Tag: teacher

In the introduction, it was suggested that Wing Chun was a different, more technique-based system of Kung Fu compared to the more ordinary systems of Kung Fu that rely as much on brute strength as superior technique. Much was said there to describe what WCKF wasn’t. Also immediately above, we introduced the philosophical essence, the very heart, of WCKF. In this section, we describe the component parts, the mechanics, of WCKF. This is best accomplished by describing the component parts of WCKF with an eye to their underlying concepts (remember also that, in the introduction, we said that WCKF was "concept-based"?). Central to the art of WCKF is the notion of the Central Axis (Zhong Zhou [中軸]), or the center line, which is the area of the body, or body zone, in which punches, kicks and grappling (trapping) takes place, while punches, kicks and trapping, in turn, belong to forms (Empty Hand forms). Each of these concepts – these topics and subtopics – will be treated in the following…

三人行必有我师焉 – san1 ren2 xing2 bi4 you3 wo3 shi1 yan1

Literal translation :3 – people – walking – must – have – me – teacher – thus

Chinese Kung Fu 中国功夫 – The Guiding Theory of Wing Chun

In the above, many words have been spent to describe what Wing Chun isn’t and what it is. We said, in the introduction, that we would attempt to tighten the circle of meaning around Wing Chun so as to capture its essence. Hopefully, the above description has paved the way to a more specific definition of what constitutes the essence of Wing Chun. We could have begun with the narrow, essential definition of Wing Chun and from there we could have illustrated the specific concept via generalized examples.

Chinese Kung Fu 中国功夫 – Wing Chun Legends and Lineages

The origin of Wing Chun is explained by a legend that involves a fight between a snake and a crane. According to the legend, a female Kung Fu master, Ng Mui, who was associated with with the Shaolin Temple*(1), chanced upon a fight between a snake and a crane, where normally the snake would be considered the underdog, yet the snake, biding its time and taking measure of the crane and the crane’s method of striking – and taking care not to be struck by the crane, of course, since, were the crane to connect (literal sense!) with the snake, it would be curtain time for the snake! – itself struck at the propitious moment, killing the crane.

Top Chinese Web-writer

Zhang Wei, a 34-year-old former state media employee whose pen name is Tangjiasanshao, has made his way to the top

拔苗助长-ba2miao2zhu4zhang3

Literal meaning of each character = uproot,pull/draw out – young plant/seedling – help – grow

Chinese Kung Fu 中国功夫 – Wing Chun 咏春拳

All Chinese martial arts originate from the principle of self-defense; they are not conceived as an offensive tactic, at least not in the initial stages, though after an attacker’s onslaught (kicks, punches, etc.) is parried, the martial arts fighter then goes on the offensive, "neutralizing", if possible, the attacker.

Chinese Kung Fu 中国功夫 – Chinese Qigong

On a very elemental level, qigong is a form of meditation. The most disciplined masters of qigong stress its meditational aspect more than the exercise and breathing components that are usually associated with it. As a form of meditation, qigong is focused on harnessing the primordial force of qi (chi), which, it is claimed, every normally-functioning human being is capable of communicating with. "Qigong" is composed of two characters: "qi" (sometimes written as "chi" as an aid to pronunciation, but think instead of "chee" as in "cheese") and "gong" (sometimes written as "kung" as an aid to pronunciation, but "gung" so it rhymes with "jung" – as in Carl Jung the psychiatrist and contemporary of Sigmund Freud – i.e., with more of a "g" sound than a "k" sound, is probably easier for Westerners to get their sound pipes around). "Qi" means air, or breath, but it is more like the breath that God "breathed" into Adam than the air one draws in and exhales, i.e., a life-giving force, or "energy". "Gong" means effort applied in a disciplined manner, or "work", so "qigong" means "energy work".