Wing Chun and Martial Arts: Exploring the Value of Self-Defense

Martial arts are an interesting aspect of Chinese culture for many people in the Western world due the low importance of martial arts in their own culture, movies such as Karate Kid and actors such as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan; however, the complexity and importance of martial arts in China is unknown to most westerners. Being one of those unknowing westerners, I decided explore this part of Chinese culture and signed up for a Wing Chun course at the beginning of the semester. In this importance of martial arts essay I briefly explain the grand scheme of Chinese martial arts before diving into the history and most important principles of Wing Chun and concluding with my experiences in learning it.

Background

According to legends, the Yellow Emperor developed the first martial arts in China 4,000 years ago during the Xia Dynasty; however, the chronicles “Spring and Autumn Annals” demonstrates that martial arts were already practiced 2,500 years earlier. Throughout history, Chinese people developed several hundred martial arts that are classified into 'families' (jiā, 家), 'sects' (pai, 派) or 'schools' (men, 門) and split into northern and southern styles depending on the location of development relative to the river Yangtze. 

Chinese people use Wushu and Kungfu as umbrella terms for their martial arts. Wǔshù (武術) translates into martial arts, whereby wǔ (武) means martial or military and shù (術) means art. Zhōngguó wǔshù (中國武術) means therefore Chinese martial arts. Kungfu is the englification of gōngfū (功夫), whereby gōng (功) means work and fū (夫) is in this case usually interpreted as “fellow”. Thus, Kungfu means “work fellow”. Notably, gōng (功) in gōngfū (功夫) differs from gōng (工) in gōngzuò (工作). Both characters have almost the same meaning; however, as one might infer from the simplicity of the character gōng (工) is older.

History

The legend of Wing Chun begins in the Siu Lam Temple during the Qing dynasty. The temple, home to many anti-Qing revolutionaries, was attacked by Qing soldiers and the five elders living in it had to flee. While fleeing, the nun Ng Mui Si Tai, one of the elders, witnessed a fight between a crane and a snake. By combining her Siu Lam boxing with the movements of the animals, she developed a yet unnamed martial art. Later, Ng Mui taught the new art to loyalists of the Ming throne, amongst other to Yim Wing-Chun. Yim used Ng Mui’s art to defeat a local ruffian who desired her, allowing her to marry her fiancée. She taught her husband the so far unnamed martial art who named it after her: Wing Chun.

The legend continues to explain how Wing Chun was refined by several masters and passed on to new generations. A man born in the mid-1890s named Yip Man stands out in the chain of masters. Yip was the last disciple of a Wing Chun master named Chan Wah-Shun; however, he learned from and trained with many masters. After losing his wealth and prosperity due to the Communist Party seizing power in 1949, Yip breaks the tradition of secrecy around Wing Chun and begins teaching it to the public in Hong Kong. With this decision, Yip set the cornerstone for the modern popularity of Wing Chun and especially for Yip Man’s branch. 

Principles

Different from many other Wushu, Wing Chun follows a set of principles instead of just developing techniques alone. The following two are the most basic and important principles of Wing Chun:

Centerline Principle

Wing Chun practitioners focus on dominating the centerline between the two opponents, since it is the optimal path to minimize distance between them. Consequently, opponents have to evade on a longer curved path around the centerline, which gives Wing Chun practitioners time to counteract on the centerline before the opponent hits them. Moreover, Wing Chun also promotes maintaining a mental centerline similar to jung yang in Confucianism and “middle way” in Buddhism.

Crowding Power Principle

Another Wing Chun principle is to always keep the opponent under pressure. Wing Chun practitioners always try to suffocate opponents’ punches before they are able to fully exert their force. This is related to the centerline facing principle, since maintaining the centerline gives Wing Chun practitioners the ability to defuse hits early. 

Personal Experience

When I began learning Wing Chun at the beginning of this semester I was very close to dropping the course, since I felt like being an intruder. I was the only non-Chinese student in my course, which meant the course had to be thought in English solely for me. Moreover, everyone had at least a basic understanding of what Wing Chun is whereas I had never even heard of Wing Chun. However, after think of the fun I have in teaching people who have never seen the snow before how to ski, I changed my mindset and continued taking the course. This decision turned out to be one of the best I have taken during this year, since learning Wing Chun gave me the unfiltered and direct insight into the Chinese culture I was looking for. The philosophies behind Wing Chun changed my way of thinking in some areas and I developed a deep respect for people who practice Wing Chun for years to gain total perfection in every single movement.

Conclusion

Wing Chun is a relatively young Chinese martial art form that was developed during the Qing dynasty. The most popular and first publicly taught form of Wing Chun was developed by Yip Man in the 20th century. Wing Chun is not just based on learning techniques, but is founded on concepts and principles such as the centerline principle or the crowding power principle. Learning Wing Chun has been an amazing experience for me during the last semester and gave me interesting insights into the Chinese culture.