There’s an internet cliche which goes something like: 

Reasonable person + internet (access + anonymity) = @$$hole. Of course, non-anonymous posters can get into it just as much, and some can remain reasonable, but in broad strokes there does seem that intelligent discourse on the internet rapidly devolves into something close in kin to “OMG!!111 u are the sux” or “In ur dojo making fight challengz”

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It’s sometimes heard in Wing Chun Kuen that power is generated from the ground. This is actually heard more frequently in other arts, and personally I never heard this while learning Wing Chun Kuen. I heard something slightly different.

One of the qualities Wing Chun Kuen favors is adaptability; we change according to feeling and circumstance. If we put a hand out and our opponent does nothing, we hit them. However, if our opponent defends, we don’t stubbornly plow through, overcommit, stumble and leave ourselves open for counter. No, we change to another hand and continue on towards our target. This is referred to as “asking the way”, where the opponent lets us know exactly how to defeat him or her.

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From everyone at W1NG and WingChunKuen.com, here’s wishing you and yours peace, prosperity, health and happiness over the holidays and into the new year.

Trying to guess what will happen in the coming year is always equal parts fun and futility, but here’s a semi serious, semi farcical take on it.

1. The unprecedented availability of different Wing Chun approaches via online video hosting services, allowing us to actually see each other over the span of continents and cultures will continue, and emerging “live” streaming video services will lead to broadcasts of actual Wing Chun Kuen classes over the ‘net. Follow along with a Pien San class from HK, a Wong Shun-Leung class from Australia, or an NHB training session from the UK right from your home computer. (We’ll wait on direct neural transfer emersion until 2009, k?)

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When the first Wing Chun Kuen teachers came West, many passed down stories about how they or their sifu or their system were the One True Traditional Authentic Orthodox Real Deal, and otherwise placed other teachers and branches into lesser roles.

In a cultural context, this is not a big deal. Fishing stories are a good Western example of this type of exaggeration, at least in part. Some sifu would always credit famous legends (from books or even fairy tales like gods or immortals) as founders of their art because it was considered arrogant to claim credit for creating something. Likewise, if you ever wanted to teach for business, you either had to earn your reputation in public duels (which became very difficult later under the PRC), or by linking your art to someone or something famous (i.e. Ng Mui or the Shaolin Temple), or by claiming to be the one true source of something (which exists not just in WCK but virtually every MA).

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In order to increase our reach and make it as easy and convenient as possible for our readers to keep track of updates, news, and articles, we’ve set up some new social network feeds for W1NG (you’ll find them in the sidebar to the right)). Please take a moment to “follow” or “friend” them, and if there are other networks you enjoy (we might do Jaiku next!), especially international ones, please do let us know!

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Renowned for over a half-century in China, grandmaster Sum Nung (Cen Neng) has remained a well kept secret to most in the wing chun kuen family outside of the Bamboo Curtain. It is hoped that this article can help share with the reader grandmaster Sum Nung’s incredible legacy and his great contributions to the art of wing chun kuen.

Born in Peru, South America in May 1925, Sum Nung was brought to Foshan, Guangdong province, China by his father as a child so that their family name would continue in their native land. Originally from a well to do family, the Japanese occupation of the 1930s caused great hardship for the Sum’s, stripping them of much of their wealth and cutting them off from their relatives abroad. Eventually, to help support his family, Sum Nung took a job at Tin Hoi, a local restaurant in which his aunt was part owner. That is where it all began.

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When most people hear the word “strength”, weightlifting and bodybuilding are often the first things to come to mind. However, functional strength is very different from weightlifting strength. Most traditional weight training exercises are done to develop physical aesthetics. Of course bodybuilders are not weak, however, the strength from standard weight lifting does not always translate over as effectively in real life as someone who trains for functional strength.

A great example is the World’s Strongest Man contest. Rather than curling dumbbells, bench pressing barbells, and pumping out reps on a machine, the World’s Strongest Man contest has competitor lifting rocks, pulling cars, flipping huge tires, etc… If you look at the competitors in these contests, though they are big guys, they look nothing like professional bodybuilders. A few professional bodybuilders have participated in these contests in the past and most had very limited success. I am not saying that in order to have functional strength, you need to be big like the competitors in a World’s Strongest Man contest as there are many other examples of functional strength. I am using that as an example with people of comparable mass to a professional bodybuilder to show how training for looks versus training for function can directly translate to performance.

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Ever since you can remember, I’m sure you have been told about the importance of warming up before engaging in sports and strenuous physical activity. You’ve probably been told that a proper warm up will decreasing the likelihood of injuries such as pulling a muscle or getting a cramp.

In the past, we all were told to stretch when warming up. Now many athletic trainers are saying that stretching is an “old school” mentality and should not be done when the body is cold. It is now said that stretching should be done after the workout. The new mentality for warming up with many trainers is more along the lines of light activity to get a slight sweat going to get the body warm.

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We emerged from the Prince Edward Station onto the crowded streets of Kowloon just as the sun was beginning to set. Working our way through the heavy traffic, both human and automotive, framed beneath a patchwork sky of ever-glowing store signs, With the smell of the many restaurants, cafes, noodle & snack shops, and food stalls filling the air, we headed towards Sham Shui Po.

“There,” my friend said after a goodly walk, “do you see his sign?”

Following my friend’s gaze, I looked down the street, straining to see what he had seen. I could read some Chinese, especially martial terms and those proper names I was familiar with, but there were simply too many signs, too much clutter, to sort out. “I see hundreds of signs,” I replied with a grin.

“The red one,” he added, pointing to a large mosaic of color down the street, perhaps wondering why I hadn’t caught it earlier.

As we got closer, I finally made it out - “Guangzhou Taiji Wing Chun Institute” and just below, standing out from the rest of the line by size of print “Kwok Wan-Ping”.

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