Wing Chun is a system, and not just a style. This means that it is a way of fighting, based on theories and principles, not just a set of techniques that anyone can copy.
Wing Chun is not a "pretty" martial art. It is designed with simple, yet effective moves. It is an evolution from the martial arts of China, where all the flowery movements have been taken out and only the direct and effective movements were kept.
Do not expect high kicks, or movie-like moves when you start Wing Chun. Expect effortless and simple moves that can easily be remembered. There are but a few moves, perfected over time and, with the assistance of Chi Sau (Sticking Hands), they become natural instincts based on feel, where techniques are applied because they feel right, not because that is what the instructor taught the student.
Wing Chun Kung Fu is an art designed by a Chinese nun some 300 years ago. It is one of the most popular martial arts in the world today.
These principles help explain how this fighting system was designed by a female. For a smaller person to have an advantage over a larger opponent, they cannot rely on size, strength or physicality, nor on elaborate, complicated techniques. The way the Wing Chun movements are designed brilliantly overcomes all of these problems. The special and unique training techniques in Wing Chun are its Forms and Chi Sau.
The single idea the whole system is built around. It has many meanings. Here are four.
Your own centreline runs down the centre of your body. It must always be defended.
Attacks are launched along the centreline, the shortest distance between two points, allowing for faster attacks and superior generation of force.
The centreline is the most powerful line of attack. This is very important to understand in Wing Chun.
The opponent's centreline is targeted, to create the maximum amount of damage.
There are many styles of Martial Arts, and many styles of Kung Fu. Wing Chun is a style of Kung Fu, and can be compared similar to Tai Chi and Qi Gung. The learning of an internal style of martial art is different to what we would say is an external style.
Think boxing or karate: it will rely upon the physical strength of the person. Often physical fitness is built into the curriculum: the start of the class will involve push-ups, sit-ups, and exercises to increase strength.
Will not rely upon your physical size, strength, flexibility, age, or sex. You are developing your own body "inside", learning a new way to move your arms that is surprisingly very powerful: the self discovery of your own body, using your mind's focus to direct it.
Wing Chun Kung Fu trains the internal workings of the body by training the forms, and chi sau. The start of a Wing Chun class should be doing the forms, a kind of standing meditation. The emphasis is on not using muscle, being relaxed and concentrating, therefore there is no fitness component. Without spending half the class doing fitness and flexibility, it leaves a lot of time for the real learning of the art.
Wing Chun teaches you a skill that becomes second nature which connects your body and mind.
Wing Chun involves short and long range tactics, the use of the centreline theory, and a heavy emphasis on minimum use of physical strength. It is an ideal martial art for self defence.
Usually an attacker will be larger than the person being attacked. In this case, training to be stronger than the other person is pointless; no matter how strong you get, the attacker will usually be larger. By training the body to deal with heavier forces, and by using body mechanics to generate large forces, Wing Chun Kung Fu allows a smaller bodied person to effectively defend an attack.
This is evidenced by Yip Man, who brought the art to the world and was not of large stature. It is also evidenced by Chu Shong Tin, a small older gentleman who can generate tremendous force. Wing Chun is a style which legend says was created by a woman, so it is a soft style designed to assist overcoming a larger opponent.
Self Defence is only the beginning of this Martial Art. Once one studies this for long periods of time, internal development will become a higher priority. Once this occurs, people will find great joy in their training, as anybody training for many years will attest to.
Self Defence is a vital skill for men and women alike.
Without power, strikes will have little effect. Strikes are taught to be heavy and powerful, utilising the internal power of the body, learning to punch well above your body weight.
Many styles teach using the ground as a source of power. This is limited to the strength of one's legs and aging, and if the opponent takes the ground away, they are left with nothing. We teach how to use your mass, joints and balance without relying on muscular force, or transferring force to the ground.
Strikes need to be initiated before an opponent has time to react, while still delivering the full power of the body. When people try to strike faster, they lose their power; but combined with body structure, a fast strike will not lose the body weight behind it.
In defence the opposite is true. A significant learning outcome is to learn how to defend against a faster opponent, necessary for self defence.
Extremely important in self defence. If the practitioner has poor balance, they will easily be overcome. Balance combines with speed and power; without it neither will be effective. Chi Sau is a major training tool for balance: needed to stop powerful strikes, to stay upright in a confrontation, and to deliver force in striking.
This allows for balance, speed and power. With good body structure, when someone presses on any part of that person, that part will be no weaker than any other. This is a whole body feeling of power: forearms that feel like steel, which allows for strong offence and defence.
One must not be stiff in martial arts. If tension occurs, that allows force to enter the body. Relaxation keeps incoming force out, allowing freedom of movement from all the joints. If a muscle or joint is tense, it decreases body structure, which decreases balance and therefore speed and power.
Overall Wing Chun teaches you to use your body much more efficiently than you thought possible. Imagine if you could strike like someone double your size, yet still be as quick as someone smaller than you. These are the possibilites that Wing Chun brings with training.
Wing Chun Traditional
Rules of Conduct
These rules were written by the late Yip Man and were hung on the wall in his school.
Ip Man's own translation of the origin story, and the line of masters from Yim Wing Chun through to Bruce Lee.
Read the history →The names of the forms and the movements, and what they mean: the shared language of the kwoon.
Open the glossary →