The Three "Seed" Techniques

The three "seed" techniques of Wing Chun, or rather, the three movements which provide the foundation for almost every arm action, are easy to understand when you consider the position of the palm. Sometimes it's difficult for those first starting out, but let's see if we can't clear things up a bit.

When we start with the palm facing upward, this is Tan-sau (Palm-Up arm). Twisting the wrist over so that the palm faces downward, the arm is in the Fook-sau position (Bridge-On arm). And if the wrist continues this twisting action until the palm is facing forward towards the front, the arm is now in the Bong-sau (Wing-arm) position. But why are these actions referred to as "seed" techniques? What does it all mean?

Basically, think of the position of your palm and how it relates to the action of the elbow. If the palm is facing upwards, the elbow has a tendency to draw inwards towards the body, whereas if the palm is facing downwards, the elbow has a tendency to press outward slightly. This is in relation to the twisting action of the forearm. Naturally, some assume a Tan-sau with the elbow far outward, while others have the elbow far inward, so you will of course see variances. But on the whole, an upward and downward-facing palm will affect the direction of the elbow.

If the palm is inverted to the Bong-sau position, we now see the elbow moving upward. So as the palm started in an upward facing position with the elbow inward, and now it's inverted with the elbow upward, we've seen both the palm and the elbow being directly effected as the arm rotated.

This "rotation" covers the gamut of arm positions for Wing Chun. Tan-sau, Fook-sau and Bong-sau combine in one or more elements to assume Jut-sau, Jum-sau, Tok-sau, and the other myriad actions of arm movements found in Wing Chun. Not all, of course, but the rather, the foundation. This is why the term "seed" techniques was applied, to denote that the major workings of what we do stems from the position the arm, from Tan-sau through Bong-sau.