- Traditional Wing Chun Kung Fu
Infobox_martial_art
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name = Traditional Wing Chun
aka = TWC
focus = Striking
country = flagicon|CHNChina
creator =Yip Man ??
parenthood =Wing Chun
website = www.cheungswingchun.comTraditional Wing Chun Kung Fu (TWC) is a style of the Chinese martial art
Wing Chun . It is claimed to be the authentic, more effective version ofWing Chun taught exclusively toWilliam Cheung byYip Man . Cheung claims it is superior to the conventional Wing Chun system, referred to by William Cheung as "modified Wing Chun".History
According to William Cheung (Cheung Cheuk Hing), the person responsible for this divergence was grandmaster
Leung Jan who existed two generations before Yip Man. Leung Jan taught Wing Chun to his two sons and also his neighbour Chan Wah Shun. Jan feared that the bigger and stronger Chan would try to claim mastership of the Wing Chun lineage after Jan's death. Thus, Jan taught him a modified, less effective version while reserving the pure, traditional form for his sons. Sure enough, after Jan and one of his sons died, Chan drove the remaining son away and assumed Grand-Mastership of the Wing Chun lineage.Yip Man eventually became Chan's student. Yip Man learned from Chan for four years before moving to Hong Kong to study at college. There he encountered a kung fu practitioner who revealed his identity as Leung Jan's surviving son, Leung Bik. Leung Bik claimed there had been a divergence in Wing Chun teachings and he then taught Yip Man what he called the traditional Wing Chun system.
Yip Man would eventually open his own Wing Chun school. As Cheung insists, Yip Man decided that to make a living and follow the traditions of wing chun, passing on the system to one student only. Yip Man then taught the claimed "modified" version to his students and chose to teach the traditional version to Cheung.
Characteristics and Principles
tance
The difference of Traditional Wing Chun to the claimed "modified" Wing Chun is its fighting stance. According to Cheung, a fighter from the Modified Wing Chun system faces his opponent fully with his toes pointed inwards and fights square on attacking straight forward down the opponents middle or centre line. Traditional Wing Chun adopts a sideways stance with a lead leg and a rear leg. However, both hands remain ambidextrous and equidistant from the opponent and a position is taken up to the outside of the opponents leading elbow referred to as the blind side to aid controlling the opponents balance while at the same time counter attacking.
The sideways stance proposes two advantages: increased mobility and a protected groin. "Modified" Wing Chun, it's claimed, emphasises structural stability. Bridging the gap to the opponent is achieved by "shuffling" forward. The soles of the feet are in constant contact with the ground so that structure is not compromised. In contrast, Traditional Wing Chun compromises stability for interruptability of the footwork, and the feet are picked up and placed down ball of the foot first, allowing for change of direction at any point during the step. Also, in the Traditional Wing Chun stance, the groin is overshadowed by the lead leg, making it less vulnerable to a centrally-rising kick.
"Central line" theory
Traditional Wing Chun replaces the claimed "modified" "center line" construct of conventional Wing Chun with a slightly different "central line". In the claimed "modified" Wing Chun, the center line is an imaginary line that bisects the human body lengthwise, cutting through vital areas such as the heart, groin, solar plexus, nose and face. Protecting and attacking from the centre line becomes the imperative on which Modified Wing Chun's offensive/defensive techniques are derived.
Traditional Wing Chun's "central line" is slightly different. The central line is any area in front of the torso where both hands may be crossed. It is within this area (or "gate") that attacks are greeted and counter-attacks launched. The proposed advantage of the central line is that the practitioner's vital centre line is pointed away from incoming attacks whilst retaining the ambidextrous use of both hands. Footwork is of paramount importance as the Traditional Wing Chun fighter will stay out of line of the opponents force but keep the opponent within this functional central line area where both hands can still be used for simultaneous attack and defense. The diagonal stance also allows the rear leg to be used for additional structural support against particularly forceful attacks.
Current Practitioners
William Cheung's base has been located in Melbourne Australia for several decades. His most notable students include Rick Spain,
Ian Protheroe ,Joe Sayah ,Joe Molnar , Joe Moahengi, Alfredo Del-Brocco [http://www.brisbanewingchun.com] , Dana Wong, Del Fisher, and Bruce Corles. Several of these practitioners are no longer affiliated with the William Cheung, and left prior to the creation of a master rank within his organization.Three American Traditional Wing Chun Masters (ranked above the standard Sifu) under William Cheung are
Jerry Bolding - Kansas,Keith Mazza - New Jersey, andPhillip Redmond - New Jersey. Several other Sifus (teachers), teach in locations around the world. Some practitioners of the claimed "modified" Wing Chun systems who have studied under Cheung and currently teach this version of wing chun include Brian Lewadny, andPhillip Redmond . As of November 25, 2007, the only two closed door students of William Cheung are Keith Mazza and Phillip Redmond.Fact|date=November 2007Controversy
It is claimed that Yip Man's considerable skill increase after training with Leung Bik validates both the existence of the Traditional Wing Chun system and its superiority to the claimed "modified" Wing Chun. However, Yip Man family Wing Chun practitioners have accused William Cheung of inventing this historical divergence in order to legitimize his own modifications as "secret" elements of Wing Chun. Since the only other possible source of corroboration of Cheung's claims would have been Yip Man himself, it will never be known whether or not Cheung's version of events is true or not.
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