Bruce Lee and Wing Chun

Author: Kang-pang Chan

It's a system that is simple and yet powerful. Its advantages have been well appreciated by professionals worldwide whose lives depend on their abilities to engage and win in life- threatening combats. VIPs protection units, soldiers, elite forces, police personel, body guards, or just plain civilians who want to ensure and secure safety from potential threats that might occur in unexpected situations. Let's not forget the martial art enthusiasts who consider martial arts as part of their lifestyle. They all consider Wing Chun to be one of the most practical and yet gentle form of fighting skills that can be learned easily.

The Wing Chun system operates on the subconscious levels. I've had the honor to study my Wing Chun skills under the discipleship of Sifu. Wong, shun-leung whose name you can very easily look up from the Blackbelt magazine, who was one of the few true masters of the art of Wing Chun, and did many a session of translation for him as he had many students who flew from all over the world to come to Hong Kong just to learn from him.

One of the basic and important principles of Wing Chun can be revealed via a simple mathematical formula: "Between 2 points the shortest distance is a straight line." Imagine that, all the fancy moves seen in many other martial art systems would have you move in big circular movements, or a big arc, so as to generate enough force to hit your target.

And yet the basic form of movement in Wing Chun is to station yourself squarely with the opponent and all you need is to carry out your movements in a straight line. And guess what, you'd end up hitting your target faster and harder 9 out of 10 times - before the opponent has a chance to reach you travelling in an arc form. Simple math, right?

Another great and interesting thing about Wing Chun is: it trains your body not to think when in combat, especially in close combat. The 'Sticky Hands' training is so powerful that even Bruce Lee came back to Hong Kong to meet with Sifu. Wong, shun-leung to freshen up his 'Sticky Hands' techniques. And by the way, this 'Sticky Hands' technique is one of the most essential parts of the whole Wing Chun system, which is then the backbone of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kun Do system.

I remember many years ago about a piece of news of a famous movie star in Hong Kong who was also a Wing Chun practitioner - he had a fight in the bar with a big and tall westerner who was then a police academy karate trainer. Both of them were drunk and involved in quite a fierce fight in the dark and confined area in the bar. Guess who won? The movie star did. Simply because when both of them were so drunk that they couldn't really think logically and that's when the advantage of the Wing Chun system came in.

When one is a competent Wing Chun martial artist, one can be blind-folded and still win the fight. That's how powerful the system is. Are you interested to become one of these gentle and yet powerful person?

Besides being a naturopathic physican, Dr. Kang-pang Chan is a personal trainer certified by the International Sports Sciences Association (ISSA) as well as a certified instructor in Yiquan - an advanced form of holistic Chinese martial art that utilises precise bodymind coordination as the real source of power.

He practised Wing">http://www.2knowabout.com/wingchun/">Wing Chun under the discipleship of Sifu. Wong, shun-leung for a long time before jumping to Yiquan.

For more information about martial art, please visit here: Martial Art

More Martial Arts and Self Defense Articles

Kung Fu - How to Pick a Kung Fu School
What is the best way to select a Kung Fu school? First, visit the Kung Fu school and, if at all possible, take a few lessons. Observe the students and ask yourself: Are these the types of people I would like to be associated with? Remember that...read more

Tough or Smart - What's Your Most Powerful Self-Defense Weapon: Mind or Body?
There are as many approaches to self-defense as there are reasons why people study it. What are YOUR reasons and what approach are YOU using? How confident are you that your efforts will produce the results what you want? What is it about...read more

Where To Get Your Martial Arts And Self Defense Equipment
When you start training martial arts or Self Defense you will need the adequate martial arts of Self Defense equipment. Both types of equipment are different and you should know what to look for when shopping for martial arts or self defense...read more

Top 3 Reasons Why Why Self Defense For Women Is Different From Self Defense For The General Public
There is a big misconception among the public regarding self-defense – Self-defense tactics and strategy for the general public is the same as self defense for women. Let me tell you a shocking truth that some techniques and strategies taught in...read more

Blended Martial Arts for Self Defense
I’ve never been one to enjoy performing hours and hours of kata. That doesn’t mean I don’t like to practice my martial arts moves, just that I prefer them to be more active and realistic. Over the years, I have searched for an effective martial...read more

The 4 Lines of Self Defense
The cry of "Self defense!" is common among those who get into trouble for fighting. Often this is heard from both parties, which makes the statement suspect. Self defense is a complex concept. The defining the word is the easy part. In terms of...read more

Why The Wizened Old Martial Arts Masters In The Movies Are Dead Wrong
Watch almost any martial arts movie where the old, wise karate or kung fu master is training a new student...and you will almost always hear teacher tell student to "look your enemy in the eye." Bad idea. Really bad idea. Why? Because, while...read more

Self Defense Life Saver-Auto Emergency Tool
Have you or a loved one ever been in a situation where you needed something very simple to solve a problem but it just wasn't available? Last summer I had an example that was burned into my mind forever. I live in southern Colorado at 4500 ft...read more

Fitness and Training for Jiu-Jitsu / Self Defense
When I started training Jiu-Jitsu as a system for Self Defense, it became very apparent to me that the students did not take their personal Fitness to a level anywhere near that of competitive Martial Artists or Fighters. Having a competitive...read more

Self-defense Against a Knife: Myths, Fantasies and How to Stay Alive, Part One
"Knife defense" (actually, "defense against weapons" in general, but let’s stick to knives/shanks/little pointy things for now), as trained these days in most martial arts/self-defense schools, and even in many (but not...read more

Notice: These martial arts and self defense articles are gathered from various public sources and are presented "as is" for for informational purposes only. They do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of the Lo Man Kam Wing Chun Kung Fu Organization. The authors of this site make no claims and take no responsibility regarding the content of these articles.

Wing Chun Las Vegas Kung Fu School | 6366 W. Sahara Ave | Phone: (702) 768-1201

Martial Arts Articles Self Defense