Wing Chun Kung Fu in Bishop's Stortford
Wing Chun is a popular Chinese martial art made famous in 1970’s films by the star Bruce Lee. Classical, yet modern and functional, our Kung Fu School students engage in many traditional exercises such as forms, solo-drills, and unique partner training methods and apply these acquired techniques to potential modern day scenarios. Rather than relying on brute strength or pre-arranged sequences, Wing Chun applies unique principles and strategies to insure victory against a bigger and more aggressive opponent. Wing Chun will not only challenge you physically, but will also teach you how to examine all forms of interaction in life using its principles and strategies.
Notes of Interest
Bruce Lee is likely the most well known Wing Chun student of modern day , pictured top of this page training with the legendary Grand Master Ip Man, one of the great Wing Chun masters of all time. So much so that films have been made about his life .
Histories vary on the origin of Wing Chun, a popular theory is that Wing Chun originated with a Buddhist nun by the name of Ng Mui who created Wing Chun to take advantage of weaknesses in other arts. According to Ip Man, Wing Chun developed when Ng Mui met a girl named Yim Wing Chun. After fleeing the Kanxi Emperor’s forces who had attempted to destroy Henan Shaolin Monastery, that our art got its name. A bandit had been trying to force Yim Wing Chun into marriage, and it was the art of Wing Chun that defeated the bandit. Ng Mui’s way of teaching Yim Wing Chun was taught in a way so that she could learn quickly, and without having to develop strength. In a way, one could view this as a sort of David vs. Goliath story. However, this story of Yim Wing Chun is not the only history told of Wing Chun’s creation.
Some of the earliest mentions of Wing Chun date to the Red Boat Opera, a Cantonese group that traveled along southern China on red boats called “Junks” in the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s. This group played a big part in leading a popular uprising against the Qing Dynasty government, using an early version of what we know as Wing Chun.
Contrary to what many believe, Wing Chun is practiced and used by many successful MMA champions such as Jon Jones, Anderson Silver, Tony Ferguson…
Famous Hollywood actors who practice Wing Chun include Robert Downey Jr, Christian Bale, Nicholas Cage, Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen (Seen in the Ip Man films)
Wing Chun is best known for close quarter fighting.
Wing Chun uses the strength of the opponent as an advantage.