Also known as | Wing Tsun, Ving Tsun |
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Focus | Striking, Trapping |
Country of origin | China |
Creator | Ng Mui of the Five Elders |
Parenthood | Fujian White Crane, Shequan |
Descendant arts | Jeet Kune Do |
Olympic sport | No |
Wing Chun | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Simplified Chinese | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hanyu Pinyin | Yǒng Chūn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cantonese Yale | Wihng Cheūn | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | Spring Chant | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Yǒng Chūn |
Bopomofo | ㄩㄥˇ ㄔㄨㄣ |
Wade–Giles | Yung³ Ch'un¹ |
Tongyong Pinyin | Yǒng Chun |
IPA | [jʊ̀ŋ ʈʂʰwə́n] |
Hakka | |
Romanization | Yún Chhûn |
Yue: Cantonese | |
Yale Romanization | Wihng Cheūn |
IPA | [wèːŋ tsʰɵ́n] |
Jyutping | Wing6 Ceon1 |
Sidney Lau | Wing6 Cheun1° |
Canton Romanization | Wing6 Cên1 |
Southern Min | |
Hokkien POJ | Éng-chhun |
Wing Chun (traditional Chinese: 詠春) is a traditional Southern Chinese martial arts specializing in close range combat. It is known for being economical, direct and efficient. .
Wing Chun is the most common romanization, from the Cantonese pronunciation (simplified Chinese: 咏春; traditional Chinese: 詠春; Cantonese Yale: Wing6 Cheun1; pinyin: Yǒng Chūn; literally: "Spring Chant"). It is also romanized as Ving Tsun or Wing Tsun, and sometimes the characters are substituted with a homonym (Cantonese Yale: Wing6 Cheun1; literally: "Eternal Spring"). Even though it could be considered a linguistically erroneous romanization at least from English-speaking countries perspective, especially in Finland, Germany and Turkey (and as a commonplace term in some other countries such as Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Slovakia).
The alternative characters 永春 "eternal spring" are also associated with some other southern Chinese martial arts, including Weng Chun Kung Fu and Yong Chun.
Many Wing Chun lineages emphasize fighting on the outside of the opponent rather than facing them head on. Such a position could be described as standing at an angle where the Wing Chun practitioner can strike with both their arms, while their opponent can only strike with one of their own arms due to poor positioning. This is often referred to as "taking the blindside" or "fighting on the outside gate".
Some Wing Chun practitioners believe that the person with better body structure will win. A correct Wing Chun stance is like a piece of bamboo, firm but flexible, rooted but yielding. This structure is used to either deflect external forces or redirect them.