Lau Family 8 Bridges

Hung Kuen is one of the styles that takes real hardwork to learn and understand. And it's not enough to learn a few forms. One important point is permanent training, conditioning and then to understand the concept of the 12 bridges. In Lau Family Hung Boxing, we focus on the 8 bridges.

1. Gong (hard): Gong belongs to Yang. Gong has form (as opposed to Yao, which is formless). It builds a strong body to resist all outside attacks. The bones are Bong. Too much Gong is not good because Yin and Yang has to be balanced. So there should always be some Yao in Gong.

2. Yao (soft): Yao belongs to Yin. Yao is formless. Yao should be used in actual combat. The muscles and skin are Yao. Yao should also be balanced by Gong.

3. Bik (close/force): When closing in the opponent, use Bik to find opening for attack. If the opponent is strong then avoid his attack and follow in. If the opponent is weak then find an opening ang go in.

4. Jik (straight): Jik means straight, extend. It's used to train the power in fingers, wrist, heels, toes and ankles. Power comes from the waist and connects with the limbs.

5. Tai (lift): Tai is used for defence. Be watchful for surprise attacks. All bridge hands moving from low to high belongs to Tai. The power comes from the stances for all such moves.

6. Lau (reserve): The opposite of Lau is Fong (release). When you attack, don't release all the way, but don't retain too much either. There should be a balance between Lau and Fong. Lau also refers to the transition from one move to the next. There is a small interval when you are static but not stagnant.

7. Waan (move/turn): Waan means movement. The spirit, mind intent, Chi, strength, hands, eyes, waist and legs all should be considered when they move.

8.Tsai (subdue): Stifle the opponent's attack. Tsai refers to all the blocks and parries.

The other groud bridges (ding, chuen, deng and fun) are more or less complimental to the 8 bridges. Something like the 8 bridges are the picture and the 4 remaining the frame to make the picture more nice or to give it that extra touch. In Lau Family Hung Boxing, we don't focus only on forms, of course we practice them as they are an important part but they are still nothing but a collection of techniques to give you the structure and teaches you to find waist power, footwork, stances, etc. However, in practical fighting, the stances will become less obvious.

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