Customer Reviews

The Foundations of Wing Chun Kung Fu, Vol. 1

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The two most highly rated books on Wing Chun are this one and The Wing Chun Compendium by Belonoha. I have both, and for anyone new to Wing Chun, this is by far a more rewarding book.
No doubt Belonoha's book contains more material...it reminds me of a reference source.

But Sifu Wahnish's effort is far more useful. For example, Chapter 3 covers stances and footwork. In 12 pages, the stances are clearly defined, and more importantly, he gives simple drills for movement between the stances and how they apply to positioning against your opponent. After reading the material, you 'get it', so to speak. I find in the other work, you don't.

Everything here seems to be geared at one goal...proper formation of the elemental techniques of Wing Chun. Nothing fancy. Like building a house with a rock solid foundation. Simplicity and economy....the essence of Wing Chun.

As a student and critic of Wing Chun martial arts, I would absolutely not recommend this book. In fact; this book is poisonous to any students of Wing Chun and will hinder the development of your Wing Chun. As I read through the book; the amount of errors are astronomical; furthermore: by tracing the multitude of lineages in Wing Chun, none will affirm GM Philip Holder's Wing Chun training. There are accounts he trained under Moy Yat system in NYC and the William Cheung (explains why Wahnish front kick knee is so high(trademark of William Cheung)) but none will affirm authorizing teaching credentials to the Holder/ John Ryan Wahnish lineage of Wing Chun.

I do not know if the previous people who posted reviews practice Wing Chun martial arts but from my account: clearly this is not Wing Chun martial arts. Lesson to learn for readers; check the lineage of authors because that will assure correct foundations and solid Wing Chun. If you're interested in Foundational Wing Chun in NYC, look elsewhere, take an introductory class: there are plenty of distinguished Wing Chun martial artists in Chinatown. This book is for people who know no martial arts but believe they are getting the real deal.

Translations of some hand positions are incorrect, it appears forcebly Ching'lish, Mandarin and Cantonese were utilized to describe some hand positions. What happened to the Gan Sau or Gan Da? That is a crucial hand position for applied CQB when stepping into opponents waist and above kicks. Gan Sau is an absolute BASIC of Wing Chun which unfortunately is not included inside this text. The theory of Center Line Theory is another crucial dogma of Wing Chun; repeatedly in the book the demonstrators violated the Center Line Theory.

Wing Chun practitioners must spend crucial time to develop the Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma especially when learning the Sil Lum Tao. Without a solid foundation; there is no future for Wing Chun. As I gracefully read through the book with my red pen; I have listed approximately 40 errors to the demonstrators feet, especially in the application of foundational Wing Chun hand techniques. The kicks on this book belongs in a separate paragraph.

Because there is long list of criticisms for this text, I will only list a few. The author has no idea of what Shaolin is; it appears as if the research was simply wikipedia. Nor does the author understand the courtesy bows of Shaolin monks. Major criticism of the demonstrator's Siu Lum Tao, the demonstrators hands are too high; blocking the practitioner's line of sight, too tense (unable to fluidly flow), not correctly cultivating the posture to understand the techniques. If you're in a confrontation; it is irrational to block your own line of sight. Moreover; the demonstrator does not understand "clean" Sil Lum Tao. The training of Sil Lum Tao is to practice and reinforce the Center Line Theory; there are sections I do not understand why the demonstrator repeatedly fails to utilize the Center Line Theory.

The Punching and Kicks section are not Wing Chun. No solid foundations are no solid martial arts. Never in Wing Chun history is there a side or round kick. Not even for Modified Wing Chun. Not even for Southern Chinese Kung Fu. The use of the Side and Round kick is a direct contradiction to the Center Line Theory, and the failure to use the proper Yee Jee Kim Yeund Ma stance.

The exercises in the later half of the book completely violate the basics of Wing Chun. The demonstrator over shifted and failed to target the Center Line of the opponent. Many times the pictures depict the demonstrator chasing the arm and not correctly cultivating timing and judgment of delivering the correct technique. As for all Chinese Martial Arts; the foundations are learning to move in horse stances and the Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma, this book fails to underscore the importance of proper footwork. There is a Chinese saying "Hands chase your body falls, but if legs guide, body and hands follow."

Lastly; the Training Notes of each Section, for myself, appears to be a book filler of empty pages.

This book is extremely clear and well done. It lays out the basics of this intricate style in a way I was able to understand and absorb. The pictures are great and combine with the text to make it a clear and easy read.

I finished the book feeling I had received a comprehensive and accurate understanding of Wing-Chun basics. I look forward to more books in the series.

If you plan to learn wing chun only from books then this book is a good introduction. However, if you are a wing chun student and you have a sifu then this book will not help you.

The book covers each technique very briefly. It gives you just enough instruction to perform each technique and that is all.

This book was written for wing chun outsiders.

This book is the Wing Chun equivalent of a Language primer. Before we can speak a new language we must first learn it's alphabet and sentence construction. Sifu Wahnish's book is a fantastic introduction to the Wing Chun 'language'. The photos and descriptions of they style's 6 stances and 16 hand positions give you the alphabet you'll need. The presentation of the guiding principles of the art are clear and concise leading nicely into the first form, the 'Sil Lum Tao' (frequently referred to as 'the dictionary' of the art). Add this to the commentaries on training and teasers of more advanced techniques and you've got a book that you'll be sure to refer to often.

(p.s. I saw that the first run of the book sold out but the second run is out there and is on Amazon so hunt for it if you have to it's worth it!)

An honest and thorough exposition of Wing Chun. John covers aspects of Wing Chun seldom revealed to the public by the Chinese people. This is the main reason I enjoy books written by the western teachers - no withholding the techniques that make the sytem works. Looking forward to more of John's works.

Due to my geographic location I have to rely on books and other such means if I want to study anything martial arts related that isn't TKD or Karate.

Since book learning isn't the most desirable way to study any martial art I have to be pretty selective in what materials I choose to learn from.

As my first book on this system I can say i'm quite satisfied with it. The material is laid out very well, covering basic foundations first and applications later on.

Large photographs and fairly clear descriptions line the volume as well making it easy to interpret the material being covered.

This book goes through hand positions, Si Lum Tao form, stances, punching and kicking drills, and basic applications. It does not go through Chi Sao practice, wooden dummy practice, or anything else more advanced so those looking for these kinds of things should look elsewhere.

This is a very clear introduction to wing chun, and one of the best books on wing chun I have seen. I like this book because it explains wing chun to American readers or western readers, and doesn't assume we know chinese or the "mystical" origins of their arts. It just explains things plainly and simply. The photos are well done and clearly help explain the art. The only minor thing is, I think a book cannot show how dynamic and explosive wing chun can be. You have to really see someone exploding a kick into someone's abdomen to really see how wing chun works. But this book is excellent. I would suggest to anyone interested in wing chun to get this book, and also get one of the DVDs, like that from Michael Wong, that shows the "explosiveness" of wing chun.

As a Wing Chun student, I am finding this book to be invaluable in my practice. The theory and forms are clearly and carefully explained, with numerous step-by-step photos accompanying the text. Sifu Wahnish's love and respect for his art and his students is apparent on each page.

This is a very well planned and executed attempt at laying the foundations of Wing Chun in book format. In case you are wondering the lineage stems from the W. Cheung school of Trad. Wing Chun via Phillip Holder (who's book I don't neccessarily recommend.) This book is well worth the money as the production and content are of high quality. I am not of student Sifu Wannish, but I do practice TWC in the Cheung style. This book contains essential theory and philosophy of Wing Chun, including body mechanics, and mental attributes to hone your Wing Chun skills. All (or most) stances, footwork and hand positions are covered in enough detail to give you confidence in your own execution of the movements. The basic and most important form of WIng Chun(Sil Lim Tao)is illustrated in painstaking detail, with nothing left out and includes a rare movement I've never seen of executing tarn sao between the fook sao and huen sao to wu sao in the 3 prayers to buddha section. Wing Chun punches and kicks are then dissected with great accuracy. Then comes the good parts of some basic essential Wing Chun drills(6 pak sao, and a few bong sao and bil sao drills) done usually with a partner. The book ends with common situations in which you might need to defend yourself (chokes, headlocks, and wrist grabs.) Each chapter ends with pages to write your training notes and personal observations to make the book your own training manual. Overall the best Wing Chun basics book in current distribution. Highly recommended. I hear there are more volumes containing more advanced material underway, I can't wait.