Customer Reviews

Wing Chun Kung-Fu

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Normally I am prety skeptical about martial arts books until I find out about the person who wrote them...you know, remarks people have about their school/teaching method, what wing chun family they come from, who their teacher was...but here there is no need to worry, James Lee trained with none other than Bruce Lee, who himself learned from wing chun's last undisputed grandmaster Yip Man. This book is extremely well-written with a thorough examination of all angles of attack, as well as a great photo section that shows the first form movement by movement. Not only that but James always has participants in the photo with him where they will do a karate type attack/defense while he does the wing chun version. To put it simply, you can't go wrong here.

This is a great book. I have several Wing Chun books, and this is the only one that really shows in depth the first form. Other books are hard to follow, with scant instructions in comparison. You won't find a lot of background/philosophy in this book, but you will find real knowledge of the system that you won't find in the other books I've run across. Worth five times what they are asking-buy this book, read it and you will understand a lot of what the other books are omitting.

James Yimm Lee's book Wing Chun Kung Fu is an excellent example of "nuts and bolts" martial arts books. It delivers a solid introduction to this southern style's basics. Over the years, the principles of trapping and sticking, as well as the use of the vertical punch have become rather widespread. At the time it was published, this book contained what was considered in this country to be revolutionary new concepts. For the beginning student, or for one who wishes to get a glimpse of Wing Chun's tactics, look no further.

I was trilled to read "Wing Chun" Kung-Fu and gain an introductory understanding, of the mechanics, behind the art.

Illustrated is the Sil Lim Tao form, in which, the practitioner can learn many, of the fundamentals of Wing Chun (elbow position, protection of the centerline, foot positioning).

The area of the book, in which I spent the most time was "simultaneous attack and defense." From which, one gets the feel of why "Wing Chun" is structurally fast, logical, and its components easily integratable, to one existing fighting techniques. Great Book to add to your Martial Art Library.

I feel this book is written with passion, but also with little practice of the art or at least no quality in it: theory is correct, but the photos shown here show little resemblance with the text:stances are pure fancy (look at the yee jee kim jeung mah), footwork is totally wrong and there's no mention of hip's use in it, and please, look at the chun choi at the end of Siu Nium Tao! If you're looking for a theory handbook, you can consider to buy it, but wing chun, in reality, is another thing.

This book sadly, is the only book written by James Yimm Lee which is still widely available to the public. Considered a classic, this was, unfortunately, James Yimm Lee's last book. James Lee was an avid student of physical culture as well as one of T.Y. Wong's Sil Lum students during the 1950's and early 1960's. He also befriended, influenced and was influenced by a young man by the name of Jun Fan "Bruce" Lee. In return for teaching Bruce how to break bricks, Bruce taught James a popular for of Chinese boxing called "Wing Chun". James Lee also helped Bruce publish his first book, "Chinese Gung Fu: The Philosophical Art of Self Defence" in the early 1960's.

Still considered one of the finest introductions to Wing Chun, James Lee teaches Hong Kong's no-nonsense brand of boxing learned from his friend, Bruce Lee. As with all traditional Chinese Gung Fu schools, not every practitioner demonstrates the form precisely like every other practitioner, so no matter your school of Wing Chun (or Ving Tsun, Wing Tsun, etc), you will probably see SOME variation in form.

While it may not be possible for the novice to learn precise movements from a book alone, the skilled martial artist may at least gain a better understanding of Wing Chun's patterns of movement. This book covers the basics of the art, including no-nonsense explanations for the theory of facing, and economy of movement. As usual, numerous crisp sequence photos from this publisher do not disappoint. Front and side views of the complete first form of Wing Chun, Sil Lum Tao (little idea form). This is the form Bruce Lee taught before he began to consider discontinue the use of static forms in training. A classic worth considering.

I found this book to be very good, it explains and shows WC blocking tecniques, the four corners, center line, straight punch, finger jab and the WC kicks. alsoe there is a big section on practical aplications that to me really opend my eyes to the simple and straight forward aproach that WC has to combat. Still this is the best book i have ever read on the subject even thoug it does not have more than one page on history and philosphy. This is a Wing Chun Tecnique book and not a history book. Og course you can not learn WC entierly from a book but this wil give you a pretty good idea on wether ore not this is something for you, and for students it can help you to better remeber the first form and some of the basic rules of this art.

This book, in my opinion, is primarily good in aiding a beginner in the 1st Wing Chun form Sil Lim Tao.

It goes over each hand movement, one by one, with pictures. I have seen videos which show how to do this that don't explain it as well.

While it is nice to have a more visual aid, you can read at your own pace to pick up the 1st form.

It also includes stances and a few other items, but mainly focuses on the Sil Lim Tao, which is good in my opinion for a beginner.

I would recommend getting a video to complement this, such as Wing Chun: The Science of In-Fighting.

Remember, no single book or video can possibly show it all, and not everyone will like the format or layout the same, but this book is layed out quite simply for the beginner.

Don't expect to learn it overnight, but with enough practice, I believe a dedicated person could learn Wing Chun basics.

A school would teach you faster, and you would know you have it down absolutely correctly, but the nice thing about Wing Chun, is that it is adaptable in degrees to the person practicing it. Use what is effective.

If your interested in Wing Chun and you have just started this book is a great handbook for you to learn the first form and give you a good understanding of the art. This book coupled with Wong Sheung Leung's Video: The science of In-fighting, is well worth the money.

When i started to practice Wing Chun, I started with this book. It's easy to understand, you don't need to know anything about Kung Fu before you start...