Biu Jee

Quick Facts

About the kata

Biu Jee, literally “darting” or “thrusting fingers”, is the third and final unarmed form in Wing Chun. While Siu Nim Tau and Chum Kiu build structure and hold the centre line, Biu Jee, according to the English Wikipedia, deals with the situation where both collapse – for instance when the practitioner is seriously injured. It contains techniques for very short and very long range, low kicks and sweeps, close-range elbow strikes and finger strikes to the throat. The form deliberately breaks rules that had held until then. Wingchunjourney.co.uk notes that in the first two forms the hands do not cross, because an opponent could press and trap both; in the technique Jaang Dai Biu Sau, Biu Jee deliberately places one hand under the other's elbow. The same source considers spine rotation the form's main novelty and adds that a circular strike is sometimes a better path than a straight line. There is a saying that “Biu Jee does not go out the door.” Wikipedia gives two readings: the form should be kept secret, or it should not be used if another option exists. Traditionally it was taught only to trusted students after long training. We have not been able to determine from the sources how many movements and sections it has.

Meaning of the name

The English Wikipedia writes the name with the characters 鏢指 (simplified 镖指) and translates it as “darting fingers,” its glossary literally as “dart pointing.” Wingchunjourney.co.uk and wingchunhalesowen.co.uk use “thrusting fingers” and themselves note that the form is not just finger strikes. The Wing Tsun association of New Zealand has the characters 標指 in its page title. In Latin script the name is also written Biu Ji, Biu Gee, Bil Jee or Biu Tze. Even the Jyutping transcription is inconsistent between Wikipedia pages: the Wing Chun article gives biu1 ji2, the glossary biu1 zi2.

Creator and history

According to the English Wikipedia, Yuen Kay-shan learned the open Wing Chun sequences from Fok Bo-chuen and arranged them into three forms: Siu Lien Tau, Chum Kiu and Biu Jee. This is his own branch; we have not been able to establish from the sources how the form arose in Yip Man's lineage. Wingchunhalesowen.co.uk, which teaches the form via Yip Chun, explains its late place in the curriculum because it deliberately breaks earlier principles and requires solid foundations and mature control in paired practice.

Differences between styles

Wikipedia describes that Wing Chun branches understand the form differently: some as a “turbocharger” for the whole system, others as a pit-stop set that should never come into play, and others still as a set of killing and maiming techniques to be handled with caution. Even the name differs: in Yip Chun's lineage it is written Biu Tze, while twcga.wordpress.com uses Biu Gee.

Bunkai – applications

Wingchunjourney.co.uk explains Kop Jarn, the downward elbow, in two ways: an attack at a range where the hand fails, and a cover when the hands are trapped. Twcga.wordpress.com says the form teaches escapes when squeezed, pinned or fallen, and downward elbows when the opponent is too close or the hands unavailable. Sap Dai Seung, “lifting bottom to top,” starts in a forward bend with arms hanging loose, from which the practitioner snaps the arms overhead while straightening up.