Interviewer:
Sifu, as we know “gate” or “door” theory forms an essential component of Wing Chun. Could you elaborate on it for us please?
Sifu Zopa:
Yes, gate theory is actually, in my view, one of the elements which distinguish Wing Chun from other martial arts. Whilst all striking arts have ways of deflecting or avoiding incoming strikes, I believe Wing Chun took the analysis of how to approach what people can refer to as blocks, deflections or evasions to another level. The founders did this by focusing not on the techniques employed in attacks but on their points of origin and lines of attack. It was quite a modern analysis for the times. It was a paradigm busting move. I still don’t think other arts have adjusted to this thinking despite it being used by some modern eclectic martial artists who employ the clock-face model to describe incoming attacks.
Interviewer:
Sifu, how do other arts do things?
Sifu Zopa:
Well, the term “other arts” encompasses an enormous range of course but generally speaking other arts look at a technique versus a technique approach. They see things through the lens of forms where a given technique is countered by another technique. They also have a wide range of techniques so have to demonstrate they all have an application. The bottom line is that this approach implies choosing a response to an attack which takes too long in a realworld encounter. We don’t care what type of attack the attacker employs we are more concerned about where it is coming to attack us - the line it is taking. We shut the gate along the line.
Interviewer:
How do Wing Chun schools do this?
Sifu Zopa:
In its simplest form - a minimalist form - the body is divided down the centerline, which is essentially the spinal plane and horizontally across at the navel, yielding four quadrants - upper left and right and lower left and right. This is not incorrect but simply not expanded or unpacked sufficiently to guide practitioners of more refined Wing Chun in my view. Some folk seem to have a fetish not for simplification per se but for minimilisation - and I think there’s a big difference. It’s one of the features that I think distinguishes our Wing Chun - we aren’t minimalist.
Interviewer:
It seems you make finer distinctions with respect to the gates, sifu. Could you tell us how you conceive of the gates?
Sifu Zopa:
Using the centerline as the vertical dividing line, we’re driven by the targeting others will use in attacking us. In other words, attackers will, and can only, attack from the ten directions. We divide the three dimensional space surrounding us accordingly, hence we could think of only four gates in a way but this would be very crude in my opinion. I have seen depictions where some Wing Chun schools do in fact employ a division similar to ours I must say. Some do have an upper, middle and lower division. It varies.
Interviewer:
Sifu, you often refer to the ten directions. Could you expand on this for readers, please?
Sifu Zopa:
Certainly, it’s eminently logical. Any human attacker is bound by structural determinism. Well, animal attackers are too, but it’s often of a different kind. A bull can only attack like a bull not like a lion, for example. A human being has two arms and two legs symmetrically located on the body, left and right. Hence they can attack using legs or arms left or right. In addition they can level their attacks and also make them direct or angular. That’s it. So, we could have attacks which come at us downwards, upwards, directly inwards from front or rear at the high, middle or low level, and attacks which come at us on angular paths at each of these three levels. So you have this sort of asterisk shape on which you could plot the possible lines of attack. Wing Chun believes in kicks stopping kicks so that adds a leg level of attack we take a different approach compared to most other martial arts. Some other arts do have legs blocking legs but don’t actually employ the tactic much. They also use their hands to deflect at low levels. We don’t.
Interviewer:
Thank you, sifu. So you divide the body into upper, lower and middle inner and outer gates and leg gates?
Sifu Zopa:
I think reality determines that - yes. The leg gates are upper and lower - above or below the knee - attacks into those gates require different techniques, different responses. Thus we can have a conceptual framework which we drill in and let the neuro-muscular response patterns take over.
Interviewer:
Sifu, are there techniques for each gate? Exclusively for each gate?
Sifu Zopa:
Yes and no. Some techniques are only applicable in certain gates whilst some others have multi-applicability in more than one gate. For example, one of the lim sau techniques can be applied in two gates whilst the other can only really be applied successfully in one gate. Juening adds a further factor. The darps can be applied in two gates. At kiu can only really be applied in the middle gate. Bong can be applied in three gates, depending on circumstances. As you know bong is a very versatile technique as we employ it with a wide range of applications in three levels. Tan can be applied against both straight and curved strikes. Some versions of Wing Chun employ a tan in the upper gate but we believe that destroys the integrity of the tan structure and apply the lan in the upper gate. Lan sau chung choi can be applied against a curved strike or a straight for example. I could be here ages going through techniques and their optimal or exclusive levels. These are just a few techniques and a few examples. In the strike range we would be idiots to apply chuen sum toi gerk in the high gate - it breaks the Wing Chun self preservation or safety principle - and also the efficiency and directness principles, for example. We can apply a chung choi in the low gate, however, by contrast - it depends on where our opponent is and what line is available and what you target. I think you can see that this thinking is different to only four gates with inner and outer aspects. Much more comprehensive and allowing much freer application of our Wing Chun.
Interviewer:
Thank you, sifu.