Wing Chun Kung Fu is just one of many styles of martial arts whose origins are to be found in southern China and, compared to other arts, is a relatively new style.

Wing Chun is known as a 'soft' style, but is in fact a blend of both hard and soft techniques. This blending of hard and soft is due to the fact that a sensible balance is necessary. One story is that Wing Chun Kung Fu was originally developed by a woman. It is also said that the originator (said to be a Buddhist nun named Ng Mui) observed a battle between a cobra snake and a crane bird. From her observations sprang ideas to develop this art. Mimicking animal movements is particularly common to Chinese martial arts and stems from a respect for nature.

'Wing Chun is based on three principles, namely:

• Simultaneous Defence and counter attack by Interception
  
  
• Economy of motion in every technique
  
  
• Centre line

The last point is viewed as being the most definitive part of the Wing Chun system as there are many strikes,which seek to obscure the vision of the aggressor. This 'Centre Line' is also protected at all costs as many of the fatal striking points lie along its path. By protecting the centre line and attacking from it, the Wing Chun practitioner has a good advantage in self defence. Practitioners are not the aggressors in a confrontational situation. Wing Chun is an art of self-defence where one is reacting to an initiated threat. This realistic approach is not a softer option as Wing Chun is a very effective counter striking style.

If one is fighting multiple assailants the situation will dictate the need to attack aggressively. The need to strike and escape as soon as possible is the main objective in such a situation. The Wing Chun stylists' use of finger strikes, elbows and knee kicks is of great value. Even the most skilled Wing Chun practitioner can only fight one person at a time, it is the clever use of footwork skills which help when under great threat.

One of the techniques performed in Wing Chun is called BONG SAU (Wing Arm) - Like a bird's wing. This technique is a major building block in the framework of the style. It is taught to beginners as a basic cover against an attack, and is the founding principle in Lok Sau, Single Chi Sau, Double Chi Sau and the Wooden Dummy (See photo). It is particularly useful to the students understanding of the style. The shape is more important than the strength, it is designed to cover a wide area, to fold under extreme pressure, whilst never allowing the arm to get trapped. It can change easily into taan sau (palm up block) allowing one to slip the hand free, and the rear guard hand (wu sau) can grab and deflect the incoming strike. The bong then becomes an effective throat cutting hand.

This one technique how flexible the Wing Chun system is. It also shows that if one technique can be used in many situations why learn many different moves for many situations? This reinforces simplicity as a main tenant in the system.

For a woman in a street situation a male aggressor would already be considered emotionally unstable. Therefore, the female Wing Chun practitioner has to respond using the skills of Economy of Motion, using his weight, size, and strength and turning them to her advantage. Whilst we may refer to the aggressor being male, there are situations where females are also aggressive, however, the same principle applies whether the aggressor is male, female, smaller or larger.

Wing Chun is suitable for all ages and abilities with children as young as 5 years of age attending classes and developing well. People with various disabilities including the blind, paraplegic and persons with learning difficulties can all find Wing Chun adaptable and suitable. It is a clever, flexible system enabling most people to achieve a reasonable skill even in the face of adversity.