In my opinion, the system at its most basic, offers the simplest and most practical way for people to learn to protect themselves effectively. The basics can be learned, understood and applied relatively quickly. Therefore the practitioner is put in a situation where they can protect themselves, after a reasonably short period of training.

 

Martial arts teach us to use our limbs to block, deflect and strike our adversaries. Shapes we create and apply with our bodies move in a way that creates weight or mass to that part of our body or limbs. The fist is thrown forward by the arm and hits the target, with a hardened hand. If that hand is left relaxed until the very end of the movement, and suddenly tightens into a fist, the hand hits with a whipping or snapping action. The solid object of the hand, hits very hard, but the line of energy it has been powered through continues to move through the opponent. The energy of the impact causes injury including, bruising, internal bleeding, and in extreme cases, organ failure. This shock force can also smash solid objects, which when applied in fighting, are the skull and bones of our opponent. The skull and bones in themselves, when struck and broken, send many fragments of bone, into the soft, internal organs, muscle and cartilage of the body. This causes pain, injury and damage that can immobilise or kill an adversary.

 

The Wing Chun system emphasizes redirecting attacks and counter-attacking simultaneously. It teaches you how to absorb, parry and deflect aggressive force whilst allowing you to remain balanced and upright. The systems forms, teach you how to create structures that you fire out from your centre and at the opponent. If you are struck at, you strike back instantly in a straight and efficient way. If your strike should meet the opponents, it will deflect their arm away from you. By striking out at them when they strike at you, even in a worst case scenario, you will hit them as they hit you. If you make contact with their arm on the way out, even if you get hit, you will still have taken away some of their strikes impact force. If their arm is coming at you on a straight line path, your arm going out will meet theirs, and should deflect it away. Whether you meet their strike an inch or 10 inches from your face, you will successfully deflect their strikes energy, either partially or completely.

 

The centreline theory is a core aspect of the system. This not only relates to the centre of our body from the front. It also relates to the central line of our body. This runs from the top of the head through the body and out of the perineum. In form we always strike from our centre and to the perceived opponents centre. We are always aware of its position when moving. We strike to the centre as this is where the opponent’s centre of mass is. Striking to the left or right of the opponent will allow them to rotate their torso and deflect some or all of the striking force. Hitting centre will cause them to absorb all of the strikes impact force, which apart from injuring them, also uproots and takes their balance, and capability of using grounded or rooted force to counterattack.

 

If the energy in your structures is applied correctly, you will not be hit, or hit that hard. You will have deflected most or all of the attackers force away from you. If the path of your outgoing arm is straight at the opponents face, they will be hit first. The nearer your hand is to the attackers face from the start of your forward movement, the more explosive your energy, or inch force will have to be. If you do not understand how to generate inch force, your striking power will be less effective and the fight may continue on for several seconds longer.

 

Chuen Ging or Inch force is developed over a few years of training. From a relaxed and balanced body, energy is pulsed from the ground, through the stance, torso and arms and out of the hands. The body flexes with a slight tension as the force is pulsed out of the hands and into the target. Utilising this method means effective striking can still be achieved even with your hands already connected to the target. The heavier the opponent, the more energy they will absorb into their body before they begin to move back and off balance. Their body is compressed at the point of contact by the strike, which stays fixed at its final point of extension. The torso of the opponent is compressed even further if they are rooted, before they are propelled away from your striking hand. Think of a coiled spring, like a cars suspension spring being fixed at one end, into a wall. If you stand in front of the coiled spring and then let it uncoil into your chest, it will strike you hard, compress your chest and then push you back, all in an instant. This is the basic principle of inch force and striking force in application. Strong stance, relaxed and coiled knees and elbows, that simultaneously press out from the ground and power your strikes into the opponent.

 

At the beginner level, you usually do not have inch force at your disposal, but you do have the long range strike. With little training, you can cultivate the long range strike to hit an adversary, and hit them hard. After a relatively short period of training, your arm, wrist and fist will not fail you when they make contact with the opponent. The force of your outgoing hand, wrist and arm, are powered from the ground, through the feet, legs, pelvis and shoulder and strike with great effect. To double the power of your strikes, you simply hit as the opponent moves in at you, their forward movement and your strikes forward movement, meeting in the middle, doubling the potential impact force.

 

In application, you must only concern yourself with flowing forwards towards the opponents centre. When there is no obstruction, the hands fly free and are driven into the opponent. If they are obstructed, they absorb the obstructions energy, then divert or deflect it and continue to centre. This concept in Wing Chun is known as Loi Lay Hoi Soong, Lut Sao Jik Chung, which can be interpreted as 'Absorb what comes, follow what goes, when the are hands free, throw them forwards. This concept informs us of the correct way to deal with a violent situation. As the opponent's strike moves at you, you connect to it and absorb its forward energy, slowing it down and stopping it. If it moves back, you follow it and push it away. If it disconnects from your arm to find a new path you throw your hands forward and attack.