The Deepest Roots: Yip Man, Ip Chun, Chinese Boxing, And Nominalization
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication,” Leonardo Da Vinci once said. This mentality is ingrained in the Southern Chinese martial art Wing Chun, otherwise known as Chinese boxing, popularized by the legendary grandmaster Yip Man.
Yip Man likened his art and fellows to a broad tree: “When the roots are deep and firm, there is no reason to fear the wind.” Like an oak anchored sturdily underground, we stand strong against overstimulation through brevity and rooting in foundations.
Wing Chun nominalizes itself down to polished essentials, as a maple sheds until only vital roots, trunk, branches and leaves remain. “Wing Chun is based on logical simplicity,” dispenses Yip Man’s son Ip Chun. Power rockets not through flashy skill but efficiency — straight punches keeping arms near the body’s center, simple kicks directly forward and low. This allows instinctive reaction, resembling a deeply-rooted sycamore reflexively bending and rebounding against gale-force winds.
Foundational Wing Chun stances act as roots stabilizing one’s center of gravity. Arms and legs strike swiftly as branches sprouting purposefully from the trunk. “Move calmly, flowing smoothly technique to technique,” instructs Ip Chun.
Core to this rootedness is spine posture and structural alignment. “The spine should be stretched upward with head suspended,” Ip Chun advises, maintaining the back’s natural S-shape curve while vertical. Relaxed yet upright spinal poise complements rooted horse and dragon stances — legs bent, feet shoulder-width, weight sunk into grounded stability.
Many overextend themselves forcing intricate pursuits devoid of roots, which eventually wither from too much input. Yip Man and Ip Chun prove fruit ripens through grounding oneself in fundamentals before expanding outwards, as a sapling steels itself underground many seasons prior to soaring skyward.
Stay centered on original principles and intentions, filtering diversions. “Consider usefulness and pragmatism, stripping the fanciful and decorative,” Ip Chun underscores. Here emerges sophistication in its own way. By returning to basics, complex beauty unveils like venerable oaks hardening roots before arching to the clouds. In pruning implacable boughs, our root systems quench their thirst for sureness.
