This video talks about Wing Chun and Triangles.
A webpage duplicate of the video is also available for people who prefer reading to watching a video.
This video is titled Wing Chun and Triangles.
Wing Chun is the name of a hand to hand combat system developed in China. Hand to hand combat systems in China are called kung fu.
According to legend, the Wing Chun kung fu style was developed by a woman. In recent history, a person called Yip Man, is usually acknowledged as the most important figure, in passing on the Wing Chun style of kung fu.
Wing Chun, like all hand to hand combat systems, obeys the laws of physics. It is not necessary to know anything about physics, to be proficient in Wing Chun kung fu, or any other hand to hand combat system.
Some people believe that knowledge of physics is useless, to a person involved in real fighting. Some people might even say, that learning about physics and how it applies to Wing Chun kung fu, or any other hand to hand combat system, is a complete waste of time.
I believe that attitude is wrong. I believe that attitude is wrong for a specific reason.
I knew a man who said he was a student of Yip Man. I do not know if the claim is true, but that is what the man said. That man told me that Yip Man had said something, that has always stuck with me.
According to this person “It was one of Yip Man’s dreams, to take engineering classes in Hong Kong, and apply the principles of engineering and physics to Wing Chun.”
Yip Man, the most significant figure in the recent history of Wing Chun, thought it would be useful to take engineering and science classes, and apply them to his Wing Chun system.
If Yip Man thought that engineering and physics knowledge, would be useful to him and the Wing Chun system, then it would be reasonable to believe that engineering and physics knowledge, would be useful to any person, taking any kind of kung fu.
In order to learn about physics, it is necessary to learn other material first. Trigonometry is one of the prerequisites for learning about physics. Trigonometry is about the properties of triangles. The triangle, is one of the tools used to solve physics and engineering problems.
The following picture shows an example engineering problem. Please take a moment to read the instructions for the problem, and to examine the diagram. The engineering problem involves the movement of a box, due to the action of the ropes attached to it.
This problem can be solved using triangles. There are four triangles in the problem, as shown in this picture.
Each rope was colored red,
then each pair of ropes was connected by a red line.
The triangles were then numbered from one through four, for clarity.
Many physics and engineering problems are solved through the use of triangles, and the method demonstrated by this example.
A person who is learning Wing Chun, will be taught the Siu Nim Tau form first. During the performance of the Siu Nim Tau form, both the legs and the arms are moved into positions that form triangles.
One of the arm movements from the Siu Nim Tau form, is called a Tan Sau. A Tan Sau is created by holding the arm as shown in this picture.
The upper arm angles downwards from the shoulder,
the lower arm angles upwards from the elbow,
and the flattened hand is held palm upwards.
An arm that is held in the Tan Sau position creates a triangle. The shoulder,
the elbow,
and the wrist,
form the three points of a triangle,
as shown in this picture.
The next picture shows the model holding the beginning position for the Siu Nim Tau form.
The triangle connecting the shoulder,
the elbow,
and the wrist,
is outlined in this picture
The model will perform a short section of the Siu Nim Tau form in the next part of the video. The model will repeat a Tan Sau movement three times. As the arm moves during the performance the Tan Sau , the triangle will also move as necessary, to retain it’s relationship with the shoulder, the elbow, and the wrist.
( As might be guessed by the video link title, this video clip only shows one performance of the Tan Sau. That clip was repeated 3 times in the video. As the viewer is in control of the video clip, they can of course watch it as many times as they desire. )
The demonstration showed, that the angles of the triangle change constantly, throughout the performance of the Tan Sau movement. That fact is relevant, because when solving engineering and physics problems, it is the angles of the triangles, that are used in the equations that solve the problem.
Each miniscule movement of the arm during the performance of the Tan Sau, will change the angles of the triangle a slight amount, resulting in an entirely different answer, for whatever physics or engineering equations, were being applied to the Tan Sau.
The following picture will be used to connect the theoretical ideas presented so far, to real life fighting.
The picture shows Yip Man and Bruce Lee,
performing a Wing Chun training exercise called Chi Sau.
Chi Sau could be described as both men, pressing their arms against the arms of the other man.
According to what has been shown in this video though, the two men could be visualized as pressing two triangles against each other.
The arms of Yip Man form two triangles as shown in this picture.
Bruce Lee’s arms also form triangles as shown in this picture.
What this picture implies,
is that instead of a person thinking about what position their arm should take during hand to hand combat,
the person could use the laws of physics and engineering,
to calculate exactly what shape of triangle created by their arm would accomplish their goal.
( The following video clip ended the video. The video clip shows the Tan Sau being performed again with the physics problemsuperimposed on the video. The video allows the viewer to visualize the changing triangle formed by a moving Tan Sau while pondering how the physics diagram would apply to that ever changing triangle. )