In Chinese, Wing means forever, and Chun means springtime, therefore wing chun means forever springtime. Wing chun is a southern Chinese martial arts system, dating back 400 years. It’s the only martial arts system ever to be conceived by a female.
The history of wing chun, as passed by down by Grandmaster Yip Man, started its genesis at the Shaolin temple. A Buddhist nun, Ng Mui, at the temple had already reached a very high proficiency in the shaolin martial arts. However, during sparring practice with the shaolin monks, she realised she was often overwhelmed by the more powerful & bigger monks, even though she was using the same techniques & system.
It was obvious that the system they were learning favoured the monks, and size & strength were major advantages, so Ng Mui set upon creating a method that could overcome those size & strength differences.
The result was wing chun – a highly intelligent fighting method that was based on speed & skill, making full use of the principles of economy of motion, simplicity, directness, efficiency & effectiveness of the working tools, etc., etc. It was more of a concept-based system rather than a technique against technique method. Being a Shaolin nun, she was totally selfless & free of materialistic values, so she named her system after her first disciple – Yim Wing Chun (Wing Chun)
Wing chun gungfu is a very high level martial arts system. In fact, it has been said that wing chun begins where others end. This is in direct reference to the origin of the system, conceived by a Shaolin nun – Ng Mui – that had reached the pinnacle of Shaolin gungfu, and which was the starting base for wing chun. The system is in a constant process of distillation & refinement, removing all the imperfections until only the most useful of tools remain, leaving a method that’s simple, effective, efficient & direct. Not only does wing chun teach the practitioner to refine & remove one’s ‘physical’ imperfections & actions, but it also teaches one the higher level of removing one’s mental imperfections so that we are as perfect as perfect humans can be.
Most people misunderstand the objective of Chinese gungfu. They think it’s to turn them into the perfect weapon – an invincible fighting machine. However, they can’t be further from the truth. The ‘Chinese’ mindset is much more sophisticated than that. The ‘real’ or main objective – for the Chinese anyway – is to use wing chun, or any other martial arts for the matter, to better themselves; to maximise their potential – not just on a physical level, but on a mental level as well. The combat side is just a means to an end, and not the end itself. If people can only see this, the real beauty will dawn on them. If one strives for combat supremacy, then that’s the end reward itself. However, if one aims for the higher goal of ‘body & mind’, then the combative aspects will be a byproduct of our achievements in maximising our body & mind potentials, which would serve us more than in combat alone, aiding us in our every day lives.
Now, the question is "which one would you rather aim for?"
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