Kung Fu Rank · White Sash, Orange Stripe
White SashWith Orange Stripe
The first stripe on the white sash. The orange stripe covers Tam Tui, the springing leg, rows 1-5, with the technique, coordination, and application behind each movement.
About this level
At orange stripe the movements you learned at white sash start to make sense as self-defense. The videos for this stripe highlight Tam Tui Rows 1-5, and the work is in three parts: proper technique, coordination, and application. Striking, grabbing, and blocking combinations are practised with a partner, then extended into joint locks, kicks, trips, and throws. Nothing is new from the ground up; it is the same rows of the form, applied.
At Shadow Fist, this level is taught in class under your instructor’s guidance and supported by the training videos and technique sheets below. Partner drills need a partner, so save those for class and use the videos for the solo review.
- Tam Tui (Springing Leg) Rows 1-5.
- Proper technique first: rooted stances, clean lines, and the full range of each movement.
- Coordination between hands, feet, eyes, and breath as the rows link together.
- Application of the moves: how the same techniques become strikes, grabs, locks, trips, and throws.
Train it with us
Orange stripe material is covered in our Eagle Claw classes in Windsor Heights. Practice at home with the videos below, then bring your questions to class.
Partner set
Soldier Fighting
The second video on this page is Soldier Fighting, a 12-move Shaolin long fist two-person set. It is trained with a partner from start to finish, so both sides learn the attack and the answer to it.
The set is built to teach power. Long fist hits and blocks are driven from the stances and the waist rather than from the arms alone, which is why the same technique lands softly when the stance is shallow and sharply when the stance and waist work together.
12 moves, trained as a two-person set with a partner.
Shaolin long fist hits and blocks: long range, full extension.
Power from the stances and the waist, not the shoulders.
Both roles learned, so you can take either side in class.
The form
Tam Tui, the springing leg
Tam Tui (also spelled Tan Tui, meaning springing leg or snap leg) is the core foundational system taught at the beginning of the Eagle Claw (Ying Jow Pai) curriculum. It is the base everything else is built on.
Solid stances and footwork
Builds endurance, lower-body strength, and stability through deep traditional stances like horse, arrow, and light or cat stances.
Kicking mechanics
The springing legs: fast, snapping, low-to-mid level kicks that develop flexibility, speed, and precision.
Basic striking and punching
Straight punches, back fists, hammer fists, and uppercuts integrated with waist rotation and power from the core.
Blocking and defending
Foundational deflections, rolling blocks, and trapping or escaping techniques against grabs.
Flow, rhythm, and coordination
Multi-row sets train you to link punches, kicks, and stance transitions into continuous, fluid combinations.
Foundation for jow da
The stepping stone before the more intricate Eagle Claw joint locks, chin na, pressure point work, and complex Northern Shaolin sets like Kung Lek Kuen.
Why we train forms
The form is the training
Kung fu forms are not a performance to memorise and move on from. Each row of Tam Tui is a set of techniques, and training the form is how those techniques are kept, corrected, and made usable.
Forms are the textbook
Tam Tui Rows 1-5 store the techniques of this stripe in order. When a movement is forgotten in a drill, the form is where you find it again.
They build coordination
A form asks the hands, feet, eyes, and breath to work at the same time. That coordination is what makes a technique usable under pressure.
They teach technique, not just moves
Practising the form slowly is how stance, angle, and structure get corrected. Speed comes later, once the shape holds.
They carry the application
Every section of the row has a partner application. Training the form and the application together is what turns a pattern into self-defense.
Training Videos
Practice with the videos
Two orange stripe training videos: one walks through Tam Tui Rows 1-5 with the technique, coordination, and application to work on at each step, and the other is Soldier Fighting, the 12-move Shaolin long fist two-person set. Technique sheets go with the Tam Tui material. All of it is available to current Shadow Fist students.
Student access only
Log in with your My Account username and password, then come back to watch the training videos and open the technique sheets.
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