Wing Chun Kung Fu is one of the most effective self defense systems in existence today.  Wing Chun Kung Fu is a highly effective, combat-tested system of self defense, fighting skills and defensive tactics.  Wing Chun has been taught and integrated into hundreds of military & law enforcement agencies and training programs  around the world such as the US Navy Seals, the FBI, CIA, and SWAT teams and International Anti-Terrorist Units.

Wing Chun Kuen, translated as Beautiful  Springtime  Boxing,  is a composite system that was created from synthesizing the different methods of Shaolin Boxing to create a highly effective and easy to learn system of fighting. It has been referred to as a “Back Alley, Bar Room fighting style.” or as “Scientific street Fighting.” Wing Chun is noted for its simple, practical and effective techniques that use simultaneous offensive and defensive movements. It focuses on simple, natural movements and natural ranges of motion, making it perfect for anyone at any fitness level.

ORIGINS

The Legend of Wing Chun has it that a  Shaolin Nun named Ng Mui (五枚師太), witnessed a fight between a crane and a snake and noted that neither animal used brute force in the confrontation. The fight inspired her to create a new system of fighting based on the concepts she had witnessed being used by the two animals.

She later taught a young girl by the name of Yim Wing Chun (嚴詠春) this system of  self defense because a local thug threatened to force her to marry him. As a result Yim Wing Chun was able to defend herself with the boxing methods taught to her and later marry whomever she chose. She thereafter marries Leung Bok Chau (梁博儔) and teaches him the style, which he names after her.

HOW IT IS DIFFERENT…

1. Wing Chun Kung Fu is a practical school of boxing characterized by its natural stances and explosive counter attacks.

2. It was developed as a system of self-defense for women. They tested the art as they developed it, making it one of the world’s most devastating fighting arts.

3. It is void of rituals, sport aspects or flashy movements. It seeks victory by using the minimum amount of force to inflict the maximum amount of damage.

4. It attacks vulnerable areas of the body that are inherently weak. These areas are exactly the same on everybody no matter the amount of  ripped muscle, conditioning or training they remain weak and vulnerable to attack (i.e the eyes).

5. It is unlike other martial arts in that it does not have katas. Wing Chun has forms that teach concepts and methods of movement that are combined together to create fighting techniques.

6. Wing Chun does everything simultaneously. It attacks and defends at the same time making the Wing Chun Fighter always one step ahead of  the attacker(s). Yin / Yang theory is used to explain this phenomenon.

7. Special Forces Groups, Law Enforcement Agencies and individuals in protection oriented services seek to train in this system  of Chinese boxing due to its simplicity, efficiency and practicality. Another reason they seek to train in Wing Chun is because a practitioner can become highly effective within a very short period of time.

BRUCE LEE CONNECTION

Wing Chun is the only fighting art that Bruce Lee ever formally studied. It is the skills that he learned in Wing Chun that catapulted him to stardom in the martial arts world. Wing Chun  formed the core of his Jun Fan/Jeet Kune Do.  He stated on several occasions after creating JKD that he would use Wing Chun ( NOT Jeet Kune Do) if he were in a fight for his life.

His teacher was Master Yip Man. He introduced Duncan S.H. Leung to Yip Man and Wing Chun as a fighting art because they were childhood friends. Master Yip Man taught Duncan S.H. Leung as a closed door student and formal disciple. Master Leung’s line is continued by SiFu Dustan Carroll, who was trained as a closed door student and formal disciple of one of Master Leung’s former students, SiFu Robert Doc Savage .

“When drinking the water,  remember the source.” Yip Man

葉問是源

An Article From Martialdevelopement.com

Robbie Lawler’s Ruthless Wing Chun

Tags: EliteXC, MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), rules, self-defense, Wing Chun

I’ve always known that, sooner or later, the Chinese art of Wing Chun Kuen would be represented in a professional mixed martial arts bout. I just didn’t expect to see it in MMA’s historic prime-time debut.

Robbie Lawler

On May 31, 2008, “Ruthless” Robbie Lawler forever settled any reasonable doubts about Wing Chun’s viability in real combat. And he did it by accident.

Robbie Lawler faced Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith in the inaugural broadcast of CBS’ Saturday Night Fights. During the first two rounds of this title bout, both men fought according to New Jersey’s Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts: no headbutts, biting, groin attacks, or rabbit punches; no hair-pulling or small joint manipulation; no fish-hooking or strikes to the trachea.

For more than ten minutes, Lawler and Smith used their training in boxing, Muay Thai, wrestling and BJJ to soften each other up. Neither fighter held a clear advantage, and so the exchange continued. Then “Ruthless” Lawler stuck his fingers in Smith’s eye.

Referee Dan Miragliotta halted the fight immediately. Scott “Hands of Steel” Smith hoped to continue after a five-minute rest to regain his vision, but the doctor forbid it. The match was called: no contest.

Lawler’s eye poke, unintentional though it was, ended the bout in seconds. There is little doubt in my mind that, if the referee had allowed it, Lawler could have followed up with an uncontested knockout.

Robbie Lawler fingers Scott Smith in round 3

Ring Fighting vs. Real-World Self-Defense

As a professional fighter, Scott Smith followed the match rules, and he was reasonable to assume that Robbie Lawler would do the same. However, it would also be reasonable to assume that, in a five-round fight with fingerless gloves, a stray finger could land in your eye, and to defend against such an accident.

If only such a thing were possible. The eyes are the most sensitive area on the body, and especially difficult to protect. If the opponent can so much as touch your eyes, they can damage them permanently, so the threat demands a conservative game. (The same principle applies, to a lesser degree, to defending the throat and genitals.)

Effective defense of vital areas cannot be an afterthought; it must be integrated into a fighting strategy from the outset, and supported by coherent tactics. The approach must be conservative, but also vicious, in order to eliminate the threat as rapidly as possible.

Does any of this sound familiar? These are the precepts of Wing Chun Kuen, Bruce Lee’s original martial art. Wing Chun starts where MMA ends; it is brutal and direct. Rules, community standards, and basic human decency prevent it from being fully applied in the competitive arena, but as Robbie Lawler reminded us yesterday, the ruthless hands of Wing Chun should not be discounted.

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