Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma- Goat Riding Stance of Wing Chun Kung Fu

YEE JEE KIM YEUNG MA: Goat Riding Stance

- Pull in the chest, push out the upper back, and bring in the tail bone.

- Fill the Tan Tien with chi and distribute the strength to all parts of the body.

- Point the knees and toes inward.

- Form a pyramid with the center of gravity in the center.

- Fists are placed by the side of the ribs but not touching the body.

- Sink the elbows, the shoulders, and the waist.

- Hold the head and neck straight and keep the spirit alert.

- Eyes are level, looking straight ahead, and watching all directions.

- The mind is free of distractions and the mood is bright.

- There is no fear when facing the opponent.

- Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma is the main stance.

- Develop a good foundation for advanced techniques.

The above Kuen Kuit(martial sayings) regarding the YJKYM stance of Wing Chun is a
copy and paste from www.wcarchives.com. This site is an invaluable resource on all
things Wing Chun. Since we have this information in common to reference I would
like to use this material to make what I believe are a couple of very important
points regarding the stance and the foundation it develops in training.
The YJKYM is one of the most misunderstood techniques of the art. It is also the
first technique to be mastered if one is to have any skill at all in Wing Chun.
You are only as good as your stance is a saying that can and should be applied to
any martial art. If one reads the above list one will notice that there is as much
of a description of the actual posture as there is to describe what is to be
developed. In fact, there are mental and psychological ques that are referenced.
This is no fault on the authors part. It is said that what goes on internally
manifests itself externally. Therefore ones mental and emotional composure is
connected to the composure and stability of the stance. For this reason, ones
mental and emotional transition in kata or actual combat is reflected in the
physical movements and transitions of the body and stance.
To get any real useful information, and to be able to train correctly, ones
information cannot be limited to just books or the written word. This being said,
as long as one has a solid foundation in what is taught, knows what they are doing
and why it is to be done, then books can be a very useful resource. Having a
competent instuctor/sensei/sifu to guide ones development is of the utmost
importance. For this reason all of the other descriptions in the list draw
attention to concepts that should be heavily discussed and contemplated between you
and your sifu.
YJKYM is the main stance. Unlike many other arts that have several specific
stances, Wing Chun has only one. When studying several stances in a particular art
one will realize that the many are just transitional variations of the very few.
For instance, the cat-stance(most of the weight on the back leg and the front leg
has the ball of the foot barely touching the ground) in Shaolin Kempo is basically
a transitional stance, not as much of a fixed position. When performing moving kata
such as 1st Pinion one will move through a cat-stance as one is transitioning
from the forward stance facing the left to a forward stance facing the right and so
on. The cat-stance is practiced in a static position in some kata and forms to
develop balance and flexibility but there is always a movement to the next stable
posture such as the horse-stance or half moon-stance.

In Wing Chun, every transitional stance is just a practical variation of the YJKYM.
Thus, the term moving stance comes into play. A stance is a fixed position
whereas a moving-stance in Wing Chun is the smooth, balanced transition from one
position to another in sequence with each transitional variation embodying all of
the above mentioned traits.
The knees AND toes pointed inward is very important. There is a common mistake of
forcing the knees toward each other in the knock-kneed fashion while the toes are
pointed inward to execute the YJKYM. When I speak of the knock-kneed fashion I am
talking about the tendency to try to over exaggerate the knees coming close
together with the effect of slightly bending the knees medially(inward towards the
mid-line). This is the incorrect execution. When the knock-knee approach is used
the medial collateral ligaments of the knees are stressed. These ligaments are
located on the inside face of your knee. They are there to prevent your knees from
bending inward at the joint. Knees are only supposed to have a range of motion that
is forward and backward at the joint and not sideways. There are also a set of
lateral collateral ligaments that are on the outside face of the knees. They are
there to prevent an outward bend of the knee at the joint. Ligaments are not
supposed to be stretched. Stressing the ligaments of the knees with a poorly
executed stance will make the knee joint weaker, more prone to injury, and attack.
A proper YJKYM should have the toes pointed inward, but the knees should also stay
in-line with the toes as the knee is bent. From here one should develop endurance
and flexibility in the legs and thigh muscles(quadriceps) that will allow the knees
to bend properly in line without the lateral/medial movement. The stress should be
felt in the thighs and not the knee joint itself. Once the knees are in-line with
the inward pointing toes properly then the knee bends at the joint. The thighs will
automatically adduct (move towards each other) naturally. If pain or stress is felt
on the insides of the knees then one is doing the stance incorrectly and should
check the alignment of the knees and toes.
Finally, one can see why proper stance training is vitally important to training in
Wing Chun. The first form of Wing Chun, Sui Lim Tao: Little beginning Idea, doesnt
have any moving footwork in it at all. This is because Wing Chun does not trust a
new practitioner to make any movements until the finer points of stance training
are realized. Not until the second form, Chum Kiu: Seeking the Bridge, are footwork
and kicking(gurk) techniques introduced.

Christopher A. Gray, B.S.

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