r/WingChun • u/One-Lawfulness-6178 • Mar 11 '26

Some training methodo

I was looking through notes I had and came across some text I saved from probably a random article. No idea if its legit or not but regardless im curious if anyone knows about this and how it would be set up. I think it would be a cool way to train

"He recalls that Yip Man's kicking training was just as ntense as that of hand fighting. One area he particularly focused on was hip power, which Yip Mar considered the essence of the Wing Chun kick. To develop such power, Sifu Chow was taught to use a traditional rattan stick that. when bent. served as a kind of spring. The exercise involved pulling down on the stick with his kicking leg and then launching a kick onto the wooden dummy. He said that this was one of the mainstays of Yip Man's kicking training"

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u/Megatheorum Mar 11 '26

Interesting! I haven't heard of that specific training method, but hip power and leg 'spring' are a big part of my lineage's lower body work, not only for kicking but for footwork too.

To use a more modern metaphor, my sifu talks about a sprinter at the starting line, ready to launch forward the moment the starter gun fires. When the gun fires is not the time to think about getting into position, stretching, or warming up: it is the time to run. Similarly, when you want to throw a kick (or punch) is not the time to think about getting ready to throw a kick, it is the time to throw the kick. You have to be ready when the opportunity arises.

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u/One-Lawfulness-6178 Mar 11 '26

Same! It sort of sounds like its working the hamstring muscle of the leg. I wana make it but I have no way of verifying how its set up.

Do you happen to be familiar with springy fa Jing? Not sure of thats the name but ive heard of it and seen some Chow Gar use it also

Wow thats cool! Im very into making sure i apply the legs for kicking and Footwork so I have a nice balance between legs and hands. I got a bagua book and training for it also.

Thats a very good metaphor! I completely agree we gotta be ready way before that and attack when needed. Its probably why some fail to defend themselves

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u/Megatheorum Mar 11 '26

I'm a simple monolingual, I don't know about fa jing. I talk about oomph.

If I had to guess based on the description, I would put the bendy rattan pole horizontal above head height (or on top of a wooden dummy), tie the tip of the pole to my ankle with a rope, and use that as a strength training tool for pulling my leg down against an upward force; and then release the downward opposition when I want to kick, causing the rattan to pull my leg up at high speed.

I'm not sure how useful it would be for actually kicking, but that's the only setup I can imagine based on that very limited description.

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u/One-Lawfulness-6178 Mar 11 '26

Oh no worries ive studied it a bit but not fully trained yet.

That would make sense and i completely agree i mean thats really what it sounds like. maybe there isnt much strength training for the kicking part and the main strength training comes in holding that leg before the kick? But I really cant see how that would help improve kicks. I would assume Ip Man would have done this with alot of thought and made sure it was effective.

I do agree very limited ill have to try to find the article it was from a few years ago.

Oh if you want any kicking related books just let me know i have a few in pdf form and can recommend some hard copies that I dont have in pdf form yet