Wing Chun

Wing Chun - Ving Chun - Wing Tsun - Ving Tsun (Chinese: 詠 春; pinyin: yǒng chūn; Jyutping), also written Win Tzun, Wing Tjun and Wing Tsjun; Depending on the school or organization that teaches it, it is a Chinese martial art belonging to the Chinese Martial Arts. It is made up of 6 interrelated technical-tactical elements, or solo forms, with implements and / or weapons, and work in pairs; these elements are: Siu Nim Tau 小 念頭; Chum Kiu 尋 橋; Biu Jee 鏢 指; (Muk Yan Yong - Muk Yan Jong) 木人 樁; (Look Dim Boon Kwan- Luk Dim Bun Gwan) 六點 半 棍 and (Baat Jam Dao - Baat Jaam Do) 八 斬 刀.

Wing chun technical principles: 

Wing Chun is based on certain technical principles (MARTIAL THEORIES) that characterize it and in turn differentiate it from other Kung Fu styles. 

STRAIGHT LINE 

The main characteristic of Wing Chun and exactly what differentiates it the most from other Kung Fu styles is that its techniques mainly cover a rectilinear trajectory, when the other styles do it in a circular way. 

This is based on the fact that the shortest path between two points is the straight line, thus making the techniques as economical as possible. Keep in mind that the economy of movement is a fundamental factor when it comes to speed. 

The movements used in Wing Chun resemble the movement of the pointers of the clock, for example if we are surrounded by three opponents we can advance in a straight line towards the one in front of us as if with respect to the clock it was located at 12, if we have To face the one who is in our rear we will turn on our base from the position we are in to face him as if he were with respect to the clock at 6, in the same way we will do for those located at 3 and 9. 

This feature is best explained if we consider that the movements in Wing Chun are short and in an upright position, that is, positions such as bow and arrow or rider position are not occupied, in this way the turns can be made quickly without losing solidity of the postures . 

The movements in Wing Chun are mainly based on maintaining the weight of the body in a balanced way 50% and 50%, the postures are with the feet parallel with a distance of approximately the width of our shoulders, this allows ample mobility to move both from a side to side without disturbing our balance. 

CENTER LINE 

This principle refers to the fact that most of the vital points are in the line that goes from the upper part of our head to the genitals, thus dividing our body in half, for this reason it is called the "central line". Wing Chun always seeks to cover this line, to avoid being attacked at any of these vital points. 

The concept of central line can be defined as follows, if we draw an imaginary straight line that divides the body into two halves starting from the crown and vertically down to the groin, we will have that the body is divided into two areas, the position of the arms with the elbows close to the ribs with one hand advanced compared to the other in combat posture, the combined techniques of simultaneous attacks and blocks, and finally the movements are all in order to protect our central line where we can also add Most of the vital organs are concentrated. 

IMMOBILE ELBOW 

This refers to the fact that the elbow of our front arm must remain in front of our body as close to the central line as possible, which allows us to keep our vital points covered. The idea is that in order to carry out any defensive movement, the elbow does not move, but what must move is the forearm and the hand. 

This applies only for defensive movements since to hit it is evident that we must extend the arm but even when we do it the elbow must be kept as close as possible to the center line. 

DEFENSE AND SIMULTANEOUS ATTACK 

What it does is defend and counterattack in a single movement and not defend first and then attack. 

Let's imagine the following situation; an opponent in front of us attacks with a fist blow aimed at our face, our response in Wing Chun can be as follows: 

Slap-type block to the forearm of our aggressor (Pak Sao), at the same time once we made contact with the arm of our opponent, we hit with a front fist to the face in the nose area (Che Choi) and finally kick the bobbin From the adversary, it is a bit strange to write in sequence what we have learned or are learning and we do it naturally, that is, without thinking, but we only want to express that there is a universe of variants of combinations of basic techniques in Wing Chun. 

In Wing Chun we do not block an attack and then counterattack, we block and attack at the same time, an action in Wing Chun is never alone, it is always accompanied by another technique simultaneously. 

Particularly in Wing Chun a block given the characteristics of the system is one more attack, this is explained because: 

- The generation of force comes from projecting our shoulder. 

- Blocks seek to impact the soft areas of our opponent's limbs. 

- To block, the area of ​​our elbow is preferably used. 

NATURE AND SIMPLICITY 

Let's take the following example, while standing, hold an upright posture with your feet shoulder width apart, keep your arms at your sides slightly apart from your body with your hands open, then grasp your right hand, finally raise your arm to shoulder height, the question is what is the position of your grasped hand relative to the target it is aiming at? - the answer is simple, your knuckles will be aligned vertically and not horizontally like some fist punch techniques traditionally dealt with in other martial arts, this simple example is to demonstrate that the principles on which Wing Chun is based as Also his techniques are natural and simple. 

Regarding the Wing Chun kicking techniques we can say that they are low, directed to the shins, inner thighs, knees, genitals, ankles and hips of our opponent, these kicks are basically a short route, they come from the place In which we find ourselves, all the techniques start from a frontal position, although if the situation requires it our defenses or attacks may adopt less orthodox positions, but this depends on the dynamics of the combat and represents the spontaneity of the exponent of Wing Chun. 

In the case of kicking techniques, it must be borne in mind that high and extended hip kicks expose vital points such as the femoral artery and genitals, without taking into account the fact that when extended kicks can be passed in the technique in In case our opponent moves, which also leaves our lateral angles and also our back unprotected, yet we must add that these kicking techniques in height and turns to name two examples are good to the extent that the practitioner has acquired the skill necessary and also security to use them. 

OPEN AND CLOSE DOORS 

When we spoke of CENTRAL LINE we said that the body was divided into two zones, now we add a second dividing line this time horizontally at the height of our waist, the doors represent those four zones, 

When we knock down an opponent's guard what we have done is open a door through which to send our attacks, but we must also take care that in doing so we have not exposed any flank where we are vulnerable. 

As Wing Chun martial art is logically structured, this is why a Wing Chun practitioner is always aware that in the course of a confrontation, when looking to open doors in the guard or defenses of his opponent, he can also expose his own flanks, it is say leaving a door open, therefore they are the first objectives to cover. 

ADHERENCE 

When a Wing Chun exponent has made contact with any of the aggressor's limbs, especially his forearms, then the idea is to adhere to it as if it were its shadow; do not give spaces for the aggressor to arm his attack, control his fists by pressing his forearms against his own body, make him lose his balance with catches and grips, maintain constant combined attacks on both the face and his middle zone, also attacks with leg aimed at his knees or knees, in short, the offensive actions in Wing Chun once they begin do not end until the opponent is knocked out, remember the old saying of Wing Chun "I receive what comes, I accompany what goes." 

EXPLOSIVITY 

The attacks in Wing Chun start with the muscles relaxed, centimeters before making contact with the target tense, it is the idea of ​​the whip, only in its last section it discharges all its energy in a burst, in the same way the fist blows, kicks and Blocks must be energetic only at the moment they will make contact with our opponent, this allows devastating successive attacks without consuming much energy in the course of the blow. 

Fundamental concepts : 

If the path is free, move on 

When someone attacks us we immediately go out to attack them. 

In order for our attack to be successful, we use a specific perimeter active defense system that consists of waiting for our opponent to invade the attack distance, that is, to be at the proper distance to be effectively reached by our blows. 

Grandmaster Yip Man had an aphorism to describe this function, he said "When an opponent begins his attack, it is as if a friend opened the front door of your house, you have the obligation to go out and find him." In Wing Chun, if an opponent initiates his attack, we must intercept him, we must draw a perimeter around us that the moment our attacker crosses it and represents his proximity a threat to our integrity, we must immediately go out to meet him. 

Any attack, no matter how strong it is, will always be canceled, as long as our action intercepts its trajectory at the beginning of the attack. 

If you hit something, stick 

If there is contact with the opponent, stay attached to him. 

Adherence is a principle that is directly related to wing chun through the practice of chi sao and combat, from the moment that one has established contact with our opponent, we have to stick to it so as not to give space to He counterattacks us, we control his movements, pressing his limbs against him, so that he cannot generate energy or move freely. 

The moment he seeks to free himself from our energy, he will give us the spaces, to unbalance and strike, in conclusion, the Wing Chun attacks once they start do not end until our opponent is out of combat. 

If your attack is stronger, settle 

Whenever we feel that our opponent generates a higher pressure than we can easily contain it using the body structure or attack us we give in. 

Wing chun has a wide defense arsenal that works correctly using the principle of yielding to brute force, generating a vacuum in the pressure point of our opponent and we attack directly from the vulnerable flanks of our opponent occupying the central line taking advantage of the doors that leaves open when attacking us. Sometimes this principle is not only supported by the defensive techniques used for this purpose, but also by repositioning. 

If the opponent backs down, follow him without stopping to the end 

When the opponent feels the effect generated by the principles explained above, he seeks to retreat in order to recover his center of balance and rearm his body structure in order to counterattack, so we must inevitably follow him, hitting the open spaces that he leaves us until he is out of combat . 

Wing Chun Moral Code 

"Be disciplined - conduct yourself ethically as a martial artist." 

"Practice courtesy and uprightness / justice - serve society and respect your elders." 

"Love your students - stay together and avoid conflict." 

"Limit your desires and the pursuit of bodily pleasures - preserve the true spirit." 

"Train diligently - keep up your skills." 

"Learn to develop spiritual tranquility - abstain from discussions and disputes." 

"Get involved in society - be moderate and gentle in your ways." 

"Help the weak and the younger - use martial techniques for the good of humanity." 

"It conveys tradition - preserve this Chinese art and the rules of conduct."