Jarn Dai Lik

EXPOSITION OF WING CHUN’S HIDDEN POWER

- Edward S. Majian

THE FIGHTING ARTS are rife with quotes that point beneath the obvious elements of striking and blocking. Take, for example, Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan until they’re punched in the face.” Similarly, Lau Tzu warns: “The best fighter is never angry.”

What unites these thoughts is that both being stunned and angry shake a fighter’s foundations, and threaten their ability to hold it together. This article is about the source of structure, optimal power generation, and what it means, specifically for a Wing Chun practitioner, to hold it together. The wellequipped student has a secret weapon at their disposal that should remain intact even when punched in the face. Mastering this weapon begins with understanding three Chinese characters that prompt a deeper look at human biomechanics.

Upon commencing training with Sifu Chung K. Chow, it became clear that his teaching, nearly 50 years in the making, had adopted a new emphasis. During Chi Sao, Sifu regularly notes, “Sit lower, posture up,” or “More hip!” Other times, sternly, “I don’t feel it… you don’t have it.” Sifu’s patient prodding leads us to an experience of the elusive Wing Chun concept, Jarn Dai Lik (JDL). As all things Wing Chun, the concept points back to Siu Lim Tau (SLT). It may be said that JDL is the overlooked big idea coded into The Little Idea. Big because JDL can reframe what we seek to condition while training our first form and, harnessed effectively in motion, it has the potential to take any practitioner’s Wing Chun, structurally speaking, to a new level.