Chinese Terms In Federation Wing Tsun
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Introduction
Wing Tsun (aka Wing Chun, Ving Chun, Ving Tsun or Yong Chun) is a martial art which, according to the oral history, originated in mainland China and was introduced to the West via students of Great-Grandmaster Yip Man, who lived in Hong Kong. To reflect this lineage we still tend to use Chinese terminology to name the forms, techniques & principles through which we study our Kung-Fu today.
The structure & sound of Chinese is well-known for being difficult for Westerners to learn, and the writing system even more so. In 2006 I was fortunate to spend 11 months living in Shanghai, where I worked & studied Mandarin Chinese in my spare time. I was curious as to what the Kung-Fu terms we use really meant and also thought it would be interesting for others to learn a little more about the language that we sometimes use in classes.
Background
Firstly, China is an enormous country and the variety of languages and dialects spoken there reflect this. Every area & ethnic minority has its own native dialect and many dialects are mutually unintelligible. Efforts by the government to standardise language, however, has led to most Chinese falling into two broad groups, as follows:
- Mandarin: Based on the northeastern dialects. Mainly spoken in mainland China & Taiwan
- Cantonese: Based on the southeastern dialects. Mainly spoken in Hong Kong, Macau, some southeastern provinces of mainland China and many countries with Chinese communities such as Malaysia & Singapore.
Since Yip Man was from Foshan in southeast China and subsequently taught in Hong Kong, we use the Cantonese terminology.
Cantonese, Mandarin and a number of other Chinese languages are tonal, meaning that intonation changes the meaning of a word. Mandarin has four tones (plus a neutral tone) and Cantonese has nine. A further complication is that many characters are pronounced in an identical way, and a single character may also have more than one pronunciation. Because of this, context is very important for working out the meaning of a sentence.
There also exist a number of different character sets for writing Chinese. Writing is more similar across different areas than speech since it was standardised earlier (by Emperor Qin Shi Huang - the object of Jet Li's assassination attempt in the film Hero) but different styles are used in different cases. A number of these are:
- Seal Script: The first standardised character set. Characters are highly pictographic and it is now used only on seals, not written by hand.
- Clerical Script: More suited to writing with a brush.
- Standard or Regular Script: A modernised version of the clerical script.
- Cursive or "Grassy" Script: Brush strokes are joined together making for a more expressive form of calligraphy.
The standard script is the character set used for newspapers, books & computer fonts, although in mainland China a simplified version of the characters are used in an attempt to make literacy more accessible to the general public.
Below is a summary of some of the terms we often use in training, with the Cantonese and Mandarin pronunciation, and both standard & simplified characters (in case anyone feels like tattooing the entire canon onto their body!) This is to the best of the web's and my own knowledge - there may be a number of mistakes but I hope it provides a useful resource. The Mandarin pronunciation is given in Standardised Pinyin and the Cantonese is written how it is commonly romanised in most popular Kung-Fu textbooks.
The Art And The Forms
Wing Tsun Kuen comes, according to legend, from the name of a young woman who learnt the art from a Buddhist nun. Wing Tsun means "springtime song or poem" and Kuen means "fist" or "boxing style". It is written 詠春拳 (traditional) or 咏春拳 (simplified). The Mandarin pronunciation is "Yǒng Chūn Quán".
| Cantonese | Characters | Mandarin | Simplified | English |
| Siu-Nim-Tao | 小念頭 | Xiǎo Nián Tóu | 小念头 | Little Idea |
| Chum-Kiu | 尋橋 | Xún Qiáo | 寻桥 | Seeking Bridge |
| Biu-Tze | 鏢指 | Biāo Zhǐ | 镖指 | Darting Fingers |
| Mook-Yan-Chong-Fa | 木人樁法 | Mù Rén Zhuāng Fǎ | 木人桩法 | Wooden Dummy Techniques |
| Luk-Dim-Boon-Kwun | 六點半棍 | Liù Diǎn Bàn Gùn | 六点半棍 | Six & A Half Point Pole |
| Bart-Cham-Dao | 八斬刀 | Bā Zhǎn Dāo | 八斩刀 | Eight Chopping Knives |
Notes: An alternative translation for Chum-Kiu is "Sinking-Bridge" (沉橋/沉桥, Chén Qiáo in Mandarin).
The Basic Hand Shapes
Sao or Sau (Mandarin: Shǒu) means "hand" and is written 手. This is used in the name of most arm positions in Wing Tsun. The hand component 扌 is also often the left-hand part of characters describing hand actions.
| Cantonese | Characters | Mandarin | Simplified | English |
| Tan-Sau | 攤手 | Tān Shǒu | 摊手 | Spreading-Out Hand |
| Garn-Sau | 間手 | Jiǎn Shǒu | 间手 | Separating Hand |
| Pak-Sau | 拍手 | Pāi Shǒu | 拍手 | Slapping Hand |
| Gum-Sau | 撳手 | Qìn Shǒu | 揿手 | Pressing-Down Hand |
| Bong-Sau | 膀手 | Bǎng Shǒu | 膀手 | Wing-Shape Hand |
| Kau-Sau | 搆手 | Gòu Shǒu | 搆手 | Dragging Hand |
| Fook-Sau | 伏手 | Fú Shǒu | 伏手 | Lying-In-Ambush Hand |
Notes: I have also seen Garn-Sau written as 耕手 (Gēng Shǒu), meaning "Ploughing-Hand".
Other characters on the web for Kau-Sau are 扣手 (Kòu Shǒu = "Buckling/detaining-Hand") and 摳手/抠手 (Kōu Shǒu = "Raising-Up-Hand").
Other Hand Shapes
| Cantonese | Characters | Mandarin | Simplified | English |
| Kuen-Sau | 拳手 | Quán Shǒu | 拳手 | Fist |
| Man-Sau | 問手 | Wén Shǒu | 问手 | Asking Hand |
| Wu-Sau | 護手 | Hù Shǒu | 护手 | Protecting Hand |
| Fak-Sau | 拂手 | Fú Shǒu | 拂手 | Brushing-Away Hand |
| Huen-Sau | 圈手 | Quān Shǒu | 圈手 | Circling Hand |
| Lan-Sau | 攔手 | Lán Shǒu | 拦手 | Obstructing Hand |
| Lap-Sau | 擸手 | Là Shǒu | 擸手 | Grasping Hand |
| Jut-Sau | 窒手 | Zhì Shǒu | 窒手 | Stifling Hand |
| Jum-Sau | 沉手 | Chén Shǒu | 沉手 | Sinking Hand |
| Gwat-Sau | 颳手 | Guā Shǒu | 刮手 | Shaving/Scraping Hand |
| Tut-Sau | 脫手 | Tuō Shǒu | 脱手 | Taking-Off Hand |
| Tok-Sau | 托手 | Tuō Shǒu | 托手 | Holding-Up-With-Palm Hand |
| Lau-Sau | 撈手 | Lāo Shǒu | 捞手 | Scooping Hand |
Notes: Another translation for Jum-Sau is 枕手 (Zhěn Shǒu), meaning "Pillow-Hand".
Lap-Sau may also be 拉手 (Lā Shǒu), meaning "Pulling-Hand".
Elbows, Palms, Bridges & Stances
| Cantonese | Characters | Mandarin | Simplified | English |
| Chuen-Kiu | 穿橋 | Chuān Qiáo | 穿桥 | Penetrating Bridge |
| Pie-Jarn | 劈 [Jarn] | Pī [Zheng?] | 劈 [Zheng?] | Hacking Elbow |
| Kwai-Jarn | 跪 [Jarn] | Guì [Zheng?] | 跪 [Zheng?] | Kneeling Elbow(?) |
| Ding-Jarn | 頂 [Jarn] | Dǐng [Zheng?] | 顶 [Zheng?] | Butting Elbow(?) |
| Yan-Jeung | 印掌 | Yìn Zhǎng | 印掌 | Stamping Palm |
| Jak-Sun-Jeung | 侧身掌 | Cè Shēn Zhǎng | 侧身掌 | Sideling Palm |
| Yee-Ji-Kim-Yeung-Ma | 二字拑羊馬 | Èr Zì Qián Yáng Mǎ | 二字拑羊马 | Character "2" Sheep-Clamping Stance(!) (the 'IRAS' to you and me) |
| Jak-Sun-Ma | 侧身馬 | Cè Shēn Mǎ | 侧身马 | Sideling Stance |
Notes: The character for 'Jarn' listed in GM Leung Ting's Wing Tsun Kuen is not in current dictionaries so it may be an archaic character and I'm not sure of the exact meaning. It's made up of the components 月+爭.
A modern way to express a strike with the elbow would be 肘擊 (Trad.) or 肘击 (Simp.); Cant. "Jau-Gik", Mand. "Zhǒu Jī".
The character 馬/马 used here to mean "Stance" literally means "Horse". The use of it to mean "Stance" is probably only used in the martial arts.
Exercises
| Cantonese | Characters | Mandarin | Simplified | English |
| Dan-Chi-Sau | 單黐手 | Dān Nián Shǒu | 单粘手 | Single Sticky-Hands |
| Seung-Poon-Sau | 雙盤手 | Shuāng Pán Shǒu | 双盘手 | Double "Coiling" Hands |
| Chi-Gerk | 黐腳 | Nián Jiǎo | 粘脚 | Sticky Legs |
| Lat-Sau | 甩手 | Shuǎi Shǒu | 甩手 | Throwing Hands |
| Kuen-To | 拳套 | Quán Tào | 拳套 | Boxing Set |
| Lin-Wan-Kuen | 連環拳 | Lián Huán Quán | 连环拳 | Chain-Punching |
I would be pleased to hear from anyone regarding comments, corrections or clarifications on the above article. Thanks for taking the time to read it, and I hope it may be of some use to you in your training.
- Author: Ed Long
- Sources: To follow.
