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"If SiuNimTao is the Seed,
then BaiSao is the Taproot."
—Herbert Maier
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Excerpt from Introduction on:
The Title |
What's in a name?
"BaiSao" means "Demonstration Hand". GrandMaster Wang Kiu
refers to BaiSao as an "exercise". He says that Yip Man used it to
show people briefly and succinctly what gives Wing Chun its character. This
means that it is performed in a light and friendly manner, and intended to
illustrate a discussion or explanation. The very fact that GrandMaster Yip Man
used it this way indicates that it is a concise abstract of what makes Wing
Chun special. This makes it important.
Taproot?
The name of Wing Chun's first form is often translated as "The Seed"
or "Little Idea", or "Small Beginnings". The first thing a
seed does, before sending up a sprout, is to send down a taproot. Since that
taproot is hidden, we tend to forget it while looking forward to the growth of
the sapling, then enjoying the shade and fruit of the mature tree. But it is
this taproot which supports the tree when rain softens the soil and storm winds
blow.
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Perhaps the most important single quote to any student is this one:
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"You must surpass me. If the student does not surpass
the teacher, then the art begins to die."
—Wang Kiu
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Wang Kiu is the last
of Yip Man's Original Core Students
to be heard from!
Only $27.95 for the first book on this Living Treasure's teaching!
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Reader
Reviews
Order
Now!
Wang Kiu is the last
of Yip Man's Original Core Students
to be heard from!
Only $27.95 for the first book on this Living Treasure's teaching!
|
Click Here
Now!
We use PayPal, and take major credit cards for your convenience! |
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Author
Herbert N. Maier, Ph.D.
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GrandMaster
J. Wang Kiu
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For 20 years, the sole American student of GrandMaster Wang
Kiu. Wang's teaching and influence led Maier to graduate school, where he
established a new research field and research method in Tactical (martial arts)
Cognition.
The YumCha series will be his interpretations of Wing Chun Theory as learned
from GrandMaster Wang Kiu. |
Taught BaiSao to Maier the way Yip Man used it in
Hong Kong. One of Yip Man's Original 4 Core Students, Wang was the first one
taught the Wooden Man, by means of the partner version. He participated in the
famous challenge matches, and wrote the newspaper accounts.
Living in Europe since the 1960's, he has a large, well-respected organization.
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"Before Wing Chun is a fighting art,
it is a thinking art."
"We must solve his puzzle before he solves ours."
—Herbert Maier |
"It is entirely fair!
I have two hands,
you have two hands.
One hand is inside,
one hand is outside.
But where else will you find
so many options?"
—Wang Kiu |
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Excerpt from Introduction to:
The YumCha
Series
The tradition of drinking tea
together before and/or after class gives a time for sharing tales, but also for
group contemplation of theory and problem solving. It is most valuable if it
resembles a military de-briefing or a post-game analysis.
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The intention of this series is to
argue that Wing Chun is a true system expressed as a theory-that it has
internal integrity, consistency and completeness, that it possesses a logic
with dimensions and algorithms. This is demonstrated in each volume by stepping
through an aspect of the system at a minute level.
There are many books and videos on Wing Chun's forms, or on its fighting
aspects. Other aspects are less frequently explored. That is rather like using
gold only for currency and jewelry. But electronics and dentistry also find
gold very useful. In bread, CO2 is the product of yeast,
alcohol the byproduct. In brewing, just the opposite—CO2 is the byproduct, and alcohol is the product. The jeweler
and the dentist, the baker and the brewer want different things. |
"If you only use your sword,
it gets dull. You must take time out to sharpen and polish it as
well."
—Wang Kiu |
A Divergent View:
The YumCha Series of books is so named to differentiate it from books on actual
training, or applications such as combat or self-defense. Its purpose is to
stimulate thinking that can lead to breadth as well as quality of application,
maybe some un-thought-of options. |
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