Ving Tsun (wing chun) Kung Fu aka Chinese Boxing
Ving Tsun (wing chun) Kung Fu has long been known as ‘Chinese Boxing.’ Like American boxers, Ving Tsun guys prefer to keep the feet on the ground and use the hands to block & strike, which Ving Tsun can do simultaneously. Ving Tsun and traditional Western boxing both train stances and footwork, but the Ving Tsun system also uses the feet for kicks, blocks and sweeps/takedowns. The Ving Tsun system also includes other techniques and strategies banned in competitive boxing tournaments.
Kung Fu Fxbg student Alex demonstrates Ving Tsun (wing chun) Doa Ying (facing on center) with Yat Chi Chung Choi (sun character center punch)
In the Moy Tung Kung Fu lineage, we use the first Ving Tsun form, Siu Nim Tao, to train the legs to be a strong rooted foundation, to develop relaxed energy to put power into strikes and kicks, and to develop and refine our Kung Fu to higher levels.
Using the body’s centerlines, it’s possible to block and hit at the same time, with one or two hands, and with or without simultaneous kicks and sweeps. Mastering the Siu Nim Tao form is key to developing good Kung Fu, as well as regular practice of Chi Sao (Sticking Hands), a cooperative yet highly-challenging exercise that develops and refines effective technique and strategy.
Smart, powerful boxers use their whole body to hit with their fists, from the ground up, channeling power through their body’s structure. Ving Tsun purposefully develops the ability to do this, using the system’s simple centerline concepts. This kind of training gives people of smaller stature the ability to defend themselves against - even knock out - larger and stronger opponents.
Like American boxing, Ving Tsun studies angles and movements to get inside an opponent’s vulnerable zones - how to bridge to the body with blows - and how to keep adversaries out of vulnerable zones. Using centerline principles, it’s possible to face an opponent, blocking and hitting at the same time, with the hands and/or feet, while shifting balance, and angling or stepping, if needed. This is great training for staying on one’s feet when fighting in self-defense.
Once the Kung Fu foundation is developed with Siu Nim Tao, students progress through the rest of the Ving Tsun system, with the other forms, e.g. Chum Kiu (bridging, with balance in motion), Biu Gee (returning to center) and the Muk Yan Jong wooden dummy (technique refinement and perfection). More advanced training includes the Luk Dim Boon Kwan (6 1/2 point pole) and Baat Jom Doa (8-way chopping knives).
In addition to the forms (techniques and movements played in sequence), Ving Tsun has a system of two-person exercises known as Chi Sao (Sticking-Hands). Basic training is safe and simple, yet challenging to master, with many subtle levels of refinement. Advanced Chi Sao levels include a disciplined free-flow exchange of techniques, practiced full-contact to the chest, while pushing and uprooting horse stances.
Hitting - and getting hit in - the chest is a safe way of training that develops technique power and control. This toughens the mind/body, while training effective striking, blocking and counter attacks. After a Ving Tsun student develops the ability to trap hands and hit to the chest with control, it becomes simpler to hit to the neck, head and other targets, with accuracy and power.
In the Moy Tung Kung Fu lineage, we also study practical applications of techniques and strategies, as well as Maai San Jong (facing on center and simultaneously blocking & attacking, without ‘sticking hands’ first). We don’t practice with gloves, pads or mats, as these won’t be present in the street. Sometimes training partners may get hit in the face or wind up on the floor, but once a student has attained this level of training, the risk of injury is minimized.
Yip Man’s (Ip Man) comments on Western boxing
Yip Man is the world-famous Ving Tsun grandmaster who taught Bruce Lee, and thousands of others, making Ving Tsun the most popular Kung Fu system in Hong Kong, from where it spread all over the world.
One of Yip Man’s top disciples, Grandmaster Moy Yat, brought the Ving Tsun system to the US, teaching it at his school in Chinatown, NYC. In addition to over 30 other videos, he produced one about his famous Sifu, titled ‘Yip Man’, which included an interview based on a list of questions his own students had.
One of the questions was, “Did [Yip Man] admire or discuss other Kung Fu systems?” Moy Yat answered:
Since he is Grandmaster of Ving Tsun [wing chun] … I believe the only system he admired is [the] Ving Tsun system. But, he once told me that boxing is pretty good. The only bad part is [it has] so many rules, to control - you’re not allowed to hit the back, hit this, hit that. So, if [fighting] on the street, without those rules, boxing is pretty good. That’s what he admired.
