The common legend involves the
young woman Yim Wing Chun (Wing Chun literally means beautiful springtime or
praising spring) at the time after the destruction of the Southern Shaolin
and its associated temples by the Qing government. After Wing Chun rebuffs
the local warlord's marriage offer, he says he'll rescind his proposal if
she can beat him in a martial art match fight. She asks a Buddhist nun- Ng
Mui, who was one of the Shaolin Sect survivors, to teach her boxing; this
still nameless style enables Yim Wing Chun to defeat the warlord. She
thereafter marries Leung Bac-Chou and teaches him the style, which he names
after her.
The Ching dynasty,
over 275 years ago. The Manchus, who made up about 10% of the population,
ruled the Hans and created many restrictions to keep them dependent on the
small ruling class. Through the years, however, the Manchus gradually began
to accept the Han culture and to respect the Sil Lum (Shaolin) Temple as a
place of worship and sanctuary. Even so, to repress the Hans, the Manchus
banned all weapons and martial arts training. Secretly the Hans began
organizing rebel groups within the Sil Lum Temple.
Because the classical animal
styles of kung fu took 15 to 20 years to master, it was necessary to develop
a new style that would enable students to become proficient fighters in a
much shorter time span. As the Manchu soldiers were often trained in
classical kung fu styles, it was important that this new style be designed
to be effective in neutralizing the existing techniques. Five kung fu
masters pooled the knowledge of their own respective styles in order to come
up with a new, more economical style, utilizing only the most effective
methods of combat from each. What these five kung fu masters developed would
create an efficient martial artist in only 3 to 5 years.
Before they could teach anyone the new style, a traitor within the temple
opened the gates for the Manchu soldiers and the temple was burned to the
ground. Only one master, a Sil Lum nun named Ng Mui, escaped. She later
passed her knowledge on to a young orphan girl, who she named Yim Wing Chun
(Beautiful Springtime) and who shared this knowledge with her husband, Leung
Bok Cho. Through the years, the style became known as Wing Chun kung fu.
Wing Chun believes in using
the least amount of required force in any fighting situation. It believes
properly timed positioning and movements can and should be used to defeat
an opponent. This is achieved through balance, body structure and
relaxation.uses deflection and counter-attack in the same motion or will
intercept the opponent to nullify an attack, rather than blocking then
attacking in two separate motions. Further on interception the punch can
act as a block as a consequence of the structure and the position of the
arm traveling along its triangular "power-line" pathway to the opponent's
"Core". This means that the opponent's attack is automatically deflected
by the arm-structure of the Wing Chun practitioner as the counter-punch is
delivered.
The "structure" permitting this deflection to occur is controlled through
the correct focus of energy from the "core" to the "elbow". If the
structure is not in place, the counter-attack/interception is likely to
break down losing the "forwarding" power which may result in the
deflection failing and allowing the attacking punch to make its target.
In addition to efficiency being understood as the "shortest distance to
the opponent's core" (which relates specifically to the speed of
attack/counter-attack), it is also important to understand the importance
of energy efficiency within Wing Chun. A person using Wing Chun is said to
be able to defeat a stronger person because they are able to use their
structure effectively. Given this, it is essential in ensuring that the
Wing Chun practitioner has a full understanding of structure which enables
them to use the correct use of energy required - deviation from the
structure results in having to use the muscles more and your Wing Chun
will not as effectively counter the strength of a stronger opponent. The
structure deflects the energy in the enemy’s attacks and opens for counter
attacks, if used properly it will also weaken the opponents blocks
resulting in strikes that hit.
Balance is related to structure because a well-balanced body recovers
quicker from stalled attacks and structure is maintained. Wing Chun trains
the awareness of one's own body movement derived from muscular, tendon,
and articular sources. Performing Wing Chun's forms such as Chum Kiu or
the Wooden Dummy form greatly increase proprioception. Wing Chun favours a
high, narrow stance with the elbows kept close to the body. Within the
stance, arms are positioned across the vitals of the centerline. Shifting
or turning within a stance is carried out variantly on the heels, balls,
or middle (K1 or Kidney 1 point) of the foot depending on lineage. All
attacks and counter-attacks are initiated from this firm, stable base.
Wing Chun rarely compromises structure for more powerful attacks because
this is believed to create defensive openings which may be exploited.
Softness (via relaxation) and performing techniques in a relaxed manner,
is fundamental to Wing Chun.
-Tension reduces punching speed and power. Muscles act in pairs in
opposition to each other (e.g. biceps and triceps). If the arm is tensed,
maximum punching speed cannot be achieved as the biceps will be opposing
the extension of the arm. In Wing Chun, the arm should be relaxed before
beginning the punching motion.
-Unnecessary muscle tension wastes energy and causes fatigue.
-Tense, stiff arms are less fluid and sensitive during trapping and chi
sao.
-A tense, stiff limb provides an easy handle for an opponent to push or
pull with, whereas a relaxed limb provides an opponent less to work with.
-A relaxed, but focused limb, affords the ability to feel "holes" or
weaknesses in the opponents structure (See Sensitivity section). With the
correct forwarding these "holes" grant a path into attacking the opponent.
-Muscular struggle reduces a fight to who is stronger. Minimum brute
strength in all movement becomes an equalizer in uneven strength
confrontations. This is very much in the spirit of the tale of Ng Mui.
Centerline existence of a "central axis" concept is unified in Wing Chun, the
interpretation of the centerline concept itself is not. Many variations
exist, with some lineages defining anywhere from a single "centerline" to
multiple lines of interaction and definition. The most commonly seen
interpretation emphasizes attack and defense along an imaginary horizontal
line drawn from the center of the practitioner's chest to the center of
the enemy's chest. The human body's prime striking targets are considered
to be on or near this line, including eyes, nose, throat, solar plexus and
groin.
The vertical punch is the most basic and fundamental in Wing Chun and is
usually thrown with the elbow down and in front of the body. Depending on
the lineage, the fist is held anywhere from vertical to horizontal (palm
side up). The contact points also vary from the top two knuckles, to the
middle two knuckles, to the bottom three knuckles. In some lineages of
Wing Chun, the fist is swivelled at the wrist on point of impact so that
the bottom three knuckles are thrust forward adding power to the punch
while it is at maximum extension.
The punches may be thrown in quick succession in a 'straight blast' or
'chain punching'. When executed correctly, it can be used as a
disorienting finisher but is often criticised for encouraging weaker
punches that don't utilise the whole body. Wing Chun favours the vertical
punch for several reasons:
Directness. The punch is not "loaded" by pulling the elbow behind the
body. The punch travels straight towards the target from the guard
position (hands are held in front of the chest).
Protection. The elbow is kept low to cover the front midsection of the
body. It is more difficult for an opponent to execute an elbow lock/break
when the elbow occupies this position. This aids in generating power by
use of the entire body structure rather than only the arm to strike. Also
with the elbow down, it offers less opening for the body to be attacked
while the forearm and punch intercept space towards the head and upper
body.
Strength and Impact. Wing Chun practitioners believe that because the
elbow is behind the fist during the strike, it is thereby supported by the
strength of the entire body rather than just a swinging fist, and
therefore has more impact. A common analogy is a baseball bat being swung
at someone's head (a round-house punch), as opposed to the butt end of the
bat being thrust forward into the opponent's face (wing chun punch), which
would cause far more damage than a glancing hit and isn't as easy to
evade. Many skilled practitioners pride themselves on being able to
generate "short power" or large amount of power in a short space. A common
demonstration of this is the "one-inch punch," a punch that starts only an
inch away from the target yet delivers an explosive amount of force.
Alignment & Structure. Because of Wing Chun's usage of stance, the
vertical punch is thus more suitable. The limb directly in front of the
chest, elbow down, vertical nature of the punch allows a practitioner to
absorb the rebound of the punch by directing it through the elbows and
into the stance. This is a desirable trait to a Wing Chun practitioner,
where in contrast the rebound of a horizontal, elbow-out punch promotes
torque in the puncher's body. This is because the limb and elbow are now
directing rebound force outwards instead of inwards due to the positioning
of the hinge-structured elbow. This aids in generating power by promoting
use of the entire body structure rather than only the arm to strike.
