Wing chun is probably one of the most well known kung fu systems in the world, mainly due to the exploits of Bruce Lee, who popularised King Fu, especially Wing Chun to the western world.
But you don’t need to have the talent, strength or skill of Bruce Lee to learn Wing Chun. In fact as legend has it, Wing Chun was taught to a humble village girl in China from a Nun of the Shaolin Temple. So since its inception it was designed to cater for women- or those who are small in stature.
Properly executed the wing chun system does not require raw strength to be effective. These are taught at the very beginning of your wing chun training.
The Sil Lm tao form aka the little idea form is the introduction to the wing chun training system. This is where the foundation concepts and ideas of the wing chum system are learned. You learn the basic stance and defensive guards and tools of Wing Chun.
Next form is Chum Kill also known as bridging the gap- where advanced footwork is introduced and attacking moves and strategies. Bridging the gap refers to the gap between you and your opponent and how to make up that ground in an attacking manner to nullify and win over your opponent. Your real threat form an opponents is when he is in range -out of range he is no threat. Remember ‘stick and stones will break bones but words never harm.
As a trained martial artist you should have a state of mind not to care what names you are being called only be aware of your surrounding to see of you are in any real threat. The space between you and your opponent is neutral ground. Making up the distance between you and your opponent is the most dangerous move as you are in range of being hit. Chum Kill teaches you how to make up this ground to devastating effect.
Bill Jee is the most advanced form in the Wing Chun training system where you train to strike with your fingers. The basic idea is that fighting with this technique amongst other thinks increases your range to strike your opponent and targets specific areas. This is a very advanced technique and probably beyond the scope of this article but be wary a little knowledge is a dangerous thing so treat this information as informational purposes only.
The one thing that distinguishes Wing Chun from other styles is Chi Sao. This is a sparring technique where you apply the hand forms learned by the previous wing chun training forms and apply them to a sparring/ fighting situation. The sticky hands technique teaches how to guard/attack by the feel of your opponents arms.
Wing Chun fighters are sparring at the wrist range and fight in close quarters. You stick to your opponents hand to block any attack as well as instigate traps and attacks.
It is a lot more involved than this, however it is a critical part of your wing chun training.
Finally you have the Wing Chun Dummy to contend with. This simple wooden dummy provides infinite amount of concepts and strategies to practice from-and can take a beating only thing I would warn is to work on your conditioning. The wooden dummy is sturdy enough to take even the most persistent beating ..but not sure if your arms can take the Wing chun wooden dummy and its solid base and solid arms However it is an invaluable tool and an essential component of any students wing chun training.
