Originally Posted by
KPM
This has come up as a point or an issue on several threads recently. So I thought I'd give the topic its own thread and put in my 2 cents.
First off, just giving something a name is starting to define it. If you tell someone "I do Wing Chun", they may very naturally ask..."what's that?" What are you going to tell them? Your answer is one definition (however succinct or limited) of Wing Chun. You might tell them it is a southern Chinese martial art and then describe some of its distinguishing characteristics that set it apart from other southern arts....like a higher stance with knees slightly in, use of the centerline to attack and defend, use of both hands at once, etc.
Any martial art is "defined" to an extent by its distinguishing characteristics. Its how we describe a physical activity that "defines" that activity. Just look up the definition of "football" in the dictionary and it says:
an American game played between two teams of 11 players each in which the ball is in possession of one side at a time and is advanced by running or passing
But we have to be careful what "football" we are referring to, because we discover that the dictionary also says:
any of several games played between two teams on a usually rectangular field having goalposts or goals at each end and whose object is to get the ball over a goal line, into a goal, or between goalposts by running, passing, or kicking
So we have to qualify our definition as "American Football" some of the time, depending on the context.
Its the same with Wing Chun. We have a general definition of Wing Chun, just as there is a general definition of Football. But we also have specific definitions of Wing Chun, just as there is a difference between American Football and British or South American Football. So we typically further qualify our definition of Wing Chun by giving the lineage designation, saying "Yip Man Wing Chun" or "Hung Fa Yi Wing Chun."
But what seems to be debated is that general definition. What distinguishing characteristics can be changed and suddenly the activity stops being "Wing Chun"? What if low extended stances were used as in "Shaolin Weng Chun"? What if punches were thrown from the shoulder instead of along the centerline? What if lots of spinning techniques were used? At what point does Wing Chun become altered to the point that it can no longer be considered "Wing Chun"? That is a tough question to answer! But I do believe there is a point where something is no longer "Wing Chun" in a generic sense.
But I think it should be clear that Wing Chun CAN be and IS "defined" all the time. Now that definition can be rather generic, somewhat like the definition of football. But that definition can also be refined a little more by including the distinguishing characteristics from a specific lineage of teaching. However, there is also another way of refining the definition beyond the various lineages. This happens by examining the basic distinguishing features common to all lineages and looking for better ways to describe them or "flesh them out" a bit. To an extent, I think this is what Hendrik has been doing. The problem here is that with time, some lineages may have forgotten or lost some of these characteristics. Can bringing them back help that lineage of teaching? That is what is open to debate. However, I see no harm in looking for some of those original features just to see what they were. The problem is when people say that one way is "right" and the other is "wrong." Or one way is "real Wing Chun" and the other is not. That can only bring hard feelings and offense. One way may be more "original", but whether it is a "better" way remains to be proven.
So just because someone does not understand or use the "original" way of developing power in their YGKYM does not mean that they are not doing Wing Chun. Maybe they have found a better way to use the YGKYM structure! Or maybe not and their power generation would increase if they learned the "original" way!
The bottom line for me: I think Wing Chun can be and IS defined. But its distinguishing features have to be altered in a very recognizable way for it to stop being defined as Wing Chun. Most of the things debated here are not large enough changes to make something "not Wing Chun."