Wing Chun Kung Fu

Wing Chun has become one of the single most famous styles of Chinese kung fu thanks to the patronage of a certain Bruce Lee. Lee studied this art as his principal style and it formed the nucleus of what would later become Jun Fan Gung Fu. Lee never disavowed his original art, though clearly he went far beyond it, and described it as ‘a great style’. It was in his formative years while studying under Yip Man in Hong Kong that he came to the conclusion that a master must 'become like water'. In combat the art is characterized by short, successive, linear thrusts to weak points together with low kicks. It is an upright, direct style.

Origins of Wing Chun Kung Fu

The style traces its routes back to the 17th century when it was first synthesized by a Shaolin nun called Ng Mui. From Ng Mui the art was passed onto Yim Wing Chun, from whom the style either gets its name, or the girl was renamed by Ng Mui in emulation of the name of the art. The name of the art means ‘beautiful springtime’ or ‘radiant springtime’. From Yim Wing Chun, the art was passed down privately to very few students until finally Yip Man, the teacher of Bruce Lee, opened a public kwoon (training hall) in Hong Kong. Since the mid twentieth century the art has spread around the world, partly thanks to Bruce Lee and partly due to the fact that, being based in Hong Kong, it was more accessible to would-be non-Asian students than the arts propagated on mainland China.

Training involves body conditioning and the practice of three solo forms (Sil Lum Tao, Chum Kil and Bil Jee), the totality of which includes all the movements found within the corpus of the art. Advanced students practice on a ‘wooden dummy’ (mook jong). This is a thick central pillar of wood with shorter, thinner bars jutting out to simulate an opponent’s arms and legs. Techniques are performed as the practitioner moves around the dummy. Trainees concentrate on effecting speed in technique, but pounding sandbags to develop power is also a tried and trusted method. Finally, this kung fu style utilizes its own form of pushing hands, referred to as sticking hands. This is a strenuous exercise whereby two students touch their forearms together and attempt, from this position, to strike the other. The aim is to detect shifts in an opponent’s tension and react immediately while minimizing your own energy changes in order to strike effectively.

In combat, a master of the art is most comfortable at close quarters. He relies on a series of blinding fast strikes to overwhelm an opponent (the ‘straight blast’). Attacks are directed to weak points of the human body, though actual pressure point attacks are less common than in other arts, with reliance placed on overwhelming a foe. Defensively attacks are made ineffective with subtle footwork that shifts the body combined with parries (as opposed to the harder blocks of other martial arts that meet force head on). Alternatively the limbs of the opponent are trapped (that is, pinned) down, which is something of a specialty.

Variations include Wing Shun and Wing Tsun.