Sil Nim Tao - More than a little thought?

I always encourage my students to express their understanding of the arts that I teach. This way they learn to be more confident in what they do and also identify what they don’t fully understand. I ask for a lot of feedback to what I teach. If they do not know why they are doing what I have taught them, we will recover it until they do. In order to be functional you need to be able to function. This means you must have a clear idea of your path. Many teach Wing Chun very slowly, under the idea that it takes a long time to master. This is not true. We have the ability to learn very fast, only our minds or other peoples’ minds can hold us back. Wing Chun is a simple art that has much depth. To unlock that depth is the goal of the student. The teacher must be the guide that shortens the path through one’s knowledge and experience.

Therefore, good teachers will be able to make you better quicker and more efficiently than it has taken them to do. What we often see is that arts are passed on slowly, as much of the understanding is missing. It will take a long time before the student becomes aware that they have not developed the skill that they thought they had. This needs to change! Question your own knowledge. I remember one of my close students saying to me that he had learned so much about himself from the training and that I had given him so much. I told him I had not just given him the art. I taught him to understand it, so now the art was his and he had control of his skill. As teachers we must help our students grow and not hold them back. Yes, we may not want to teach everyone, but the ones we choose to teach we have a responsibility to direct them on the path.

This month I asked Rory my student of 8 months to share what he understands of Sil Nim Tao, Wing Chun’s first form.

Sil Nim Tao: More Than A Little Thought? By Rory MacLaren-Jackson

Sport? Hobby? Self-defence? However one classifies their study of the Martial Arts it is perhaps the philosophical content found within them that offers the most unique potential for personal enrichment and development. The diligent practitioner often finds that his study begins to permeate and benefit many aspects of his life beyond simply attaining skill in combat and the associated physical conditioning. In many ways this philosophical content is the essence of the Martial Arts. In this article I will look at Sil Nim Tao – Wing Chun’s first form – and how in the Chu Sau Lei system its concepts and principles can translate into effective life applications.

The first form introduces the Wing Chun student to the various hand positions and movements of the system, performed in the training stance Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma. Sil Nim Tao is usually translated as the way of the ‘little idea’ or ‘small thought’ and as such provides a useful pointer to the state of mind that the practitioner should attain during practice. Our Si-gung Robert Chu describes how, when broken down, Sil refers to ‘small, efficient, without waste, or compact and economical’; Nim is ‘to immerse yourself in the study of a subject’ and Tao refers to the ‘head’. Put together, the cryptic message contained within the name Sil Nim Tao is ‘put it in your head to study the concept of efficient, small, economical, compact motions’. Success in achieving the aims of developing co-ordination and positional awareness is dependent upon physical relaxation and the mind staying uncluttered and serene. Stress, anxiety and tension whether in regard to the form itself or some outside concern will greatly reduce the effectiveness of practice.

This is often described as the Wu mindset but the translation of this as ‘nothingness’ or ‘no-mindedness’ is often misunderstood. The practitioner should not be mindless but instead mindful and alert. This is the ‘small thought’ of Sil Nim Tao – a general awareness of one’s movement without being focused on any one thing in excess. As our Si-gung notes, the name of the form offers the best advice – ‘don’t have big ideas, just maintain a little idea’. It is this approach that will cultivate relaxation and balance in practice. The philosophical application of this particular principle of Sil Nim Tao is perhaps the most obvious. Too often in modern life we become obsessed by individual goals or fears and lose sight of the bigger picture. For example, how many people successfully achieve the correct balance between work and life? Almost everyone knows someone who could be described as a ‘workaholic’. Such an obsessive focus upon employment or career goals is often to the detriment of family and social life. The question in this instance is whether you are working to live or living to work. The solution is to try to restore and maintain balance in your life and make sure that your mind does not focus excessively on any one subject. A mindful awareness of all aspects of life, conscious of the need for balance and harmony, is therefore in keeping with the principles of Sil Nim Tao.

One of the opening hand movements of Sil Nim Tao is the cross-hand marking of the centreline, a reference point that the practitioner then learns to relate to his own movements. The form teaches the practitioner to understand and control the physical space surrounding the body. In the Chu Sau Lei system we understand that centreline theory relates to more than just an imaginary line drawn down the central axis of the body. There is also the principle of the mental centreline - the centred mind strives to find a harmonious ‘middle way’ in its approach to life’s events. This clarity creates a freedom to let these events move around you, confident in the knowledge that you know and control your own mind and body.

For practice of Sil Nim Tao to be effective it is also important to absorb and adapt its movements to suit the characteristics of the individual practitioner. This does not mean re-writing the form, but merely making sure that it actually works for you. This is why the hand positions of Sil Nim Tao will often not only differ from school to school, but from individual to individual. For example, the effectiveness of tan sao (spreading hand) is ultimately dependant on minute adjustments of elbow and wrist position in order to create the correct vector for calibrating and absorbing an opponent’s force. This principle relates to the distinction that my Sifu often makes between ‘truth’ and ‘opinion’ in the Martial Arts. Any variation of Sil Nim Tao is in itself only an opinion and it is for each individual student to discover his or her own truth. The philosophical application of this concept is that in life you must ‘wander your own path’. Opinions of others can give guidance but ultimately the decisions that you make in life must come from your own sense of personal truth.

At the core of our system of Wing Chun is the concept of Body Structure. Though the subject is too large to discuss in detail here, the fundamental importance of it to any martial artist is explained in our school’s video series Body Structure Sparring. At its simplest the application of Body Structure to Sil Nim Tao means developing a good base in your training stance in order to generate power. If you stop still during your practice of Sil Nim Tao and have a partner push against, for example, your fuk sao (subduing hand), you should be able to root the force through your hips and down to the ground. If not, then your stance needs correcting. In life this relates to the need to stay grounded and the importance of ‘keeping both feet firmly on the floor’. Likewise, a similar test as that used on the training stance can be applied in life. For example, you may believe that you are prepared for a certain challenge when it fact you are not. Test yourself and make sure that your approach is sufficiently solid and structured - be the real deal and not a ‘paper tiger’ who will simply collapse under life’s pressures.

Sil Nim Tao also teaches the practitioner the importance of keeping the spine straight and maintaining correct alignment of the three dan tien. Sifu always reminds me to ‘keep my back straight like a samurai’ during training, but this advice also has a mental and philosophical element. You should face life’s challenges, however difficult, in the same way that you face your opponent – head on with your spine straight. This confident approach to life is found in many warrior cultures and it is important to cultivate this in your own practice of the Martial Arts.
Training in Wing Chun or any style can make you into a great fighter and athlete, but the philosophical benefits of your chosen art have the potential to create the greatest long-term life benefits. I hope in this article I have shown how even a specific aspect of our system – Sil Nim Tao – can be analysed to reveal gems of philosophy that can shape and alter your personal development when applied correctly.

Alan Orr: I hope Rory’s insights have helped your training. Remember ‘Question your knowledge daily’

Alan Orr is a disciple of Robert Chu Sifu and the European representative of the Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun system.

He is also the UK representative for Guro Mark Wiley in the Filipino martial arts and Sensei Eddy Millis of Shark Tank in NHB/Grappling.

Web: www.alanorr.com

For further information Tel: 07958 908 196 or email: info@alanorr.co.uk