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Chin Woo Basic Form (Tam Tui)

Tam Tui Video Production Credits:

Northern Shaolin's "Snapping Legs"

Practical, efficient and deadly. They're all qualities to be admired in a martial art. But Tam Tui offers more; it's the foundation upon which many Northern styles rest. One not only learns a formidable way of fighting, but simultaneously develops the body control and coordination required for many advanced styles of Kung Fu. And that's why the Chin Woo uses Tam Tui as its main style.

Shaolin Kung Fu is generally divided into Northern and Southern styles. The Southern style emphasises the machanics of close range fighting, relying on the development of strong, short-hand techniques.

The Northern style, on the ofter hand, relies more on the development of speed and great emphasis is placed on the development of leg techniques. The Northern style of Kung Fu has been renowned for ages because of its long-hand and advanced kicking techniques. Modern Wushu stylists in fact derive their major mechanics from Northern styles like Chang Chuan ("Long Fist") , Eagle Claw and Drunken Fist among others. The more sophisticated, lethal Kung Fu kicks are also from the North, and among these are the butterfly kick, the flying front kick and so on. These kicks belong to the advanced category of practice and before attaining proficiency in these, one must have a good foundation, good basics.

In this aspect, the Tam Tui ("Snapping Legs") serves that very purpose. The Tam Tui is so popular that it has been integrated into the basic course for such Northern styles as Praying Mantis, Eagle Claw and Chang Chuan. It is because of this classification as part of the basic course that practitioners often disregard Tam Tui's importance and practicality. Students, more often than not, merely look upon Tam Tui as being just a requirement to pass before proceeding onto higher learning. But as in all Kung Fu styles, the basics are the key to the end result.

Beginners in Kung Fu are often concerned with the burden of drilling in the horse stance, which may appear to them at times, arduous and boring. No matter which particular style of Kung Fu is practiced, the horse stance is a must; a basic requirement which makes the practitioner stable and rooted to the ground. In this aspect, Tam Tui plays a dual purpose; drilling in the horse stance while practicing leg techniques at the same time. Actually, in practicing the leg movements of the Tam Tui, one is unconsciously drilling in the horse stance simultaneously. This is because the leg movements are practiced in the horse stance position with certain variations from the standard, upright position; a routine leg movement may require one to bend the supporting leg 45 degrees at the knee and kick lower part on the other leg with toes pointed, knee unbent and with all concentration on the toes. This movement is in itself, actually a drill on the horse stance, perfecting your rootedness to the ground. In the other movements, concentration is not on the toes but on the heels or the soles, but nonetheless, all serve the dual purpose of drilling in leg movements and perfecting the horse stance. Before one concludes that Tam Tui is all legwork, we must delve deeper into its essence. Tam Tui has very abundant and diverse tactics. The essence of the art lies in its four 'works': handwork, legwork, bodywork and footwork. Each is combined tactically to deliver an explosive force. Though the style boasts of rich legwork ranging from springing to treading, stamping, sweeping, kicking and hooking, it also contains a bounty of handwork like thrusting, grappling, chopping, squeezing, pushing and crooking to complement its legwork. Each legwork has its own rules, its own handwork and its own bodywork to complement the movement. The techniques of Tam Tui also consists of various kicks found in the Northern Shaolin styles like the inch kick, side kick, front thrust kick and shin kick among others. Thus, practice in this style is a good warm-up to the other leg techniques of the Shaolin fighting arts. Tam Tui also has techniques wherein the student is required to crouch low and twist the waist in blocking down, so it serves as a good flexibility exercise for the legs and waist. It should be noted that flexibility and agility are of great importance in the more advanced Northern styles and in the practice of Tam Tui, aside from acquiring a good foundation, the student is also prepared, flexibility wise, to go on further. The Tam Tui routines also make full use of stretching and extending in their legwork and handwork like punching and kicking, resulting in a more agile practitioner. The movements of Tam Tui should be very brisk and nimble. Practice on these exercises should be consistent and regular to achieve the best results. Tam Tui is very good in improving one's strength and leaping abilities. Flexibility and tenacity are highly required in the execution of the various movements. In Tam Tui a harmonious co-ordination between the hands, eyes, body, steps and breathing is a must, making the nerve centres active and alert at all times. Whilst practicing the exercises, one should find the blood circulation speeding up and inner energy releasing out, thus providing the body with a good drill for the cardiovascular system. In general, Tam Tui can be highly recommended, not only for it's superb fighting and drilling qualities, but for it's health-nourishing effects on the practitioner.

One of the major reasons why masters of the Northern Shaolin styles strongly advocated Tam Tui as a basic for their respective styles is that, aside from giving the student a good foundation, it's basic techniques have been stripped of their "flowery" movements and contained only the very essence of Northern Shaolin self-defence/combat techniques. To the untrained eye, the movements of Tam Tui seem simple, but behind this simplicity are the necessary qualities needed for fighting. Students who drill in Tam Tui unconsciously develop the abilities to focus their techniques, strengthen their leg muscles for snap kicks and develop a rhythmical co-ordination of hand and leg movements.

In addition to this, the Tam Tui routines contain body shifting techniques, which can be used to evade attacks and hand and foot movements which can be utilised in order to close the gap between the fighter and the opponent, as well as sweeping and trapping techniques, also useful in a combat situation.

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