The Wing Chun Compendium, Volume One [Hardcover]

Wayne Belonoha (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2005

The Wing Chun Compendium explains the theory of wing chun from a technical, lifestyle, and philosophical perspective. Written by Wayne Belonoha—a certified Ving Tsun Instructor and National Certified Coach, 7th Level, Master Degree—the compendium offers hundreds of tips and techniques specifically designed to help readers advance to the next stage. The Wing Chun Compendium is divided into eight sections, including Theory, Techniques, Drills, Chi Sau (Sticky Hands), Forms, Pressure Points, Health and Fitness, and Terminology.

Students of all levels will find tips for improving technique and gaining benefits from the book's instruction in over 20 of the top skill-building drills and exercises, such as the Maai Sang Jong and Bong Guek (Sticky Legs) drills. Covering all three hand forms (Siu Nim Tau, Cham Kiu, and Biu Ji), it also provides a detailed examination of each movement and application and features an extensive terminology section that includes the Chinese characters and both Cantonese and Mandarin pronunciations for over 200 of the most common wing chun terms. The compendium concludes with Grandmaster Sunny Tang's special article, "Reflections of Siu Nim Tau After 30 Years."

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

A third generation direct descendant of Ip Man passes along ving tsun kung fu as handed down from Moy Yat to Dunn Wah (Sunny Tang). Sifu Wayne Belonoha is a Certified Ving Tsun Instructor with a Master Degree, Level 7. He is founder of the Canadian Ving Tsun Academy, recipient of the Martial Artist’s Achievement Award, National Tournament organizer, certified judge, and a Pan American Triple Gold Medalist. Sifu Belonoha performed for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth at the Ip Man Hall Grand Opening in Foshan, China. He currently teaches in Alberta, Canada, and has had numerous students win Grand Champion awards at national and local tournaments.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 528 pages
• Publisher: Blue Snake Books (December 15, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583941290
• ISBN-13: 978-1583941294
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 1.6 x 10.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #34,076 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #67 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Individual Sports > Martial Arts

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Wing Chun Book I have ever read., December 11, 2004

By 

Gordon Oliphant (Victoria, B.C. , Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wing Chun Compendium (Paperback)

Mr. Belonoha's book 'The Wing Chun Compendium" is outstanding. The writing is concise and very informative.
It is the most well thought out martial arts book I've ever seen. Mr. Belonoha starts exceedingly clearly, defining the core principles of the Wing Chun system within the first page and 1/2.
The next 100 pages or so then go into the expanded theory and technical aspects of the Wing Chun system. The
book is layed out in a fashion that it can be read cover to cover or, it can be opened randomly at any page throughout and the content makes sense. Nothing is left out. (Note: this book does not cover Wing Chun's wooden man dummy form or the weapons
forms - hopefully a subsequent book will follow shortly).
The next 300 pages deal in great detail with the first three (non weapon) Wing Chun forms: Siu Nim Tau, Cham Kiu and Biu Ji. Pictures of Mr. Belonoha, a previous gold medallist at multiple national and international level competitions show every detail of each form. Each photo is accompanied by equally detailed descriptions of proper technique and points to emphasize and, common mistakes to watch out for. His web site has live video of the forms. It is important to note that the videos are the exact same instances that the still photos were derived from so no gaps are left for a reader to figure out.
The final 100+ pages cover pressure points, health and fitness, and Wing Chun terminology (Chinese terms define into
English terms). The finale is a deeply revealing article called "Reflections of Siu Nim Tau After 30 Years by Grandmaster Sunny Tang". Grandmaster Sunny Tang has been Mr. Belonoha's Sifu since 1992 and, Mr. Belonoha is the Senior Instructor at the Sunny Tang Martial Arts Centre Headquarters School in Toronto. (All of this is in the book too).
I also like the sayings on the bottom of each page in addition to everything else. Again from the first page: "Start with what is right rather than what is acceptable", Mr. Belonoha has exhibited a phenomenal understanding of clarity and order. Each page has a similar relevant saying that applies to all of one's life, not just their martial art.
This is not a read it once and you know all it type book. It will give you all the information that you need and is very easy to understand. However, as your Wing Chun improves, the information within will have deeper and deeper meaning to you. Because Mr. Belonoha fully understands Wing Chun, the simplicity of the writing is also somewhat of an illusion - there is no limit to the lessons that can be learned. The book is meaningful to Wing Chun enthusiasts of every level. Anyone reading this book will get a lot out of it. Mine is already on the way to being well worn from the constant references that I am making to it either before or after most training sessions. In short, "The Wing Chun Compendium" is an excellent book from both a 'detailed reference manual' for training and a 'cover to cover reading book' to fully understand what genuine Wing Chun is all about. If you are training in Wing Chun and want to know the non-modified methods, this book is a 'must have'. I know that my copy will always be in use. If I ever happen to loose my copy, I will be replacing it right away.

Gord Oliphant,
Victoria, B.C., Canada

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Wing Chun world is very small and very large, August 17, 2004

By 

Samsonite from Ontario (North York, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wing Chun Compendium (Paperback)

Most people who know Wing Chun are aware of its foundation and modern day disciples. If you are a follower of Wing Chun, you will find this to be an excellent companion for your journey.

After studying various martial arts, including Tae Kwon Do, traditional Kung Fu and Kick Boxing, I discovered Wing Chun, which managed to make me a more effective Marital Arts practitioner in one year that all the other arts could not do in many years (physical conditioning benefits aside).

If you are not a Wing Chun practitioner but practice other MA, you may be curious and find this book very different. Take it and compare the reasoning behind each 'move'. You will find the art extremely scientific compared to many other arts. My great Tae Kwon Do instructor once told me that eventually, the highest practitioners of most MA reach the same level...possibly true but Wing Chun is more efficient in getting you there, efficiency being one of its key tenets.

This book has other great tidbits which make it an excellent coffee table read whereas my other MA books don't have the same level of class...except of course Sun Tsu's - The Art of War.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book on the First Part of the System, February 28, 2007

By 

Yuen K. Wong - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Wing Chun Compendium, Volume One (Hardcover)

I thought this book was very well done. It included the Kuen Kuet or Ving Tsun Idioms, the 3 Fist Forms, some Basic Dim Mak information and a buch of fun Chinese sayings on the bottom of each page. The pictures were very good, except when it came to application, the pictures seemed a bit confusing. But that could be the case of many Martial Arts books. It lists most of the major principles and the basic concepts which was very well laid out.

I just hope that the last part of the system - the Wooden Dummy, The Pole Form, and the Knife form will be represented in another part. This is the main reason I gave it one less star. It cannot be THE Wing Chun Compendium if it does not have the WHOLE System.