Women and Wing Chun
Wing
Chun, meaning 'perpetual springtime,' was allegedly named after
and introduced by a woman. This style of Kung Fu is a notably
effective martial art for women, since the onus is not on muscular
force but rather the intellectual use of power, speed and rapid
contraction of muscles. Its clever use of hand shapes for interception,
deflection, multiple striking and sticking hands allows Wing Chun
to work for any shape, gender or size and
through its adaptability, certain disabilities.
The
question of women only classes
Part of the reason why most wish to study Wing Chun is to gain
confidence and self defence skills. The idea of an all female
training environment will 
naturally
appeal to those who are more comfortable in that situation. However,
from a self-defence viewpoint, this is questionable. Practise
and envisaging a situation mentally help you react if the reality
happens. Whilst you can never fully prepare for an attack mentally
or emotionally, you can train your response mechanism to react
without thinking. Your mind will relate to your training situation
and draw comparisons. Without training with a man, the differences
in strength, weight, height and feel cannot be appreciated and
the woman will not be used to responding to him, which is important
in reality. Whilst all female classes will have their place, it
is worth considering that training with men allows women to gain
confidence in their technique and affords greater understanding
in a self-defence scenario.
Excerpts
from article published in Winter Season Magazine in 2004 by Editor
Julia Rogers, who together with a colleague took part in one of
our Canterbury lessons to find out first hand about self defence.
Grrrl Power!
Wing
Chun is a Chinese form of Martial Art developed by a woman for
practical use on the street. Julia Rogers went along to a class
for her first taster of the martial art.
THE
BIGGEST mistake any woman can make is taking their personal safety
for granted. But we all do it.
You are slightly sozzled from a night drinking with friends and
you bravely shrug off their offers to walk you home. Without a
thought in your head you find yourself saying ”it’s
not far, I’ll be fine. I’ll text you when I’m
in”
And despite not being able to guarantee the last two, off you
trundle.
Every three months in Kent more than 250 women are sexually assaulted,
but it seems this sobering figure is now getting through.
More and more women are pro-actively taking steps to learn how
to protect themselves and literally, taking the issue of safety
into their own hands.
Wing Chun is the most popular form of self-defence for women because
legend says it was actually developed by a woman – a Shaolin
nun, called Ng Mui.
She passed her art onto novice Yim Wing Chun who developed the
style further and gave it her name –meaning “perpetual
springtime.”
Now the most widely practised kung fu style in the world, it offers
both men and women, not only a good workout and an excellent confidence
booster, but a practical form of self defence.
Sifu Steve Hazell said: “Although the class is dominated
by men, more and more women are trying Wing Chun because the emphasis
is not on muscular force but intellectual power, speed and rapid
contraction of muscles. Wing Chun is a practical martial art with
simple and effective movements.
“It is not a sport. We don’t enter competitions. I
don’t condone violence and will not take students I believe
will use it to provoke fights. It is for self defence only.
“There is definitely a need for people to learn to defend
themselves now, more than ever and it seems people are taking
on this responsibility.
“But it attracts people for all different reasons. I’ve
taught girls who have been going through rough times and wanted
to defend themselves against bullies and others who just wanted
a bit of confidence.”
“Things are changing, criminals seem to have more rights
and people are more conscious of the consequences of defending
themselves. However, there are actions you can take. Courts will
always look favourably upon women attempting to defend themselves
against a man.”
“If they start to threaten to smash your face in, you are
well within your rights to do a pre-emptive strike, hit first
and do as much damage to allow yourself to get away."
Steve who is a qualified instructor in Unarmed Defence Tactics,
said: “it’s much better for girls to train with men,
they must learn what it’s like to be faced with their attributes,
strength and aggression."
Julia
and Gemma’s lesson included common law, warm up, punching,
footwork and self defence moves. “We were just really getting
into the swing of things when our hour was up. We were both surprised
at how much we achieved and vowed to go back the following week.
Steve said “You can get quite a few things from just one
lesson and within the first few weeks any man or woman will have
a better chance of defending themselves. Women often learn a lot
quicker than men because men always think they already know how
to fight and this is the most dangerous thing they can do.”
Self
Defence advice…..
Steve says…
1. All things are weapons: keys, handbags, phones, hairspray,
umbrellas. Choose an umbrella with a metal end, It is effective
as a weapon and not illegal to carry.
2. Never think it won’t happen to you and trust your instincts.
Don’t walk home alone or wear headphones so you can’t
hear people approaching. Don’t make yourself a target for
a robber by flashing around your mobile phone.
3. Face your attacker, put your hands up to protect your centreline
and when you can get away, run!
Common
Law says…
Any individual has the right to use force to protect themselves
but that force must be in proportion to that which it is preventing.
There are circumstances where a pre-emptive strike is permissible,
for example, if you have received a verbal threat.
