Questions and Answers

What kind of people learn Wing Chun? The first students for the Victoria Wing Chun club were 6 ladies from St. Margaret's private girls school. These students all came from Taiwan. This was in 1980. After that I taught a group of 12 year old students. The Victoria Wing Chun Club was officially established in 1982. This group consisted of a police officer, a doctor, several University students, the head of the Victoria Conservatory Violin program, a Fencing teacher and a couple of people who had studied a lot of Chinese Kung Fu. Over the years we have taught people from all walks of life.

Can ladies learn this art? We have taught many ladies over the years. One lady was the best in a class consisting of all male martial artists. She was 5' 2" tall. Master Wong Shun Leung commented that her Wing Chun was very perfect. Ladies in fact tend to learn Wing Chun with better quality. The men need more time to relax. Most of the ladies , but not all, pick up on the sensitivity and relaxation aspects quicker. However many males have some kind of fighting backgrounds such as wrestling around when they were younger and this gives them a strong fighting edge. A lady has to develop a lot of precision skill to counteract this advantage.

Is Wing Chun the best fighting art? Just as there is no best car, there is no best fighting art. Every art has strong points and weak points. Some people like competitive sports, some like just exercise, some enjoy the philosophical aspects of an art and some like a quick self defense method. Some people have limitations such as back pain or knee problems or other disabilities. The art should be tailored to fit these conditions rather than to try to mold the person into the art form. So if one is weaker and smaller then a strength based wrestling approach would not be a suitable art but for a young strong male this kind of art is very excellent. Some people like a hard style of Karate. Some people like a soft style of Tai Chi. Everyone has different tastes. The best is just to try an art and see if it fits your physical and mental characteristics. Personally I have enjoyed all the arts I have studied but now at my age prefer to just practice Wing Chun.

How long does it take to get good? Wing Chun is a very quick art to learn. Within a very short period of time one can achieve some high level fighting skills. No special acrobatic talents are required. However to obtain a real mastery in ANY art takes a long time. For self defense such mastery is not required unless one's opponent is at a very high skill level or very strong. Good is a very vague word. No one is ever good enough. In my opinion, one should just pick an art they like and study it all one's life. Over time one is bound to get better and better. Another way to understand the answer to this question is to relate it to something else. For example if someone asked how long does it take to get good at golf? What is the answer? It takes time and practice. The more CORRECT practice the faster you will imrpove.