Wednesday 24 June 2009

correct translations of wing chun terminology

In the west, there are thousands of people who practice Wing Chun. Unfortunately, they often translate the words wrongly, so I thought I would outline some basic techniques, with the appropriate characters and translations.

詠春拳 (mandarin: yong chun quan/cantonese: wing chun kuen) literally: sing spring fist. the simplified version of the first character (咏)is made up of 永(forever, also pronounced yong) and the radical 口(mouth). there is no reference to beauty in the meaning of the character.

小念头 (xiao nian tou/siu lim tao) literally: little/small, and the second and third characters together mean thought/idea/intention

寻桥 (xun qiao/chum kiu) literally: seeking bridge

标指 (biao zhi/biu ji) literally: shoot fingers

摊手 (tan shou/taan sao) literally: spreading hand

膀手 (bang shou/bong sao) literally: wing hand (the first character has many meanings, including shoulder, wing, upper arm and swollen

覆手 (fu shou/fuk sao) literally: cover hand

黐手 (chi shou/chi sao) literally: glue/stick hand

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