The Basic Concept of the Creation of Wing Chun

This note below is excerpted from The Book of Wing Chun Vol. 1 by GM Chu Shong Tin.

According to the oral narrations by Grandmaster Ip Man, the course of Wing Chun creation by Wu (refer to Wu Mei or Ng Mui in Cantonese) is itself a unique and valuable reference for all of us in respect of deepening our understanding of Wing Chun. For this reason, I (refer to GM Chu Shong Tin) took a bold step and decided to document the narrations, so as to cherish the memory and admiration of Wu for learners from generations to generations.

Being a woman, Wu was physically not as strong as men. Hence to create a brand-new stream of martial arts, especially in her later years when her physical prowess was declining, its basic conception would definitely not have been founded on bodily strength, but on the desire to consume no power. Only with this strategy, a breakthrough in creation would have been possible.

One way to achieve this would have been to adopt a perilous combating strategy, relying on bizarre moves to win. Although this method could have reduced power consumption, its inherent weaknesses could still have been exposed and detected by the opponent, thence immediately failing its purpose. A serious creator of an ideal martial art should thus begin by establishing a fundamental and stable structure instead.

Such structure, to be used as the foundation for the ideal martial art, must be in itself inspirational and unprecedented:

1. Its structure is geared towards efficient power consumption.

2. It leverages on natural power to fuel movements.

3. It is equipped with a mechanism that can utilise the resilient structure fuelled by the natural power source to output massive power for both offence and defence.

End of quote.

Wing Chun is a martial arts fuelled with concepts and deep understanding. The power and effectiveness of this martial art lie on the concepts and the ideas giving birth to this style of martial arts. If you can understand at least part of the writing above, then your mind may open for a new meaning and understanding for you to study and practice your Wing Chun Kung Fu further to the next stage.

The book itself is filled with concepts and ideas that must be understood with deep knowledge of Wing Chun. There are so many "read between the lines" that are difficult to understand. Try to read it carefully, slowly, and repetitively. You may find a hidden gem when you can absorb and understand its content and meanings that is tried to be revealed by the late Sigung Chu Shong Tin.