NorCal Wing Chun Kung Fu Club

 

 

Simple - Direct - Efficient

Wing Chun Kung Fu is a martial arts system that emphasizes structure and angles. It does not rely on size, speed, or strength but instead uses joint leverage in structural alignment with the ground to generate tremendous power.

Introduced to America by Bruce Lee, who used it as the core for his own system, Jeet Kune Do, Wing Chun is an ideal fighting system for smaller people. There are no fancy moves or high kicks and no bootcamp style workouts or calisthenics. The training is easy and allows the student to progress at his/her own pace.

The core training method is Chi Sao, or “Sticky Hands,” an exercise unique to Wing Chun that allows the practitioner to develop sensitivity in the arms and trains a person to “feel” the opponent’s pressure, angle, and direction.

Chi Sao is fun and easy to learn. It is a game that teaches the important concepts and principles of fighting and self-defense – namely, to always chase the opponent’s center and not his hands. Chi Sao also teaches the practitioner to use both hands at the same time, cutting the fighting time in half. Thus Wing Chun is referred to as Short-Cut Fighting.

It is easy to learn and easy to apply.

First the Legend

Around 1674 the Manchu Emperor, fearing the fighting skills of the Shaolin monks, plotted to destroy the Shaolin Temple in Hunan province. The Emperor’s forces attacked the monastery while a renegade monk, Ma Ning Yee, set fire on the inside.

Five elderly monks, known as the 5 Ancestors, escaped and set out to devise a new and improved system of fighting to defeat the Emperor’s soldiers. They distilled their knowledge to a core system that was simple, direct, and efficient.

One of the five monks was a nun named Ng Mui, who was the oldest and known as the best boxer among them. She befriended a producer of bean curd named Yim Yee, whose beautiful daughter, Yim Wing Chun (Eternal Springtime), was being pressured by a local ruffian to marry him. Ng Mui taught her Kung Fu system to Yim Wing Chun who used it to defeat the ruffian in combat.

Yim Wing Chun then married her sweatheart, Leung Bok Chow, and taught him the system. In need of money, Leung Bok Chow began teaching Kung Fu and named it after his wife, Wing Chun Kuen (Wing Chun’s Boxing).

The system was eventually passed down to members of the Red Junk Opera who sailed the Yangtze River. The Opera was a hotbed of revolutionaries intent on overthrowing the Manchu Emperors.

More Factual Information

The first reliable information is that Leung Jan, a doctor in Fatsan, practiced Wing Chun and was famous for his challenge fights. Besides his sons, Leung Bic and Leung Tsun, he also taught a moneychanger named Chan Wah Son.

One of Chan’s students was Yip Man, a young man from a wealthy family. When Chan Wah Son died, Yip Man completed his training under another student, Ng Chun Sao. While in school in Hong Kong, Yip Man was challenged by an old man who easily defeated him. After the match, the old man told him he was Leung Bic, the son of Leung Jan, and Yip Man became his student.

First during the Japanese occupation and then under communism, Yip Man lost his fortune and fled to Hong Kong where, in need of money, he began teaching Wing Chun to the Restaurant Workers Union.

Yip Man is known as the Grandmaster of modern Hong Kong Wing Chun. His students included Bruce Lee and Wong Shun Leung, famous for his challenge matches.

Lam Man Hoc (Gary Lam) trained under Wong Shun Leung for 15 years and was his top coach for 6 additional years.

Tom Forcino learned from Sifu Lam in his school in Monterey Park beginning in January, 2000.

Forms

Siu Nim Tao
Chum Kiu
Biu Ji
Muk Yan Jong (Wooden Dummy form)
Luk Dim Boon Gwon (Dragon Pole Set) Baat Jaam Do

Sifu Lam Drills

1. Double Tan
2. Double Bong
3. Double Kwon/Triple Kwon
4. One Hand Cover Two
5. Side Lop Sao
6. 7 Hands
7. Side Pak
8. Wrong Bong/Correct Bong – 4
9. Pulling Hands – 5
10. Closing
11. Ding Ding Lop
12. Inside Correct Pak
13. Wrong Inside Pak
14. 12 Hand Pak Sao Action + 4

Advanced Drills

1. Dragon Pole 2 Person Drills – 10
2. Control Centerline
3. 2 Hands on Top (Po Pei)
4. 2 Hands Under
5. Closing Actions – 4
6. Breaking Power Point – 3
7. Chi Sao–Chi Gerk (Hand/Leg Training)
8. Wrong/Correct Bong Po Pei
9. Hand/Leg Action – 10
10. Kicking Drills – 8

 

Additional Drills

Dan Chi Sao (Single Hand)
Moving Dan Chi Sao
Moving Tan Sao Drill
Shifting Drill
Turning Punching Drills
Moving Attack Drills
Pak Sao Drills
Free Attack Drills
Chi Sao Drills & Training
Pulling Bong/Shoulder Drills

Classes:

Classes are now in Chico

Chico Kodenkan Martial Arts Academy

254 East 1st Street, Chico, CA 95928

Mondays & Wednesdays

7:30 to 8:30 pm

$75 per month

$50 per month with Student I.D.