What is Wing Chung Kung Fu?
Wing Chung is a martial art originally from China. According to some investigators its beginnings go back to the 16th century of our era.
The legend tells it is the only martial art in the world which was created by a woman. The elegance and beauty of its simple, efficient and centralized movements have demonstrated, throughout the centuries, not only its highly effective capacity in the fight but also the fact that it can be used by any person, regardless their size, gender or age.
The Wing Chung system is the result of the elaboration of thousands of practitioners that have developed this sophisticated central martial art.
Supported by a strong and formalized theory, the famous Theory of the Central Line, and governed by the Principle of Simplicity, today’s Wing Chung has a rational and scientific perspective. Not at all esoteric.
Emphasizing the perceptive development of the arms and legs through the central field, it encourages the economy of movements and leaves a side all kind of overelaborated, acrobatic movement that lacks a practical sense.
With no need of employing brutal force, Wing Chung relies on the correct body position in the central space at the time of the fight, using the tactile perception (sensitivity) to change in the right moment.
My Lineage
I began studying Wing Chung at the age of 19. In the year 1999, I met my Sifu Leandro Crivellari for the first time. At that moment, he was the representative of the Moy Yat Ving Tsung Kung Fu Martial Art System school in Argentina.
Leandro Crivellari had learnt Wing Chung travelling to Brazil for ten years with the Sifu Leo Imamura, who had learnt from Master Moy Yat, himself being one of the closest disciples of the Great Master Yip Man.
Yip Man was the most recongnized Wing Chung’s Sifu of the 20th century. Master of the very famous Bruce Lee and many others, Yip Man transmitted Moy Yat his knowledge of the system in Hong Kong. Moy Yat stend by his Sifu until the last days of his life.
After Yip Man had passed away, Sifu Moy Yat moved to The USA to open his own Wing Chung’s school at China Town in New York. There he decided to change the acronym WC to VT (Wing Chung/Ving Tsun) due to the fact that WC stands for “water closet” in the USA. Therefore, the change in the consonants does not refer to a change in the style and it is just a simple anecdote.
About the name
My personal opinion in reference to the several names that this martial art receives around the world (Wing Chung, Ving Tsung, Wing Tung, Win Chun, Ving Chung) is that this has to do with the process of representing the signs of one writing system with the signs of another. The Art is only one. Certainly, the different schools (people) transmit the system in their own ways and get different results. However, this does not mean we will find stylistic differences across the several ways of calling the same art.
My experience with Wing Chung
This meant to me the beginning of a radical changing experience. My relationship with the art, with my master and my classmates, throughout the years, changed my whole life forever. Meeting my master implied a turning point in my life.
In the early years, I admired his knowledge, his personality and his way of viewing the world. His hands’ speed and his precise movements were a source of inspiration for me. He taught me to think clearly and he made me more confident. I feel a profound respect for him and I am greatly thankful for his teachings and his unconditional transmission. Luckily, today, more than ten years have passed, and we continue sharing an excellent and interesting relationship of knowledge.
At the Moy Yat school I met people that were not athletes but martial intellectuals, deeply technical, that used their minds and bodies as one. We studied the art in detail, following the theory with a rational mind. We would spend long hours, until early morning, studying, practising, trying the applications, the forms and the exercises of energetic sensitivity.
A very short time after I had completed my first central level, Siu Nim Tao, my Sifu leaves his job at the Moy Yat school.
After ten years of learning by travelling to Brazil and The USA, my master takes the hard decision of breaking up with the Moy Yat family to start his own project. A few students followed him, including myself, feeling more identified with him than with the international institution.
That was how we began to build what nowadays is SDS (Subjective Development System), my master’s current school. Leaving behind the belief in only one system of ideas (VT), my Sifu found more productive and enriching to join the Wing Chung System (returning to the acronym chosen by Yip Man) to different styles and contemporary fighting methods in order to achieve a more complete individual development and growth. Instead of being the individual to the service and protection of a knowledge, it would be the systems and the disciplines the ones to serve the individual.
We took profit from merging Wing Chung with disciplines such as Boxing, Ju Jitsu, Anything Goes, Muai Tai, Kick Boxing, Jeet Kune Do, Philippine Kali, Hapki Do and Knifefighting. Also, we added the practice of Zen meditation, which was extremely benefitial. What was great about following this path was that we learned a lot from other fields and we were nurtured by other practices. Nevertheless, we continued focusing on the practice of the Centre, Wing Chung.
Personally speaking, after eight years of hard work, I completed the six levels of the system, and in the spring of 2007, I graduated as a Sifu at SDS.
Other Arts
Since the year 2005, I have explored many other arts, not only martial arts.
I have started dancing Tango and this wonderful experience opened many new possibilities to me. I met a lot of people and as time went by I was able to develop a greater consciousness of my body.
At the same time, I also studied Tai Chi Chuan with the Master Zang Shi Guo and Nei Kung with the Matster Carlos Bautista. These two internal practices made me feel a much more complete martial artist.
In addition, I studied Ataraxia (psychophysiological training oriented to the study of consciousness) and did some training in Acrobatics and Circus.
All these practices enhance and complement my knowledge, gaining more subtle and aesthetic movements, and helping me to grow as an integral artist.
About the Lessons
My main interest is the transmssion of the pure Wing Chung System, as it was taught to me by my Sifu, without the interference of personal conclusions or mixture with other systems.
The focal point of the lessons is the study of the traditional Wing Chung without falling in an absurd monotheism. The influence of other arts opens our mind to new possibilities, other disciplines nurture and improve our Wing Chung at the moment of using the Centre.
