Also known as: Wing Tsun or Ving Tsun Martial Art

History: Orally passed down by teachers to students, no written documentation

Origin: China

Tenets of Wing Chun include practicality, efficiency and economy of movement. Wing Chun techniques emphasize practicality and efficiency to maintain its ideals on effectiveness. Strikes are intended to injure or disrupt the target. Efficiency in Wing Chun is based on the concept that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. This means that the strikes use are linear. They are focused on the centerline on the opponent, and are fired like cannons, one continuously after the other until the opponent is defeated. Wing Chun believes in using the least amount of required force in any fighting situation.

It does this by gently deflecting the attacker. It believes properly timed positioning and movements can and should be used to defeat an opponent. Wing Chun theory focuses on the opponent's centerline, an imaginary vertical line bisecting the opponent's vitals (throat, heart, stomach, groin). This is where the attacks are mostly aimed. Wing Chun is trained in three ways:

• With a wooden dumy
• Sticky Hands with an opponent
• Free Sparring

Wing Chun was made famous by Bruce Lee, as it was the style of Kungfu which he studied the most. It is also favored by many special forces because of the speed of its attacks and the good reflexes it develops.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wing_chun