This article was developed after discussions with my sifu Nelson Chan and sisook Lester Lau, who were direct students of Grandmaster Moy Yat; Both of whom are recognized by the Wing Chun community as extremely knowledgeable masters of the Wing Chun system.

Inscription: Chau Cheong (Sifu Nelson Chan's Chinese name), Use This Forever and Ever

Inscription: Handed to Chau Cheong by Moy Yat as a Gift

The general consensus is that it was inducted as the last item into the Wing Chun system. It is easy to come to this conclusion because Bat Jum Do is taught and given last to a Wing Chun student.

Those of you who have completed the Wing Chun course, and have learned the Bat Jum Do form will know that the form ties up everything that you've learned about Wing Chun from other forms and exercises, and that you will suddenly be enlightened about Wing Chun like you've never been before. If that hasn't happened to you, then you have not been taught the secret of Bat Jum Do.

Sorry, I'm not privileged or at freedom to reveal you the secret. It is up to your sifu to give you this gift. It depends on the relationship you have with your sifu, or the relationship your sifu had with his sifu. If he hasn't been given the gift, he has no gift to give you either.

If you think the "secret" is all hogwash ... then consider this:

Why is the form so simplistic? Why is it the shortest form of all? Why is it ineffective as a weapon?

Those of you who first learned the form may remember thinking, "Is that all there is?"

As a weapon, there are far more sophisticated and effective ones than the Bat Jum Do. In ancient time, martial artists used straight swords, curved swords, spears, 3-sectional staffs, 2-sectional staffs, chains with darts, flying darts, bows and arrows, and all the stuff you see in the Chinese movies. The Bat Jum Do would have faired quite poorly against these weapons or masters of these weapons. Today, you've got guns and various types of projectiles that Bat Jum Do would have no chance with.

Those of you who have come to the Bat Jum Do level should know better that whatever looks obvious in a Wing-Chun form is exactly what it is NOT. The obvious assumptions of striking 2 persons on your side, palm-striking someone's groin behind you, or using your wrist to strike your opponent's chin are absolutely absurd explanations for movements found in Siu Lim Tao. If you think those explanations are valid, then ask yourself if you've ever been able to apply them.

Also, think of the practical reality of the exercise of using Bat Jum Do against the 6.5 Pole. Although a nice exercise, would be ineffective against a real martial pole-artist.

If you think that the Bat Jum Do form teaches you the ultimate sword-fighting techniques, try going up against a skilled martial artist with a samurai sword, spear, or 3-sectional staff. You will have a rude awakening.

If you are really into weapons, you are better off learning other martial-arts weapons. If you like short swords or knives, you're better off learning Filipino knife-combat techniques that are more realistic and practical for fighting opponents with short-range weapons.

So, if the Bat Jum Do wasn't really designed for fighting other weapons, then what was it designed for?

If you look into the history of China and martial arts, you will better understand how the Bat Jum Do came about, and how it influenced the Wing Chun system.

During the Manchurian rule of China (Qing Dynasty), the Hans (native Chinese) were not allowed to carry weapons for fear of revolution. For self-defense, the Chinese used household and farming tools such as sickles, sticks, poles, and butcher knives for weapons. Although they were not as effective as martial weapons, they provided the user a better chance of survival than using empty hands against weapons.

The Chinese monks also used these household and farming tools to protect themselves and their temples from bandits. Nonetheless, still ineffective against martial weapons as a whole.

So, what was the Bat Jum Do really used for?

ASSASSINATION.

Because of the ease of concealment and ability to kill, it was the best home-made weapon for assassination. It was better than any other household or farm tools for the job.

Bat Jum Do design derived from the household or butchers' cleaver. It was modified for assassination use.

Ever since the Manchurians conquered the Chinese Ming Dynasty, and established the Qing Dynasty, the Han Chinese had fought underground to oust the occupiers.

The Manchurian and the Chinese armies fought each other for a decade before the Manchurians finally occupied China's capital, Beijing, in 1644; and then took another 20 years to establish control over the rest of China.

In other words, the Ming Dynasty and its army pretty well diminished in 1644, and perhaps completely by 1664. Qing Dynasty ruled until 1911, when Western powers and Han Chinese overthrew it, leading to the establishment of Sun Yat Sen's Chinese Republic. From 1664 until 1911, it was the Chinese insurgents who fought the Manchurians, not the Ming army.

Insurgents do not have the capability to fight armies. They do not have sufficient manpower, weapons, or intelligence to conduct warfare (as seen in Iraq and Afghanistan today). Their strength is conducting assassinations of officers, killing pockets of soldiers, and terrorizing enemy civilians (as seen in Iraq and Afghanistan today) through deceptive, sporadic and unexpected attacks. Bat Jum Do would have been the choice weapon for assassination. The assassins could hide them easily in their civilian clothes and get close to their targets, like today's suicide bombers, and get the job done. Because of the ineffectiveness of the short swords against long martial weapons, the assassins were prepared to die (like the suicide bombers) with their targets. The idea was to kill an important official, and take out as many Manchurians as he can, as a bonus, before giving up his life.

So ... unless you are prepared to be a suicide assassin, give up the idea of pulling out your Bat Jum Do against long range weapons.

Now that we've established what the short swords were used for, let's get back to the issue of when Bat Jum Do was inducted into the Wing Chun system ...

According to my Great-Grandmaster Yip Man, the 6.5 Pole was introduced into the Wing Chun system by Actor (of the Red Junk Opera) Leung Yee Tei, who learned it from Abbot Chi Shin. However, GGM Yip Man did not mention when the Bat Jum Do came into the system. To this day, there is no record or oral history of when the swords were introduced to the system. So, we beg the question, "When did it come in?"

As I said earlier, everyone assumes that the Bat Jum Do came last because it is taught as the last course. Many agree that Bat Jum Do was used by the insurgents/revolutionists to battle the Manchurians because of the convenience of concealing the weapons under clothing. Many also believe that the Red Junk Opera actors were insurgents during off-hours, and used the Bat Jum Do as their weapons of preference; thus the assumption that the weapon came last into the system.

There is just one thing wrong with the assumption ... the revolution started long before the Red Junk Opera operated as insurgents.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that the Red Junk Opera existed at the end of the Qing Dynasty or the end of the revolution. You don't even have to know China's history to figure it out. Well, knowing China's history will help confirm the period in a "double-checking" manner.

Let's first track GGM Yip Man's years. He was born in the 1893. He began learning Wing Chun in early 1900s, about the time of the famous Boxers' Rebellion event. Qing Dynasty fell in 1911.

Some Wing Chun historians claim that the Red Junk actors were members of the Righteous Fists of Harmony, known as the Boxers by Westerners. That would put them in the period of 1890s ... at the end of the revolution, near the time of GGM Yip Man's birth. This assumption is quite inaccurate because the the Righteous Fists of Harmony was a secret society founded in Shangdong province in Northern China, and their insurgency activities were mainly conducted in Beijing; whereas, the Red Junk Opera was a traveling troop that originated and traveled within Southeast China. Also, the actors from the Red Junk who practiced Wing Chun were at least 3 Wing-Chun generations before GGM Yip Man. Therefore, the time and place of the Red Junk just does not jive with the Boxers' Rebellion.

Anyway, we can determine the Red Junk Opera period by backtracking the Leung Yee Tei--Leung Chan--Chan Wah Shun--Yip Man lineage.

GGM Yip Man learned Wing Chun from Chan Wah Shun at the end of his master's career around 1900 when the master was 60. Presuming that Chan Wah Shun had learned from Doctor Leung Jan when he was around 30, that would place the year to 1870. Presuming that Doctor Leung Jan had learned Wing Chun from Leung Yee Tei 30 years before, that would take the year to 1840. Then presuming that Leung Yee Tei was in his 50s when he taught Doctor Leung Jan, and that he had gotten involved in Wing Chun and insurgency (if that is true) 20 years before ... that would place his activities to 1820, which is still at the end of the revolution, considering that the insurgencies began nearly 180 years ago in 1644.

Another way of checking is tracking the Leung Yee Tei--Leung Jan--Leung Bik--Yip Man lineage.

When GGM Yip Man was about 17 years old (around. 1910) he was suppose to have met Doctor Leung Jan's son, Leung Bik, in Hong Kong, when the senior gentleman was in his 50's. So, assuming that Leung Bik was born when Doctor Leung Jan was 20 (being generous again), that would take Leung Bik's birth year to around 1860 (1910 minus 50 years), or when Dr. Jan was 20, when he was learning Wing Chun from Leung Yee Tei. Again assuming that Leung Yee Tei was already a middle-age person, and that his Wing Chun and insurgency activities were conducted 20 years earlier, that would put his active years to 1840; later, but not far from the earlier estimation. Nonetheless, very late into the fight against the Manchurians.

So the question is, "If the Bat Jum Do was introduced to the insurgents by the Red Junk Opera actors between 1820 to 1840 (or even 1900 during the Boxers' Rebellion), what did the previous insurgents use for weapons?" Just sticks and stones?

If we were to establish that the small concealable twin swords were practical weapons for the insurgents, then we have to date them back farther than the Red Junk period, to when the revolution began, around 1644 when the Manchurians besieged Beijing, or around 1664 when they took full control over all of China.

Also, if we establish that small twin swords were used by monks to protect themselves, then we may have to go even farther back to perhaps ... 300 AD, when the Shaolin Temple was believed to have been erected.

Furthermore, if we were to establish that the twin swords were always an effective assassination weapon, then we may have to go back to 3000 B.C. when the first kingdom was established in China, when there were plenty of wars and assassinations.

Between Sifu Chan, Sisook Lau and I, we believe the Bat Chum Do came before Wing Chun; that the principles of Wing Chun derived from the principles of the Bat Jum Do.

Short twin shorts always existed. They were not invented by the Red Junk Opera actors. Assassins used them before, and so did the monks. If the swords existed for martial or assassination use, then there already were forms or exercises for them.

It is likely that Abbess Ng Mui was already proficient in the use of the twin short swords at the Shaolin Temple, and that the centerline and other principles were already parts of the swords' usage and system. From a close-range weapon, it wouldn't have been difficult to base and develop an open-hand combat system (as it would have been for a long weapon).

When Abbess Ng Mui escaped to the borders of Yunnan and Sichuan, she was probably inspired by the womenfolks of the matriarchal societies she encountered, and incorporated an existing women-fighting system into the Bat Jum Do system that she already was proficient at. (See Tracing Wing Chun's Origin for further details.)

It is not hard to believe this assumption when you really understand the Bat Jum Do form and Wing Chun as a whole.

Both Wing Chun weapons are not practical or sophisticated weapons, especially against other weapons. The 6.5 pole is far too long to find (even in the ancient times) or use in a real situation. The Bat Jum Do is far too short against long weapons. They're really in the Wing Chun curriculum to enhance the open-hand fighting system; working as tools, just like the dummy, to develop the practitioner physically and mentally, and to understand the whole system.

The question that some of you may ask is why Bat Jum Do is taught at the end of the course when we claim that it was at the beginning of Wing Chun conception. Why not teach the Bat Jum Do first?

It's not difficult to figure that out when you put some thoughts into it.

Take computer or computer software for example. They were not designed for users to create a new way of conducting business, running an office or doing artwork, but designed from existing way of conducting business, running an office, and doing artwork in order to facilitate the user. Being proficient in the use of computer will NOT necessarily make the user more proficient in conducting business, managing office, or doing artwork, without first really understanding or being experienced in business, office or art. Remember ... business, office and art came before computers.

In the same context, methodology of medicine practice, architecture, or engineering came before university courses. They came about from trials and errors; courses were developed after.

Similarly, the Wing Chun course was developed after practical trials and errors. The system was already in place; the course was developed after.

Computer is the ultimate tool today for a workplace just as Bat Jum Do is for Wing Chun. However, the work or martial system was already in place before the tool. One has to learn the system before understanding how to use the tool efficiently and effectively. Without thorough knowledge of a system, the tool is just as good as paperweight.

The Bat Jum Do swords and form existed long before Abbess Ng Mui was born or thought of creating a new hand-to-hand combat system. However, it is likely that Abbess Ng Mui based the existing principles of Bat Jum Do to develop the existing female hand-to-hand combat system that she had discovered in Yunnan.

Bat Jum Do is taught at the end of the Wing Chun course because it IS the start and finale of the system. Wing Chun began with Bat Jum Do; however a student is put through the methodology path before arriving at the place of birth to understand the whole system.

Astronomers and archeologists search the past, for the beginning, to understand about life, the present and future. In finding the beginning, they will find the piece that will complete the big puzzle ... the secret of life.

The content of the Bat Jum Do form is the piece that reveals the secret of Wing Chun.

In the Bible, at the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, "The first shall come last, and the last shall come first," that things will happen not as one expects, and that the beginning will come to an end, and the end will become the beginning.

Buddhism is based on the belief of reincarnation ... or recycling of life.

In Taoism, Yin and Yang are opposite entities that make a whole; Yang cannot exist without Yin, and Yin cannot exist without Yang. The two are interrelated and interdependent. They constantly change and evolve to harmonious balance.

Bat Jum Do can be looked upon as the beginning of Wing Chun as well as the finale of Wing Chun. It is the beginning that ties the end, and the end that ties the beginning. Just like every systems in life, the beginning and the end are the most important factors. The 2 ends tie up to complete the system.

The foreparents of Wing Chun rightly put the Bat Jum Do form (information) at the end of the Wing Chun course, to be given only to the most earnest and diligent students. The order of the course does not reflect the order of induction. It came first, but is given last, for the ultimate understanding of the Wing Chun system.

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