The first form of Wing Chun known as “Siu Lim Tao” or “small thoughts” was engineered to be simple. It attempts to remove all thoughts about fighting by having you move only your arms to enter space at the center. 

The form is designed so that people with no experience in martial arts can grasp it quickly because you are asked to make lines in space and time as opposed to applications that are memorized.  The movements, though not appearing martial in nature, are designed to create an uncomfortable feeling in your opponent.

Siu Lim Tao is the first form in Wing Chun. It’s also, in my opinion, the most advanced set of movements in the art.  If you find yourself having problems in this art, it usually means that there is a movement and a thought, which does not need to occur, in your Siu Lim Tao.

The goal of Wing Chun is to do less!  Siu Lim Tao is movement from a minimal starting position to a maximal ending position. In Wing Chun, which is an art of small movements in both space and time, the complete movements are as days to a skilled practitioner.

Siu Lim Tao is a small thought. As you stand on an island at the center of a lake looking out into the water to “greet what comes” you are already doing so much!