Single Whip

To help memorize the long form, I was taught to use Single Whip to further divide the form into smaller learning sets.

 

First Section only has one Single Whip posture.  Easy, peasy.  First Section was meant to be easy.  It’s almost like warm up before you get hot and heavy into the form.  If you are short on time or just starting or with other issues (like balance or stamina), you were meant to work on First Section.  You do need “walking space.”  If the stances are done properly, you will end up several steps (maybe four?) to the left, and almost two steps forward, from where you started. 

 

In Second section, Diagonal Single Whip is not directed to 9:00.  Until the 2nd Single Whip posture, it’s almost the same as First Section.  The only new addition is the Repulse the Monkey series.  The Single Whips bookend the Cloud Hands series and continues to High Pat on Horse (aka Pat the Horse’s Head).  From there, start the kicks.  The second part of the Second Section is all about kicks and balance (on one leg.)  I’d say this is the start of “the next level,” and I think the meat of the form.  This is also where beginners tend to drop out. The end of second section is where we were at the end of the beginner class.

 

In my memory, Mr. Ho always said “there are 7 Single Whips.”  That’s the part that sticks with me, but I’m counting lots more in the form and only 6 that face 9:00 in Third Section.  In order to match his statement, that means I must include Diagonal Single Whip and restrict its application to Third Section.  This section is repetitive and just about doubles the length of First & Second Sections together.

·         Between #1 and #2 Single Whip, is Split Horse’s Main four times.

·         Between #2 and #3 Single Whip, is Four Corners (aka Fair Lady Weaves Shuttles)

·         Between #3 and #4 is Cloud Hands.

·         Between #4 and #5 is almost a repeat of Second Section after Repulse the Monkey until you reach the end of the third Cloud Hands set of the form. 

·         That puts you at #6 Single Whip, which is nearly the end of the form.  Until this point, a new movement was introduced, then repeated later.  From #6 to the end, it’s all unique.  This can be further divided into subsets to learn #6 to #7 Single Whips, and #7 to Closing.