Q&A for How to Learn Wing Chun

To begin with wing chun, you definitely have to go to a school. It doesn't really matter what school, the important thing is to get started. The time you put in when you start to feel people's hands is actually more important than what school you go to.

No, it's not that simple. Nowadays, there's a lot of YouTube videos with online classes, but ultimately, the beauty of Wing Chun is learning to listen with your hand and feeling the energy of others.

After hundreds of repetitions, Wing Chun moves will start to develop in you as a muscle memory. Your body will know what to do without you needing to think. This takes time and practice, so be patient.

It's normal to be afraid of a fight because survival and self-preservation are instinctual. Study the fighter, prepare for that particular fight and work on your own skills as much as possible. That will give you more confidence before the fight.

You master it when you realize there is no mastery of Wing Chun. Every practitioner and Sifu is a perpetual learner. The best time to start on the road to mastering any subject is yesterday, and the second best time is right now. Remember that the student practices until he gets it right, but the master practices until he can no longer get it wrong.

Search for related Wing Chun videos to see demonstrations and explanations of certain movements or positions. You could also search for other resources, both videos and text, outside of YouTube. However, be aware that it will be difficult to become fully proficient in Wing Chun without an instructor who can teach and correct your movements in person.

Repetition, repetition, repetition. The more you drill -- drill properly -- the more fluid your forms become. After that, just continue to practice your drills and quicken the pace. If you are going at a speed where you are making mistakes, slow down.

The wooden dummy incorporates moves from other open handed forms, and should be learned after a deep experience and understanding of Siu Nim Tao and Chum Kiu. For example, in the Chu Shong tin lineage, the wooden dummy isn't taught until grade 4, after Siu Nim Tao, Chi Sao and Chum Kiu. If you are a beginner, just focus on the Siu Nim Tao. It means "searching for nim tao" - searching for the tiny idea. Explore your body's balance, relaxation, and the movements of your muscles while you do the form each day.

You can learn the basics of Wing Chun from books and videos, but it's impossible to master the martial without formal training and years of practice. Additionally, only a credible Sifu can correct any mistakes in your technique.

It varies based on how much you train, if you have an instructor/training partner, and your access to information.

Of course! Every decade of our life brings new challenges, but you can learn anything at any age. Never let anyone or anything stop you. Sure, progress may be slower than when you were 20; cuts and scrapes heal slower, self-preservation kicks in more abundantly than for your more reckless twentysomething self, but these are just obstacles for you to overcome. There is absolutely no reason why you couldn't learn Wing Chun at 60.

Imagine a stream in a lush, green grove with the sounds of water splashing and wildlife all around.

Wing-chun is not only used against non-martial artists! It is primarily used as a method of self-defense against any opponent.

No. True mastery of any martial art, or any sport whatsoever, takes years of dedicated training. However, this question is usually posed by people who have no experience in martial arts and are seeking one to practice. So I recommend you just try it for a year. If you don't like it, or you feel like you aren't getting anywhere, try something different.

No, never let you opponent attacks you first, what you need to do is control the distance if you don't like to attack first. Therefore, you need to practice more and let yourself have a feeling of distance, if your distance is short you must attack first, and if the opponent attacks you first you will get hit because the distance is too short.

Unless you have the short swords or knives, no. It isn't a form used for crowd control. However, if you had blades, it would effectively be a bloodbath, assuming you could wield them correctly and with proper form.

In martial arts there is rarely any style that does "not work in reality" (i.e. more traditional styles such as capoeira or TKD, for example). Rather, the training has focused on less practical applications, such as high kicks or acrobatics, or in the case of WT, the focus on movement series such as the siu nim tao or practice of chi sau. These can all be applied either knowingly or unconsciously in a "real fight", but they may detract from training practical applications of the skills or movements. In the hands of a new practitioner it would be most useful to simply train punching. Therefore, any style can "work" but the training methods differ between gyms.

No, you do not truly "finish" training. You will train throughout your entire life.

No; you will get your butt handed to you. Wing chun works best again non-martial artists for self-defense.

Yes , you can learn Wing Chun at home but you should at least have a partner to train. And it would best if you could find a Wing Chun school near you .

Of course it is. It does not matter what age, size, nor gender, it all depends on you. It may be a little more difficult, but your strikes will be much more damaging and you will take less damage from opposing strikes. You will also be able to block an enemies strike with much more force and can perform a Jip Sau much better.