The Lore of Wing Chun Kung Fu

Book 3 of 9: "The Third Year," by John F. Di Virgilio ©1996

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Fight leg against leg, and hand against hand.

Your most valued and finest Wing Chun moments will be outside the school.

Drink tea with your teacher, for wisdom and insight are often visitors at the same table.

The wooden dummy (Jong) techniques borrow momentum from your opponent. Until becoming informed, the Jong techniques of the Wing Chun school will lack rational use and applicability.

At the age of 25, your career will swallow your free time. You either complete the Wing Chun curriculum before you reach your 25th birthday or wait until you are 45 years old. Better to learn when you are younger, but later is better than never.

Be firm, fair, and always friendly to your students and classmates.

By the third year, you are well beyond being "Double-Weighted." A Double-Weighted posture means your center of gravity must be lowered first before you can move effectively. Having a Double-Weighted mind means you have little or no reflex skills and must think before moving. Both Double-Weighted activities require an extra act to make a single move.

Practice a minimum of twice a week. Practice three times a week and discover the balance between offensive moves and defensive moves. Practice four times a week and discover that defensive movements begin to dominate. To practice five and six days a week will only perfect the last 5% of your skill potential. Practice seven days a week, and your skill will regress after the first month.

Wing Chun is a counter fighting system. Ninety-five percent of Wing Chun hand techniques are countering applications. Only five percent of the system can be used offensively and then in only the direst situations. The system is heavily influenced by the Buddhist founders and lacks offensive opening moves. In Wing Chun, defense is the offense.

By the time you have reached the end of your third year of training, you will have experienced one or more great expressions of skill. Your finest moments will come outside of the training hall.

The origins of the Yim Wing Chun's snake and crane techniques came from the famous Eternal Springtime Hall (Weng Chun Dein) found within the walls of the Fukien Sil Lum temple. Ng Mui learned her Kung Fu from her teacher in the Weng Chun Dein and later passed the Sil Lum Kung Fu martial art forms to her many followers.

A skilled Wing Chun artists knows when to jam, when to redirect, and when to avoid attacking techniques.

Explore the many uses of the thrust kick to the opponent's Tan Tein, knees, and ankles.

The palm strike is more versatile and deadlier than the fist.

In Chi Sau, use the pulling Tan Sau jerk against opponents who use a heavy or stiff Fook Sau.

In Chi Sau, use the cross-over grab against the opponent's driving Tan Sau.

Techniques repeated three times in any Wing Chun set are significant. The triple repetition usually means that the repeated technique(s) will require three times the amount of regular practice to become proficient.