Wing Chun Kuen Rules of Conduct

Posted by Michael Bark on

Many martial arts have a code of conduct. Below is the often quoted English translation of the ‘traditional’ Wing Chun Kuen code as found in the Kuen Kuit.

  • Remain disciplined – Conduct yourself ethically as a martial artist.
  • Practice courtesy and righteousness – Serve the society and respect your elders.  
  • Love your fellow students – Be united and avoid conflicts.
  • Limit your desires and pursuit of bodily pleasures – Preserve the proper spirit.
  • Train diligently – Maintain your skills.
  • Learn to develop spiritual tranquility - Abstain from arguments and fights.
  • Participate in society – Be moderate and gentle in your manners.
  • Help the weak and the very young – Use martial skills for the good of humanity.
  • Pass on the tradition – Preserve this Chinese art and rules of conduct.

Source: www.wcarchive.com.

Wing Chun Kuen in film – The Prodigal Son

Posted by Michael Bark on
Cover of "The Prodigal Son"

The ’history’ of Wing Chun Kuen has been the story line of several Hong Kong martial arts films, one classic was realeased in Britain as ‘The Prodigal Son‘.

It’s a film full of great ‘movie Wing Chun Kuen’, so if you ocassionally like putting up your tired feet after a training and watch a film this is a martial art film I would certainly recommend you buy.

This is the final fight between the Wing Chun Kuen hero Leung Jan and the fated Ngai Fai.

Bags, Pads and Mitts

Posted by Michael Bark on

I simply love striking things, personally I find that I’m never entirely satisfied with a training session unless I’ve worked up a good sweat hitting some kind of striking implement. I know that some of us practitioners think only of hitting southern kung fu’s beloved wall mounted bags and believe that hitting anything else is a sacrilege. Which is fine.  Although personally I love to hit every type of bag I can.

Wall Mounted Bag

As mentioned this type of bag is the Southern Kung fu classic. whether one, two, or three sectioned this is the most widely used bag in Wing Chun Kuen.  It is often filled with sand (rough or fine) although the filling does range from dried beans to iron pellets.

When buying a wall bag we want to ensure that the material is thick enough to take a vast number of sessions, it’s also a good idea to check the stitching to ensure that it is well made and won’t split open after only a short while.  The one I am we are using at the moment was ordered from Amazon! We have only been punching it for a couple of weeks, but so far, so good.

Heavy Bag

There is nothing quite like working out on a good sturdy heavy bag. Many practitioners talk badly of using swinging bags in Wing Chun, as they feel the energy developed is not ‘Wing Chun’. Personally, I don’t hold with that belief, I love working with it whenever I get the chance.

The movement of a heavy bag when we give it a worthy hit, and the ability it has to allow us to work our footwork really adds a dimension that the wall mounted bag simply doesn’t have. If an extra long heavy bag is bought yet another option is open to us; low-line kicking. Yes, if we have a three section wall bag we can kick it, if we have a dummy we can kick that too, but neither compare to kicking a heavy bag which is swinging towards us. Although the bag is obviously no substitute for a training partner it will willingly accept every striking tool we throw as hard as we can have and never complain about it!

Double Ended Bag

This is a great device for working with rhythms, punch directions and speeds. It is a little tricky to begin with, but the effort it takes to master it is worth it. Of course, like the heavy bag, it is also one of the prized bags of modern western boxing.

Hand Held Padded Shield

Now this is an incredible piece of versatile equipment.It is great for strikes of all types, we only need a padded shield and a good training partner to have an exciting and punishing workout. It can be used it to work up power in ‘one strike kills’, as well as working for increased endurance in continuous striking bouts.  Make sure you get a shield of good thickness and which isn’t too soft.

Focus Gloves

These have to be the most useful pads I have ever used. They are great endurance workers that really allow us to work on timing, accuracy and defensive skils. Our workouts with them are only limited by the imagination and skills of our training partner. They need to move, be agile and get us to work our footwork, punching angles and defences. They are great for hook kicks too, so let’s not forget to incorporate them into out focus glove sessions.

Thai Boxing Pads

I really see these as kicking pads, they are heavier than focus mitts and their shape allows for a much wider range of kicking techniques. They can be used in a similar way as focus gloves, but there size does limit the trainer’s ability to attack and ‘spar’ with his/her partner.

Other Bags, Pads and Mitts

Don’t limit yourself to the striking equipment mentioned above. There are numerous other pieces of striking equipment that I personally want to try, play and experiment with, I just need to find the money to buy them and the space to put them. I’ll keep you posted on any further developments. :-)

Mai Gei Wong Wing Chun Kuen – Siu Lim Tao

Posted by Michael Bark on

Wong Wu Fong, later known for his fighting ability would be called “Mai Gei Wong” (“rice machine Wong”). He was intersted in martial arts, since his childhood, and was experienced in many differnat styles as well as physical strength and conditioning methods. He was known to have trained “Nothern Shaolin”, “Tai Chi Chuan”, “Bot Gwa”, “Xing Yi”, “Tai Hoi”, “Mok Ga”, western boxing, wrestling and weight-lifting.

Wong Wu Fong, had a chance encounter with the Wing Chun Kuen Master Wong Jing. Wong Wu Challenged Wong Jing to a friendly contest, and was soundly controled and knocked down several times by Wong Jing as well as left unharmed. Being impressed with Wong Jings skill, he becasme his student. After several years of hard practice old Wong Jing advised Wong Wu to train with another of Yuen Kay Shan´s pupils – Master Sum Num, to have develop a wider view on Wing Chun, from a differant direction. He also later spent some timewith senior student of Sum Num, named Pan Chao Sifu.

From his experiances with Sum Num and Pan Chao came some of his “San Sik” and other techniques, which Master Wong Wu Fong included to his own style and expresion of the Wing Chun Kuen system he called “Mai Gei Wong Wing Chun”.

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