(Leung Jan's Lower Body)
By: Jim Roselando

The Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma (Character "=" Yang Clamping Horse) has become one of the most often misunderstood structures in the martial art world today. One can go many places and you will usually hear the same distorted rumors but by far the most common mistake lies in this statement; It's a training stance and not a fighting stance! The fact of the matter is the Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma is the only stance, or all stances, in Wing Chun and the way you train is the way you fight.

Compact in design, the horse is built around certain laws. Opening of the horse differs from lineage to lineage but practitioners of Leung Jan's Pin Sun Wing Chun will start with the feet together, knees bent and the heels slide outward first. Then the toe's slide to parallel and lastly the heels slide outward again slightly past the toes to form the horse. When in the horse you should be no less than shoulder width or slightly past. Your knees are to be never more than one fist distance apart!

By keeping the compact nature of this horse one can protect the lower line without having to make adjustments. During a recent sparring session my partner tried to kick me in the groin. His leg was automatically trapped by the design of the horse then I shifted and stepped into him, which caused him to fall on the ground. If I was not in the fist distance I can only say I would have been seeing stars! Another important fact is when we normally stand our feet are about shoulder width or shorter. If an aggressive situation should happen only a minor adjustment can be made and you would be in your horse. One more application of the horse would be if someone attacks your knee with a kick your other knee may help out by supporting the limb being attacked.

Many people wonder if the horse has sufficient stability to power the art? This is a reasonable concern and the most common reason why people tend to adopt the hand skills of our art but alter or blend it with the bottom half of another art. Without a doubt the most difficult thing to do in Wing Chun is develop a strong stable stance but Kung Fu means hard work! Nobody said it was supposed to be easy! Once developed the horse must be able to absorb, change, spring or adjust depending on the situation. It is not a dead animal wanting to hold excess power, or a weak frame that will crumble when touched, but a living creature that can react in the moment.

Training the horse is very simple. You must spend tremendous time in it! Sinking your body and breath will cause your stance to become heavy and strengthen your legs and stability. Placing a phone book on your chest and allowing your partner to strike it will show if your body is properly aligned. If your body bounces backwards, or is badly shocked, you will know something out of place! I find that this is the one of the most important ways to train your horse as it shows how incoming force must be able to be absorbed by your frame. Utilizing cut pieces of two by four wood is another way to train your horse. The practitioner will stand on these objects while their partners will launch punches at them seeing if they can receive force while standing on objects that are not stable. The other benefit of the wood training is that it teaches relaxation. If your bridge is too tense then the shock of the in coming blow will cause a rebounding effect causing you to be knocked off the wood

In the opening paragraph of the article I mentioned Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma is all stances in Wing Chun. How is this so you may ask? If both feet are slightly pointing inward when in the Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma and you shift into Pin Sun Ma (Side Body Horse), they should both turn the "exact same amount" when shifting. By doing this you will form the Ding Jee Ma (T-Shaped Horse). What is the Ding Jee Ma? Ding Jee Ma is a shifted version of the Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma and one of the most neglected areas of the art. One might even say Ding Jee Ma has become almost extinct yet they are one and the same. It's all Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma! It's our only horse.

When shifting your horse it should be mentioned that your balls of the feet should not swing like a windshield wiper but rather the heel's swing. If the balls of your feet swing then the weight is on the rear and you will lack forward drive among other benefits.

Movement is the next topic. Looking at our footwork patterns you can see many variations. We can Biu (Dart), Gwaii (Circle), Kau (Hook), etc. You must understand that these are transitional movements and carry our frame. The beginning product and the end product are still the Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma or Ding Jee Ma. Footwork or movement helps us find safety through proper positions. It helps us keep our opponent off balance. It helps us neutralize attacks and a variety of things.

Training of the footwork can be done many ways. In Pin Sun Wing Chun we start with introducing the footwork individually or coupled with a point. The practitioner learns a pattern of movement and then does it carrying bags of sand. The extra weight of the sand will add resistance to the movement and further develop the legs as did the training of the different training of the Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma. Doing partner practice will also help train the moving horses since you must be able to apply your methods on a living object. You must train your skill stationary and moving. You must train them solo and with a partner. For example if you only train Biu Choi in Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma then when you go to utilize it in a fight with Dong Ma (Swinging Horse) or Tang Ma you will not be comfortable or prepared to do these motions with these patterns.

One of the beauties of the Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma is its ability to move in any direction. Utilizing the neutral positioning of the horse we give "no flank". We can hold, shift, move left, move right, move in or a combination of the above. Some Wing Chun practitioners choose to place a foot forward when fighting. Although it is possible to fight from a lead leg stance, or any stance, Leung Jan's Pin Sun Wing Chun prefers to adopt the neutral positioning of the Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma to ensure a safer range of movement.

In the end everything will come together. The average street person will not have the stability of the trained martial artist but they will have street aggression on their side. Never under estimate the street fighter so you must train your Wing Chun to be explosive yet relaxed and fluid. When you work on your horse and movements you should make sure everything moves as a unit and when the body turns the horse it should turn equally. If your horse turns equally you will automatically be using the Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma the way it was designed!