Wing Chun

Wing Chun is a school of traditional Chinese martial arts. With its focus on defense, Wing Chun develops an active and concise system of defense and the proper use of force in necessary circumstance. In comparison to other traditional Chinese martial arts, Wing Chun aims to conquer the opponent in the minimum time possible and with minimum damage to its practitioner and the attacked.

Wing Chun belongs to the southern China school of fist martial art and is based on the “Central Line of Human Body” theory. It advocates the flexible movement of four limbs under the guidance of right concept and mindset. The baisc forms of Wing Chun are Siu Lim Tao, chum kiu and Bil Gee, and major practice method is chi sao, a way of dual practice, and the main instrument used include man-shaped wood stool, sword and sticks, and auxiliary equipment include sandbags on walls, and three-star stools.

On Nov.11, 2014, authorities in Fujian, Fuzhou Province of China applied “Wing Chun” as a representative item in the fourth batch of National Intangible Cultural Heritage.

基本介紹

• Status：National
• time：2014
• number：VI-77
• category：Traditional sports, acrobatics
• region：Fuzhou, Fujian Province

I. Origin and related legends

There are many legends about the origin of Wing Chun. And the present style is developed by generations of Wing Chun masters. It is widely believed that it originated in border areas in Sichuan and Yunnan Province, then gained prevalence in Fujian Province and eventually established itself as a prominent school of martial arts in Foshan, Guangdong Province. The history of Wing Chun is not seen in written documents, but passed on orally among people as folk-legends, and some pieces of its history may be seen novels. As time goes by, there are ever wider discrepancies between various versions of its origin myths. So its true origin remains a mystery now and is highly disputed.

II. Development

A famous Cantonese Opera actor,Wong Wah Bo[d1] first taught Yong Chun skills to one of his good friend in his theatrical troupe, Leung Yee-tai. And Leung Yee-tai then passed such skills to Leung Jan from Lao village, Heshan County of Foshan. Wong Wah Bo highly commended Leung Jan and adopted him as his last disciples.

Learning from Wong Wah Bo, Leung Jan (widely known as Mr. Jan from Foshan) realized the superiority of Wing Chun in terms of the exercising of muscular force, the maintenance of body structure and employment of martial techniques. Therefore, from 1870 to 1890, Leung started teaching Wing Chuna at his pharmacy, Jan Sang Tong (name disputed), and systematically reviewed this form of martial art. His disciples are not openly recruited, as he carefully adopted only a few. Beside two of his sons, Leung Chun and Leung Bik, Chan Wah Shun was the only one fortunate enough to learn in person from him.

Chan Wah Shun was an accountant in an old-time Chinese private bank, and he used to pass by Leung Jan’s pharmacy in his business trips. Heard of stories about the invincible Leung Jan, Chan Wah Shun peeked from the gate of Leung Jan’s pharmacy and picked up Wing Chun skills. After the death of Leung Jan, Chan Wah Shun started teaching Wing Chun at a little shop. As required by the nature of Wing Chun, its teaching employs the method of “person to person practice”, which is different from the teaching of Shaolin Sect of martial art. Therefore, a teacher cannot take too many disciples. Also, as Chan Wah Shun charged a high fee, the art of Wing Chun did not reach out wide then. Chan taught Wing Chun from 1901 to 1907 with a total of 16 disciples. Among them are Wu Zhongsu, He Hanlv, Lei Ruji, his son Chan Rumianand his last disciple, Yip Man.

Yip Man showed prodigious ability for martial arts but was poor in physical health. In the hope of boosting his health, when Chan Wah Shun rented the ancestral hall (a place for ancestral worship) of Yip’s family as his teaching base, Yip Man was allowed to be one of Mr. Chan’s followers. Yip Man was both talented and diligent, so he was favored and instructed by Chan in person more often, and during this process, an elder disciple of Chan, Wu Zhongsu, assisted Chan and practiced with Yip Man a lot, further improved Yip Man’s skills. After Chan Wah Shun died from stroke, Yip Man followed Wu Zhongsu and practiced hard for three years before he was even 15. After that, Yip Man was enrolled in St. Stephen's College in Hong Kong as demanded by his father. And during his college time, he was able to meet Leung Bik, the son of Leung Jan, with whom he practiced Wing Chun together. In 1949, Yip Man left Foshan for Hong Kong. And 20 years after that, he founded martial clubs to teach Wing Chun art at several locations, including the labor union of Gangjiu Hotel, Yu Chau Street in Kowloon, Lei Cheng Uk Estate, and Tung Choi Street. Yip Man reached high prestige in martial arts circle and in society, so there are people from many sectors, and even foreigners, learning from him. In 1971, students of Yip Man founded the Wing Chun Athletic Association for the purpose of teaching, analyzing and exchanging views of Wing Chun art, and this association became the hub of the promotion of Wing Chun. There are many renowned disciples of Yip Man, in particular Bruce Lee who enjoyed worldwide reputation for being a master of Chinese martial arts and a movie start.

Bruce Lee learned Wing Chun under the Yip Man since he was young, and then left to study in the United States when he was 18. After his graduation, he founded the Jun Fan Gung Fu Instituteto pass on Chinese martial arts. During this time, he conducted in-depth study, drew on the strength of both Chinese and foreign martial arts, and eventually established his own martial art sect, Jeet Kune Do. In 1971, he returned to Hong Kong and started staring in films, and many of his films about Chinese Kung Fu were huge successes, earning the title of “King of Kung Fu” for himself and a world renown for Wing Chun which he learned in his early days,.

III. Content

Wing Chun is basically constituted of three open-hand forms(or taolu) include Siu Lim Tao, chum kiu and Bil Gee, and is practiced on a wooden dummy. Major techniques include chi sao, Bong Sau among others, and major stances include the sitting stance, front stance, left/right neutral stance and etc. It combines features of close-range combat and Ng Ga Kuenmartial art, and requires the coordination between hands, waist, stance, mind and force, with emphasis on the commanding position of “heart” over “mind”, and “mind” over the movement of hands, waist and stance. Wing Chun is based on real fighting practice, so it is highly flexible in the switching of forms, punches, and stances, and can deliver great force precisely at a close range.

IV. Characteristics and advantages

Wing Chun is highly scientific and practical. It is fast in giving punches, switching stances and also close in defense. It achieves the simultaneity of offense and defense, and the combination of softness and hardness. It consumes a relatively small amount of physical strength, as it gives full play to “close-range forces” in offense and defense. Its theory and mental instructions focus on the central line of human body, equal attention on left and right, and flexible handling and delivering of punches among others. Its strength lies in close range combat.

The central line in the central line theory of Chinese martial arts refers to the axis of human body from head to groin. When attacking, the practitioner of Wing Chun is required to aim at the central line of his opponent, which is the closest to reach. Given the same punching speed, the closer the distance, the faster the arrival of punches. In addition, when aimed at the central line, the opponent is hard to defend with full forces, so the effect of punches is maximized. Kung Fu star Bruce Lee learned Wing Chun systematically from master Yip Man, and the Jeet Kune Do he pioneered is closely linked to Wing Chun. Bruce Lee was able to knock down his opponent from only a foot away, and this skill is related to the central line theory in Wing Chun, which forms the most practically valuable part of Chinese martial arts of fist.