Centre of gravity.

The centre of gravity is the central-most point of the mass of an object. If every movement starts from this point, the object can be moved evenly in one piece. Therefore, when practising Wing Chun, if the centre of gravity can be used to move, the whole mass will be brought along by the movement — and this is an important element in developing power. The way to find the centre of gravity is through pivoting on a spot.

When practising pivoting, the basic structure of the body — the Wing Chun stance — is very important. If the body is not linked or united together, it is impossible to find the true centre of gravity. If practice concentrates just on the turning movements, assuming the purpose of pivoting is thereby achieved, that way of thinking is wrong: it works mainly the waist or the legs, so if any part of the body comes under a pressure the waist and legs cannot handle, the mobility of the body is affected.

When using pivoting to find the centre of gravity, one's internal feeling is very important. The feeling should be on whether the smallest possible usage of the body is involved, so as to make the whole body move in a relaxed way. If the centre of gravity is used, then at extremes of speed — very fast or very slow — the body will not lose its balance through the fast movement, nor will the muscles start to hold or contract through the slow movement. The speed of pivoting should follow the wishes of oneself: fast when you want fast, slow when you want slow.

Some practitioners mix up the centre point with the centre of gravity. The centre point is easier to find — the meeting point of the middle of the height, width and depth of an object. The centre of gravity is the central-most point of the mass. If the weight and density of each part were the same, the two would coincide; but the human body is irregular, and the organs, muscles and bones all weigh differently, so inside the body the centre point is not the centre of gravity — though the two are quite close. Use common sense to find the centre point first, then use your sense to feel the position of the centre of gravity: the position from which movement is effortless and the whole can be moved evenly.

When one can move from the centre of gravity, the problem of footwork is solved. The main purpose of learning footwork is to train different angles and positions in attacking and defending. If one uses the centre of gravity to change the positioning of the body, the legs naturally change to the new position and direction. It is the same as in daily life when going from place A to place B: it should not be the legs moving first, but one's intention to reach the target that coordinates the whole body to move.

If footwork training concentrates only on the legs' positions and angles, then before contact one can move without restraint — but after contact, under pressure, the mobility of the upper body is hindered, and the lower back takes the most pressure. Some then choose to stand side-on to keep the back from facing the pressure directly; but that is escaping the problem, not solving it. If one can use the whole body mass through the centre of gravity and a proper stance and still cannot handle the pressure, it will be even harder to solve it with the legs alone.

Whether it is better to move front-on or side-on is not the point here — that depends on the actual situation. The aim of mentioning it is to elicit thinking and discussion, in the hope that a better method can be found to use the mechanical structure of the body to its full potential, rather than solving one problem and causing more.