咏春基础 Wing Chun Fundamentals

by Sifu Nick Francis

People ask me this question all the time!

[The Question]

Is learning Wing Chun is hard?

[My Answer]

No. Not really.

Although it takes time to master!!! 

Wing Chun is actually quite easy to learn!

What I mean by this, is that the benefits of learning Wing Chun are available almost immediately. I am convinced that if you pursue learning, all types of lessons for life will open up to you, along with better friendships, better health, confidence, self-defense and more...

Much more!

So what is learning Wing Chun like?

I like to describe it like this...

More recently, when sharing a family dinner at a local restaurant, I noticed that the children are often given an activity to help them patiently wait for the meal.

Typically, this involves a small pack of crayons.

Two to Four Usually.

The basic colors: 

Red - Blue - Yellow

I took note of this because it is not only the bare minimum, but it is also the bare minimum needed!

Back at home we have gathered many crayons over the years.

Pack by pack, the colors slowly multiplied. Over the years we had purchased:The 8-Pack

The 16-Pack

The 32-Pack

The 64-Pack

Continuing all the up to the summit of the spectrum...

The 152-Pack

*(If there is a larger pack, please message me and let me know!) 😀

In addition to the primary colors, we added multiple, varying shades of each, mixed and matched to get a whole spectrum of new colors. The blue and yellow makes shades of green. The yellow and red orchestrates shades of orange. The red and blue forming all kinds of shades of purple.

So on and so forth!

As it applies to learning Wing Chun, here is the comparison.

Learning Wing Chun is like starting out with the three fundamental colors. As you grow and learn, you begin to learn that there are more colors available, so you gather more and add them to your crayon box.

This naturally continues until you have all kinds of colors and shades.

By chance, do you know how many colors are there?

 Do you know how many crayons you have to collect to get them all?

Yes. It is infinite!

and yet...

It is only three!

The truth is, there are not enough crayons made to collect ALL the colors. The only way to actually get all the colors is to master using just three.

The basic colors is all you need!

Red - Blue - Yellow

This is what learning Wing Chun is like.

Sil Lim Tau is your starter pack. It is your fundamentals. On day one you get to begin using them.

Next comes Chum Kiu. This is your 8-pack. It is simply more colors. Each tool expanding your capacity to express yourself.

Your 16-Pack then is the Wooden Dummy.

All the way up to the largest available pack you can find.

Baat Jam Dao - Luk Deem Boon Kwun - Biu Jee

But then something very interesting happens

(when you make it this far).

Where formerly each new pack opened up your world to a new color, now those colors become the very thing that limit you. The path you took to move forward now becomes the very thing that hinders you and even dares to leave you behind.

So there is only one thing left to do...

Go back to the beginning. Back to...

Red - Blue - Yellow

It is here that you now see what you never saw before.

Within the three, lie them all!

ALL the techniques in Wing Chun are in Siu Lim Tau (if you know where to look). It is only when we progress through the system that we learn this.

This is what makes, in my opinion, Wing Chun different from other martial arts. When you complete the journey, you learn that you had everything that you needed the whole time.

Wing Chun is about realizing,

That you already have everything yo need.

You have enough!

You are enough!

Maybe this year, you're ready to take a new journey? A journey that isn't about learning something new, but actually learning anew that which already lies within you.

"The Lancaster Wing Chun Association exists

to build people through learning traditional Ip Man Wing Chun

in a safe and supportive environment."