FIRE HAWK
08-15-2001, 05:08 AM
Weng Chun,Wing Chun-truth or false?
The second part of an article published in the ...... issue of "Karate-Kungfu" magazine.
Everybody knows the Wing Chun system - we know the techniques,fight positions,we know how to obstruct or how to kick,we know what characterize Wing Chun.The "hourglass" position,tan sao,bong ,sao,chik kuen etc.But is this the only one ,the true picture of this martial art?
The Wing Tsun system or correctly the system of Weng Chun has become one of the best known and the most popular martial art styles all around the world.I am using these two names knowingly because all the time the original name of kung fu martial art has been described by only one chinese hieroglyph - "weng".
The tradicional notation of the style's name is Weng and it means "forever,something
never-ending,everlasting".This sign is used by styles linked with the revolutionary motto of "Weng Chun"( for example-the Pao Fa Lien Weng Chun School and Sim Lam Weng Chun)and with the legendary monk Chi Sim ( the Chi Sim Weng Chun) and of course with the Yong Chun shire in the Fujian province(like the school of Pan Nam Weng Chun).
The modern notation -Wing- is more popular and it means " to recite, to intone,to sing or even metaphorically speaking to fame somebody.This sign is very alike,very similiar to the phoneticWeng ,but some branches of the style which use this notation claim that they originate from the female monk (nun) Ng Mui/or from a girl Yim Wing Chun(for example the Yip Man Wing Chun ,Gu Lao Wing Chun ,Yuen Kay San Wing Chun and many others).
What's in the name?
There's a lot in the name fortunately for the style. People who have nothing in common with Cantonese and Chinese spelling are often very amazed by the differences in spelling and that's a big problem.The misinterpretetions of spelling and scant translations circulating through the years among people have led to many mistakes in our language.It is believed that the early translators had serious problems with Chinese /or with terminology needed for correct translations .Maybe the Wing Chun pioneers decided to make the descriptions easier to understand for Western students by giving them only one name.
First of all i have to give an explaination for a few things: in Weng Chun Kuen the Cantonese terminology is used (sometimes the modern Mandarin spelling is used as well).The Cantonese dialect in its written form is similiar to official Zhongwen language
but it is totottaly different from Chinese and that fact makes the whole troubles.Zhongwen has its own latin transcription PinYin.The Cantonese dialect has none.The effect of it is that
Weng Chun has lots of misinterpretation in spelling.
Wing Chun Kuen
There's a lot of credible styles and a few dozen less serious schools of the Weng Chun style.Every leader of every school assure us that his style is the real and unique one.But the truth is far different sometimes when the genezis,the history and the techniques become clearer.At the beginning we find out that we cannot learn everything at once even just to have only a shadow chance of an idea what we will learn about.Why?It is happening because the system has two sides of the learning process-the real one and the false one . The modern learning process has been based on the original version of Weng Chun.The old masters have been teaching their students reluctantly unless they had a chance to test their loyality and
honesty.The desire of having the knowledge deepen has been replaced with the learning of the false techniques.Until this very day the same patterns are being duplicated. and only the choosen ones know the real style and -what is really interestig- the historical facts.
The well known style that comes from the transmission of the female monk (nun) named Ng Mui called the Hong Kong Wing Chun is in reality only the simplified version of the system.The whole world is aiming to simplification.It is good but in martial arts the simplifications of the techniques leads to the lost of the original point.Teachers and instructors duplicating the simplified techniques are making the same mistakes all over again.They teach without going into sense and logic of their lessons.Of course the participants do not know anything about that and they do not search for the truth.The teachers and instructors don't teach the whole system to its very end.They don't have enough knowledge.There's a lots of questions "why ?" in that style. You can see it in the hand techniques and in the abridged core of the wooden dummy techniques.Any examples? I want to bring your attention to the fact that the first /Siu Lam Tao/, the second /Chum Kiu/ and the third /Biu Chee/ hand forms and the use of wooden dunny is being taught almost in every branch of the system.
They are modern and conventional forms of Weng Chun,designed for mass-teaching.They are 60,maybe 70 years old ,nothing more!
Right now i want to ask You a question: how many techniques is in the use of wooden dummy?- 108 ,116 , 121 ,140 or 172 and why there is so many of them?
No wonder that contemporary students of Yip Man are always searching for something in the system and there`s still something missing.
Weng Chun Kuen
Weng Chun is a combination of knowledge of all fighting systems descented from the legendary Shaolin Temple and as sensation it is passed on in unchanged form.There are some techniques and exercises unknown to other hand to hand combats.In fact,Weng Chun is straight different from the rest of Chinese martial arts.
It is different than all Wing Chun.The masters of the style were exchanging their experience and they were compliting the art.Thanks to this and many other principles,Weng Chun is a method of hand to hand combat,not just a schematic style.
Weng Chun can be adopted to any other kind of martial Art, but it depends on teachers predispositions,skills knowledge and inclinations.That`s why there is so many different transmissions.It wasn`t a rarity ,that students were using the knowledge of few trusted Weng Chun teachers to get to know the system.
The Epilogue
The difference in contents and form between Wing Chun Kuen and Weng Chun Kuen is the same as the writing of their names -the same signs but interpretation is straight different.The same techniques but different use .The truth is that in Weng Chun are forms unknown to the Western world and only the knowledge of these techniques gives a real picture of the art.There are some real techniques ready to use in every situation and range of the fight.But firstand foremost they give us an answer to many questions concering the origin and the history of the style.You have to seek for the ideals that have their roots in this style to understand them.And i can assure you that there's no need to seek and to adopt the techniques from other martial art styles.
Many years have passed before we finally understood the truth about the system; the truth that makes us see that the knowledge of basic techniques of the system, that the knowledge of three boxing forms,the use of wooden dummy and the techniques with the use ofthe weapon are just the beginning of the way of Weng Chun..
Dariusz M.Różański- the Polish representative of Chi Sim Weng Chun.
The second part of an article published in the ...... issue of "Karate-Kungfu" magazine.
Everybody knows the Wing Chun system - we know the techniques,fight positions,we know how to obstruct or how to kick,we know what characterize Wing Chun.The "hourglass" position,tan sao,bong ,sao,chik kuen etc.But is this the only one ,the true picture of this martial art?
The Wing Tsun system or correctly the system of Weng Chun has become one of the best known and the most popular martial art styles all around the world.I am using these two names knowingly because all the time the original name of kung fu martial art has been described by only one chinese hieroglyph - "weng".
The tradicional notation of the style's name is Weng and it means "forever,something
never-ending,everlasting".This sign is used by styles linked with the revolutionary motto of "Weng Chun"( for example-the Pao Fa Lien Weng Chun School and Sim Lam Weng Chun)and with the legendary monk Chi Sim ( the Chi Sim Weng Chun) and of course with the Yong Chun shire in the Fujian province(like the school of Pan Nam Weng Chun).
The modern notation -Wing- is more popular and it means " to recite, to intone,to sing or even metaphorically speaking to fame somebody.This sign is very alike,very similiar to the phoneticWeng ,but some branches of the style which use this notation claim that they originate from the female monk (nun) Ng Mui/or from a girl Yim Wing Chun(for example the Yip Man Wing Chun ,Gu Lao Wing Chun ,Yuen Kay San Wing Chun and many others).
What's in the name?
There's a lot in the name fortunately for the style. People who have nothing in common with Cantonese and Chinese spelling are often very amazed by the differences in spelling and that's a big problem.The misinterpretetions of spelling and scant translations circulating through the years among people have led to many mistakes in our language.It is believed that the early translators had serious problems with Chinese /or with terminology needed for correct translations .Maybe the Wing Chun pioneers decided to make the descriptions easier to understand for Western students by giving them only one name.
First of all i have to give an explaination for a few things: in Weng Chun Kuen the Cantonese terminology is used (sometimes the modern Mandarin spelling is used as well).The Cantonese dialect in its written form is similiar to official Zhongwen language
but it is totottaly different from Chinese and that fact makes the whole troubles.Zhongwen has its own latin transcription PinYin.The Cantonese dialect has none.The effect of it is that
Weng Chun has lots of misinterpretation in spelling.
Wing Chun Kuen
There's a lot of credible styles and a few dozen less serious schools of the Weng Chun style.Every leader of every school assure us that his style is the real and unique one.But the truth is far different sometimes when the genezis,the history and the techniques become clearer.At the beginning we find out that we cannot learn everything at once even just to have only a shadow chance of an idea what we will learn about.Why?It is happening because the system has two sides of the learning process-the real one and the false one . The modern learning process has been based on the original version of Weng Chun.The old masters have been teaching their students reluctantly unless they had a chance to test their loyality and
honesty.The desire of having the knowledge deepen has been replaced with the learning of the false techniques.Until this very day the same patterns are being duplicated. and only the choosen ones know the real style and -what is really interestig- the historical facts.
The well known style that comes from the transmission of the female monk (nun) named Ng Mui called the Hong Kong Wing Chun is in reality only the simplified version of the system.The whole world is aiming to simplification.It is good but in martial arts the simplifications of the techniques leads to the lost of the original point.Teachers and instructors duplicating the simplified techniques are making the same mistakes all over again.They teach without going into sense and logic of their lessons.Of course the participants do not know anything about that and they do not search for the truth.The teachers and instructors don't teach the whole system to its very end.They don't have enough knowledge.There's a lots of questions "why ?" in that style. You can see it in the hand techniques and in the abridged core of the wooden dummy techniques.Any examples? I want to bring your attention to the fact that the first /Siu Lam Tao/, the second /Chum Kiu/ and the third /Biu Chee/ hand forms and the use of wooden dunny is being taught almost in every branch of the system.
They are modern and conventional forms of Weng Chun,designed for mass-teaching.They are 60,maybe 70 years old ,nothing more!
Right now i want to ask You a question: how many techniques is in the use of wooden dummy?- 108 ,116 , 121 ,140 or 172 and why there is so many of them?
No wonder that contemporary students of Yip Man are always searching for something in the system and there`s still something missing.
Weng Chun Kuen
Weng Chun is a combination of knowledge of all fighting systems descented from the legendary Shaolin Temple and as sensation it is passed on in unchanged form.There are some techniques and exercises unknown to other hand to hand combats.In fact,Weng Chun is straight different from the rest of Chinese martial arts.
It is different than all Wing Chun.The masters of the style were exchanging their experience and they were compliting the art.Thanks to this and many other principles,Weng Chun is a method of hand to hand combat,not just a schematic style.
Weng Chun can be adopted to any other kind of martial Art, but it depends on teachers predispositions,skills knowledge and inclinations.That`s why there is so many different transmissions.It wasn`t a rarity ,that students were using the knowledge of few trusted Weng Chun teachers to get to know the system.
The Epilogue
The difference in contents and form between Wing Chun Kuen and Weng Chun Kuen is the same as the writing of their names -the same signs but interpretation is straight different.The same techniques but different use .The truth is that in Weng Chun are forms unknown to the Western world and only the knowledge of these techniques gives a real picture of the art.There are some real techniques ready to use in every situation and range of the fight.But firstand foremost they give us an answer to many questions concering the origin and the history of the style.You have to seek for the ideals that have their roots in this style to understand them.And i can assure you that there's no need to seek and to adopt the techniques from other martial art styles.
Many years have passed before we finally understood the truth about the system; the truth that makes us see that the knowledge of basic techniques of the system, that the knowledge of three boxing forms,the use of wooden dummy and the techniques with the use ofthe weapon are just the beginning of the way of Weng Chun..
Dariusz M.Różański- the Polish representative of Chi Sim Weng Chun.