The teet lung pai system taught at Clear’s Silat Schools includes pentjak and kuntao silat, tai chi, and aspects of shaolin chuan kung-fu, hsing-I and paqua. Although these systems are diverse in both origin and substance, they share one key similarity – the open hand concept. This article will concentrate on the benefits of the open hand strike in general and five ways to strike in particular, as well as how they are utilized in specific styles.
1. Whipping Hits
Chi-petjut – South Javanese silat, monkey and some tai chi;
2. Slaps with arm weight from elbow or shoulder (The way most people slap)
Wing chun, choy li fut, praying mantis, tiger, tjimande, and tjikalung;
3. Open hand striking with waist power (all of the styles mentioned above)
4. Whole body power open hand striking
Hsing-I, paqua, tai chi, Tibetan systems and drunken style, kilap, kilat, pukolan, and tjimande.
5. Internal power HittingOpen and Shut Case
These systems form the backbone of teet lung pai. The open hand offers many benefits over fist techniques. Compared to punches, open hand techniques are said to be faster, cover more surface area, deliver more knock-out power by transmitting greater shock and offering greater versatility.
Open hand techniques can become grabs, finger pokes, or fists faster and easier than fists can become something else. An open hand can also be used to defend against an elbow or knee while a fist would be powerless against such a strike.
The soft open hand molds itself around the hard parts, and the force of the hit is transmitted through the skin and into the hard inner core. Stylists use boards, bricks, hand-held striking pads and heavy bags to check the power, speed, and accuracy of their techniques. They have found out that the small bones in the fist will not stand up to the power that the vast majority of open hand strikes can generate. This is not to say that the fist will always be weak and slow. It is just that all things being equal in the paper- scissors, rock game, the fist looses to the open hand most of the time. Whip It Up!
The whip is a technique that can be found in most Silat styles. Some styles that commonly incorporate this technique are Kuntao, Chi-Petjut, Madi, and Tai Chi. In America, Kuntao Silat master Guy Savelli has developed the art of the whip hand to a high level. His ability to whip strike someone to the chest, disrupts their nervous system to such an extent, their vision often becomes blurred. If full body power had been added, the subject might have died.
Among excellent teachers of the monkey form are si tai gung Tyrone Jackson, whose distance / reaching techniques allow him to hit a person from a distance of six to ten feet away and ba pak Willem de Thouars for rapid fire monkey strikes.
Also, the art of Kuntao is kung-fu that is practiced in Indonesia and Malaysia. There are over 250 Kuntao styles. Most of these styles have been modified over the centuries because of the exposure and mixture with Silat. We prefer to call these modified versions Kuntao Silat. The mixtures of these systems in Java and Bali occur frequently enough that Malays think of the two as interchangeable. In his book The Weapons and Fighting arts of Indonesia, Don F Draeger makes the same kind of reference to “…Pentjak Bali (sometimes even Kuntao Bali)…)
There are Chinese and Indonesian styles that use slaps with arm weight from the elbow or shoulder. They include:
Wing Chun — Tan sao and press down.
Praying Mantis — Wu sao then punch.
Tiger — Sitting in a booth-arm wrapping technique and / or choy li fut
Tjimande — Juru 1 (first half) and passing techniques
Tjkalong — Cross grab and underarm elbow break.To Be Continued in “Open Hand Basics – Part 2″

There was a time when the karate man was looked upon with respect and feared. A time when, if someone said they were a black belt, it caused others to be impressed. You can say that karate has become outdated. But what has really happened is that karate has become exposed. There has been an interesting development in the martial arts in the late 20th Century and into the 21st. Martial arts have evolved and become much more true to life than ever.

If you are one of those people who like to question things then maybe this thought has gone through your mind. Why are there so many different martial arts systems in the world. We all have two arms and two legs don’t we? So why all the different systems of self defense? I know that systems were usually born out of a need such as one group of people having to fight another group who were better armed. So they developed systems to fight those men who used certain weapons a certain way. Unfortunately these men thought their system more effectual than they should.

So let’s look at what we have in the world without going into a deep history lesson. You basically have karate and ju-jitsu from Okinawa and Japan. You have a multitude of kung fu systems from China. You have Tae Kwon Do and a few others like Tang Soo Do from Korea; boxing and wrestling from Europe of course. Of these there is every variation under the sun. You name it and someone has tried to develop it into a fighting system. But what do we really have. The fact is that all we really have is three men out there. It all boils down to THREE. You have boxers or people who fight predominantly with their hands, kickers who like to use kicks as their main weapon and grapplers who like to take people to the ground and finish them there. That’s really it. Just those three. Now there are people who are good at one, two or even three of those methods. Those guys are now known as mixed martial artists.

Someone once asked, what is truth? I think we can ask that same question here. I mean how can the average guy deal with someone who is skilled in one or even three of the main fighting methods? You know, the grappler who can kick and box. If the guy is good at all three methods then do I have to be good at all three methods, too? Do I have to fight in the same manner? I know karate won’t do the job. Definitely Tae Kwon Do will not do. How about adding a self defense class or two. Will that help? I don’t think so. What about kung fu and all the various animal styles? No. You can pretend to be an animal but that won’t beat the skilled boxer, kicker, grappler. So how do we deal with this guy. It can’t be using his own methods. You can’t box a boxer and expect to win if he’s really good at what he does. Let’s just assume this guy is a really good mixed martial artist who happens to be a thug and wants to rob and maybe even kill you. What’s the answer if you don’t have a weapon at hand?

The answer is elementory yet intricate. In order to effectively deal with a skilled thug you must first put away all your preconceived ideas about what real combat is. Forget the ring. Forget what you see on TV. How can an older man; say middle-aged, defend against a group of younger, stronger and faster opponents. It will not be by speed and power. If he is to win; and he must, he has to do something all together different. Yes the older man is a master of self-defense. But his system is highly evolved. He relies on a core group of concepts rather than techniques. Of course he uses proper technique but it is all grounded in his core principals. He also has the amazing ability to fight in a very apropos manner because he is guided by highly developed contact reflexes. In other words, if he is touched by an aggressor, the older man instantly knows all about him and deals with him in proper time with super preparatory application. That means he stops the first attack and all future attacks immediately. He also uses skeletal alignment to enhance his power. He is able to hit much harder than his younger counterparts who use muscle to deliver their blows. The skilled older man delivers his strikes with his bones which feels like being hit with the end of an iron rod.

The answer is to unite with the opponent’s energy. No struggling or resisting but moving according to “the now”. To be able to discharge a highly potent “motion martial art”. Not static or choppy, muscular movements but relaxed yet aligned motions that can deal with an attack as if it were just a crude language. Yes, the answer is to have a highly developed and fluent martial language as a complete and elaborate communication. Yes, self defense can be like this. The only martial art I know that achieves this elevated dexterity is Wing Chun.

If a person truly dedicates him or herself to only doing and developing a system that is fit for the 21st Century real world self defense, then he must use external defenses guided by internal faculty. A system that encompasses the most effective techniques a person can deliver with the most advanced internal concepts one can make manifest. Now I mentioned Wing Chun earlier but not every Wing Chun teacher has developed in this manner or to this level. It is rare to find people who have this high level skill. But they are out there.

If you really want to get involved with a martial art and want to find verity, then take a few steps back. Get back far enough away from what is traditionally known and taught. Take an honest look around and see if the martial art before you justifies itself intellectually. Ask the hard questions. Will it work against the boxer, kicker, grappler guy? Can it be done effortlessly? What makes the most sense? Study and do research before you join a school. I can tell you right now, forget karate and Tae Kwon Do unless you just want to do a sport. Don’t be too reverent with any martial art system. Be honest with yourself and hopefully you’ll find a good teacher.

Bare-Knuckle Boxing was once considered one of the most effective empty hand systems in the Western world for self-defense. However, most people today think of fighting systems as Asian. Some also even think of Brazil or Israel, but most don’t think of martial arts as being European or American. Some have heard of Bare-Knuckle Boxing but don’t equate it with other martial arts. They really don’t know how effective and brutal a street-minded European boxer could be.

When we think of Bare-Knuckle Boxing we envision the sport scene more than the self-defense aspect of the system. We think of the Queensberry rules and black & white visions of fighters who stood in a strange looking, more upright, primary fighting stance. People today consider the system a rather antiquated form of boxing which has grown to become a high level sport. That is exactly what it has become; A SPORT.

There is a large gap between sport and self-defense, however. As a self-defense, today’s boxing has lost much of its street effectiveness. The Bare knuckle fighter of the past could handle himself quite well against any would-be attacker.

Early in the sport, men still used illegal techniques that they learned from their own fathers and brothers or from the street. These fighters knew how to hide illegal techniques within legal ones like the straight right hand that would slice the opponents lips to ribbons or the eye gouge hidden within a jab. These guys knew all the brutal, vicious, fight-terminating shots. In fact, before rules were in place and before today’s boxing methods were birthed in the ring, men were studying boxing as a self-defense science. The practice of bare-knuckle boxing dates back to ancient times and was unparalleled during the Renaissance where fencing science and human biomechanics were meticulously applied to the system.

European bare-knuckle boxing is an almost forgotten, yet very effective street self-defense system. It is the original form of boxing, more closely related to ancient combat systems. It involves sophisticated self-defense using fists, fingers, elbows, knees, feet and even the head.

Bare-Knuckle Boxing or Western boxing or what I call Long-Bridge Boxing at my school is our indigenous fighting system and is every bit as effective as its oriental counterparts. It also makes up a large part of our martial heritage. The western art of boxing has also had a huge influence on most other martial arts. One system in particular, some believe, that was greatly influenced by Western boxing is Wing Chun. A look into China’s past will tell you that Chinese practitioners had many encounters with Western boxers. They encountered a system of fighting they hadn’t seen before because they were used to fighting people of their own stature, not the taller Europeans.

These Europeans kept their heads back, with their weight on the rear leg. They punched straight and took small, shuffling steps, with a few low kicks or none at all. This was totally different from the Chinese methods as they used low horse stances, with wide, overreaching punches. Undoughtably, the taller European men defeated many of their kung fu opponents. This is a matter of great controversy so we need not say that this is indisputable. What I submit to you is that Wing Chun would be greatly improved by incorporating certain key principles of Bare-Knuckle Boxing.

Bare-Knuckle Boxing came to our line through my Si-Gung, Karl Godwin who with his own teacher went in-depth into the study of the roots of the world’s martial arts. In particular those of Western fighting arts, their development and finally, their compatibility with Wing Chun. As a result, my teacher, Bill Graves, an early, senior student of Karl Godwin, spent much time developing and refining his Western influenced Wing Chun. He then passed it on to me where this innovative method has continued to blossom. The compatibility of Wing Chun and Western boxing is nothing new however. It has been recognized before. Bruce Lee, an early Wing Chun practitioner, found that boxing could fit the principles of Wing Chun better than any of the Asian arts. However, he failed to take note of the pure street aspects of the system and incorporated some sport postures and methods.

So my early training in Wing Chun was a combination of undiluted Leung Sheung (Yip Man’s most senior student) Wing Chun as a skeleton with the Western boxing expression. I learned the sets without alteration but when it came to sparring and ultimately fighting it was certainly pre-sport Western boxing. The posture was tilted back with the arms extended upon interception keeping the head away from the opponent’s fists. All of Wing Chun’s concepts were in place but the emphasis was certainly a polished Long-Bridge Boxing articulation. Back then drawing blood was common. Bloody lips and black eyes and cheekbones were expected. There wasn’t a night that I wouldn’t go home without some injury. Of course the way I train now is much different. It’s becomes fine and subtle, close range devastation. It is the opposite spectrum of my early training and is considered advanced Wing Chun. Our training methods are unique to our line and I believe it is the “Little Idea” that Wing Chun can and should be.

But as a teacher I have come to understand the importance of retaining that early longer range Western Long-Bridge Boxing. My experience has been that without its influence, a three to eight year practitioner of Wing Chun is predominantly a mid to short range fighter who finds kickers and anyone who fights at, or just outside of, boxing range to be problematic. I say this with all due respect not wanting to ruffle feathers, but I’ve touched hands with many of the major lines’ practitioners only to find them wanting. They could not deal with someone who kept them out of their comfort zone. In other words, I found that their interpretation of Wing Chun was somehow limited by tradition. It lacked presence and innovation. There is something else that eludes many Wing Chun practitioners and that’s the anti-grappling aspects of Wing Chun which is an essential part of my system but who’s subject I will save for another article. I am by no means saying that Western Boxing in itself is an unabridged system. I am simply saying that the ability to reason like our Western fathers has greatly improved our Wing Chun.

As a teacher I feel that the most important thing I can do is to look at my students as people I can help. I put their needs first, so teaching the Long-Bridge aspects of Wing Chun is first. To me it’s all Wing Chun but I emphasize the Long-Bridge because of its brutal effectiveness. Its emphasis is on destroying the attacker efficiently and quickly at a longer range than is traditionally taught to 99% of Wing Chun practitioners. This gives a less skilled student more time to respond with adequacy by reason of distance created by larger footwork and additional arm extension. The footwork is not different than Wing Chun, just larger. A great deal of the training focuses on simultaneous blocks and attacks using the power from the legs. Keeping your head away from the action and greater mobility is key. After they get good at fighting they are taught different ranges or distances of fighting and then taught “range recognition”.

Innovation is a concept that we value, so as a system we view Wing Chun as complete. That means that it works against boxers, kickers and grapplers, guns, edged weapons and blunt instruments. I was not looking for Western Boxing when I found my teacher but it was a pleasant surprise. One that I value greatly to this day. We possess not only the skills of the fathers of Wing Chun but also that of our Western fathers. To quote my Si-Gung, “The principles of both arts combined, form the basis for a more scientific fighting method. The assimilation of Western physics, philosophy, and other disciplines into the already effective Chinese Wing Chun creates the potential to develop all of the physical and psychological attributes of an individual. This combination of East and West would allow Yip Man to be joined by Da Vinci, Vesalius, and other great thinkers as the builders of the ultimate pugilistic system.” In other words, there is room for tradition but innovation should rule the day.

Although Bare-Knuckle Boxing is almost gone in the United States, it is still a vital part of our training. More importantly, there is the idea of ownership of our fighting system. The idea that Wing Chun serves us and not the other way around. The tendency is to cry, “Heresy!”, but the proof is there for all to see. If your martial art doesn’t equip you to deal with all comers then it’s not good enough for the real world. If your Wing Chun can’t deal with all comers then you should question it. I don’t mean change it. I don’t mean alter the sets in any way, although some of you have. I mean if you find a place of deficiency in your system then alter your training methods and your manner of interpretation of the sets. We have not altered the sets passed on to us, but certainly the training methods are up to date and answer ancient-to-modern martial questions. This has created a seamless fighting system whether armed or empty-handed.

A renaissance of Bare-Knuckle Boxing has taken place in our school and I intend to conserve and develop it. This vital component of our Wing Chun has allowed us to better appreciate Bruce Lee’s efforts to incorporate fencing and Western Boxing into his system. Tradition is good but if it begins to make any part of the system ineffective then its got to take a back seat to well thought-out training. I think that’s what Bruce Lee meant more than anything in his pursuit of expression in martial arts. Not the technique of the minute or the jack-of-all-trades mentality that is so prevalent in JKD today, but the concepts of more effective training and the idea of a complete fighting system. This unexpected component within our line and the mentality behind it, has unequivocally paved the way to a Wing Chun that has come-of-age.

What do you think of when the term “self-defense” is used? Most commonly, a woman associates self-defense with protecting oneself against violence by becoming more aware of one’s surroundings and learning to strike an attacker to get away. Because of the serious nature of self-defense, self-defense is not an activity that a woman would necessarily seek out to improve one’s health and fitness on a long-term basis or use as a stress-reliever. Instead, it is an activity that a woman commits to on a short-term basis such as a 2 to 4 – hour seminar or limited weekly sessions. In contrast, women may join yoga and pilates on a long-term basis. Both activities improve one’s core strength and flexibility and make women feel good about the positive changes in their bodies. Consider this – a self-defense system which increases a woman’s confidence to deal with “what comes at you” by incorporating core strength, flexibility, speed, and a strong body structure. This is done by training one’s reflexes through ReVat training It is a novel self-defense system which has its fundamentals from wing tsun kung-fu, and this system teaches a woman to learn how to use reflexes efficiently and successfully.

Research has shown that learning self-defense skills not only increases a woman’s ability to defend herself but also raises her confidence and self-esteem immediately after classes. In addition, effective self-defense training, similar to yoga and pilates, provides a woman with greater awareness of her body. She learns to utilize her core strength in creating power. She learns how to maintain balance as she coordinates her footwork while using her arms, elbows, and fists to defend and attack to disable her attacker.

In Wikipedia, a reflex is defined as “an involuntary and almost instant movement in response to stimulus.” Acquiring muscle memory for a reflex requires repetition of a motion over and over again until the body automatically responds in a certain way. Key to learning self-defense is the ability to act instinctively and to react immediately. In any situation, the time to react in an attack is less than two seconds. During those two seconds, the woman may freeze which wastes valuable time in getting away or she can defend and launch her own counterattack. To do this, the woman has to mentally commit to defending herself. A woman can learn many techniques but if the commitment is not there, the fight is already lost. Next the woman needs to have the physical training to get her reflexes responsive. However, what does it take to train one’s reflexes? How does training one’s reflexes benefit the woman in an attack situation? Below is one example of what we teach in our ReVat training to integrate the mind and body.

For women who have never participated in any self-defense training, there is usually a hesitation initially to punch an individual. One of the reasons is that women have been raised traditionally to be polite. To achieve the goal of teaching women to punch effectively and reduce their fear in punching, we use first use form training to show the proper positioning and structure of a punch as well as other arm movements. Form training in the beginning stages requires no movement of the legs so that the woman can concentrate on how to maximize a punch by learning proper placement of her arms in relationship to her body. The fist is in a vertical position as this position follows the natural line of the arm. Therefore, energy efficiently goes straight from the body through the arm through the fist and into the attacker.

Next we introduce the concept of chain punching. In chain punching, the fists are in a vertical position and the power of the punches come from the elbows. The right punch goes over the left wrist followed by the left punch over the right fist, and so on in rapid fashion. Therefore, every punch is immediately followed by another punch without hesitation. The person faces the opponent and each punch hits the opponent with equal force. We encourage women to practice this form of punching in the air to better understand the mechanics. With practice over time, women find that their bicep muscles become more toned and they become faster and bolder in getting effective punches out. Chain punching exercises are also integrated in other regular exercise routines as well, such as punching while doing squats or punching while doing sit-ups.

Finally, another component in the training of punches is that the women work with other male and female partners in various punching drills. These exercises teach women how to feel and understand different energies and speeds that come from different people of different heights and weights. These exercises are effective in reducing one’s reaction time to punches coming from another person. Thus, over time, the skill of punching becomes second nature to a woman and more importantly, is a skill that can be applied instantly, reflexively, and with assurance.

Want to learn more about Revat? http://www.TheRevatBook.com

In most martial arts schools today you can take regular lessons and add some self-defense classes. But there is still the problem of the effectiveness of the martial art and the so called self-defense moves being taught. It has been my experience that many of the martial art methods being taught in the United States are not completely functional in today’s world. You have Tae Kwon Do schools, Karate schools, Ju-Jitsu schools and Kung Fu. For the most part these systems are sport oriented in to some degree. There are few like Wing Chun who claim to be strictly “real world self-defense”. So what happens if you have a martial art that still incorporates RULES in their system? You end up with a less effective fighting method. What happens if you learn one of these sport oriented systems and also learn some self-defense? Well, your chances increase if you’ve learned to make the self-defense seamless with the martial art but that is almost impossible with 95% of what’s being taught out there.

However, if you have a martial art that is concept based, real world minded, no sport orientation, deadly in nature and guided by true scientific biomechanics, then you can have a seamless self-defense system. This way you can become “a motion martial artist’. In other words no matter what the opponent does he has to move to attack you. That becomes his downfall because you are an expert at detecting motion through sight first and then touch. With this you can creating a COMPLETE self-defense system and move effortlessly using the attacker’s energy against them. I know of only one martial art in the world that functions at high levels in this manner. This system is called Wing Chun Kung Fu. The only thing I can add to this complete martial art is weapons in hand. But even those become one with the body of the practitioner as if the weapon was an extension of the body. Even firearms feel like an extension of the body.

If you are serious about learning then consider this fact. Policemen are no one’s personal bodyguards. Their jobs are to find and arrest people who have committed crimes, not to prevent crimes from happening in the first place. Clearly, the responsibility for victim-prevention lies with you. The idea is to not become a victim.

Wing Chun and Krav Maga are two martial arts designed for real street self-defense. Let me just say that I like Krav Mag but as a complete martial art only Wing Chun closely adheres to its concepts and the scientific use of the human body. Furthermore it produces a unique seamless and fluid characteristic. It is not sport oriented at all. It is a real world martial art. Its focus is on hand to hand self-defense, whether standing or on the ground, with or without weapons.

With high level control and relaxation, the skilled practitioner is able to defend himself or herself and inflict great damage to any attacker quickly. No matter the sex, body type or muscle development, anyone can these skills are within anyone’s grasp as long as they have dedication and consistency. This proficiency is developed through our unique method of training and has been refined to be one of the most advanced and effective self-defense systems in the world.

I highly recommend if you are looking for a complete fighting / self-defense, real world system, that you give Wing Chun a try. But remember; not all Wing Chun is good Wing Chun so do the research. If you don’t live near my school then I recommend you find a competent Wing Chun instructor in your area. If that is impossible then I recommend you arm yourself. It’s still your right!

Common opinion is that it takes decades to learn Kung Fu. Some people even say it takes lifetimes. Using western methods of logic, however, kung fu can be learned in a few months. Easily.

When I first began learning Kung Fu it was in bits and dribbles. This was back in the seventies, and the martial arts were just starting to explode across America. I had to travel many miles just to go to a school, and there was no guarantee that the school I went to would be any good.

One fellow taught me pieces of Wing Chun. Another fellow calimed to be expert in the spear. Normally, however, I would pick up books and videos and try to apply those concepts to my study of Karate.

Eventually, I began learning whole systems, and I found out something interesting…kung fu is a bit of a mish mash. I don’t mean to be insulting, but the whole thing is badly put together. This is because, for thousands of years, the art has been inbreeding.

Using physics and good old western logic, I began taking arts apart and putting them back together. The results were sometimes disastrous, and sometimes incredibly mind blowing. Eventually I formulated a method for this procedure, of analyzing and handling arts, which I called Matrixing.

Using Matrixing, I was analyzing Fut Ga. Fut Ga is one of those basic Shaolin arts with the ancient classical forms, and it had had a long time to get messed up. Inside one fo these ancient forms, however, I came across a unique footwork pattern.

This unique footwork pattern enabled a student to learn how to go forward and backward, and side to side, and introduced the concept of angulation, or angling off to the side during the motion. This was a tremendous breakthrough. This was a basic method which cut through to the heart of the art.

Again, using Matrixing, I analyzed the footwork, and began sorting through every possible usage of the hands. It was simple, and yet comprehensive, and resulted in some very core technqiques. I decided to call this uniquely Shaolin art the Butterfly.

So if you want to learn Kung Fu fast, you need look no further than the Shaolin Butterfly. The Shaolin Butterfly includes the concepts of virtually every kung fu, but it is so logical it literally downloads into the students brain. A student who has decided to learn Shaolin Kung Fu is going to be extremely expert within a few months.

Perhaps we should take a good look at how martial arts are taught today and the different mentalities involved. Maybe we should question not our methods of Wing Chun, but our motivations for teaching this great fighting system. There are several questions that come to mind when I think about how excellent Wing Chun is as a fighting system and yet here in the United States, we are few in number. If we were to compare to Tae Kwon Do schools we are last place. They have really nice schools that are not only beautiful to look at, but also safe to train in. Why is that? I know what you are thinking already. Tae Kwon Do schools are nothing more than McDojo’s that only exist to make the owner of the school rich. Don’t worry, I think that is true in many cases but not all. There are several reputable schools out there that have the complete package. Great martial arts and a great business for the owner. I believe the McDojo’s are the extreme and we should not throw out the baby with the bath water.

What if Wing Chun were to become as popular as Tae Kwon Do in the U.S. without “selling out”. Is it possible to run a very successful Wing Chun school that not only makes the owner really good money; but also produces above average, highly skilled fighters? Hasn’t our mentality been… ‘you can’t teach wing chun in a beautiful school with 50, 75, 100 or 200 students without somehow sacrificing quality.’? We all know famous masters who still teach out of a garage with only 6 or 8 students with this way of thinking. Of course they have to keep a day job to survive and there’s nothing wrong with that. I believe many of us suffer from a mentality that has either been passed on to us, or we just assumed that this is the way it’s done because after all, Master Dun Ol Way does it that way.

I used to think that if my Wing Chun was really good, I mean if I practiced so that no one in my city could come close to my skill, that people would just be busting my door down to learn from me. I wanted to at least achieve what my Sifu did in his school. In fact I secretly wanted to surpass him in the number of students he had. He didn’t hold back. He taught me with utmost care. Surely many people would just show up. I could not have been more mistaken. I was actually surprised that I didn’t have large numbers even though I saw other Wing Chun masters working out of ugly and sometimes dangerous looking buildings with only a hand full of students. No they didn’t come. In fact if it were not for the few “hard core fighter types” that darkened my door I would not have any students at all. I found out I was really good at running people off. Of course I would justify it by saying that they were not worthy any way. Not worthy to learn from a master like me who possessed this level of skill. Why this skill was only for the few who I could pass it on to. I could pass on my Wing Chun to my worthy students and the rest could go take a hike. Yea!!! Now I’m poor!

My friends, I discovered that I had the Wing Chun Poverty Mentality. I don’t quite know where it came from. Maybe it came from our Chinese fathers who operated out of the backs of restaurants and in homes. I don’t know and I don’t care any more. I made a decision that totally changed my school and made it not only an awesome place to learn hard core Wing Chun, but also a growing business with a high number of students.

I decided that I would have a new attitude and a new mentality about teaching. The first thing was to get rid of that old “poverty mentality” I didn’t teach some mish mosh kung fu. I taught the best martial art in the world. A martial art worthy of kings and anyone in need of self-defense. I began to develop the “luxury mentality”. After all Wing Chun is the Cadillac of martial arts. It has all the buttons and gadgets anyone needs in a martial art. But wait a minute, I bet you’re thinking that I have some kind of big head or something. No. The opposite is true. I decided that I would become a servant of sorts. That’s right. I would serve my students and help them achieve their martial arts goals. How did they hear about me? Well, an ingenious idea I found. I advertise on the internet with a very nice, well thought out website. No, advertising is not selling out! It’s getting the word out that you have something good you want to show others. It’s how we let people know about us and of course word of mouth is always good.

So now my mentality is this… I provide a beautiful, very Feng Shui kind of school for my students. I mean we have a real store-bought, CUSTOM-built Muk Jong. The walls and doors are painted Asian style and the floor is finished and flat. The dressing room and bathroom actually work and they are clean and sanitary. I have a desk, beautiful Asian decor on the walls and lovely furniture. We have a systematic approach to getting people in the door, interviewing them to find out their goals and sign them up in a very professional way. Most importantly we have a billing company that keeps track of tuition for me.

My approach to teaching is not to find the worthy, but to help all my students. I have found that this way I have their utmost respect and loyalty. Not only that, they want to stick around and learn more. And the highly sought-after, worthy student? I have them too and they get special training because of their commitment to high level quality. I even have inner-core students who I thought would never make it but stuck it out and now have become very proficient, excellent fighters. What if I would have run them off early on?

Imagine large Wing Chun schools in the United States that are the most beautiful places to train and contain the best martial artists in the world. I suggest we do away with the old poverty mentality ways if they bring us down. That old poverty mentality that would keep us in garages, poor and unknown. That old mentality that says Wing Chun and good business can never mix. I say it can be done because we do it every day. If I’m not mistaken, our school is one of the nicest and largest Wing Chun schools in the South East and the Wing Chun is high level, intact and undiluted. My Sifu and Si-Gung are pleased with our success and they quietly keep an eye on our success with familial pride. Now we have students who are happy to do it the “New Improved old way” if you will. And their skill level is excellent.

I would like to see teachers who want to train people for a living to believe that it is a possibility to have the best of both worlds and no longer think they are wrong for wanting a nice school with nice things in it. If Wing Chun is the Cadillac of martial arts, lets begin to put on that mentality. Let’s begin to recognize who we are in the world. We are the best. If there was something better we’d do it, right? Well there it is. It’s the more balanced approach to running a Wing Chun school. Let’s believe we can get out of the garage and act like we have something really good and well-balanced to offer people interested in self-defense.

If you were to translated literally, Wing Chun means “beautiful springtime,” or “forever springtime.” Wing Chun is Romanized in several different ways “Wing Chun”, “Wingtsun”, “Ving Tsun” or “Wing Tsun.” In Wing Chun there are several ways of defeating the enemy: striking, kicking, joint locking, controlling, throwing and the use of weapons are the most common.

The way the art produces efficient fighters in a relatively short amount of time is by sticking to several core concepts and by paying strict attention to positioning. Much training time is spent cultivating “Sensitivity or Contact Reflexes.” The student practices guarding various zones about the body and deals with whatever happens to be contacted or touched in that zone. This allows for a minimum of technique for a maximum of application, and for the use of an automatic or subconscious response. Because of this it is especially suited for the blind or visually impaired. In fact, Wing Chun’s unique training method seems tailor made for any visually impaired person to defend themselves as good, if not better than those who can see.

Most of the techniques taught are hand techniques and the style is best known for its quick punches. Only low kicks are used. Traps and other kinds of controls are important as well. Trapping and speed are developed through the famous “sticky hands” (Chi Sao) training, which also teaches balance. The Mook Jong, a wooden dummy used for training footwork and alignment, is also a well-known training method. There are three forms used in the style: Siu Nim Tao, Chum Kiu, and Bil Jee.

Traditionally only two weapons are taught in Wing Chun. The Dragon Pole and the Butterfly Knives are generally taught only once the student has a firm foundation in the art. However, we teach modern weapons as well to enhance our training methods. Weapons training drills offer the similar ideas and concepts as the open hand system, including the use of Contact Reflexes. Many of the weapon movements are built off of or mimic the open hand moves – this is the reverse process of Kali/Escrima/Arnis, where weapon movements are learned first.

Being a survival system, Wing Chun deals with personal safety. Although it has traditional roots, it adapts and utilizes modern training methods. It is considered to be a twenty-first-century, highly refined, street fighting system, designed to be used against armed and unarmed attackers.

Wing Chun addresses a wide variety of aggressive acts which include punches, kicks, chokes, bear-hugs, headlocks, grabs, as well as defenses against multiple attackers and assailants armed with a firearm, edged weapon, or blunt object. It integrates elements related to the actual performance of the fight including the psychological dimensions of self-defense, with the use of the environment to your advantage. There are no competitions or tournaments because of Wing Chun’s combat-orientation.

A Shaolin nun named Ng Mui, a master of Kung Fu, developed the art nearly 300 years ago in southern China. There are multiple histories of Wing Chun in existence today, however, this is the generally accepted story. At that time the Southern Shaolin Temple was sanctuary to the Chinese revolution that was trying to overthrow the ruling Manchu.

A martial arts system was being taught in the temple but it took almost 20 years to produce an efficient fighter. Realizing the need to produce efficient fighters faster, five of China’s grandmasters met and chose the most efficient Kung Fu techniques, theories and principles from the various styles. They then developed a training program that produced efficient fighters in 5-7 years. Before the program was put into practice, the temple was raided and destroyed.

Of those that escaped, Ng Mui was the only survivor who knew the full system. However, she realized that much of what she had learned was ineffective for a small, frail woman to use on a larger, stronger man. She revised everything she had learned and discarded techniques that were slow or that relied on strength or size. Her system blossomed into a system of fighting that enabled a smaller, weaker person to destroy a bigger, stronger person within a few seconds. Ng Mui’s new system was well guarded and passed on to only a few, very dedicated students. The style became known as Wing Chun, after Ng Mui’s first student, a woman named Yim Wing Chun.

Yim Wing Chun was a native of Canton in China. Her mother passed away just after her betrothal to Leung Bok Chau. Her father, Yim Yee, was later wrongfully accused of a crime. He did not want to risk Jail so Yim Yee and his daughter left the area and settled down at the foot of Mt. Tai Leung. It was here Ng Mui met Yim Yee and Wing Chun. Wing Chun was a beautiful teenager who had attracted the unwanted attention of a local man who continuously tried to force her to marry him by threatening to harm her father. Ng Mui learned of this and agreed to teach Wing Chun fighting techniques so that she could protect herself. In order to learn Ng Mui’s Kung Fu system, Wing Chun followed Ng Mui into the mountains to White Crane Temple. Wing Chun trained until she mastered the techniques. She then challenged the bully to a fight and defeated him.

The Wing Chun System was passed on in a direct line of succession from its origin. After her marriage to Leung Bok Chau, Wing Chun taught him Kung Fu. He in turn passed these techniques on. As techniques were passed along, the Six-and-a-half-point Long Pole was incorporated into Wing Chun Kung Fu. During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Wing Chun, like other martial arts, was banned in China and survived only through the persistence of practitioners like Yip Man.

The veil of secrecy around the art was finally broken in 1949, when Grandmaster Yip Man brought the style out of China into Hong Kong and eventually to the rest of the world.

Leung Sheung had heard about Wing Chun since he was quite young, and in 1949, found out that one of its most famous teachers, Yip Man was currently in Hong Kong. Leung Sheung promptly introduced Lok Yiu and Tsui Sheung-Tin to Yip Man, and the three of them became the first batch of Wing Chun students in Hong Kong.

From 1949 until 1978, Leung Sheung remained Yip Man’s most senior student. He trained under Yip Man intensively and taught Wing Chun until his passing in 1978.

Among Leung Sheung’s more well know students are Kenneth Chung, Leung Ting, Jack Ling, Siu Wong, and others. Our lineage descends from Kenneth Chung who best retained Leung Sheung’s methods and most importantly, his unique energy.

Yip Man’s students began gaining noteriety for besting many systems and experienced opponents in streetfights and “friendly” competitions. The art gained even more popularity when one of its students, Bruce Lee, began to enjoy worldwide fame. Over time Wing Chun has been refined to it’s highest levels by a few of its masters. Wing Chun remains one of the most popular and most effective forms of Kung Fu today.

I consider myself fortunate to have also studied the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun Kung Fu (or in Cantonese also known as Gung Fu).

Coming from a Shotokan karate training background I will admit that studying Wing Chun was a real change of pace, if you know what I mean.

But after having read about some other famous practitioners such as Ip Man, Bruce Lee, Ip Chun, Leung Ting, Emin Boztepe, I just had to give it my best shot.

I studied under Sifu Francis Fong, one of the finest kung fu instructors in the U.S.

Wing Chun, translated into English, means ‘Eternal Spring or Beautiful Springtime’ and refers to the name of Yim Wing Chun, who received Chinese boxing training from a Buddhist nun. At the time the style was nameless.

Yim later married and taught her husband this style of fighting. He then simply went ahead and gave the syle her name, Wing Chun.

There are a number of theories and versions about how this style originated. I like the one I just gave you.

The typical stance is supposed to be like a piece of bamboo, firm but flexible, rooted but yielding.

Wing Chun favors a high, narrow stance with your elbows kept close to your body and your arms are positioned across the vitals of the centerline.

Attack and defense follow along an imaginary horizontal line drawn from the center of your chest to the center your opponent’s chest. The prime striking targets are on or near this line, including eyes, nose, throat, solar plexus and groin.

With the emphasis on the center line, your vertical fist straight punch will be your most common strike.

Your kicks are to be kept below the waist. This is typical of southern Chinese martial arts, in contrast to northern systems which apply many high kicks.

Chained vertical punches are used a lot.

You develop your reflexes by searching unsecured defenses through use of sensitivity. Training through Chi Sao (’sticking hands”) with a training partner, one practices the trapping of hands. When an opponent is “trapped”, he or she becomes immobile.

Wing Chun also offers forms that are meditative, solitary exercises to develop self-awareness, balance, relaxation and sensitivity. They also help you in the fundamental movement and in generating the correct amount of force.

This style generally consists of three empty hand, one “wooden dummy” and two weapons forms.

There you have it: Wing Chun in a nutshell.

Enjoy this exciting martial art and always protect your centerline!

TheMartialArtsReporter.com