Some people sometimes ask me whether Wing Chun shouts whilst hitting. The answer is no, of course. I often answer these people by saying: “Birds of prey don’t sing!” If you’ve heard the eagle whistle you’ll understand. It’s a piercing, clear beautiful sound but must be chilling for the prey. Certainly if you’re a shepherd or goat herder high in the Himalayas that sound signals you and your dogs to protect the young. Once you’ve heard an eagle whistle it will haunt you forever. It’s a sound that exemplifies wild, empty spaces where the heights of the Earth meet the Sky.
In Wing Chun we say that the art harks back to Crane and Snake arts. Whilst cranes aren’t usually thought of as birds of prey, the crane is a large bird that kills its prey in one quick, decisive move.
The shout the people who ask me are referring to is the spirit shout, commonly known in martial arts circles by the term “kiai” in Japanese. Shouting is used by external styles to help the practitioner become more aggressive, to stop thought, to unsettle the opponent’s equanimity, to help focus muscular tension, to expel some air from the lungs so if the practitioner is counter-struck the pressure in the lung will be less and, so the theory goes, damage will be less. Some Chinese gung fu styles do use shouts or make various sounds when they strike. Many don’t, however. Why then don’t we shout in Wing Chun?
We don’t consider it necessary and in fact think it’d be counterproductive. Wing Chun takes a different view of combat to other martial arts. Well, there are actually some arts where there is some overlap in theory and/or technical features but mostly Wing Chun is quite different. We have an approach that doesn’t entail expressing extremely contorted facial grimaces or loud shouts. We achieve what the shout achieves in other ways. We don’t tense.
Wing Chun takes three approaches to facial expressions in combat. One is to smile, another is to express ferocity with the eyes, and a third is to be totally expressionless. Just as in matching response to the opponent’s attack in terms of structures, the Wing Chun practitioner decides which type of facial expression is most apt for a particular attacker. The expression might even vary at different stages of the encounter.
Focus of intent in Wing Chun is not achieved with muscular tension. Our focus is mental and our power comes from relaxation, speed and structure. Shouting and tensing would be quite counterproductive for the Wing Chun practitioner. We achieve intensity with specific targeting. Disturbance of the opponent’s equanimity in Wing Chun is done by striking fast and by destroying structure. The Wing Chun practitioner is certainly free to talk to the opponent as they fight, if they wish. But, in Wing Chun it’s thought best to keep the mouth closed and teeth together to better protect the jaw in case an opponent gets a shot through.
In stalking it’s prey the crane stands stock still. Then, at the appropriate moment, strikes with great speed without a sound. Birds of prey don’t sing! There’s no warning they’re there until they strike. We ought take a leaf from this book. We ought not attract attention to ourselves but if attacked we should strike without hesitation or warning and completely destroy our prey!