Siu Nim Tao Internal Wing Chun

Siu Nim Tao and internal Wing Chun are intricately linked. Although as a beginner the first form is hard to fathom, it’s one of Wing Chun’s hidden secrets. Siu Nim Tao is also known as Siu Lim Tao. Siu Lim Tao means “little idea” or “little imagination”. It can also be thought as of no thought – a state reached through a very focused mind. Nim means “mind” so the first form can also be related to the study of the mind – or mind power.

Deeper states of awareness within the Siu Nim Tao practice can allow you to deepen your understanding.

As a beginner of Wing Chun, I wasn’t that interested in the first hand pattern, or Siu Lim Tao, as I knew it then. I wanted more free-flow and chi sau practice. The “fighting” aspects were pretty much all I was interested in back then. After a change of circumstances I was unable to join the classes as frequently. As a result I decided to practice the first form regularly, many times each day.

When I returned to play Chi Sau with my class mates I notice something quite apparent – I had improved!

Siu Nim Tao And Internal Wing Chun

So how could a pattern of movement practiced alone have helped me when it came to chi sau practice. Surely more chi sau was the only way to get better at it? That was what I had thought as a beginner. I just wanted to do more chi sau. However, hidden in the clever first form practice is a number of attributes which can lift your chi sau practice to another level.

• State of mind – in Siu Nim Tao practice you are relaxing the mind – allowing for more presence and awareness.
• Position – in first form you are regularly reminding your body where your position should be. Then, when it comes to Chi Sau, you don’t have to think about it.
• Softening of muscles and relaxation of the body. This has multiple knock-on effects for chi sau/fighting. When relaxed you can feel more through your arms. You can also absorb more force and redirect force more easily (through not being tense).
• Centreline focus – the first thing you do in first form is define the centreline – the fastest attacking line between you and your opponent. Since this line is the most important space to occupy in chi sau, it makes sense to practice what that means and impress this on your subconscious mind (through repetition).

The “internal” aspect of Siu Nim Tao is both the relaxation and the awareness aspects. Awareness can relate to a lot of things, but in Siu Nim Tao you learn to soften the muscles, relax the joints and become aware of muscle tension, while releasing it. After drilling the first form over many years, I still felt there was something I was missing though. And this gap was filled after I found a Chu Shong Tin lineage school of Wing Chun in Sheffield a few years ago.

Siu Nim Tao – Internal Wing Chun

During visits to this school, I picked up some new information. It was incredibly difficult at first, because I had been studying Wing Chun for over 20 years at this point. Of course I was addicted to Chi Sau still, too! So I wanted to do that and not stand around doing Siu Nim Tao all night!

There was a huge emphasis on the first form and standing practice. I learned that Chu Shong Tin used to get his students standing for hours upon hours – just standing. I endeavoured to begin again and “empty my cup”.

We also covered something I hadn’t previously encountered in Wing Chun – testing. this was something I had done previously though in a Ki Aikido class, and had started incorporating into my Wing Chun classes. But in Wing Chun, it was definitely something I hadn’t been shown before.

Testing involved an instructor giving you some gentle pressure while either standing still or performing the first form (Siu Nim Tao). The purpose was to understand more deeply where the power was generated in your movement. If you used only muscular force, you couldn’t overcome the instructors force. So the key here was to understand how to use the body differently than you would expect, in order to generate greater force.

Mind Power In Wing Chun – Siu Nim Tao

Here’s a short video of Chu Shong Tin demonstrating this. The question is how is he able to generate such force and move people who are much younger and fitted than he appears to be?!

The answer lies in Siu Nim Tao practice. Chu Shong Tin was given the label of “King of Siu Nim Tao” by Grandmaster Ip Man himself! Here’s a short extract from Wikipedia about Chu Shong Tin:

“Early on, Chu questioned Master Ip about the meaning of the first Wing Chun form name – Siu Nim Tau – and was just told “keep practicing”. He persevered in only practicing this first form and eventually “felt something different while practicing. A sort of understanding that was not there before.” He told his Master about his experience and Ip Man started to call him “Siu Nim Tau Wong (小念頭王)” or “Siu Nim Tau King “ “- Wikipedia

Practice and Direction

Learning from a Chu Shong Tin instructor (Daniel Parr) in Sheffield definitely opened my eyes to the hidden depths of the Siu Nim Tao form. Before I visited his school, my Wing Chun was mostly external I would say. Despite having trained the first form for many years, I don’t think I fully understood its huge depths.

So, how can you learn this?

If you train at Wing Chun only once a week, and only train the first form for 10 minutes each session, doing nothing in your own time, you’ll be unlikely to grasp it.

Chu Shong Tin was dedicated to his practice. He would stand for hours at a time practicing his form. In Hong Kong the advice was to practice first form daily. You’re wasting your time if you don’t – you were told!

Combing the testing from a qualified instructor, with your own practice is the best way to learn the internal power of Siu Nim Tao, from my experience.

Here’s Chu Shong Tin performing Siu Nim Tao: