During my training of both Wing Chun and music composition, I have experienced an analogy between the two. My hope is that those familiar with western music notation will benefit from these notes.
Hand and leg positions individually are to Wing Chun what pitches are to Music. In western music, we assign twelve tones and they repeat at what are known as octaves. In that sense, the bil sao, bong sao, fook sao, fut sao, gum sao, heun sao, jut sao, kan sao, lan sao, lop sao, pak sao, quan sao, tan sao, tie sao, tut sao, wu sao, palm strike and punch are like pitches that too can exist at different elevations (or octaves).
Even further, it seems that each pitch or hand position belongs to a “voice” or individual limb. The hand and leg positions come together at times to form “chords” (left forward quan sao, right t-step kan sao, etc.). Those chords seem to have relation to the partner/opponent in the same way that two pianists might improvise with one another and learn through practice each others’ harmonies as well as where their “consonances” and “dissonances” reside relative to the uniqueness of their relationship.
I best connect the open hand forms to practicing scales, arpeggios, and patterns. While these patterns are not themselves compositions, they are derivative (in the mathematical not plagiaristic sense) to expressions contained within the great works of the masters. I benefit greatly from practicing these open-handed forms despite their movements not being directly applicable in combat.
Chi Sao, while developing contact sensitivity, trains my capacity to bond with the other practitioner/performer and practice not making the moment about myself, but rather, about the invisible relationship that exists between our energies. This reminds me very much of the relationship I would, as a pianist, need to develop with the cellist I “accompanied.”
Developing flow requires a sort of granular attention to the timing of transitions between positions. For this, I benefit greatly from having studied rhythmic notation. Thinking of the passage between pitches (hand positions) over time in terms of eighth notes, quarter notes, dotted quarters, triplets, tied notes and rests helps me to simplify and streamline my approach both in working flow with other students and in developing flow on the dummy. In addition, the concept of the slur or tie accent in music is what most directly helped me discover the water like fluidity or flow of draping and connecting upon the elbows of the dummy.
In short, both Wing Chun and music seem to be firmly rooted in a system, but only as a means of enriching the palette on which the two arts thrive. I believe in the same way that music is unlimited, so too is the amazing art of Wing Chun. I am grateful to have been fortunate enough to study both systems and hope the analogies here are helpful in any way to any current or future practitioners.
Sincerely,
~ Alan, Wing Chun Student
Hand and leg positions individually are to Wing Chun what pitches are to Music. In western music, we assign twelve tones and they repeat at what are known as octaves. In that sense, the bil sao, bong sao, fook sao, fut sao, gum sao, heun sao, jut sao, kan sao, lan sao, lop sao, pak sao, quan sao, tan sao, tie sao, tut sao, wu sao, palm strike and punch are like pitches that too can exist at different elevations (or octaves).
Even further, it seems that each pitch or hand position belongs to a “voice” or individual limb. The hand and leg positions come together at times to form “chords” (left forward quan sao, right t-step kan sao, etc.). Those chords seem to have relation to the partner/opponent in the same way that two pianists might improvise with one another and learn through practice each others’ harmonies as well as where their “consonances” and “dissonances” reside relative to the uniqueness of their relationship.
I best connect the open hand forms to practicing scales, arpeggios, and patterns. While these patterns are not themselves compositions, they are derivative (in the mathematical not plagiaristic sense) to expressions contained within the great works of the masters. I benefit greatly from practicing these open-handed forms despite their movements not being directly applicable in combat.
Chi Sao, while developing contact sensitivity, trains my capacity to bond with the other practitioner/performer and practice not making the moment about myself, but rather, about the invisible relationship that exists between our energies. This reminds me very much of the relationship I would, as a pianist, need to develop with the cellist I “accompanied.”
Developing flow requires a sort of granular attention to the timing of transitions between positions. For this, I benefit greatly from having studied rhythmic notation. Thinking of the passage between pitches (hand positions) over time in terms of eighth notes, quarter notes, dotted quarters, triplets, tied notes and rests helps me to simplify and streamline my approach both in working flow with other students and in developing flow on the dummy. In addition, the concept of the slur or tie accent in music is what most directly helped me discover the water like fluidity or flow of draping and connecting upon the elbows of the dummy.
In short, both Wing Chun and music seem to be firmly rooted in a system, but only as a means of enriching the palette on which the two arts thrive. I believe in the same way that music is unlimited, so too is the amazing art of Wing Chun. I am grateful to have been fortunate enough to study both systems and hope the analogies here are helpful in any way to any current or future practitioners.
Sincerely,
~ Alan, Wing Chun Student
