Siu Lim Tao and it's inherent Jam Jong (Zhan Zhuang) training

It is well known that the three major internal arts; Tai Chi, Bagua and Hsing Yi all include the practice of the standing meditation in their training curriculum. It is a most important thing if the practitioner wants to master the elusive so called "internal".

The most recent of these arts: Yi Quan devotes almost 100% of it's practice to it and there is a big shift toward Jam Jong into some branches of what is considered to be the most hard style Karate there is: Kyokushin! Wing Chun also has it. And it is well included in the system. So well in fact that we don't even have to integrate it in the practice. It is right there in the first form; Siu Lim Tao. The Yee Gee Kim Yeung Ma stance and the slow hands movements are the heart of it.

The toes in (pidgeon toes) stance is the same that is practiced in Bagua for internal developpement. It is also very similar to the stance maintained in the Sanshin Kata of Goju Karate. It is sad that so many Wing Chun practitioners just fly over and neglect this most important aspect of our system, turning it into a hard style type of Gung Fu. It is time well spent to practice Siu Lim Tao calmly and as slowly as possible. It is beneficial to well align the spine by tucking the tail bone a little and having the head like if suspended. It is good also to be aware of any tension that might creep in and taking care of it properly. It is good also to transfer the lessons of Siu Lim Tao to the totality of the system.

Patience is the key. Michel Boulet www.montrealwingchun.com