the rum soaked fist: internal martial arts forum

I got to touch hands with tst a couple of times. He placed great emphasis on sil lum tao so as to learn to remove the tension blockages of the body. Done right and muscles that would be useful for making the movement work would be engaged and others that did not contribute where switched off. It sounds easier than it is because to do it right meant knowing there are tension points, using the mind to relax them while doing this under pressure.

His use of this specific body linkage, leverage and timing was excellent and could throw big stiff guys around pretty effortlessly. It's not to say he was unbeatable but he could produce results that only happened because he had skill.

His demos were always really teaching affairs - not promos of magic. He would let everyone try a move on him. Not just 1-2 demo students who knew how to fall.

But the best trait I saw was he would break this down, touch and correct as best as he could and really try to impart something. All the time. It just seemed like he genuinely wanted people to learn and understand.

Great to see so many clips of him online. I've meet a few people who have trained with him, He had great knowledge of the internal aspects of Wing Chun.

Very cool stuff, but they should stop that talk about using another part of your brain.
Or that siu nim tao is that part of your brain.

Late to this party, thank you Spencer for keeping all these videos in one thread! Just reading through the comments and glad that so many here were able to meet Tsui sigong. He was an absolute gentleman and had sublime skill.

As has been said before, you kind of have to experience it firsthand to get an idea of what the videos are showing. Nonetheless, I'm very grateful for his students' efforts to share what he taught.

A couple more updates.

Published on Nov 11, 2016
In this video we go deeper into What Taigung is and how it should be applied to relax the legs and the mid-section of the body. This is very useful for people who get very tired (or sore legs/feet) when they stand in the Wing Chun Stance. The footage is from the seminars that Grand master Chu Shong Tin did in Hong Kong at Mindful Wing Chun a couple of years before he passed away!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yBGaDv6gEM

Published on Dec 2, 2016
In this video Grandmaster Chu Shong Tin discusses and demonstrates the use and transmitting of Chi/Nim Lik/ Energy.
The clips are from seminars at Mindful Wing Chun in Hong Kong:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxWti1xHqAk

GM Chu's clips are always a pleasure to watch. IMO, he managed to internalize WC and took it to a level that perhaps even the founder never reached (or intended).

Or maybe he reached the level the founder intended, but has been lost to modern hurry hurry study.

Wanderingdragon wrote:Or maybe he reached the level the founder intended, but has been lost to modern hurry hurry study.

Maybe. But if you look at the various traditional WC lineages in China, HK, and Malaysia, it appears he was unique in his method and approach.

C.J.W. wrote:Maybe. But if you look at the various traditional WC lineages in China, HK, and Malaysia, it appears he was unique in his method and approach.

How much high level stuff is being shown out there regardless style?

Bao wrote:

C.J.W. wrote:Maybe. But if you look at the various traditional WC lineages in China, HK, and Malaysia, it appears he was unique in his method and approach.

How much high level stuff is being shown out there regardless style?

High-level stuff comes from the basics. If two methods have fundamentally different principles in terms of training and usage at the basic level, they will differ at higher levels as well.

Having said that, it is obvious that the way TST taught his art -- with emphasis on using structure and intent (yi) -- is a far cry from the typical WC we see that relies on intricate hand techniques and fast transitions.

C.J.W. wrote:

Wanderingdragon wrote:Or maybe he reached the level the founder intended, but has been lost to modern hurry hurry study.

Maybe. But if you look at the various traditional WC lineages in China, HK, and Malaysia, it appears he was unique in his method and approach.

Check out the Leung Sheung/Kenneth Chung line:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYI8lVE8hcg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb29idlhXAI