Wing Chun Martial Arts Style (Ving Tsun)
Basic history of Wing Chun Kung Fu
Wing Chun Kung Fu is one of the newest recorded martial arts and one of few to be developed by a woman; the Shoalin Abbess Ng Mui, around 300 years ago. Wing Chun or Wing Tsun was created from the best of Dragon and Crane styles and other forms of Kung Fu in combination with its own unique moves to be used as purely practical self defence.
Overview of learning Wing Chun and training fundamentals
There are no flashy moves like head high kicks in Wing Chun. Instead, all of the moves abide by the philosophy that you need to strike first using the shortest distance and the centre line, and every block is also an attack or can turn into a counter attack.Wing Chun is not competitively practised generally as it is made for close combat, in-fighting (sometimes referred to as the science of in-fighting).
When you learn Wing Chun you may be surprised as to how the techniques are practised; there are only 3 hand forms. The first of the Wing Chun forms is Sui Nim Tao (small idea), which is the foundation for the latter forms. All of the movements require you to stand in one place, with great relaxation and focus to develop force using your mind (chi) while going through 108 of the main hand techniques. Once you've mastered Sui Nim Tao, you can then learn Chum Kiu (searching for the bridge), the second form which gets you into kicking and pivoting, whilst maintaining an incredibly strong stance and chi power built up from Sui Nim Tao. Finally, you'll learn Biu Jee (explosive fingers) which takes all of the power you've accumulated from developing your mental force from the first two forms, and puts it into a point as small as your finger tip for devastating attack power. You'll also learn a few weapons, such as butterfly knives and long pole. Weapons training usually occurs after blackbelt.
Your Wing Chun Kung Fu training would not be complete without learning Chi Sao (sticking hands). This is used as a way to 'feel your opponent out', which essentially trains your limbs to react to combat scenarios, all of which are cleverly hidden within Sui Nim Tao. All of the kicks and hand techniques can easily flow into other moves which make them incredibly effective.
Wing Chun clubs have branched out in a sense, with some clubs teaching you a more external, 'hard and fast' style of Wing Chun, with less focus on developing power through Sui Nim Tao and mind force and instead focusing on self defence. Other Wing Chun clubs are more pure - making Sui Nim Tao and proper foundation more important than self-defence. In the end, it may take a little longer to become effective enough at Wing Chun to defend yourself well, but you'll be more skilled for taking the purist approach.
Summary for Wing Chun Kung Fu
Wing Chun does have a decent level of fitness element to it once you start Chi Sao (sticky hands) plus kicking and doing self defence drills, however the majority of learning the fundamentals is standing in one spot. Wing Chun is able to be practised purely relaxed or externally and is a great spiritual journey. Lastly, Wing Chun was also developed not to require brute strength so in this way a skilled Wing Chun practitioner can defend themselves against a much larger, physically stronger attacker. It is designed scientifically for effectiveness and speed, making it one of the most deadly martial arts.
