Chum Kiu

Quick Facts

About the kata

Chum Kiu is the second of Wing Chun's three empty-hand forms, following Siu Nim Tau. Per the English Wikipedia, it teaches coordinating the whole body's movement with closing on the opponent: covering distance and disrupting his stance and balance. It adds close-range elbow and knee attacks, and a way to regain the centreline when the structure from Siu Nim Tau is lost. The stance held still in Siu Nim Tau is set in motion here. Victoria Wing Chun and Wing Chun Journey both list three new kinds of movement: forward, drawing inward, and turning. The Halesowen school stresses the turning stance Juen Ma, the advance Biu Ma, and a 45-degree step. Per The Wing Chun School, the form's core is Yiu Ma Hap Lap, waist-driven force that both deflects and returns the opponent's force. Victoria Wing Chun splits the form into three parts: the first teaches the body to move as one and alternate hands on the centreline, the second brings the Dim Gerk kicks, and the third joins stance and hands during kicks, steps, and centreline changes. It is learned only after mastering Siu Nim Tau, and The Wing Chun School pairs it with Chi Sau, since handling the opponent's arms needs sensitivity.

The kata in different styles

Meaning of the name

The name is written 尋橋 (Jyutping cham4 kiu4); the English Wikipedia translates it as searching for the bridge. In Chinese martial arts, "bridge" mainly means the arms, sometimes the legs; Cheung's Wing Chun splits a short bridge, the forearm, from a long bridge, the whole arm. So the search is for where the arm meets the opponent's arm. The same school also gives sinking bridge, written 沉橋.

Differences between styles

Per the English Wikipedia, some branches centre on engaging body weight in the strike, by turning or stepping. Lineages reading the name as sinking bridge stress uprooting the opponent more, adding a spiralling motion. Wing Chun Journey describes Yip Ching's version: 58 movements, kicks at numbers 28, 40, 49, and 51, with some sections repeated on the other side.

Bunkai – applications

International Wing Chun Academy gives, as multidirectional force, a side step with simultaneous Bong Sau and rising Dai Sau: one arm circles, the other rises, and with the body's shift three force directions arise. Per the same school, turning about one's own centre, the practitioner ignores resistance, and a resisting opponent ends up turning with him.

Techniques in the kata