12 Bridges of Iron Wire - Wong Kiew Kit

[Asmo]

[PM]

well, ppl who choosed Yale over the self-made-always-different-romanisation already know its advantages, had to force anybody, all i can do is promote. i am in contact with Wong sifu for years, he has always been very generous to answer my questions.

[Asmo]

I know & understand your motivation Pavel! Its just not easy to change kuen to kyun... Its like having an old friend having a total face change...

The post was more about bringing this excellent text to the forum. Its one of the better texts I ever saw on IW/12 Bridges, and written in a way for all to understand where most of the texts from the old masters are more for those who already know...

Wong sifu indeed is very generous with his knowledge. There is a lot of good information available in his questions and answers series!

[PM]

well, i am always ready to change the bad and wrong for good and correct, any time (although i havet say that "kuen" is correct according to the old Sidney Lau romanization, but the point is - whatever you choose - Yale, Barnett-Chao, Meyer-Wempe, Hong Kong Government Cantonese Romanisation - Jyutping... - use it, but be consistent). check out YouTube - how many HANG GARRRR KUEN sifus out there, how ridiculous, they even cannot say correctly what they practice.

[Asmo]

Yes, I know you're a scholar warrior Pavel

[PM]

ha ha ha, well, i wish so still plenty of time, i am a young guy

[crazedjustice888]

Good article, but I was wondering. Is it true what he says in that the Tit Sin Kuen set should not be done with tension? I thought tension was used to build the strength along with the sounds and movements. If I am wrong I do apologize. Its just a lot of performances I have seen of this set, the person doing it looks like he is tensing.

[PM]

well, "hardness" (gong) is just one one the 12 bridges. a lot of tit sin kyuns i have seen were just very stiff form of isometric/isokinetic exercise, which is imho not correct. we should not forget that tit si kyun is noi gung, "internal exercise". the interplay of various types of power (bridges) is one of the keys of succes in tit sin kyun.

[crazedjustice888]

So you aren't supposed to do any isometrics while training it? Hmm...interesting...

[PM]

i did not say "you are not supposed to do ANY isometrics while training it"

[crazedjustice888]

Oh, I apologize for the misinterpretation. I am still a beginner so I apologize. When people do the bridge hand like lets say in GGFFK or FHSYK do you tense?

[PM]

i do not know about other people, but i do not purposely tense in gjjfk/fhsyk.

Jyu Yujai, a student of Lam Saiwing, writes in his gjffk book that "three extensions" (saam jin sau) of Hung mun belongs to so called "internal power method" lin noi lik ji sai - check out the number 5.

in the fhsyk he writes (number 6): "method of practicing the soft power" (lin yau lik ji faat)

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a lot of Hung Kyun i see out there is stiff, rigid, mechanic, angry faces. much of the Hung Kyun we do is "soft", "internal", which does not mean without power - actually the opposite is true. our "soft" power/soft bridge is however different that the one from eg. taijiquan.

read the Wong Kiew Kit sifu's article, it is an excellent piece of information. my interpretation, based on what i have learned from my sifu, my sigung and research of the old texts and manuals from the Lam Saiwing's lineage. is a bit different here and there, but generally the same. Wong sifu is not nly vey knowledgable, but also skillful master.

[shuen]

[Asmo]

[PM]

see above, that is exactly what i have just written about

no, my forearms are not purposely tensed; i just bend my wrist as much as possible, and it is a big difference. the in and out phase of the exercise differ - angles, forearm rotation, speed, power direction, body movement, daan tin/IAP, inhale/exhale speed and coordination with the movement, shoulder work, intention etc. etc. looks simple, but it is actually a very complex internal exercise, one of the old "secrets" of Siulam/Hung Kyun, and one of the most important. no wonder hat it is the fundamental force exercise in Wong sifu's school (yat ji tou sim), although i have to say that we do it differently than Wong sifu.

well, just my 2 cents, that is how i do it and teach - i could write a couple of pages just on saam jin sau and we can spent dozen of minutes just working on this exercise. i have seen many different ays of performing saam jin sau, many wrong and useleless, some interesting and inspiring.