Tiet Sid Kuen Steel Wire Set
by Donald Hamby, Inside Kung Fu, May 2000

The Steel Wire set, or Tiet Sid Kuen, is the most highly regarded form in the Hung Gar system. The form is so named because it is said to be as hard as steel and as soft as cotton.  It is composed of the five elements and the five emotions coupled with dynamic tension.  The Steel Wire set utilizes only one animal, the mythical dragon, of the five animals used in the Hung system.

The dragon is a product of the Chinese spiritual beliefs and is listed in the ancient Buddhist texts as an animal that can appear and disappear at will, change its size, fly in the sky, or dive to the depths of the ocean.  Since it is a spiritual animal, the dragon's energy can only be entered into through one's breathing (Chi Kung Exercises or The Breath of God).  Like the snake and the crane (designed to train the sinews or breath) the Dragon is internal.  However, only the Dragon combines the sheer power of the external strikes with soft internal power to produce an invincible martial artist.  The dragon's greatest contribution to the Steel Wire is it's internal power, spirit, conditioning and it's development by way of increasing the practitioner's chi.  When this power is developed fully and refined, along with physical strength, it will produce   devastating results.  The Dragon Form utilized in Hung Gar, is used primarily to increase one's inner resistance though contrary to what some practitioner's believe, it also contains fighting movements.

The form was created by Tid Ku Sarm, one of the best martial artists in the history of China.  He was one of the famous Ten Tigers of Kwangtung and through the years he passed his knowledge of the set down to his students: Won Fei-Hung, Lum Fook Sing and Lam Sai Wing who was responsible for teaching the form to the exponents of Hung Gar in contemporary times.  Gee Yee Hai, a student of the great Lam Sai Wing, was said to have authored the book: Tiet Sid Kuen.  This form is the highest set taught in the Hung Gar system and takes the student into the realm of internal kung fu training which is the ultimate goal of the Chinese martial arts.

The Steel Wire is characterized by: it's limited footwork based solely upon the movements and spirit of the Dragon coupled with "strange vibrating sounds" and various intonations of breath control, and peculiar twisting movements which stimulate the internal organs. To the observer, the form is unspectacular and seems to bear little if any resemblance to the more dynamic boxing systems one might be used to seeing.   The prerequisite to learning this form is Sup Ying Kuen (Ten Shaped Fist Set).  Though patterned after the five elements, the other half of Tiet Sid Kuen is even more abstract - patterning itself on the five human emotions: happiness, anger, sadness, sorrow, and fear.  Each emotion is said to be translated into a breathing tone, producing different vibrations which affect different organs. This set is taught under constant supervision of one's teacher because if it is done incorrectly, the student can injure himself internally and irreparably.  From the breathing sounds comes a strong type of power which is emitted from within, thus, we have the designation, internal.

There is said to be twelve types of "training" methods contained in this form: hard, soft, lineal, isometric contractions, linking, dividing, supporting, stationary, circular transition, determination, exactness, and immobilization.  These twelve types of training are designed to control and improve the internal functions of the organs.  A dynamic tension exercise is used to increase the flow of chi throughout the body and specifically in the hands and arms.  The Steel Wire is a form reserved for those of the highest rank in Hung Gar and is an efficient means of body building, stamina development and will ultimately test one's entire constitution physically, mentally, and spiritually. Though Hung Gar might begin externally it enters the internal through this set.

Like a child who is hungry for food and thirsty for water, I thirsted and hungered for the spiritual nourishment of the Hung.  Reminiscent of the story's Sifu Kong would tell during our respite of practice, my classmates and I sat like children listening to their father indoctrinating them with the titillating stories of the great heroes of the past.  One such hero, Tid Ku Sarm, who in addition to being heralded for the Steel Wire form was also renowned for the thousand pound horse stance.  When demonstrating this stance and the Steel Wire set, nobody could move him because Kung Fu is rooted in the feet, developed in the legs, directed by the waist, and expressed through the fist.

My sifu went on to say that when this set is learned your strength will increase ten-fold. Of course, I was taken aback from a lack of understanding.  How could the practicing of this Steel Wire set augment your strength ten-fold?  Finally, after ten years of practicing Hung Gar, it was time for me to learn the Steel Wire set. I was excited beyond words to learn the highest set in the Hung Gar system.  I felt that all my years of tenacious training had finally merited me this wonderful reward.

When I practiced the Steel Wire set, I noticed that I would sweat profusely and the sounds that expressed the five emotions would send waves of energy through my body, especially through my arms and hands. The sounds that are expressed in the set, are designed to produce a frequency that is tuned to the frequency of the designated organ. Because of my professional background in MRI technology I understood how the protons in the body are made to resonate at different energy levels based upon the strength of an RF pulse. So it is with the sound waves that are produced when the internal organs of the body are stimulated through the practice of the Steel Wire set. The Steel Wire not only strengthens the external but strengthens the internal as well. To demonstrate the efficacy and the power of the Steel Wire set, I learned to bend a six foot long, half inch diameter steel rod with my throat. However, this was not an easy feat, for the concept of chi is unfathomable. It takes years of practice to learn to move the chi to different parts of the body and in this case, to the throat.

Before undertaking the dangerous task of bending the steel rod, I worked my way up on simpler objects, like a broomstick. However, even this can cause serious injury and should only be done under the close supervision of a qualified instructor. One end of the stick is placed in the corner of a wall and the other end is positioned in the soft part of your throat, above and in between the sterno-clavicular joint space. Assume a traditional horse stance and take in a deep breath through your nose, this will gather the chi. Sink it to the dan tien (an area in the lower abdomen), this is where the chi will be generated from, then moved up the abdomen to the throat. Bite down firmly and tense the muscle in your throat. Now push against the stick letting the air out through the nose using the emotional sound of anger. The entire body must be hardened with dynamic tension. To bend the steel rod, one's body must be hard like steel, motivated by the spirits of the dragon and filled with the Breath of God (chi). This is the Steel Wire!

by Donald Hamby, Inside Kung Fu, May 2000