Wing Chun Chuan is a martial art named after the protégé of a Buddhist nun who learnt and adapted her fighting skills from Shaolin chuan.

History and Philosophy

Wing chun, originated in southern China and is relatively modern compared with other Chinese martial arts. Wing Chun is considered a “soft”-styled martial art but actually blends both “soft” and “hard” techniques.

In fear of the threat posed by the highly skilled monks in the Shaolin monastery, the Qing government plotted and conspired with traitorous monks to raze the temple in a large fire. Ng Mui was one of the handful who escaped and this Shaolin chuan expert created Wing Chun. Ng Mui later befriended the young and beautiful Yim Wing Chun and tutored her in kung fu, naming the system Wing Chun after her protégé.

Ng Mui discarded old traditions and concentrated on winning at all costs. Wing Chun uses speed and subtlety to overcome an opponent’s natural advantages instead of muscular strength, bone conditioning or muscular flexibility. It even uses finger jabs to the eyes, elbow strikes to the face and kicks to an opponent’s lower body to gain an advantage. Wing Chun practices protecting and striking major pressure points, economy of motion, and the principle of combined or simultaneous defence and attack.

Wing Chun Training

Wing Chun teaches that there are five ways to defeat an enemy – joint locks, kicks, strikes, throws and the use of weapons.

One definitive training method in Wing Chun is wooden dummy practice, popularised in many films where the practitioner trains against an apparatus made of wood. In reality, the dummy is specific only to Wing Chun.

Wing Chun also involves a weapons discipline, with weapons mostly adapted from everyday tools used in agriculture or fishing such as rice flails, poles and staffs.