Wing Chun Mastermind: LET'S EAT!
夫武林之中，學武者眾，真懂武者寡。世人每見詠春，便道此拳不過近身短打、黐手貼身、寸勁短橋、日字衝拳、尋橋奪線，求的是一招先中，一瞬分勝負而已。卻不知此門功夫，外看似窄，內裡極深；表面像是兩手之爭，其實卻是一心之修。若只以鬥狠爭勝視之，所得終究有限；若自養身、養氣、養膽、養心、養性處入，方知詠春不止教人如何打人，更教人如何做人。教人於方寸之間守中線，於進退之際明分寸，於剛柔之交見智慧。故曰：練拳如吃飯。飯不可一日不食，拳不可一日不練；飯養形骸，拳養筋骨，亦養神志。謝永恩師傅每月常於家中設飯，親自下廚，邀門下弟子同桌而食。席間無甚森嚴規矩，不過幾味家常菜，一壺熱茶，眾人邊吃邊談，說拳，也說人生；說橋手黐手，也說柴米油鹽；說進退應變，也說人情冷暖。聽來像是閒話，細細一品，卻往往句句都藏著詠春的理路。
In the martial world, there are many who learn fighting, yet very few who truly understand martial arts. When most people see Wing Chun, they speak of it only as close-range striking, sticking hands, short bridges, inch power, straight-line punching, bridge-seeking, and centerline-taking. They think it is merely a system for landing first and deciding victory in a split second. Yet they do not know that this art, though outwardly narrow, is inwardly profound. On the surface, it seems to be a contest between two hands; in truth, it is the cultivation of the mind. If one sees it only as a means of aggression and winning, what one gains will always be limited. But if one enters through the nourishment of the body, the breath, the courage, the mind, and the character, then one begins to understand that Wing Chun does not merely teach a person how to strike. It also teaches a person how to live. It teaches one to guard the centerline not only in front of the body, but also within oneself; to understand measure in advancing and retreating; and to discover wisdom in the meeting of hardness and softness. Thus it is said: training is like eating. Rice cannot be skipped for a day; kung fu cannot be neglected for a day. Food nourishes the flesh; training nourishes the sinews, the bones, the spirit, and the will. Each month, Sifu Ben Der often hosts a meal at his home, cooking personally and inviting his students to sit and eat together. There is no grand ceremony at the table, only a few simple home-cooked dishes, a pot of hot tea, and people talking as they eat. We speak of forms and sticky hands, of bridge hands and touch, of advancing, retreating, and adapting. But we also speak of firewood, rice, oil, and salt; of human warmth and coldness; of hardship and ordinary life. It may sound like casual talk, yet when one listens carefully, nearly every sentence carries within it the principles of Wing Chun.
【一、知飢知飽之智】人若不知飢飽，輕則貪食傷胃，重則耗損元氣；練拳之人若不知分寸，輕則勞形，重則敗心。有人一入門，便想一口吞下小念頭、尋橋、標指、木人樁，乃至雙刀、六點半棍，恨不得一月成名，半年稱雄，結果筋骨未開，肩肘先僵，氣息未定，心火先躁。又有人畏苦怕累，練兩下便歇，摸兩手便退，如雀啄米，如蜻蜓點水，終年也進不了門。真正懂拳之人，知何時該進，何時該收，知今日身體可承幾分，精神可守幾成。精神飽滿時，可多磨橋手、步法、轉馬；筋骨疲憊時，便緩練小念頭，細修呼吸；心浮氣躁時，不妨少打多站，先把亂心收回來。拳不是暴食，乃是長養；不是蠻吞，乃是細嚼。能知分寸，方不傷身；懂得節制，方能長久。此乃養生第一義，亦是詠春第一關。
First, the wisdom of knowing hunger and fullness. If a person does not know hunger and fullness, then at best he overeats and harms the stomach; at worst he drains his vitality. The same is true in training. If a student does not know measure, then at best he exhausts the body; at worst he damages the mind and spirit. Some enter the door and immediately want to swallow Siu Nim Tao, Chum Kiu, Biu Jee, the wooden dummy, the knives, and the long pole all at once. They want fame in a month and mastery in half a year. But before the frame has opened, the shoulders have already stiffened; before the breath has settled, the inner fire has already grown agitated. Others fear hardship and fatigue. They train a little, then stop; touch hands a little, then withdraw. Like a sparrow pecking rice, like a dragonfly touching water, they remain outside the gate year after year. The one who truly understands knows when to advance and when to gather in. He knows how much the body can bear today, and how much the spirit can hold. When the energy is full, he may work more on bridge hands, footwork, and turning stance. When the body is tired, he returns to slow Siu Nim Tao and refines the breath. When the heart is restless and the qi unsettled, he may strike less and stand more, first drawing the scattered mind back into place. Training is not binge eating; it is long nourishment. It is not devouring; it is careful chewing. Only by knowing measure can one avoid injury. Only by understanding restraint can one endure. This is the first principle of health preservation, and also the first gate of Wing Chun.
【二、日常不斷之智】天下最能養人的，不是山珍海味偶爾一席，而是粗茶淡飯日日不缺。練拳亦然。武林上多的是逢週末豪情萬丈、平日蹤影全無之輩，也多的是見師父便精神抖擻、離開拳館便萬事丟空之人。這等功夫，看似熱鬧，實則根淺。詠春最重平常二字，小念頭要日日站，二字鉗羊馬要日日守，沉肩墜肘要日日校，轉馬、步法、眼神、中線，皆須在平常光景裡慢慢熬出來。小念頭看似平平，正如一碗白飯，無奇無巧，卻最養根本。有人嫌它慢，嫌它悶，嫌它無招無式，不似尋橋激烈，不似標指凌厲，便急著求快、求變、求贏。殊不知拳如蒸飯，火候不到，米芯終生；根基不實，萬般花巧皆是空樓。能在無聊中守規矩，在無人喝采時仍默默站樁者，其功夫方是真的自己的。武林中真正可怕者，不是偶然兇猛之徒，而是那種十年如一日、不聲不響、每天都比昨日多明白一分的人。此即守常之功，亦是練拳如吃飯的根本道理。
Second, the wisdom of daily continuity. What truly nourishes a person is not an occasional banquet of rare delicacies, but plain food taken every day without fail. Training is the same. In the martial world there are many whose passion burns fiercely on weekends but who vanish on ordinary days. There are also many who become full of spirit only in front of the teacher, yet once they leave the kwoon, everything is forgotten. Such kung fu may seem lively, but its roots are shallow. Wing Chun places great weight on the word ordinary. Siu Nim Tao must be stood every day. The Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma must be held every day. The sinking of the shoulders and dropping of the elbows must be corrected every day. Turning, stepping, gaze, and centerline must all be slowly cooked out in the plainness of daily life. Siu Nim Tao seems plain, like a bowl of white rice—without novelty, without flourish—yet it nourishes the root most deeply. Some people find it too slow, too dull, too lacking in spectacle. It does not feel as dramatic as Chum Kiu or as sharp as Biu Jee, so they rush after speed, variation, and victory. But kung fu is like steaming rice: if the heat does not reach the center, the grain remains raw for life. If the foundation is not solid, then every clever technique is only an empty tower. The one who can keep the rules in boredom, and who can still stand in silence when no one is applauding, is the one whose kung fu truly becomes his own. The truly formidable person in the martial world is not the one who is occasionally fierce, but the one who, ten years like one day, quietly understands a little more than yesterday. This is the work of constancy, and the root meaning of training like eating.
(Video#1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__1eYea0iVU
【三、消化吸收之智】吃飯之妙，不在入口之多，而在入腹之後能否化為血肉。拳亦如此。師父今日教一句「來留去送，甩手直衝」，若只記口訣，不明其機，便如吞棗不嚼，食而不化。看人演一套木人樁，學個外形，卻不懂角度、節奏、勁路與身位，便如只知菜名，不知滋味。大口吞飯者，常不知米香；貪快練拳者，亦不知拳理。詠春之妙，本就在細處。肘位高半寸，力線便飄；步法偏一線，中門便失；手先了半拍，便由主動成被動。粗看者看不見，急練者悟不到，唯有肯慢慢體會之人，方能吃出飯味，練出拳味。小念頭之慢，正是教人於慢中照見自身：哪裡緊，哪裡浮，哪裡是假力，哪裡是虛招。黐手之妙，也不在一味搶手壓人，而在接觸的一瞬，感其來路，知其輕重，辨其真假。真正會學拳者，每得一招一式，不急著炫耀，先放回身上細細咀嚼，使拳理化作身理，使聽過之法變成做得到之能。如此，功夫方不是借來的衣裳，而是自己長出的筋骨。
Third, the wisdom of digestion and absorption. The value of eating lies not in how much enters the mouth, but in whether it can be transformed into flesh and blood after it enters the belly. The same is true in training. If the teacher says, “Receive what comes, escort what goes, and when the hand frees, strike straight,” and you merely memorize the phrase without understanding the mechanism, then it is like swallowing dates without chewing—eating without digesting. If you watch someone perform the wooden dummy and copy the outer shape, yet do not understand angle, rhythm, force path, and body position, then it is like knowing only the name of a dish without knowing its taste. The one who gulps food never knows the fragrance of the rice; the one who rushes through training never knows the flavor of the art. The wonder of Wing Chun lives in the small places. Raise the elbow by half an inch and the line of force begins to float. Miss the step by a single line and the center is lost. Arrive half a beat early or late and initiative turns into passivity. The coarse eye cannot see these things, and the hurried student cannot awaken to them. Only the one willing to taste slowly can taste the food, and only the one willing to feel slowly can taste the fist. The slowness of Siu Nim Tao is precisely there to let one see oneself clearly in slowness: where one is tight, where one is floating, where one uses false force, where one moves with an empty gesture. The beauty of sticky hands is also not in constantly snatching or suppressing the other person, but in the instant of contact—sensing the line of arrival, knowing the weight and lightness, discerning what is real and what is false. The one who truly knows how to learn never rushes to show off a movement once he receives it. He first places it back into his own body and chews on it carefully, until the principle of the fist becomes the principle of the body, and what was once merely heard becomes something he can truly do. Only then does kung fu cease to be borrowed clothing and become one’s own sinews and bones.
【四、辨真去華之智】人若吃得久了，自知何者清、何者濁，何者真材實料，何者滿口花巧。練拳日久，也自能辨真假。世間拳法花樣極多，有人招式翻飛，望之如鷹翔鶴舞，實則腳下無根；有人口中滿談內勁、化勁、玄機妙悟，真一搭手，卻肘浮肩聳，中門大開。詠春之所以可貴，就在它不尚浮華，不貪冗雜，講的是最短線，守的是最中心，求的是最實用。來手便接，空門便入，有橋取橋，無橋直衝。看似簡，實則大不簡；看似少，實則含萬變。小念頭、尋橋、標指三套而已，外加木人樁、雙刀、六點半棍，器械不多，套路不繁，卻足以叫一個人練上一生仍不敢言盡。其理何在？就在於簡中藏深，少中藏全。真正懂詠春者，到後來不再迷於華麗，不再醉於高談，只問這拳能否入身，這勁能否達點，這步能否救命，這法能否長久。能辨真，便不走偏路；能去華，方能守本。此為第四智慧。
Fourth, the wisdom of distinguishing the real and discarding ornament. When a person has eaten long enough, he naturally learns what is clean and what is muddy, what is made of true ingredients and what is merely clever display. Training for years brings the same discernment. There are countless martial systems and endless flourishes. Some people move with dazzling motions, like hawks flying and cranes dancing, yet under the feet there is no root. Others speak endlessly of internal power, dissolving force, and hidden mysteries, yet once hands touch, the shoulders rise, the elbows float, and the centerline stands wide open. What makes Wing Chun precious is that it does not prize decoration and does not crave excess. It speaks of the shortest line, guards the truest center, and seeks what is most practical. When a hand comes, receive it. When a gate opens, enter it. If there is a bridge, take the bridge. If there is no bridge, strike straight through. It appears simple, yet it is not simple at all. It appears to contain little, yet within it dwell endless transformations. Siu Nim Tao, Chum Kiu, and Biu Jee—only three forms—together with the wooden dummy, the butterfly swords, and the six-and-a-half-point pole. The weapons are few, the routines are not many, and yet they are enough for a person to train for a lifetime without daring to claim completeness. Why? Because within simplicity there is depth, and within apparent smallness there is wholeness. The one who truly understands Wing Chun ceases, in the end, to be intoxicated by fancy display or lofty talk. He asks only this: Can this fist enter the body? Can this force arrive at the point? Can this step save a life? Can this method endure for years? To distinguish the true is to avoid the crooked path. To discard ornament is to preserve the root. This is the fourth wisdom.
【五、筋骨調和之智】吃飯不是只為飽腹，更為養五臟、潤六腑、調和氣血。練詠春亦不是逞蠻力，而是修整這副身軀。肩若常緊，拳必不順；腰若不活，步必不靈；胯若無根，勁必浮散；呼吸若亂，神便先敗。故詠春之養生，第一不在猛，第二不在多，第三不在狠，而在正。小念頭養的是正骨正線，二字鉗羊馬養的是下盤穩定，轉馬養的是腰胯協調，黐手養的是感應與鬆沉，木人樁養的是距離、角度與身手合一。日久天長，肩頸漸鬆，脊柱漸直，手足漸協，氣息漸沉。到此地步，人才明白：原來拳不是拿來折騰身體的，乃是拿來把身體修回一個能用、耐用、好用的狀態。此身既正，百藝皆順；此骨若斜，萬事多礙。故養拳，實即養身；練到深處，拳不再只是技藝，亦是整理筋骨、調息養神的一門內功夫。
Fifth, the wisdom of harmonizing the sinews and bones. Eating is not only for filling the belly, but for nourishing the organs, moistening the system, and harmonizing qi and blood. Training Wing Chun is not for displaying brute force either, but for repairing and tuning this body. If the shoulders are habitually tight, the fists will not move smoothly. If the waist is not alive, the steps will not be nimble. If the hips have no root, the force will float and scatter. If the breath is chaotic, the spirit is already defeated. Thus, the health-preserving side of Wing Chun lies first not in fierceness, second not in quantity, third not in brutality, but in correctness. Siu Nim Tao nourishes correct structure and correct lines. The Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma nourishes lower-body stability. Turning stance nourishes coordination of waist and hips. Sticky hands nourish sensitivity, release, and sinking. The wooden dummy nourishes distance, angle, and the union of body and hands. Over time, the shoulders and neck gradually loosen, the spine gradually straightens, the limbs gradually coordinate, and the breath gradually sinks. At that point one finally understands: kung fu is not here to torment the body; it is here to restore the body to a state that is usable, durable, and well-tuned. When the body is correct, all arts flow more smoothly. When the frame is crooked, countless things are obstructed. Thus, to nourish the fist is truly to nourish the body. At deeper levels, the fist is no longer only a skill, but also an inner method of organizing the sinews and bones, regulating the breath, and nourishing the spirit.
(Video#2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQXvwzxd5rU
【六、火候節奏之智】天下萬物，皆有節律。潮有漲落，月有圓缺，呼有出入，飯有早晚。詠春亦講節律，且講得極深。燒菜須看火候，煲湯須知久暫；出手不是越快越好，退步也不是越慢越穩，真正妙處，在於拍子。連消帶打，要有一氣呵成之勢；吞吐進退，要有如呼吸之自然。有人黐手，雙手亂翻，如急雨打窗，看似熱鬧，實則節奏全失；有人打拳，一板一眼，雖不亂卻死。此二者，一為散，一為滯，皆非詠春上乘。高手過手，如老廚掌勺，猛火有猛火之用，文火有文火之功。對手緊，你便不與他硬爭；對手浮，你便趁虛而入；對手連搶，你便化中帶切；對手一退，你又不盲追失位。拳到此處，如樂有板眼，如炊有火候，如潮有進退。人若懂了節奏，出手自不慌，處事亦不躁。知何時搶一步，何時讓半拍，何時一鼓作氣，何時靜觀其變。這一層，既養身，也養心，故為第六智慧。
Sixth, the wisdom of timing and rhythm. All things under Heaven move by rhythm. The tide has its rise and fall, the moon its waxing and waning, the breath its entering and leaving, and meals their morning and evening. Wing Chun, too, speaks of rhythm, and speaks of it deeply. Cooking demands attention to heat; soup demands knowledge of duration. A hand should not be fast merely for the sake of speed, nor should a retreat be slow merely for the sake of seeming stable. The true subtlety lies in the beat. To dissolve and strike must feel like one continuous breath. To swallow, spit, advance, and retreat must feel as natural as breathing itself. Some people do sticky hands with both arms flying chaotically like heavy rain against a window. It looks lively, but the rhythm is completely lost. Others train in a rigid, mechanical way—though not chaotic, they are dead. One is scattered; the other is stagnant. Neither is high-level Wing Chun. The skilled practitioner handles contact like an old chef wielding the ladle: fierce heat has its use, gentle heat has its work. If the opponent is tight, you do not contest him head-on. If he floats, you enter the emptiness. If he rushes repeatedly, you dissolve while cutting. If he withdraws, you do not blindly chase and lose position. At this level, the fist has meter like music, heat like cooking, and ebb and flow like the tide. Once a person understands rhythm, his hands no longer panic, and his way of dealing with life also becomes less agitated. He knows when to steal one step, when to yield half a beat, when to press in one unbroken surge, and when to remain still and observe. This layer nourishes both body and mind, and so it is the sixth wisdom.
【七、識人知己之智】一桌吃飯，最見家教；一場黐手，最見人品。有人吃飯只顧自己，筷子亂伸，毫無禮數；有人一過手便只想壓人、贏人、羞辱人，這種人拳未必低，人卻已低。黐手亦然。對方一搭手，其性情往往便漏出三分。急者好搶，怯者好縮，躁者力浮，疑者手滯，逞強者常硬碰，心虛者每失中線。你若只顧勝負，便看不見人；你若肯靜心去聽，便可由其橋手知其心路。更妙的是，詠春不止教你識人，還逼你照見自己。你愛逞強否？你怕吃虧否？你一亂便縮，一急便搶，一得手便忘形，一受壓便失序，這些毛病，平日藏在胸中不覺，一過手便原形畢露。故練拳不是只識對手，更是識自己。今日亂，是亂在手，還是亂在心？今日輸，是輸在技，還是輸在氣？能識人者，不易吃虧；能知己者，方可長進。此即第七智慧。
Seventh, the wisdom of knowing others and knowing oneself. At a dining table, one sees a person’s upbringing most clearly; in a round of sticky hands, one sees a person’s character most clearly. Some people, when eating, think only of themselves, reaching everywhere without manners. Some people, the moment hands touch, want only to overpower, defeat, and humiliate. Such a person’s skill may not be low, but the person himself is already low. Sticky hands are like this as well. Once the other person makes contact, three parts of his temperament often leak out immediately. The impatient like to snatch. The timid like to shrink. The agitated have floating force. The doubtful have hesitant hands. Those who love to show strength often collide head-on. Those lacking inner confidence often lose the centerline. If you care only about victory and defeat, you will fail to see the person. If you are willing to quiet yourself and truly listen, then through the bridge hands you can know the pathways of the mind. More subtle still, Wing Chun does not only teach you how to know others; it also forces you to see yourself. Do you love to bully forward? Are you afraid of taking a loss? When you become chaotic, do you collapse inward? When you become anxious, do you snatch? When you gain advantage, do you lose yourself? When under pressure, do you lose order? These flaws often hide unnoticed in the chest during ordinary life, yet once hands touch, they reveal themselves fully. Therefore, training is not merely about reading the opponent; it is equally about reading oneself. When you are disordered today, is the disorder in the hands, or in the mind? When you lose today, is the loss in technique, or in spirit? The one who knows others does not easily suffer harm; the one who knows himself is the one who can truly improve. This is the seventh wisdom.
【八、借勢順自然之智】吃飯是為補身，不是為拖垮身；練拳是為養氣，不是為耗命。詠春向來不尊死力，而尊結構、角度、時間與借勢。硬扛者，少年或可逞一時之勇，年歲稍長，筋骨便先與你算帳。真正懂拳者，知道如何用骨架承力，以腰馬送勁，以角度卸壓，以中線奪勢。手來則接，力到則化，門開則入，路塞則轉，不與人爭笨力，只與人較方向。對方急，便借其急；對方重，便引其重；他若前傾，便送其更前；他若後撤，便隨橋直入。此中道理，與養生何異？身疲則養，心亂則靜，勢來則因，勢去則送。水之所以長流，不是因它硬，而是因它順；竹枝臨風，不是硬抗狂吹，而是彎而不折。詠春正有此水性，柔中有骨，順中有主。若能把此理練入筋骨，年輕時不容易受傷，年長後亦不致散架。更妙的是，此智一旦通透，做人做事都少了許多蠻勁，多了許多巧勁。故借勢省力，順勢而為，正是第八智慧。
Eighth, the wisdom of borrowing force and following nature. Food is meant to strengthen the body, not drag it down; training is meant to nourish qi, not consume one’s life. Wing Chun has never revered dead strength. It honors structure, angle, timing, and the borrowing of force. The one who insists on hard resistance may show bravery in youth, but as the years lengthen, the sinews and bones will be the first to demand payment. The one who truly understands knows how to let the frame bear the load, how to send force by waist and stance, how to unload pressure by angle, and how to seize advantage through the centerline. When a hand comes, receive it. When force arrives, dissolve it. When the gate opens, enter. When the road is blocked, turn. Do not contend with others in stupidity of strength; contend with them in direction. If the opponent is hurried, borrow his hurry. If he is heavy, lead his heaviness. If he leans forward, send him farther forward. If he withdraws, follow the bridge straight in. Is this principle any different from health preservation? When the body is tired, nourish it. When the mind is chaotic, quiet it. When momentum comes, follow it. When momentum leaves, escort it. Water endures not because it is hard, but because it flows. Bamboo survives the wind not by resisting wildly, but by bending without breaking. Wing Chun carries this same water quality: softness with bone, yielding with command. If this principle is trained into the sinews and bones, then when young one is less likely to be injured, and when older one is less likely to fall apart. More wonderfully still, once this wisdom becomes clear, the way one handles life and work loses much useless force and gains much skillful force. To borrow momentum, conserve effort, and move with the situation—this is the eighth wisdom.
(Video#3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQcf8Pi8DFE
【九、平常歸真之智】九智走到最後，原來又回到最初那一句：練拳如吃飯。人到後來，終要明白，吃飯不是表演，練拳也不是表演。飯吃到最後，無非養命；拳練到最後，無非養人。年少時，人人都想快意恩仇，想一鳴驚人，想以一雙手震動武林；待經歷多了，傷也受了，輸也吃了，方知最高明的拳，不是把人打倒，而是把自己安住。守中線，原來不只是守身前那一道線，也是守心中那一道線；來留去送，不只是橋手應對，也是處世法門：來者不拒，去者不追，當做則做，當止則止。今日站一回小念頭，氣息便穩一分；明日走幾趟轉馬，腰胯便順一分；與人黐幾手，心火便少一分；遇事欲怒，想起沉肩墜肘與中線，便能先收一口氣；逢人相逼，記得來留去送，便知不必硬撞。到了這般境界，拳不再只是拳，乃是吃飯、走路、說話、待人、獨處之法。你有力時，它教你收；你無力時，它教你守；你意盛時，它教你靜；你意灰時，它教你續。武道至此，華光盡斂，只餘平常。然也正是這平常，最難得，亦最養人。此乃第九智慧，亦是《詠春養生心經》最後一關。
Ninth, the wisdom of returning to the ordinary and the true. At the end of these nine wisdoms, one returns again to the first sentence: training is like eating. In time, one must understand that eating is not a performance, and training is not a performance either. In the end, eating is simply to preserve life; in the end, training is simply to nourish the human being. In youth, everyone wants swift justice, sudden fame, and the power to shake the martial world with two hands. But after enough years, enough injuries, enough losses, one finally understands that the highest level of kung fu is not knocking others down, but settling oneself down. To guard the centerline is not only to guard the line before the body; it is also to guard the line within the mind. To receive what comes and escort what goes is not only a method for bridge-hand exchange; it is also a method for conducting one’s life: do not reject what comes, do not chase what leaves, act when action is called for, and stop when stopping is right. Stand Siu Nim Tao once today, and the breath becomes steadier by one degree. Walk turning stance a few times tomorrow, and the waist and hips become smoother by one degree. Touch hands with someone for a few rounds, and the inner fire lessens by one degree. When anger rises in life, remember sinking the shoulders, dropping the elbows, and guarding the centerline, and you can first gather back one breath. When someone presses against you, remember receiving and escorting, and you realize you need not always crash head-on. At this stage, kung fu is no longer merely kung fu. It becomes a way of eating, walking, speaking, meeting others, and being alone. When you have strength, it teaches you to gather in. When you lack strength, it teaches you to guard. When your intent runs too hot, it teaches you stillness. When your spirit grows dim, it teaches you continuity. When the martial way reaches this point, all brilliance is withdrawn, and only the ordinary remains. Yet it is precisely this ordinariness that is most rare and most nourishing. This is the ninth wisdom, and the final gate of the Wing Chun Heart Sutra of Nourishing Life.
總而言之，練拳如吃飯，並非一句尋常比喻，實是修身大法。吃飯教人活命，練拳教人活得穩；吃飯養血肉，練拳養筋骨；吃飯知節制，練拳知分寸；吃飯可見性情，練拳可照本心。九種智慧，一曰知飢知飽，二曰日常不斷，三曰消化吸收，四曰辨真去華，五曰筋骨調和，六曰火候節奏，七曰識人知己，八曰借勢順自然，九曰平常歸真。若能日日如此，不求奇，不貪快，不避笨功，不棄平常，則十年二十年後，再回首今日這一記正拳、這一回轉馬、這一輪黐手，方知當初流下的汗，原來不是白流；當初受過的悶，原來不是白受。它們早已在你不知不覺之間，把一個浮躁之人，磨成穩重之人；把一個逞強之人，磨成明白之人；把一個只知打人的人，磨成一個懂得養身、養氣、養膽、養心、養命的人。待到那時，縱然不言宗師，不論高下，亦可於晨風暮色之中，安然一笑，對天地自道一句：我所練者，不止是拳，亦是此身此心，日日吃飯、日日做人、日日修行之道也。
In the end, then, “training is like eating” is not some casual metaphor, but a great method of self-cultivation. Eating teaches a person how to stay alive; training teaches a person how to live steadily. Eating nourishes flesh and blood; training nourishes sinews and bones. Eating teaches restraint; training teaches measure. Eating reveals temperament; training reflects the original heart. These nine wisdoms are: knowing hunger and fullness; daily continuity; digestion and absorption; distinguishing truth from ornament; harmonizing the sinews and bones; timing and rhythm; knowing others and knowing oneself; borrowing force and following nature; and returning to the ordinary and the true. If one can live this way day after day, seeking not the strange, craving not speed, avoiding neither clumsy work nor ordinary practice, then after ten or twenty years, when one looks back at a single straight punch, a single turning stance, a single round of sticky hands, one will realize that the sweat shed in the beginning was not shed in vain, and the boredom endured in the beginning was not endured in vain. Quietly, over all that time, these things will already have transformed a restless person into a steady one, a forceful person into a clear one, and someone who only knew how to strike others into someone who has learned how to nourish body, breath, courage, mind, and life. When that day comes, whether or not one is called a master, whether or not one speaks of high and low, one may simply stand in the morning wind or evening light, smile calmly, and say to Heaven and Earth: What I have practiced is not only a pair of fists. It is also this body, this mind, and the daily way of eating, of being human, and of cultivation.
