What is Wing Chun

Wing Chun 
What is Wing Chun?

Translated literally, Wing Chun means "beautiful springtime," or "radiant springtime." Wing Chun is also called "Wing Shun" or "Wing Tsun." According to Wing Chun, there are five ways of defeating the enemy: striking, kicking, joint locking, throwing and through weapons use.

Wing Chun is different from many of today's popular styles, such as Karate, Tae Kwon Do, and Kung Fu. These styles block first and then attack. Wing Chun emphasizes self-defense, focusing on methods that allow a block and an attack in the same movement. The style is based on human biomechanics rather than animal movements, using primarily straight line, fast, direct strikes and sophisticated simultaneous blocking and striking techniques, redirecting the force of an opponent rather than attempting to meet a possibly greater force directly.

The way the art produces efficient fighters in a relatively short amount of time is by sticking to several core principles and by taking a very generic approach to techniques. Much training time is spent cultivating "Contact Reflexes." The student practices guarding various zones about the body and deals generically with whatever happens to be contacted or touched in that zone. This allows for a minimum of technique for a maximum of application, and for the use of an automatic or subconscious response.

More than half the techniques taught are hand techniques and the style is best known for its quick punches. Only low kicks are used. Traps and other kinds of controls are important as well. Trapping and speed are developed through the famous "sticky hands" (Chi Sao) training, which also teaches balance. The Mook Jong, a wooden dummy used for repetitive striking drills, is also a well-known training method. There are three forms used in the style: Sil Lum Tao, Chum Kil, and Bil Jee.

Only two weapons are taught in Wing Chun. The Dragon Pole and the Butterfly swords are generally taught only once the student has a firm foundation in the art.Weapons training drills offer the same generic ideas and concepts as the open hand system, including the use of Contact Reflexes. Many of the weapon movements are built off of or mimic the open hand moves - this is the reverse process of Kali/Escrima/Arnis, where weapon movements come first.

The aim of Wing Chun is to develop physical, mental and spiritual awareness of which will transcend you to a higher level of life. Self-awareness, self respect and a duty to serve should be the goal of life in every martial artist. Additional benefits are stress control, discipline and improved concentration, confidence and overall well-being. Wing Chun's skills are within the reach of anybody regardless of sex, age, body type or muscle development.

Wing Chun 
The Origins of Wing Chun

There are multiple histories of Wing Chun in existence, but the generally accepted version is that the Buddhist nun Ng Mui, who was a master of Shaolin Kung Fu, developed the art nearly 300 years ago in southern China. At that time the Southern Shaolin Temple was sanctuary to the Chinese revolution that was trying to overthrow the ruling Manchu.

A martial arts system was being taught in the temple but it took almost 20 years to produce an efficient fighter. Realizing the need to produce efficient fighters faster, five of China's grandmasters met and chose the most efficient Kung Fu techniques, theories and principles from the various styles. They then developed a training program that produced efficient fighters in 5-7 years. Before the program was put into practice, the temple was raided and destroyed.

Of those that escaped, Ng Mui was the only survivor who knew the full system. However, she realized that much of what she had learned was ineffective for a small, frail woman to use on a larger, stronger man. She revised everything she had learned and discarded techniques that were slow or that relied on strength or size. She developed a system of fighting that enabled a smaller, weaker person to destroy a bigger, stronger person within a few seconds. Ng Mui's new system was well guarded and passed on to only a few, very dedicated students. The style became known as Wing Chun, after Ng Mui's first student, a woman named Yim Wing Chun.

Yim Wing Chun was a native of Canton in China. Her mother died soon after her betrothal to Leung Bok Chau. Her father, Yim Yee, was later wrongfully accused of a crime. Rather than risk jail, Yim Yee and his daughter left the area and settled down at the foot of Mt. Tai Leung. It was here Ng Mui met Yim Yee and Wing Chun. Wing Chun was a beautiful teenager who had attracted the unwanted attention of a local man who continuously tried to force her to marry him by threatening to harm her father. Ng Mui learned of this and agreed to teach Wing Chun fighting techniques so that she could protect herself. Wing Chun followed Ng Mui into the mountains to White Crane Temple, and began to learn Kung Fu. Wing Chun trained until she mastered the techniques. She then challenged the bully to a fight and defeated him.

The Wing Chun System was passed on in a direct line of succession from its origin. After her marriage to Leung Bok Chau, Wing Chun taught him Kung Fu. He in turn passed these techniques on. As techniques were passed along, the Six-and-a-half-point Long Pole was incorporated into Wing Chun Kung Fu. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Wing Chun, like other martial arts, was banned in China and survived only through the persistence of practitioners like Yip Man. The veil of secrecy around the art was finally broken in 1949, when Grandmaster Yip Man brought the style out of China into Hong Kong and eventually to the rest of the world.

Yip Man's students began gaining noteriety for besting many systems and experienced opponents in streetfights and "friendly" competitions. The art gained even more popularity when one of its students, Bruce Lee, began to enjoy worldwide fame. It remains one of the most popular forms of Kung Fu today.