Women In Wing Chun

[Ng Mui]

Since there is no style more suited for a female, why are there not more training in Wing Chun Kung Fu.?

What can we do to get more women , through the door?

I would like to hear from everyone, but especially the thoughts of the ladies who are training now.

[curtis]

Hello Ng Mui
The martial arts are hard business to sell.
Only about 10 percent of the population ARE even interested in the arts, and from that 10 percent, most of the people are men. So even a smaller percentage of women are even interested.
The problem really gets compounded when you think about all of choices out there for those who ARE interested to choose from. Cardio karate and yoga seemed to get a lot younger women, and tai chi seems to get much of the older.
Although Wingchun was designed by a woman, (yours truly.) Most of the schools (Kwoons) are run by men, that can be a little intimidating for a female, my advice would be, if you want women to attend in the masses, you must have a female instructor, and that instructor must be very personable and She gear the class towards what most women are looking for. (A learning environment that is nonthreatening,)
Over the years that I trained, there have been quite a few women to come to are classes. The women do very well and pickup information very quickly. (Most of time much quicker than man do.) Although they seem to quite when the levels become more advanced. I am not sure why? Perhaps they get what they have come to learn, or they choose not to become aggressive? I am not sure. But ,of a matter of course. Most men seem to quit around the same time. Only a handful of dedicated people will continue there training. I personally believe it is the American lifestyle. (Families, jobs, fast-paced life, very few people are willing to stick with anything for any time.) It is ashame, but it seems to be a fact of life.
Sincerely yours. C.A.G.

[WCis4me]

Hi,
About a year ago there was a thread regarding this topic. It has some very good posts on it relating to your questions.

For Women Only Thread

Enjoy,
Vicky

[kj]

I had forgotten what a good thread that turned out to be.
- kj

[Phenix]

Originally posted by Ng Mui

What can we do to get more women , through the door?

I will get Uma to make a movie --- Kill Hendrik.
( Not Kill Bill part 3, 4. Bill got kill in part II using Pak Mei's inch punch. and Uma http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266697/ lost to me because I shattle her samulai sword with shock wave. or VWHW. VW is not equal to http://www.vw.com/newbeetle/index.htm)

And Uma will use the zero delay energy issue to beat California's governor that big guy Anorld. Using a high tech laser polish ultra-line carbon black Butterfly saber which transformed from the slic high heels, and with wireless globar positioning tracking system when use as a boomerang swing cut, made in San Jose, the mecca of high tech ofcause.

And ofcause since Bak Mei died, Uma goes learn from Ng Mui in Hanna Maui.

So, Ng mui, you better tech her the VWHW, non broken arrow, The Waving wave, the waving wind, the waving storm, the waving tronado. Yup, those are the things which will knock out those MMA. and the last scene of due is on the Surf board. Now you talk about advance martial art. balance, using the wave power!

Now it is the time isnt it.

Wait for next summer. KILL HENDRIK ! when the ancient wave meet with high tech.

After that, all mon will send their sporty dau to WING CHUN!

WINGCHUN --- Slic ( modern word for spacial), elegant ( modern word for simple) , cool ( modern word for calm and smiling face), sexy ( modern word for deadly attractive) , and deadly ( modern word for ZEN right through the target) .

Wing Chun, The art for tommorow --- the closest distance between two points is just a cool slic look

If you think WC has fast punch. You aint see it yet. ----- VWHW, as cute as a VW bettle as powerfull as a Tank.

[yuanfen]

When I began wing chun any moons ago-- in addition to my sifu-
3 elder kung fu bros/sis were immensely helpful.

Nancy McDonald was the very gifted and able sister. She used to assist in teaching classes-she had and has true wing chun power and movement. There are several younger kung fu sisters now in
Tucson who are also very good. Corina Cirricone specially comes to mind. She also makes various kung fu equipment and weapons.
Curt has referred to her site before..<www.little-raven.com/>

I have had and have several female students in my classes.

As mentioned by Curtis- women also face time pressures and varying commitments in our fast paced times. A "macho" or sexist enviroment- however subtle or unintentional can be a barrier for some women IMO. But best to listen to the women in wc themselves-under-represented as they may be.

Ip Man has mentioned that when he was learning wing chun -there was a female related to Leung Bik who was better than IM.
There is also a well known picture of a female wing chun group that was taught by Ip Man.

[WCis4me]

Originally posted by kj
I had forgotten what a good thread that turned out to be.
- kj

You are most welcome. Also thanks for the kind words on the Dim Mak thread.
Hope all is amazing with you,
Vicky

[Buddha_Fist]

I guess the video suits the thread:

http://nikewomen.nike.com/nikewomen/...&pTyp=wingtzun

[Phenix]

Originally posted by Buddha_Fist
I guess the video suits the thread:

http://nikewomen.nike.com/nikewomen/...&pTyp=wingtzun

Great high tech and modern touch! I like that. instead of wearing 1840's sport wear.

[yylee]

Originally posted by Phenix
Great high tech and modern touch! I like that. instead of wearing 1840's sport wear.

wah... I am more afraid of her than dogs, that's for sure!

[Phenix]

Originally posted by yylee



wah... I am more afraid of her than dogs, that's for sure!

You know, after my Hawaii trip. I think WCK should be done differently than what you see in the clip of nike. More elegant and more nature. the arm movements in the clip is bigger than body or steps movements that is not good for lady. it becomes a dance not a MA. and ofcause the VWHW will make the sun punch even better, not just snaping the wrist.

[anerlich]

Since there is no style more suited for a female

This is often said, presumably because it was allegedly developed by one.

Is it REALLY the case though?

BJJ is quite a good style for women as well.

[dragon lady]

Hello Ng Mui and others,

In the US, it is a cultural consistancy that physical activity is predominantly male. If you say "sports" people think men's sports. If you say "martial arts" the first thing to come to mind isn't going to be an average sized woman. Because of that, I don't think that the vast majority of women are even aware of the possibilty of training and being successul at martial arts. The inclusion of Tae Bo in cardio programs at woman friendly gyms has actually brought some more women around to the concept. Women are not taught (generally) to be aggressive and as such the tendancy to persue a MARTIAL art usually follows another life event. It could be that they did some cardio kick boxing and then sought it out, or they were victimised and are now aware that they need to be able to fight back and defend themselves. In my case, I had no desire to train. I thought I could hang out with my friend (my Sifu's daughter) while my husband trained, but my Sifu really encouraged us to join together. He convinced me to try. I didn't think there would be any way I could do any physically demanding activity due to my unbelievable lack of strength, coordination, and balance. Luckily My Sifu and my Sihing were fantastic and showed me what I could do. So to answer your original question, I think the first thing we need to do is get the information out to women that there is a place for them in the martial family. Second, be sure to give them proper support once they make it to class.

[Spark]

my class has had many women participate, however, it does seem that sometimes WC can come across a bit as a boy's club.
There are people who are just interested in 'fighting', and when the majority of a class is made up of such people, it seems as though those who are there for other reasons get turned off.

[Gangsterfist]

Patience and communication is the key to training w/ women. We have one active female in our class right now, and when I start training with my sigung next month I know there are like 4 women in his class. When I spar or do drills with the female in my class she always feels a bit shy. She also feels akward and thinks she is holding me back from proper training with one of the guys. I just correct her movements as I detect them, and then sifu polishes them up. I told her that she need not be shy and hit me when we spar so I can acknowledge the hit. Well, she has popped me a few good times since then.

Some men might feel that their time is wasted training with females. Especially junior class mates. They pay for the classes and feel they should get all their moneys worth. Which, I agree you should get all your moneys worth in class. The thing is, when I spar with my jr kung fu sister I learn valuable lessons as well. I learn to control my movements and actions better since I am in a sense dumbing down my movements to be more equal on her level. This also applies to all the jr classmates of mine who are men too. The men tend to be a bit more aggressive and catch on to the 'fighting aspect' a bit quicker in general. So I am learning skills of control and patience, which are two useful skills to have in kung fu.

Communication is a big key as well. You need to let them know that certain times you will have to get up close and personal with your partner. You will eventually get hit a few times, you will get minor bumps and bruises from class. That is part of the training. As long as there is an understanding and everyone acts mature there should be no difference man or woman. There have been certain times when we have been training ground fighting and chin na type stuff, and my sifu always told the women they will have to get pretty close to their partners and may be in some akward positions and so forth. All of the women who have come and wokred out with us have understood and had no problem with it at all. This was also all done on a very mature level, and only kung fu was practiced. No funny business allowed. I think we all get the picture here.

Last weekend I met all of sigungs students and trained with them a bit. Very nice group of people and the women impressed me. Very competitive, and very compotent in chi sao and in taiji push hands. No sparring occured because it was a going away party for my sifu who is moving.

So, there is definately a place for women in martial arts. I have trained with a few who have wiped the floor with me. It was a pretty humbling experience to get floored by a 5'5" 120lb women. She had about 5 or 6 more years experince on me though, so it doesn't feel humiliating at all, but I still heard that you got beat up by a girl tease.