1) SIL LIM TAO FORM AND SELF DEFENCE TECHNIQUES

Initially, a student will be taught the Sil Lim Tao Form (or “little idea”). The form has three sections. The first section of the Sil Lim Tao Form is performed very slowly. Traditionally, this section of the form will be performed for approximately 20 minutes. The purpose of the form is to train the students in the Wing Chun Stance or Yee Chi Kim Yeung Ma.

The form also trains a student as to the correct positioning of the body and limbs for the execution of foundation Wing Chun techniques. These included:

• Chi Ng Kuen (centre line punch);
• Tan Sau;
• Wu Sau (or Buddhist Palm);
• Fuk Sau (Controlling Hand);
• Huen Sau (Circling Hand); and
• Pak Sau (Slapping Hand).

Later, in the second and third sections, which are performed at a faster pace, the form also trains a student to correctly position his or her arms in executing Bon Sau, Jut Sau, Fuk Sau, and Jum Sau. Students will also be instructed on how these techniques may be applied in practice.

All of these techniques will be of critical importance, when the students commence learning sticky hands or chi sau. In this regard, the instructor’s and student’s attention to detail will be tested. If the techniques are not practised correctly at an early stage, then it is likely that the student will develop bad habits and will encounter problems when learning sticky hands and sparring. Some examples of common problems include:

• If the student fails to correct structure his or her wing chun stance or Yee Gee Kim Yeng Ma (ie back straight and hips and knees forward), then it is possible that he or she may not be stable and balanced during sticky hands or sparring leading to a tendency to fall backwards when attacked. This may prevent the student from using the opponent's force against him or her, using the force of the ground against his or her opponent and may lead to the student being unable to effectively spar aginst his or her opponent.
• If a student fails to practice the structure of Tan Sau, Wu Sau and Fok Sau correctly (ie with the elbow tucked in), then students may find that they are not able to utilise ground force in their techniques and their structure collaspes easily under the smallest amount of force from an opponent, leading to the student not being able to utilise his or her wing chun skills in sticky hands or sparring.
• If a student fails to practice the structure of Wu Sau correctly, then students may find that they are applying shoulder strength rather than structural/ground strength in his or her centreline punching. 

There is much debate between the various Wing Chun clans concerning wrist and elbow positioning in Sil Lim Tao. Most people will concentrate on having either the wrist or the elbow in the centreline whilst performing this form.  However, in the writer's opinion, a practitioner must have both wrist and elbow in the centreline in order to utilise ground force.  For example, when executing a tan sau, the elbow and the wrist must be in the centreline so that the tan sao will absorb and deflect any straight attack.  If the tan sau is not straight, then it will easily collapse when force is applied. Also if the tan sau is not straight, then a student will not be able to attack any gaps in sticky hands applying the maxim "Lut Sao Gik Choong" or if my opponent lets go, I will strike forward.

The foundation of Wing Chun is set at this stage of the training and it is critical that the foundation is set properly, otherwise the rest of the student's Wing Chun may suffer from deficiencies at this level. As there is a old Chinese saying that getting Wing Chun wrong is jet as bad as getting your feet tied wrong. [In ancient times, Chinese girls were required to tie their feet from a young age so that their feet will be no longer than 3 feet long (my understanding).  The length of their feet would govern their eligibility for marriage in later life. Therefore, the Chinese saying signifies that to get Wing Chun wrong is just as bad as getting your feet tied incorrectly in that like the Chinese girl who has no suitor and could hardly walk despite her feet tying efforts, the Wing Chun student who gets it wrong may not be able to use his or her Wing Chun despite his or her hard work on training.]

In addition to learning the form, under the training curriculum at the Academy, students will also be instructed in a number of self defence techniques, designed to train students to deal with certain self defence situations. Some examples of these techniques include:

• Dealing with hook punches;
• Dealing with jab punches;
• Dealing with tackles; and
• Arm grappling exercise etc.

1. Sil Lim Tao Form - Tan Sau

2. Sil Lim Tao Form - Fuk Sau

3. Sil Lim Tao Form - Bong Sau

4. Video of Grandmaster Ip Man practising Sil Lim Tao

A video of Grandmaster Ip Man practising the Sil Lim Tao Form may be found at the following website:

http://www.ipching.org/vticaa/modules/smartmedia/folder.php?categoryid=1&folderid=2