Fighting Experiences

The Early Experiences

In the 1950's, Wing Chun was tested extensively in Hong Kong against all the other major styles of combat. It was mostly through the documented fights of master Wong Shun Leung and later a few other seniors, that Wing Chun got its reputation of being an effective combat art.

These individuals first competed against the students of various styles. Later, they competed against the masters themselves. The success of Wing Chun caused a sharp rise in the number of students who wanted to study Wing Chun. At that time Wang Kiu wrote a weekly account in a Hong Kong newspaper documenting the fights. He used the pen name "Siu Long - Water Dragon" because of his love for soup. It was during these fights that Bruce Lee got attracted to Wing Chun.

Then in the 1970's various practitioners tried their hand at tournament competition. Based on street results, they were very confident of their superior ability. Surprisingly they all lost. So some teachers went back to the drawing board and realized that tournament competition and street fighting are two different things.

After that Wing Chun had a few successes. One female student of master Wong Shun Leung became the all Asian martial arts champion (against all styles). Another female student descending from master Wong Kiu received similar status in Holland. Some of Leung Tings students fared well in tournaments and also some students of William Cheung and Chow Tse Chun.

In the early 1980's there was news of Wing Chun's success against Thai boxing, but details, are still sketchy. Apparently, there were three rounds. The first round was won by the Wing Chun practitioner who used a Bong leg followed by chain punches. Although the Wing Chun practitioner technically won, he did so, at the price of a splintered leg.

Wing Chun seems to have fared quite well in Dutch tournaments against The KwonDo in the 1970's but after that there were no more reported results. There is little information on these tournaments at this point.

Two Wing Chun practitioners who competed against Karate in Japan during the 1980's, received broken arms from trying to block roundhouse kicks using the Gan sau. In all probability they underestimated their opponent or they were not experienced.

More stories to come:...