(excerpt from the upcoming “Volume 4: Biu-Tze“)
Throughout the lineages, you will hear various descriptions concerning what the Biu-Tze curriculum is all about. Because many deem it as ”emergency techniques,” conflicting accounts exist for what “emergency” actually means.
Some feel that it means we have lost the centerline and are in jeopardy of losing the fight. Therefore, Biu-Tze teaches to regain the centerline and place you back in command.
Others feel that “emergency” means a perilous life-and-death situation, such as confronting armed opponents. Rather than losing your life, we employ “emergency” techniques to address this armed vs. unarmed situation.
Even further, some have combined the theories into one collective, vieing to blend both of the above concepts into a harmonious union so as to satisfy both lines of thought.
So, I will relate what I was taught and what experience has demonstrated to me over the years.
First, consider the Wing Chun system as a “house.” A house is built on a solid foundation, with Wing Chun’s foundation being the Siu-Nim-Tau. Without this solid foundation, everything built upon it will crumble.
The next step is to build “walls” for the house, and this is illustrated by the Chum-Kiu. A solid, strong foundation, now with a solid defensive “barrier” around it, results by combining the Siu-Nim-Tau and Chum-Kiu curriculums.
But a house without a roof is incomplete, so the next step is the Biu-Tze. The Biu-Tze is Wing Chun’s “roof” and “seals in” the house, making it a finished, complete structure.
Foundation, walls and roof. Siu-Nim-Tau, Chum-Kiu and Biu-Tze. This is a logical, common sense approach to viewing the nature of how Wing Chun is structured, as well as helping to answer the question of “emergency” techniques.
Biu-Tze is not about regaining the centerline, nor is it about “blending” concepts in order to satisfy others. The Siu-Nim-Tau already taught us about the centerline, as well as the straightline and vertical midline principles.
When these principles were sound, we progressed to the Chum-Kiu where we learned to employ them at various angles. The lower body was brought into play, too, by way of turning, stepping and kicking in order to expand the concepts and to unite the body as a complete unit.
By now, this stage of training has already seen us learning about the centerline, how to maintain it, how to capitolize on it, and how to regain it if lost. Therefore, Biu-Tze is not about regaining the centerline, because this has already been trained. Having an entire form focusing on something that was already learned falls outside of Wing Chun’s common sense line of thought.
Instead, Biu-Tze’s purpose is clear simply by viewing its actions: the delivery of fatal attacks as quickly and efficiently as possible. It is the assumption that your life is in imminent danger, and to preserve your life, you must initiate a crippling or fatal attack.
Now, each person must weigh the “why’s” of what would be considered life-threatening, but that is not Biu-Tze’s concern. Its purpose is the efficient delivery of that choice, not the why’s behind that choice.
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