and a small gap between both toes.  It took awhile to understand what Sifu had meant by standing straight up, but he really just meant to find a balance in all things that we do.  Had I done it on day one like I did military style, that was definitely incorrect, or I could’ve gone the route of my grandma and hunch over.  In the end, I had to discover the balance of both being relaxed and tensed.  You’d think that lesson would be earned after 1 day, but in all honesty I really think I just figured that out a couple of months ago.


I stood there perfectly straight, adjusting every new-ounce of motion in my body, till I finally felt I was most relaxed and had my center.  Natural, just stand natural, Sifu always said that was the goal, to find out what was natural for you and to make it feel that way without thought.  Ah, finally.  Stillness, great all this effort and I still haven’t done the first move and still no signs of life coming to the bus stop.


Okay, here goes, left over right and cross the arms.... flip and pull back.  I had made it a habit to do everything step by step, and at the same time repeat exactly what it was that I was doing and why.  I had always enjoyed the fact that Sifu never taught the class military style. The old gun-ho concept of just do it, never appealed to me, coz I always questioned why we did it.   Early on dad forced my brother and I to take Tae Kwon Do (it is our national art) and that was strictly by the book.  He’d kill me if he knew I was taking Wing Chun, but good grades allows for the leash to be loosened, and Wing Chun skills can be applied in more then just fighting.  Anyway, Sifu not only explained it but he seemed to enjoy going into basic and complex details as to each function of the art.   As far as I know, Sifu said that the cross of left over right was the only thing in Wing Chun that was one sided.  He stressed that it was simply done that way, so that you don’t crush the heart.  It is weird, but without that awareness,  I doubt I would’ve ever thought of that on my own.  The cross of the arms is something I’m sure most girls my size would dread, the last thing an asian girl needs to do is make herself look more flat, but the sinking in the chest and maintaining it in order to finish the first step, allowed me to move the center from being top heavy all the way to my belly.  Speaking of which, Macchiato-grande’s aren’t really the breakfast of champions, and I was feeling the ill-effect of not making breakfast my priority. 


The second motion always was difficult for me, for whatever reason, but I bent my knees slightly and tucked in my hips.  I think the difficulty for me was the actual tucking  the hips in.  When Sifu actually demonstrated it, you can literally feel the L4 and L5 stick out a mile away.  He mentioned to me, with more time and practice I could achieve the same result, so yes there was hope for the future, even if it was a fool’s hope.   When I first started studying with Sifu, he placed such a great emphasis on structure.  But when you first here that, it really does mean nothing to you.  But, the 2nd motion, had everything to do with straightening out the spine, this emphasis or focus, was always present in all that we do in the stance.   I always had found the 3rd motion amusing, usually when everyone does this in class, you’ve got a handful of people opening up their legs, and the next thing you know they got their butt sticking out.  But as Sifu had said, do the entire YGKYM, and pretend you’ve got a glass of water on your head, no matter which of the four motions that you do in order to open the stance, never spill that water.  The third motion, even with all its amusement that it caused in class, was more of a future development for doing the Wing Chun front kick.  A lesson I soon learned quickly, is that lesson’s Sifu gives only scratches the surface, and its our job to dig even deeper.


Finally the last motion, opening up and ending up pigeon toed.  I know Sifu says technically their are only 4 motions to open up the YGKYM, I often wonder if he should be more specific and say that there are 4 major motions and a ton of minor adjustments.   After I finished the 4 motions, I literally had a check list of mental notes in my head, just to make sure that I was at the very least, doing the YGKYM remotely correct.


After the 4 steps, Sifu would often mention 2 of the major things to play around with to see if you actually did have your center.  The most major of it, was basically another case of you stretching your spine, so that your vertex would point up to the heavens, while your cocyx would tuck in to allow for that full stretch.  The second thing was simply a case of shifting the weight slightly just to see if maybe by chance you had either too much on the ball of the foot or on the heel.  Either way, the goal was to make sure the foot was flat and the weight was easily distributed throughout.  I can remember it just like yesterday, when Sifu first showed me the YGKYM, it look awkward and felt weak, but 4 years later it feels strong and the effects I’ve used in other things like sports seem unmeasurable.  But still, just like everyone else whose studied with Sifu, I know it, or I think I know what I know about it, but when compared to his stance, I have to admit, I know so little.


Ki- jian, Ki -jian.......... I heard my name muffled through snow, as one of my friends started trudging through it.  Well at least I got to practice 10 minutes, crap... my macchiato’s cold.



Front

Side

Angle

Ver 1.2

SLT - While SLT is a good way to practice, your YGKYM it does come with one major flaw.  The idea of SLT is one little idea, and with all the hand motions and angles and positioning one must do, focus on one’s center ends up being at the bottom of the totem pole.  Often times, if a student does practice SLT, I tell them to check their center after each section of the form.  That way they can have some level of awareness in their stance, and not only in their hands.  In addition, the teacher can normally test the stance further during the 1st section by either pressing or pulling on the elbow and seeing if the student can use his body structure to support it.  In this video I place pressure on Ken’s fok sau, if done correctly his body will support his arm structure and elbow will easily push forward without offsetting his center.


Timeout -  The idea of this particular exercise is to stand within tan sau range near a wall, and face it with your YGKYM.  Once you are in proper position, you gently push with either hand against the wall, and see how your center reacts to that initial push.  If done correctly, you’ll feel solid and rooted and feel the force actually driving down to your  feet.  If you watch the video, my first attempt is the correct one, and you simply see me maintaining my stance while pushing against the wall.  On the other hand, done incorrectly and you’ll feel yourself being pushed back, almost immediately.  At the end of this video, you can see twice I push against the wall and immediately fall backwards. 

Tug a war - The battle of the Wu Sau’s between you and your partner, does teach several concepts in Wing Chun besides, separation of your triangle and body structure.  Unfortunately, this exercise done at the lower level without proper supervision, normally ends up with 2 people leaning back and forgetting the entire purpose of the exercise.   You can normally see if someone is cheating if you release their wu sau they’ll immediately fall backwards.

Couch Potato - Probably the best of the 4 exercises that one can do to focus on YGKYM, simple for the reason that it doesn’t require a partner, and you can literally do this anytime you plan on watching TV.  Simply open up your stance, and focus on your YGKYM for at least 10, 15 to 30 minutes or the length of time of the entire show.  Normally after standing for a good 5 minutes, you’ll feel the ill-effect of a lousy stance, and will have to make adjustments, on the other hand,  if you’ve got your center, you’ll be able to stand in place comfortably for the entire  episode.


  1. -How often should I practice YGKYM?

  2. -Just like in all things in Wing Chun, when your in the mood and you’ve got the time, spend as much time working on the stance.  It literally is the foundation of all things that we do in Wing Chun, so the better the stance, the better you do everything else in Wing Chun.


  1. -How come I feel slight discomfort when doing the stance?

  2. -That’s your body telling you that your doing things wrong.  The most common is probably discomfort in the lower back area.  More often then not, your forgetting to tuck in the L4, L5 region and basically have your butt stuck out.  Another common area is just above the knee, and this is normally caused by over sinking the stance and having the knees go beyond the toe area.   Also, the upper back can get achy as well, if you force the pull back of the 1st motion beyond the point of relaxation.  Finally, the ankles can feel stuff as well, since often beginners squeeze the knees into the center instead of sinking it in the direction toward the toes.  Learn to listen, everything we do in Wing Chun should feel good.


-Will I always have to concentrate maintaining my center in practice or in a real fight?
- In the beginning especially when you practice yes.  But all things we do in Wing Chun is for development, so the goal in the end is to make the control of your center as natural as you breathing or eating without thought.


- What’s the over all goal of YGKYM?
- If I gave you a plate and a marble, and told you to maintain that marble in the center of the plate, you could say that’s almost the same goal in learning YGKYM.    The stance is designed to help you find the center, maintain it, and be aware of it at all times.


  1. -Is this my actual fight stance in a real fight?

  2. -Of course not, development and application are 2 different things.  In a fight situation, you stand as you want to stand, as long as you maintain the principle of the development which is the awareness of your center.  YGKYM is to help you learn that feeling, once you know how to get that feeling, you don’t have to stand in perfect stance in order to get it.


  1. -How long will it take before I can utilize my YGKYM in a real fight?

  2. -Everyone is different, so time tables may not be of any use here, especially if the question is in regards to fighting.  For the most part in fighting, you just need the guts, a punch and the aggressiveness to finish of your opponent.  So, nothing has to be perfect in execution, but the focus of pulling the trigger plays more of an important role.  Just remember fighting is easy, developing the skill is a bit harder.

  3. -Why am I pigeon toed when I do the form?

  4. -The focus upon opening the YGKYM stance should be in your center.  Without doing this and practicing the form in this manner you won’t be able to find the center.  Also the turn in for the pigeon toed positioning should be natural, and eventually in time once you develop how to find the feel of the center, holding it in this pose won’t be necessary.