This is a question for Rene, or anyone else in the know:
In “Complete Wing Chun”, Pan Nam Wing Chun under “Forms and Training”, you mention that each form begins with the opening movement which symbolises tye revolutionary slogan “fan qing fu Ming” (overthrow the Qing dynasty and return the Ming dynasty).
Im probably being thick and know the answer to this but could you explain which movement this is? Is it the open hand and closed fist salutation or am I barking up the wrong path?
With regard to the salutation, in the many books I have, I cannot seem to find an explanation of its meaning, and it seems to be performed in different ways (either the strking area of the closed fist against the open palm, or the thumb and rest of the knuckles against the open hand). I would really appreciate some enlightenment over these movements, after all these years of training Ive always taken them for granted and never questioned the history of them.
The one you’re thinking of sounds like the common one proliferating even non-Chinese systems nowadays with one hand a fist (meant to represent Yat, the Sun) and the other a palm (meant to represent Yuet, the Moon), together symbolizing the character Ming (Bright). This one can be found in Wushu, traditional Kung-Fu, Ke(n)(m)po, etc.
Pan Nam’s, if memory serves (and it’s been a while since I’ve seen any Pan system, so it might not is a variation on this, done a little differently, and I believe they had a little more symbolism.
This stuff is part of Chinese culture, involving a great deal of tradition, history, and folk-lore. Even in the Yip Man and other systems where its no longer stressed, you can find a lot of symbolism in the first few movements of the art.
Rene sez:Even in the Yip Man and other systems where its no longer stressed, you can find a lot of symbolism in the first few movements of the art.
A bit of an overgeneralization IMO Rene- some Ip Man lines
regularly use the fist and the palm motion in opening, closing and in greeting and in entering and leaving the kwoon.
No worries dude, just despite how it seems, I’m not on here all the time
There is specific symbolism beyond the common fist/palm sun/moon Ming salute and while some branches make explicit mention of this (eg. Cho), IMHO you can find it in almost all branches.
No worries dude, just despite how it seems, I’m not on here all the time
There is specific symbolism beyond the common fist/palm sun/moon Ming salute and while some branches make explicit mention of this (eg. Cho), IMHO you can find it in almost all branches.
is a variation on this, done a little differently, and I believe they had a little more symbolism.