Order of Forms

Most lineages train basically the same forms: Siu-Nim-Tau, Chum-Kiu, Biu-Tze, Muk-Yan-Chong (the wooden dummy), Luk-Dim-Boon-Kwun (the long pole) and Bart-Cham-Dao (the double knives). Naturally their spellings will differ, and some may even include more forms/ training. On the whole, however, those are the primary forms of Wing Chun. The puzzling part to newcomers, though, is why the "order" of this training isn't consistent from lineage-to-lineage (or sometimes even school-to-school in the same lineage).

As I learned it, the order of learning is as you see above. Why? Primarily because it's a logical progression from skill set to skill set. For example, every lineage I've heard of starts with the Siu-Nim-Tau. This beginning curriculum creates the foundation for everything else to come. And following this, almost everyone agrees that the Chum-Kiu is next. After this, however, is where you'll sometimes see a "split."

Some believe (as I do) that the Biu-Tze should come before the wooden dummy, whereas others believe that it should come after the dummy. Personally, I prefer the former because 1.) Siu-Nim-Tau and Chum-Kiu concepts/applications are presented in the first 4 sections of the dummy, and 2.) Chum-Kiu and Biu-Tze concepts are presented in the remaining 4 sections. The argument can be made either way as to "what's better," i.e. learning Biu-Tze before the dummy or after, but personally, I feel that it makes more sense to first learn the curriculum and how it's used one-on-one before pitting it against this inanimate object like a wooden dummy.

When training on a dummy, a lot of things happen that can "make or break" a skill set. Rebound, footwork, short-range power delivery... these are but three in a long list that a practitioner learns to overcome and/or develop. When a skill is being trained on the dummy before it's competent with a partner, a host of bad habits can result that wouldn't normally present themselves (and if they did, having a working knowledge of the concepts and applications prior to this would quickly resolve them).

Does that mean that if someone trains outside of this particular order, it's wrong? Absolutely not. As I mentioned, the argument can be made for training the dummy prior to Biu-Tze, too. Instead of the way I view it, some view it exactly the opposite, i.e. bad habits will result if the dummy isn't learned to competence, because the Biu-Tze requires a different unloading of force, a type of force that must first be learned on the dummy and then transferred to Biu-Tze training.

So as you can see, not everyone will agree on the "order" of some of the higher training, but they do agree as to their importance.

Also, some will include a variety of concepts that not everyone else does, such as chi (life force) generation and when force is "hard" vs. "soft." Releasing your jing (energy) into your movements can be a study that many practitioners believe fully in, whereas other practitioners won't pay much attention to it, instead, preferring to leave the "mystique" out of their training and keeping things more physically-oriented.

And you thought that this would be an easy question to answer. :o)

So when you see someone else training and you get their take on things, sometimes it won't be from the same viewpoint that you're used to. When this happens, it's always beneficial to examine how they approach the overall concept of the art as they see it, which in turn will allow you to have a better view of their training approach. That in itself can open quite a few doors to concepts and movements that might have confounded you in the past when viewing other lineage's training.