Guide · the forms

The Wing Chun forms, in order

Wing Chun is built around a small number of forms: set sequences, practised alone, that hold the system’s movements in a fixed order. Most lineages teach three empty-hand forms, a wooden dummy form and two weapons forms.

Names, spellings and details differ between lineages and schools. This guide follows the order used in the Wing Tsun system, which the lessons on this site are based on. Your own school may teach things differently, and your instructor’s version is the one to follow.

1. Siu Nim Tau 小念頭: the first form

Usually translated as “little idea”. The feet stay in one place for the whole form, so attention goes to the stance, to keeping the elbows and arms working along the centreline, and to moving the arms without unnecessary tension. Many of the basic hand and arm positions, such as Tan Sau, Wu Sau and Fook Sau, are first met here.

Siu Nim Tau section 1 is in the free sample →

2. Chum Kiu 尋橋: the second form

Usually translated as “seeking the bridge”, where the bridge is the contact between your arms and a partner’s. Chum Kiu adds turning the stance, stepping and kicking, so the body and the arms have to work together while the structure is kept.

Chum Kiu section 1 is in the free sample →

3. Biu Jee 標指: the third form

“Thrusting fingers”. The last of the empty-hand forms is usually taught once the first two are well established. It is often described as dealing with recovering a lost position and with very short-range strikes.

4. Muk Yan Jong 木人樁: the wooden dummy

A form practised against a wooden post with arms and a leg. The dummy gives a fixed structure to work against, which helps with angles, positioning and footwork.

5. Luk Dim Boon Gwan 六點半棍: the long pole

The “six-and-a-half point pole”, a long staff form that is also used to build strength and stability in the stance.

6. Baat Jaam Dao 八斬刀: the knives

The paired “eight cutting knives”, often called the butterfly knives, usually taught last.

Why practise forms at all?

A form is a reference you can practise alone, every day. Repeating it builds the positions and habits that partner training, such as Chi Sau, then tests and develops. The form does not replace that partner work, and it is not a fight; it is the shared vocabulary that the rest of the training draws on.

That is where a study aid helps: between classes it is easy to forget the order of a sequence or the direction of a turn. Seeing it from any angle, one checkpoint at a time, can help you arrive at class with the sequence remembered.

A note on names

The same forms appear under several spellings, including Siu Lim Tao, Siu Nim Tao and Sil Lim Tao for the first form, and Biu Tze or Biu Ji for the third. The art itself is written Wing Chun, Wing Tsun or Ving Tsun by different organisations. They are romanisations of the same Chinese name, 詠春.

New to the vocabulary? See the glossary of Wing Chun terms.