One thing I do know that could help is that in Leung Tings lineage as well as EBMAS, Emin Boztepe's martial art system, our fighting stance has ALL the weight on the back leg, which I think is unique to us. Racking my brain trying to think of other things.. if I come up with something I'll come back and post
The WT organizations stemming from Leung Ting have several defining traights:
Stance is a major one. As Nabakatsu said, in WT we weight the back leg in the advancing step position. The objective is to keep the front leg unweighted so we can lift the leg to kick or defend in an instant, without having to shift our body first and telegraph our intent.
And in
Yee Gee Kim Yeung Ma, or Character Two stance, we keep our weight centered over our feet. When we do "stance turning", we turn by shifting our weight from the center to one side, and then pivoting the unweighted foot. In this manner,
we turn one foot at a time, on the
center of the foot. The objective is to have maximum stability by always having one foot unmoving and rooted, even when turning.
Another, even more important defining feature, is cultivating the quality of
springy-energy. In all the WT branches, you strive to make your arms , legs, and even your torso, like springy bamboo. So, if a powerful punch crosses your guard hand or man-sau, the incoming punch rolls and bends your arm into a bong-sau, as though bending a springy cane, and the punch is deflected. As your opponent withdraws his punch, the bong-sau springs back, following the retreating energy. And when your arm finds an opening, it snaps free, releasing the stored-up bent-spring energy, whipping out and striking your opponent,
as though your arm had a mind of it's own.
In this sense, we are taught to avoid throwing up a bong-sau or tan-sau. etc. of our own volition. Rather we are taught to spring forward to attack, and only form these
defensive positions as our attacking arm meets opposing force
...again causing the spring to bend.
By extension, this idea of training our body to act like a spring is also applied to our stance turning and steps, in accordance with the often quoted WC/WT motto
"Stay with what comes, follow the retreat, and thrust forward when the hand is freed". I believe the EBMAS version begins with the words,
"Surge forward..." appropriately reflecting the aggressive spirit of Master Emin. Other WC groups also use this saying or "kuit", although each translates it a bit differently. For example
Mook has another version as his signature line. But I do not know how many, if any of the other WC branches emphasize this WT concept of reactive, springy energy to form defensive techniques. I will say that I've met more than a few WC guys that
did seem to share that wicked springy quality in their offense. Punches that hit with a snap like a giant rubber band. Ouch!
