What is Wing Chun Kung Fu?

Wing Chun is a truly amazing and beautiful kung fu style. It is one of the most practical martial art systems you can study. Wing Chun is a perfect art for the uncertainties of actual self-defense and combat. The system relies on biomechanics, not brute force. Wing Chun is a scientific yet theoretically based martial arts form. The specialty of a Wing Chun practitioner is close-range combat. Practitioners utilize well-coordinated angular deflections with simultaneous attacks. A Wing Chun practitioner is agile yet powerful, delivering quick, close-range punches and kicks rather than locks and grabs. Wing Chun is based on the concepts and principles of simplicity, economy of movement, and economy of energy. This art is a true internal and external system designed so you can learn the system in 3-5 years. It is a science in motion that is simple yet explosive.

Yip Man was the first Wing Chun master to teach the art openly in "Hong Kong" on a school fee basis. His students and their students therefore make up the majority of the practitioners of Wing Chun today (see his article for the outline of a family tree). Yip Man died in 1972. However, there is also a story that Yip Man gave money to Chan Wah Shun so that he could learn from him. Officially making Chan Wah Shun the first to teach the art openly on a school fee basis. However, Chan Wa Shun was military/ security based who was employed by Yip Man's father.
Bruce Lee came to America to teach the non-Asian Americans. Bruce Lee was a student of Wing Chun.

Wing Chun Kicks

Kicks can be explicitly found in the Chum Kiu and Mook Jong forms, though some have made interpretations of small leg movements in the Siu Nim Tau and Bil Jee to contain information on kicking as well. Depending on lineage, a beginner is often introduced to basic kicking before learning the appropriate form. Traditionally, kicks are kept below the waist. This is characteristic of southern Chinese martial arts, in contrast to northern systems which utilise many high kicks.

Variations on a front kick are performed striking with the heel. The body may be square and the knee and foot are vertical on contact (Chum Kiu), or a pivot may be involved with the foot and knee on a plane at an angle (Mook Jong). At short distances this can become a knee. A roundhouse kick is performed striking with the shin in a similar manner to the Muay Thai version with most of the power coming from the body pivot. This kick is usually used as a finisher at closer range, targeting anywhere between the ribs and the back of the knee, this kick can also become a knee at close range. Other kicks include a stamping kick (Mook Jong) for very close range and a sweep performed with the heel in a circular fashion.

Every kick is both an attack and defence, with legs being used to check incoming kicks or to take the initiative in striking through before a more circular kick can land. Kicks are delivered in one movement directly from the stance without chambering/cocking.

Flowing Techniques

Wing Chun techniques are uncommitted. This means that if the technique fails to connect, the practitioner's position or balance is less affected. If the attack fails, the practitioner is able to "flow" easily into a follow-up attack. All Wing Chun techniques permit this. Any punches or kicks can be strung together to form a "chain" of attacks. According to Wing Chun theory, these attacks, in contrast to one big attack, break down the opponent gradually causing internal damage. Chained vertical punches are a common Wing Chun identifier.

Trapping skills and sensitivity

The Wing Chun practitioner develops reflexes within the searching of unsecured defenses through use of sensitivity. Training through Chi Sao with a training partner, one practices the trapping of hands. When an opponent is "trapped", he or she becomes immobile.

Close range

Wing Chun teaches practitioners to advance quickly and strike at close range. While the Wing Chun forward kick can be considered a long range technique, many Wing Chun practitioners practice "entry techniques"—getting past an opponent's kicks and punches to bring him within range of Wing Chun's close range repertoire. This means that theoretically, if the correct techniques are applied, a shorter person with a shorter range can defeat a larger person by getting inside his range and attacking him close to his body.