AWCA Notebook

Following “Stay with what comes“, the second part of Wing Chun’s primary motto is “Follow through as it retreats“. Though somewhat elusive at first, these five words can open up a lot of doors for skillfully dealing with a host of situations.

During most encounters, there is a bit of hit-and-run tactics from the opponent. Attack, defend, attack, defend, etc. And it is the more common of methods seen, particularly with boxers, kickboxers, and those that seek out the weakest part of your defense.

“Follow through as it retreats” means that as the opponent withdraws (retreats), we follow through (or go after him). Since our primary tactic is to immediately go on the offensive and remain on the offensive (keeping the attacker on the defensive), it would also make sense to do this even when the attacker is retreating.

One of the most difficult tasks our attacker can face is meeting his/her attack with our own attack. While many will expect a defense, we instead go on the offensive in order to thwart the original attack and upset the timing.

In plain English, we use attack as defense, even when the opponent is withdrawing.

By combining “Stay with what comes” to “Follow through as it retreats”, we capitalize on two essential – but sometimes very misunderstood – elements of fighting by not allowing the opponent to fight his fight. Instead, we force him to fight our fight by always “staying in his face” with a flurry of attacks, even when he is retreating.

Next time, we will look at the last part of the motto, which is “Spring forward as our hand as freed”. It is that tactic that brings all of them into cohesion for a responsive and overwhelming response to any attack we might encounter.

One of the first mottos we learn in Wing Chun is:

Stay with what comes, follow through as it retreats, spring forward as our hand is freed

But what do these elements mean? “How” do we stay with what comes? “Why” do we follow through as it retreats? What is “it”, anyways?

Let’s go through the first one and take a look

Stay With What Comes
When you are attacked, instinct will command your body to do one of three things:

1. Fight
2. Flight
3. Freeze

Many will state the “Fight or Flight” theory and say that only one of two things will happen, but we have seen that “Freeze” is also a response for quite a few. Fear can grip a person so strongly or suddenly that their instinct does not really know “what” to do, and with no route to follow, they can become immobilized.

But for a moment, let’s presume that we “are” in command of our faculties and have the skill set necessary to make a rational fighting decision, e.g. we “can” fight skillfully and it is up to a tactical decision how best to respond to an incoming opponent.

With “hit-and-run” tactics of many martial arts, the goal is to attack then defend, attack then defend, in adfinitum. This approach repeats itself until the opponent wears down or encounters a blow so powerful that “defend” is no longer a possibility. At that time, the attacker continues to attack in order to overwhelm and defeat the opponent.

The “hit-and-run” approach, while successful for some, can also be a severely trying tactic. For example, if you were successful with the first attack, the tactic now sees you withdrawing and then repeating another attack (for example, a boxer’s jab/cross combination, followed by stepping out then driving back in). With an action such as this, the attacker may have been successful with the first few punches, but now he has removed himself from continuing the attack.

In other words, the attack was halted on purpose in order to withdraw, and must now be repeated over and over until the opponent is defeated.

“Stay with what comes” follows the principle that rather than immediately responding to an attack by withdrawing or retreating, we stay with it. We take the fight “to” the opponent and force the situation to reverse itself by launching a flurry or barrage of counter-strikes in order to use offense as the defense.

When you withdraw, you basically allow the opponent room to maneuver or to take advantage of the distance in order to continue the original attack. Withdrawing or retreating can actually make the situation worse.

But if we stay with what comes, we utilize basic Wing Chun principles to remain offensive, which in turn keeps the opponent defensive. As long as our attacker is defensive, our odds greatly improve for protecting ourselves and ending the fight quicker, which in turn is much safer than a long drawn-out encounter.