WHAT IS WING CHUN?
OUR STYLE
Wing Chun is a southern Chinese style of Kung fu which, according to legend, was created by a Buddhist nun at the famous Shaolin Temple. Popularised by Bruce Lee and the recent Ip Man movies, it suits both women and men as it is a hard and soft style with emphasis on force, relaxation, power and biomechanics. It incorporates many of the attributes that have helped make it famous all around the world like directness, practicality, speed, sensitivity and a no-nonsense approach.
For us, the building of a good foundation is an important part of Wing Chun training. Wing Chun develops a person’s abilities step by step by building techniques on basic foundation elements in relaxation, coordination and power generation. The Wing Chun style involves use of the entire body in application and is adaptive by nature, so the more an opponent increases their efforts to defend or attack they are funnelled into defeat quickly and efficiently. The idea is to smother the opponents attacks and shut down their ability to continue immediately. We are not interested in trading blows, but instead the goal is to deflect, dominate, control and end a confrontation as soon as possible.
Rather than through techniques alone, these skills are achieved through a deeper understanding of the principles and changing the way your body holds itself, moves and reacts through practice. In fact, Wing Chun only contains simple techniques, however, once a good foundation is achieved, they are highly versatile. They can be put together in endless combinations, flowing seamlessly and, at more advanced levels, a skilled practitioner can create applications of their own.
The Three Pillars
At Black Lion we emphasise certain exercises to transform the body to do Wing Chun, with the belief that diligence in the basics determines the quality of all advanced practice and application. The
‘three pillars’ upon which the style is based are:
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The stance – Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma
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The Centreline punch – Jee Ng Choi
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The Turn – Juen Ma
The Wing Chun style builds on these to eventually be combined into a single, coordinated, unit. This becomes your natural way of moving under pressure, able to flow, change and generate power.
The Three Empty Hand Forms
The Wing Chun style contains three traditional empty-handed
forms (preset solo patterns), each with a different focus and giving a practitioner the various tools (techniques) to combat with. The forms also introduce different timing patterns, speed, and coordination variants, giving practitioners versatility in their movements. Repetitive and correct practice of the forms offers embodiment of the style.
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The most important of the forms is Siu Lim Tao, which you learn on day one. Diligent practice in this form is the foundation of the style which yields the conditioning, power, softness, force, flexibility and mind-body connection crucial for quality Wing Chun training and application.
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Mook Yan Jong (Wooden Dummy)
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Luk Dim Boon Gwan (6.5 Point Pole)
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Baat Cham Do (Double Short Swords)
Wing Chun forms include:
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Siu Lim Tao (Little Idea)
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Chum Kiu (Seeking Bridge)
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Biu Jee (Thrusting Fingers)
We also practice ‘Sticking hands’ which is an exercise unique to Wing Chun. Practiced as a series of partner drills where you ‘stick’ to an opponent’s arms (maintaining physical contact) allowing you to control the opponent by feeling their force. This is faster than using your eyes and very useful at close range where it is difficult to see and react to what is happening.
Traditional Wing Chun training also includes sparring. Students begin to spar lightly once their bodies can perform enough of the basic techniques naturally (you need the tools to spar with). Sparring intensifies with progress with the idea to simulate a real fight as closely as possible while minimizing the risk of injury, enabling students to test their abilities, discover their weakness’ and further develop their own way to use the style. Sparring is done both from outside contact and in contact (sticking hands) starting positions to encompass all fighting ranges.
Aside from combat, Wing Chun is a great for self-improvement. Containing a combination of aerobic, anaerobic, and isometric strength training, practicing Wing Chun will get you fit and is a fantastic tool for improving mental health. Many of its principles able to be applied in everyday life, it can be practiced by the young, old and everyone in between to develop a healthy lifestyle. The Wing Chun spirit taught at Black Lion builds respect and strengthens character, through cooperative perseverance and hard work.