Wingchung

Wing Chun

Wing Chun, occasionally romanized as Ving Tsun or "Wing Tsun" (literally "spring chant" and alternatively as "forever spring", or substituted with the character for "eternal springtime")is a Chinese martial art that specializes in aggressive close-range combat.
The characters (永春) "forever spring" are also associated with some other southern Chinese martial arts, including Jee Shim Weng Chun (Yong Chun) and White Crane Weng Chun (Yong Chun).

History

The history of most martial arts, including Wing Chun, has historically been passed from teacher to student as an oral history rather than through written documentation, making it difficult to confirm or clarify the differing accounts of Wing Chun's creation. Some have sought to apply the methods of higher criticism to the oral histories of Wing Chun and other Chinese martial arts Others have attempted to discern the origins of Wing Chun by determining the specific purpose of its techniques. Wing Chun starts to appear in independent third-party documentation during the era of the Wing Chun master Leung Jan, making the subsequent history of Wing Chun and its divergence into branches more amenable to documentary verification.
The common legend involves Yim Wing Chun (Wing Chun literally means beautiful springtime or everlasting spring). A young woman who has rebuffed the local warlord's marriage offer, and he says he'll rescind his proposal if she can beat him in a fight. She asks a local buddhist nun, Ng Mui, to teach her boxing, the style they develop enables Yim Wing Chun to defeat the warlord and she marries her sweetheart and teaches him the style which he names after her.
It should be noted that the system was developed during the Shaolin and Ming resistance movement against the Qing Dynasty and thus many legends about the creator of Wing Chun were spread to confuse the enemy, including the story of Yim Wing Chun, this may have contributed to why no one has been able to accurately determine the creator or creators of Wing Chun.

Forms
Both the Way Yan (Weng Chun) and Nguyễn Tế-Công branches use different curricula of empty hand forms. The Tam Yeung and Fung Sang lineages both trace their origins to Leung Jan's retirement to his native village of Gu Lao, where he taught a curriculum of San Sik.
The Siu Lien Tao (Little First Training) of Cho Ga Wing Chun is one long form that includes movements that are comparative to a combination of Siu Nim Tao, Chum Kiu, and Biu Jee of other families. The other major forms of the style are Sui Da ("Random Striking"), Chui Da ("Chase Striking"), Fa Kuen ("Variegated Fist"), Jin Jeung ("Arrow Palm"), Jin Kuen ("Arrow Fist"), Joy Kuen ("Drunken Fist"), Sup Saam Sao ("Thirteen Hands"), and Chi Sao Lung ("Sticking Hands Set").