Wing Chun Martial Arts Class

This is the second post about the Wing Chun training I recently started. This will serve as a record to what my Wing Chun Sifu has to offer during each lesson.

During this second lesson my Wing Chun Sifu thought us how to attack an opponents neck, ribs with upper and lower palm strike. He also thought us how to attack a person's groin with the palm facing downwards, meaning your fingers is facing the ground.

We had to punch the punching bag quite a lot to get all the strike right or at least get an idea of how to use it. Although I myself have a homemade punching bag that is filled with sand inside, I find that small punching bag that is hanged against the wall can hurt your hand more. My punching bag is hanged from the top so each time you hit it it can move backwards, absorbing the impact but not bringing the impact back to your fist.

We also were thought the Wing Chun ready hand position, called Men Sao and Wu Sao in Cantonese, meaning "Asking hand" and "Protecting hand". If you have watched Ip Man the movie, it is the hand position Ip Man does most of the time. Like the picture I put up at the start of this post. We learn how to punch and move back to this ready position each time we finish a strike.

All quite simple really. I wonder what we will learn in the next Wing Chun lesson. Might need something extra to keep my interest alive because I can get bored pretty easily if there is nothing new.

My Wing Chun class is 2 days a week on Tuesday and Wednesday. So if you are following my blog expect this kind of post twice each week unless there is nothing interesting to write about.

Wing Chun Martial Arts training

Finally, I started my first lesson of Wing Chun training.

It was about an hour and 15 minutes long and it costs me RM150 per month.

So far I still do not know how good my current Wing Chun Sifu is although his lineage is from Yip Man. Judging from how some of his more experienced student is performing it is not so promising. Maybe my expectation is just too high at the moment.

The Wing Chun class I went is rather large, about 20+ people. With so many people you can't expect too much from each lesson. Basically my Wing Chun Sifu just separates us all into three different groups and teach one group at a time, some of his senior student will help out.

The first lesson we beginners were thought the straight punch and straight palm. If you have read my previous article you should already know that I learn some Wing Chun from videos. So I was doing the same thing I learn from the video when Sifu teaches it.

The good thing about learning from a Wing Chun Sifu other than learning from video is that they can correct your mistakes. I got the form right but I used mostly dead force on my punches and palm. The idea is to only use force on contact and leave your arm and hand relax after contact.

We were also thought the most basic stance of Wing Chun. I don't know how to describe the name of the stance in English here but Wing Chun's stance will look weird to the general public in my opinion. And the name will be weird as well, I think it is call the goat stance.

One more thing I learn from this lesson that video training can't teach me is that you have to move you butt a little bit to the front when you are using the goat stance. I wish I can show you how at the moment but too bad. The idea is to shift the body weight to the thigh muscle so you won't injure you knee over time. If you have been training on the basic stance and felt the strain on the knee then you know you are wrong.

One of the senior student noticed that I have had some other training before and asked me about it. It probably did not mean anything but I hope it is for the best. I already learn Siu Lim Tao and Chum Kiu and I wonder whether I should tell them and speed things up a little.

If you live around SS2 and PJ and want to know more about this Wing Chun Martial Arts class, just leave a comment with your email and I will get back to you.

Wing Chun movies

Watching movies related to what you are learning is what a Wing Chun noob like me will do.

As you can see, the first image is a man practising the Wing Chun dummy. I just have to put another one up.

Anyway, the movie is call Ip Man. Don't mistake it as I P Man. Many did since generally no one really knows who Yip Man is. Yes, Yip Man is a more general name when one is searching about the master of Bruce Lee.

If Bruce Lee never existed maybe not that much of people will know about Yip Man as a Grandmaster of Wing Chun Martial Arts.

So here you have it, a semi biography of the life of Yip Man. I am not a good reviewer of movies but I will have to say I do not know which part of the movie is actually true. I just watch it for the action to be honest and I have to say the moves are very true to Wing Chun if you are a practitioner.

You can even spot some moves here and there from Siu Lim Tao clearly, and some from Chum Kiu. I have not learnt Bil Jee so I have no idea there.

Wing Chun movies from Hong Kong will usually have Sammo Hung as the martial art choreographer. In Ip Man this is no exception. There is no single moment that is too dull, you get action scenes here and there and I don't have to it again, they are good.

Donnie Yen did a great job portraying Yip Man. I don't really like Donnie Yen in most of his movies, not to say I don't respect him as a true Martial Artist. I just find him stiff in acting and always acting cool. This time strangely he fits the role.

Ip Man is very recent and the Blu Ray version is coming out mid February so if you have not watched it go grab yourself a DVD.

Ok, now to the second image. This movie is called Warriors Two. Pretty old movie.

This movie is made by Sammo Hung and he is also in the movie. This movie has a different feel to it compare to Ip Man. Maybe because of it being filmed in the past. You get a lot of villains and they are somewhat indestructible in the beginning.

The story line is pretty basic, with a young man learning the ways of Wing Chun and beating all the villains on the course of his revenge. Somehow this is the basis of a lot of old Hong Kung Fu flick. You need a reason to fight.

The action in this movie does not have the same feel as Ip Man but the moves are clean and clear when Leung Zhan strikes. Some have said that this movie shows a lot of lethal technique from Wing Chun.

I do find the Mantis Kung Fu in this movie ridiculous at times, other than that a solid movie about Wing Chun. Did I mention there are a lot of Wing Chun Dummies in this movie? They can even move!


The Prodigal Son. The first Wing Chun movie I encountered. Again this movie is following some of the basis of the Vengeance theory so expect to see some Wing Chun training. Again Sammo Hung is present in this movie.

With Sammo Hung around you are bound to have some humour in this movie. Same goes to Warriors Two, forgot to mention. However I like the humour from this movie more than Warriors Two, maybe because Yuen Biao is around too.

If I were to compare The Prodigal Son with Warriors Two I have to say The Prodigal Son is a better movie overall. I like the action since I felt the actions are faster and are much better captured choreographed.

Yuen Biao portrays Leung Zhan in this movie which he was a prodigal son in a wealthy family. The story moves a long when he was beaten by his soon to be master.


I think this is pretty much it, my little review of the Wing Chun movies I watched. Feel free to let me know if you have watched other Wing Chun Movies not on the list.