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The Greater Yip Man Clan (lineage) relies on 3 empty-hand forms, 2 weapon forms, and a Dummy (Wooden Man) form.

There are now numerous varieties of each form. Some dispute over the years has come from the fact that GM Yip was flexible enough to personalize versions for individual students.

Additionally, we are not Xerox machines. What we learn is a product of what we bring with us, as well as what we look at. “The Empty Cup” makes a quaint image and useful teaching point, but tabla raza is not physiologically possible.

“ChumKiu” means to “seek the bridge” or point of connection with the opponent. This goes beyond the physical contact to a flow of information, rather like two modems hooking up. Fighting is not a monologue, but a conversation. This concept ties the ChumKiu form to the 2nd & 3rd KunKut. ChumKiu further supports what Wang Kiu calls “Being a Good Host”, hitting the opponent “the way he wants to be hit”. Certainly, he deserves that Courtesy!!!

Whether viewed as rungs on a ladder, yarn crocheted into a scarf, or some other metaphor, Wing Chun’s forms must be digested, their “amino acids” recombined into hundreds of specific “molecules” to be used. In another language, the word for “digest” is the same as for  “meditate”.

The forms are not application sets like in some arts, but concise descriptions of movements to be used in many different ways. From the One come the Two, from the Two come the Ten Thousand.

Like “.zip” files or other compressed data formats for a computer, They are not directly readable. The user needs access to the compression algorithms to make the set of files readable.

Like a book, each form has 5 sections: an introduction, 3 chapters and a conclusion. Every section has important content -- not a word is wasted!

“SiuNimTao” has been translated as “Seed” or “Little Idea”. Updated, that might be “Core Concept” or “Generator”. Along with rich content, SNT disciplines the new student to “sit still” and “speak only when he has something to say”--both hard lessons for many beginners.

This discipline ties the SiuNimTao form to the 1st KunKut, stripping away the jittery stimulants and mental noise that make it so hard to listen to a teacher...or an opponent. “First we must learn how to learn.”

“BiuJee” means to “point at the target” in the way an archer does. This goes beyond just the arrow to include the posture and will of the archer. This concept ties the BiuJee form to the 4th & 5th KunKut. The point of a martial “conversation” is to hit the opponent. Like any conversation, sometimes this one strays from the topic. Along with advanced variations on basic skill, BiuJee shows us ways to bring the conversation back to original topic: Hit.

Wang Kiu was the 1st student to learn MookJong from Yip Man, sitting in a tea-house, by means of the live-partner version. This was before the school had the money to afford any equipment.

The Live and Wood versions of the Dummy are like commentaries on the other forms of the System. They elucidate ways the basic tools work together, especially cementing understanding of the BongSao, GanSao, KwanSao and PoPai hands.

This was the subject of Wang Kiu’s 1st North American seminar, where Maier met him. It was the first time a teacher of Wang Kiu’s seniority had taught publicly in the America’s.

Along with the knives themselves, this form contains much valuable footwork.

Knowledge of knives and pole give a versatile foundation in single & double, long & short weapons.

The Pole form is simple so that unschooled and untrained farmers could learn basics of fighting very quickly. Wang Kiu told us that it was conceived for the simple, short, disposable bamboo poles farmers used to carry bales of rice in from the paddies. The name comes from 6 genuine thrusts and one “cheap shot” taught in the form.