A Story

二 = two
is the character and radical for 2 / the number two.
字 = word / letter / character
(子= child/"zi sound" + 宀 roof)
柑 = mandarin orange/tangerine/citrus?
will have to understand this better in context.
(木 wood +甘 sweet)
羊 = sheep / goat / lamb
is a character and radical of the same meaning.
馬 = horse
can also refer to "horse stance" in kung fu. 扎馬 in kung fu means "get into" "horse" (stance). 二字柑羊馬 is sometimes written as "yee-gee-kim-yeung-ma" or "yee ji kim yeung ma" and can be directly translated to "character two goat 'clamping' horse/ stance." This is the horse stance of Wing Chun.

The "character two" refers to the Cantonese character for two, 二.
This 二 is supposed to indicate how the stance looks from the front. If you were to draw a line from one knee to the other, you'd create a line like the one at the top of the 二 character. If you were to draw a line from one heel to the other, you would have a longer line at the bottom, creating the two character 二.

In the "Roots and Branches of Wing Chun" book by Prof Leung Ting, yee-gee-kim-yeung-ma is defined as "character 'two' adduction stance." I'm not sure what Prof Leung Ting means specifically by "adduction", but in terms of health and science, "adduction" is a movement of a joint or limb moving inward toward the midline. In standard anatomical position (which is a person standing upright, facing forward, with legs parallel, arms hang down at either side with palms facing forward), the midline is an imaginary line that runs down the center of the body from head to toe. So in the case of yee-gee-kim-yeung-ma, adduction might refer to how the knees and the feet point inward toward the center of the body.

An important concept for the Wing Chun yee-gee-kim-yeung-ma stance is, to imagine a stable line that runs from the top of the head, down through the neck, spine, through the hip and seat, down to the ground. To imagine this line is to help understand the stability of the stance.

3.18.23 Day 9
Si-Sok Mike: The entire foot (not just the heel, not just toe) grips the floor. The stance is not locked, rather it's flexible and dynamic – like a tall building that sways and has a pendulum underneath to counter-balance it.

Date Added: 1/31/2023
Last Updated: 6/26/2023