Concepts and Principles of Wing Chun
There are 39 basic concepts and principles that every Wing Chun practitioner follows. All of these concepts and principles grow directly out of a fighting context. One of most beneficial element of this art is to take these beautiful fighting concepts and to use them to enhance the quality of your everyday life.
One fundamental example is simplicity. In combat, a Wing Chun practitioner does the simplest move or moves possible within the realm of his or her own safety. For instance, if someone threw a straight punch, we would not counter with a spinning back fist. A spinning back fist uses too much time and movement and also leaves your back exposed. In general, the more one tries to accomplish, the less one actually achieves.
Instead, we use other concepts from our system, such as economy of movement and energy. By performing a movement that integrates this theory of simplicity with other principles, the practitioner can be victorious in each encounter. You can take this principle of simplicity into all realms of your life. Simplicity is often the key to success.
The concept of not fighting force with force is another great example of how you can apply a combat principle to the larger arena of your life. If you are ever attacked, you should assume that your attackers are bigger, stronger, and have accomplices and weapons; otherwise, they would not be attacking you. Therefore, you need to rely on techniques that do not use strength, but rather deflection and redirection— two concepts that rely on relaxation. This idea is applicable to most arguments you see - where one person starts yelling, the other follows, and the argument escalates. If you relax when someone is arguing with you, he or she might do the same or begin to see that escalation is unnecessary.
39 Basic Concepts and Principles
I will regularly discuss these concepts and principles and where they apply in your fighting and self-defense. It is up to you to apply them in your everyday life. Wing Chun can enhance every aspect of your life, not just your fighting skill.
Stay Tuned for more to come!