Wing chun (aka ving tsun; Mandarin: yong chuin) is a Chinese martial art that arose soon after the burning of the Song Shan Shaolin Temple circa 1735. Because of a lack of written historical records, wing chun’s origins are still heavily debated.
One story states that Shaolin monk Zhi Shan and Shaolin hero Hong Xi-guan created a fighting style that could generate punching power even in confined spaces. The style was named wing chun after either the Shaolin Temple’s Wing Ching Hall (named for a nun named Wing Chun), or after Hong’s wife Fang Wing-chun.
Another version explains that anti-Ching revolutionary Yim Yee taught his daughter Yim Wing-chun the style taught to him by the art’s creator, Wu Mei (Cantonese: Ng Mei). Upon Wing-chun’s death, her husband, Leung Bok-chau, named the martial art wing chun in her honor. An alternative version has Wu Mei teaching Yim Wing-chun to defeat a bully.
Much of today’s wing chun popularity stems from the fact that Bruce Lee trained extensively in the style under the late Hong Kong-based master Ip Man.
– January 30, 2012 (4 weeks ago)
In the martial arts, one school of thought holds that you should change your game to match your opponent’s. Example: If you’re a stand-up fighter and you’re facing a grappler, you should immediately switch into grappling mode. Problem is, that requires you to train to such an extent that each
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– November 29, 2011
In 1966, karate legend Joe Lewis rocketed to stardom by winning Jhoon Rhee’s U.S. Nationals in Washington, D.C. Incredibly, it was his first tournament, and he won every single point with only one technique — the side kick.
For six years, Chuck Norris ruled the karate world with his spinning kicks.
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– November 7, 2011
“I fear not the man who practices 10,000 techniques once, but the man who practices one technique 10,000 times holds my respect.”
The gist of that old Chinese saying is obvious: The key to reaching the highest levels of any martial art is practice. Only by executing thousands of repetitions of
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– November 3, 2011
Bak mei (white eyebrow) kung fu master Leung Sheung proudly demonstrated another self-defense technique to his class: side kick, grab, punch. Leung executed the movements with as much fluency and precision as would be expected from any 20-year veteran of the fighting arts. The students then imitated the perfection of
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– August 17, 2011
Learn how martial arts legend William Cheung defeated a muay Thai fighter in his new DVD, Street Fighting Applications of Wing Chun! WATCH PREVIEW!
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– August 8, 2011
Almost every day at Black Belt, we’re asked the same question: “What’s the best martial art for self-defense?” To find out the answer, we asked Dr. Mark Cheng, an expert in Chinese medicine and martial arts.
“I chose the following arts because of my personal experience with them,” Dr. Mark Cheng
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– June 10, 2011
In the martial arts, one school of thought holds that you should change your game to match your opponent’s. Example: If you’re a stand-up fighter and you’re facing a grappler, you should immediately switch into grappling mode. Problem is, that requires you to train to such an extent that each
Read More »
– March 24, 2011
In the martial arts DVD series Street Fighting Applications of Wing Chun, Grandmaster William Cheung, the longtime friend and wing chun training partner of Bruce Lee, recalls some of his most dangerous street fights and deconstructs the techniques he used to survive the encounters. In Street Fighting Applications of Wing
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– March 24, 2011
In the martial arts DVD series Street Fighting Applications of Wing Chun, Grandmaster William Cheung, the longtime friend and wing chun training partner of Bruce Lee, recalls some of his most dangerous street fights and deconstructs the techniques he used to survive the encounters. In Street Fighting Applications of Wing
Read More »
– March 24, 2011
In this martial arts DVD series, Grandmaster William Cheung, the longtime friend and wing chun training partner of Bruce Lee, recalls some of his most dangerous street fights and deconstructs the techniques he used to survive the encounters. In the spring of 1962 in Sydney, Australia, Cheung receives a call
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