In Brief: Covers the details of Wing Tsun’s first form siu nim tau.  The development of the form, background, context, Chinese mottoes, breathing, and application are thoroughly explained through text, photographs, and annotations.  The entire form is demonstrated in high detail as well.  This is the first release of a five-part series on Wing Chun (Wing Tsun).
 
 
Some reviews from the industry
 
By Sifu David Peterson
"It is a great honour for me to have been asked to make a few comments on "The Little Idea" by Sifu Alex Richter. I have long admired his work in promoting Wing Chun Gung Fu, the system that we both love, and have always enjoyed reading his articles on the subject even though our approaches to the art may differ, and the lineages of the system that we practice may do things differently. With this new book that he has written, Sifu Alex has once again captured my attention, but in an even bigger way, with his attention to detail and his obvious depth of research. As a former teacher of Chinese, I am especially impressed with his scholarship in that area, providing the Chinese characters for a great deal of the names & terms covered, and for his consistency in ensuring that terminology is romanised correctly & accurately. "The Little Idea" is a wonderful reference book for any practitioner of Wing Chun/Ving Tsun/Wing Tsun, and will serve as a reliable & informative insight into many aspects of what the 'Siu Nim Tau' form can offer to the student of the art, regardless of their experience level. I highly recommend this book and look forward to further volumes in this series."
 
 
By Tony Massengill for Wing Chun Illustrated
The first question I had in mind when I received this book for review was “Why ANOTHER book on the first form of the Wing Chun system… do we really need another one?” Then I opened it and began to read—and yes, another one was needed. This one! 
Sifu Alex Richter has written an incredibly detailed and succinct tome on the Siu Nim Tau form, with vast details on the form’s history, culture, structure, and application. 
The information, as presented in the book, is from the Hong Kong branch of Wing Chun, or more specifically, the branch descending from Yip (Ip) Man, as passed to Leung Sheung and on to Leung Ting, and the version later passed directly to Leung Ting by Yip (Ip) Man. The branch developed from this lineage uses the spelling Wing Tsun and is popularly known as Leung Ting Wing Tsun. 
Alex shares information gained through his vast research into the history of Wing Tsun, covering such topics as contextual meanings of the names of movements, and details and theories as to the actual meaning of the name of the form itself. He even goes into detail on the reason for the differences in the spelling of the name Yip (Ip) Man, and proper pronunciation and some speculation as to where the differences in spelling originated. 
The book itself is well written and notated, with many very clear and detailed photographs of the many aspects of each movement, from structure, to proper position and alignment, and fighting and Chi Sau applications. 
Alex covers subjects such as Force Concepts, Background & Problems with History, Breathing & Chi Kung, and Siu Nim Tau Form Maxims & Ideas, just to name a few. The chapter on the Wing Tsun stance will be very helpful to the new student of the system in helping to understand why the stance is so important. Also covered are the backgrounds and disagreements between some Wing Chun lineages as to the meaning of the name of this all-important stance and its training. 
The Siu Nim Tau form itself is presented with details as to the training progression from preparation, “The Technical Phase” (Beginner), “The Training Phase” (Intermediate), and on to “The Internalisation Phase” (Advanced) level. In this section, Alex explains what the student’s focus should be at each phase to benefit from what the form has to offer as the student’s skill and understanding develop. 
This is followed by a very detailed explanation of the form in narrative and very clear photos of each movement from the beginning to the end of the form itself. Unlike many such books, the photos of each movement are large enough for the reader to clearly see the detail of each movement. 
As the title indicates, this book is a great “Companion Book” for the student learning the Siu Nim Tau form. It is my opinion that this book will be of great benefit to any Wing Chun student, no matter which lineage they are following, and should be placed in the “must own” category of books!