Wing Tsun Kung fu

What is Wing Tsun Kung Fu?

Wing Tsun Kung Fu - which means beautiful/ eternal spring - is a southern Chinese martial art style from the 18th century. It is one of the hundreds of kung-fu styles, but by its evolution and characteristics, it is uniquely special. It appears both in the philosophical-theoretical background, principles and technical repertoire of the system.

Fortunately masters of the past generations remained loyal to the root and made only such changes in the system that did not make the martial art style of the beautiful spring lose its uniqueness. In addition, it did not become a victim to the effort of transforming martial art styles into combat sports.

Born of a revolutionarily new and special fighting system

How was Wing Tsun Kung Fu created? The short answer is that by the thorough and systematic work of the founder masters.

The basis of Wing Tsun was the Shaolin system which has been polished for 1500 years at that time. The Shaolin masters realised that the old system was way too complicated, started to lose its real fighting value and needed disproportionally much time to learn it.

In the political-power relations of China at that time, it was a serious disadvantage, which made the masters leaving the Shaolin temple consider, in the possession of ancient knowledge, to create something revolutionarily new. This is how Wing Tsun Kung Fu came to existence.

The goal and the tool

Creating the new system was led by using a practical aspect, since the creators used many sources (among others from current Chinese religious and philosophical trends), at the same time they did not rigidly insist on any of these ideas as long as it did not helped them achieve the main goal, which was to defeat the opponent as soon as possible.

The most significant point was efficiency. The founders realised that we have chance against a stronger opponent only with dexterity and agility, so techniques were selected according to this approach. They paid attention to use their force as efficiently as possible, and to turn the opponent's force back to himself.

By the creation of the system, they made great emphasis on close-range combat: the idea was that a stronger opponent is less able to use his force at a smaller distance, because he cannot speed up his limbs to the maximum speed. At the same time the techniques of Wing Tsun Kung Fu were developed to be able to reach high speed (and significant strength by that) at a small distance (e.g. Bruce Lee's 1 inch punch).

Special exercises were built into the system in order to develop touching reflexes (chi-sau, chi-gerk), the aim was to develop touching perception with the limbs. According to this approach, automatic reflexes and skills – which are acquired by this practice – confer advantage in close-range combat. It makes us able to feel the movements of the opponent more precisely, and also reduce reaction time.

Finally, two traditional weapons became part of the Wing Tsun Kung Fu system. The first one is the long-pole (6,5 feet long) and the other are the Cantonese swords (wide bladed, cutting knives, as long as a forearm). These weapons represent the two extremes of traditional weapons (the longest and shortest). On the other hand, the applications of these weapons are completely different from weapon usage of other fighting systems, and the ability to use these weapons properly is the highest level of Wing Tsun Kung Fu.

Easy to learn, its efficiency is outstanding

The 'less is more' basic principle was successfully applied, so the number of techniques was significantly reduced; only those were taken into consideration, which can be applied in a real fight. According to this approach only three bare-handed, a wooden dummy and two weapon sets were created, and these – compared to other martial art sets – contain the movements in a more simple way. This is why acquiring the Wing Tsun system requires significantly less time.

Martial art of the thinking man

Over the above mentioned, there are several special principles, techniques, concepts, which can be used with excellent efficiency for defending ourselves or others. At the same time, to acquire, practice and apply Wing Tsun Kung Fu, we do not need to harden our body exaggeratedly, which can be bad for our health if we do it for a long time. Since when creating this special martial art, the founders of Wing Tsun Kung Fu used the most human ability of men - the ability of thinking -, it can be described with this short sentence: martial art of the thinking man.

For whom do we recommend it?

All together it can be said that Wing Tsun Kung Fu can give something to everybody, depending on one's goal and temperament. It can be comprehended as a martial art style, as a sport or something that you can spend your free time with, a very efficient self-defence system, besides all these as a unique gem of the Chinese culture.

The Rules of the Wing Tsun School

You should come to the trainings in time and in a neat condition.
You should practice always in the traditional uniform and protectors.
You should bow when you enter or exit the training hall.
You should behave in a disciplined way.
You must not cross your arms or put your hands into your pockets; chewing gum, smoking and drinking alcohol are also forbidden.
You have to speak to Si-Fu and to Si-Hing/ Si-Mei with respect and address them according to their ranks.
You should greet Si-Fu and Si-Hing/ Si-Mei with the traditional bow.
You should always thank it, when your errors are corrected.
You must not wear wristwatch, necklace, rings and other similar things during the trainings.
You must not practice sparring without attendance.
Practice enthusiastically and do not forget the techniques you have learnt.
You should apply the acquired techniques only when necessary.
You should be friendly and helpful with your fellow-students.
You should never offend the dignity of Wing Tsun.
You must pay the tuition fee until the tenth day of the month.
If a member has any problem with the school or with other members, he/she must report it to the headquarters.

If a student breaks these rules several times and intentionally, he/she will be expelled from the school!