The Philosophy of Wing Tsun

Ancient Chinese masters used the term 'living philosophy' to describe the art of Wing Tsun Kung-Fu.

Wing Tsun, at the highest level, teaches you to understand yourself and how to interact with other human beings. Combining the principles of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism, the practice of Wing Tsun is focused on enshrining its fundamental concepts in those who practice it. These philosophies include true appreciation of honor, loyalty, dignity and respect for other human beings, as well as control over ego, emotion and temper. A person will never master himself without these, or the art of Wing Tsun, as these two are synonymous.

Because this art has these unique characteristics this art is currenly referred to as 'the noble Wing Tsun'. Thus the final objective of Wing Tsun is the pupil's personal growth. In fact, 'Si-Fu' translates as 'Father-Teacher', signifying the role of the Master as he takes on the responsibility of his 'todai' (son). This is different than other martial art forms, like karate where the term sensei means teacher.

The three main features of Wing Tsun is Physical, Health and Spiritual. But unfortunately, to find a school that teaches all the three together is not easy. One can mimic aspects of a physical nature, but to enhance spiritual growth a true master is required. One of the most important teachings in Wing Tsun is that as a student's physical techniques develop, he/she also develops as a person.

It is not necessary for you to be Chinese in order to comprehend the Martial Arts; studying the teachings of previous and current masters of the system can lead to great understanding. You need to appreciate the history and the social background to it, for this to be possible. Thus, every part of the martial art that is ignored or changed before it is properly learnt undermines its foundations.

Take away your history if you take away your culture and etiquette. What are you learning, if you take away the history of the martial art? What you saw was just a series of moves which neither has any understanding nor any principles. This is not real martial art.

The necessity to learn Martial Art is basically no different from wanting to learn something else such humanities or law terminology. Hilaire Barnett was clear on this point in her book Constitutional and Administrative Law stating "to study the UK's constitution , it is necessary to gain an insight into the history, politics and political philosphy which underpin the constitution, it is an essential component without which the structure, law and policies of the state cannot be understood."

 

Palm Heel vs Punch

There is always differing oppinions in the differences of palmheel and punching.

I am here to help shed some light on the subject in reference to self defense usage. Until I started to train in close combat situations. I didn't quite understand the differences.

Growing up in a large family group there was always fighting and fists were king it was all we knew. So as I grew up as I am sure most do without any guidance a fight was always fists and on every occasion I can think of either my hands or my opponents hands got messed up.

You see the beauty of the palm heel strike is that the palm of our hands are very resilient to blunt force just to see what I mean see how hard you can hit the closest brick wall with your fist and then with your palm. Different....oh ya? That is one of the biggest reasons it is so effective for a smaller person to use against an attacker.

Another way to use the open palm it to use a edge hand strike which is like a chop either vertically or horizontally. Your hand can be used to the softer areas of the body and the elbow for blunt force trama.

The punch is an effective weapon. The only thing is that it has a very high percentage of being hurt or even worse (in a self defense situation) being unusable because you went for the face he lower his forehead and now you have a broken hand.

Just think in the same situation above had you used the palm heel strike it would have whipped his head back and opened the throat for an edge of hand strike or elbow smash that could put an end to the situation.

So understand that if you decide to use the punch rather than a palm heel or edge of hand you run the risk of injury and the use of a hand. If that happens just how long do you think you will last in a confrontation? Do you really want that being the deciding factor.

The technique you use is not as important as conditioning your body. You can make it as easy as possible get a punching bag and some mitts.

Your best option would be to find a school with accredited instructors (Hey I happen to know a few world wide even).

Building confidence and stress reliefe plus having fun doing it will happen if you train in a reputable school. Contact me and I will point you in the right direction.

Train hard, Live lite,

Darrin Walton