The Singapore Wing Chun Academy (Sum Nung Lineage)
Wing Chun Philosophy & Daily Life Applications
The philosophy of Wing Chun is to take control of your life and make the decisions that are right for you. The art of Wing Chun is truly a combat martial art, but it also much more. Practitioners of Wing Chun will hopefully spend only a small fraction of a percent of time in their lives fighting. It is important, therefore, to be able to use the same concepts and principles used in fighting to better other non-combat areas of your life. Each fighting principle can also be interpreted philosophically. We believe that the practice of Wing Chun, and an understanding of its principles and philosophies, should be a catalyst to putting each practitioner in the driver's seat of his or her life. The development of great fighting abilities should give each of us the ability to be kind, compassionate, and loving by overcoming the fears that often manifest themselves as anger and hate. The truly competent warrior is not boastful. The truly secure person is free from the need to impress others with his or her physical prowess and free from the need to have the approval of others. He or she can be understanding, accepting, and kind without the fear of being thought weak for his or her kindness.
The reason for the philosophy is to help each of you tap into the inner power that we all have and to help you to take control of and responsibility for your own life. It is designed to help you recognize how much more powerful positive energy and accomplishing goals of a positive nature is, as opposed to negative thought and deed. Our worst enemy is often ourselves. Look inside of yourself and overcome your demons of fear and insecurity and you will find a path to a happier life. No matter how many people you can beat in battle, you will find no lasting happiness in bringing harm to others. Competent fighting skills are important but should be used to protect yourself or those you love in times of danger. You must choose your battles wisely. Your fighting skills should be a catalyst to enlightenment. By helping you to gain strength of character and confidence, your skills should give you peace of mind, thereby eliminating insecurity and giving you the capacity to be at peace and in harmony with others.
Wing Chun is different from many of today's popular styles, such as karate, tae kwon do, and Shaolin kung fu. While these styles block first and then attack, a Wing Chun student will defend and attack simultaneously. Wing Chun students also do not draw back before striking; instead, they strike from any position. This method both increases the speed and eliminates the telegraphing of the strike. In this way, in the time it takes a karate student to throw one or two punches, a Wing Chun student will throw at least nine.
While most other styles rely on windup to generate striking force, Wing Chun uses the structure of the entire body to create power in a small space. Wing Chun's famous "one-inch punch" is a testament to its striking power. Because proper positioning will overcome sheer strength, much of a Wing Chun student's time is spent training his or her body to move precisely and efficiently. Wing Chun uses chi sao (sticking hands) training to develop this precision and economy of motion.