Customer Reviews

Wing Tsun Kuen

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

After reading the positive reveiws about this book I was encouraged to purchase it. It took a few weeks to arrive but when it did I was enthusiastic to say the least. What I expected was a bible on wing chun (Wing Tsun). What I got were many pages promoting Leung Ting, far too many in fact.
As for the rest, well you've seen it all before. There are many books out there dealing with the technical aspects of this beautiful system and I'm sorry but with regards explaining these aspects, Leung Ting's volume is not the best. It's filled with the now obligatory B/W pictures of Siu Lim Tao and Chun Kiu and a few empty hand techniques. If you are a moderately well versed wing chun practitioner you will get very little in the way of answering those niggling questions ie. how to properly execute circling steps in combat.

This book is far from being a wing chun bible. It seems deliberately sketchy. It should contain the whole system if it is to be a real gold standard and it does not.

Please, if you have an understanding of wing chun, only buy this book to have as a part of your collection, you won't read anything new.

If you are new to wing chun and seek to learn from a book then I would recommend Secret Techniques of Wing Chun Volume One by K.T.Chao & J.E.Weakland (Crompton Publication). This will give you a more complete understanding of the system.

Finally, I really wanted to get this tome and more than that I wanted to love it, I thought it would answer some of the little questions that many of us have. Master Leung Ting, who promotes his credentials very effectively in the book, had the oportunity here to rise above the rest but he blew it. If only he had written the definative book, the book of all books, I would have paid twice the cover price for such a book, and by the way, this book isn't cheap. However, he doesn't cater for the experienced wing chun practitioner at all. What he does do is promote himself and brand of Wing Tsun. If there is a second/third volume etc, then this cannot be the bible so we are yet again being slightly misled. With this in mind, I don't think I will buy another of his publications.

Leung Ting was never a 'closed door' disciple of Ip Man - far from it he was one of the last batch of students Ip man had in his lifetime. This book is full of unfinished bits and pieces, and is far from a 'bible' on Wing Chun. I purchased a copy years ago just to have a look at it when I could receive things at a wholesale price. I wasn't really impressed with the book overall. I met Leung Ting around 1990 and he seems more like a used car salesman than a Kung Fu Master. One of his former Technician level instructors left his organization and I was quite amazed at this. I asked him why, because there are so many very devoted Leung Ting followers - he told me the guy was all about money. I believe it. So in closing, I wouldn't spend my money on this book, it has too many incomplete pieces to it, it is full of self agrandization etc. That's my two cents.

The Wing Tsun Kuen by Grandmaster Leung Ting is without a doubt THE BIBLE of Wing Tsun and set the standard for martial arts books since it's publication in 1978. Today the book is in it's 14th printing; and while it has been often imitated -- it has never been equalled. Wing Tsun Kuen contains photos showing the techniques from multiple angles (front, side, birds-eye, etc.) as well as detailed text explaining the techniques being shown. I purchase my first copy in 1985 and a subsequent copy in 2001 (the renewal edition). The author is good about updating the photos and text every few years to keep the look fresh -- while maintaining the "meat" of this book which has made it a trend-setter since the late 1970's. Highly recommended!

For me, this is the first comprehensive hard-cover book of Wing Chun to be published in English by a "closed door" student of Yip Man. A fighting form initially used to defeat the main stream Shaolin based martial arts, using technique rather than force, the founder being a Buddhist nun and whose style was later on popularized by Bruce Lee.

A detailed history of Wing Chun is included, then a description of how training is done under the "Wing Tsun" system is explained; including (2)complete empty hand fighting forms (basic - Siu Nim Tau and intermediate - Chum Kiu)plus applications.

More advanced concepts are introduced, such as: the third and last empty hand form (Biu-Tze), wooden dummy techniques, how to develop reflex action (Chi Sau)and the different specialized punching and kicking exercises.

Something to cherish is the story of Yip Man, the grand master himself and a text he has written in Chinese on the origin of this unique martial art and translated in English.

Wing Tsun under Leung Ting later on became the most widely practiced form of the martial art of Wing Chun as originally taught by Yip Man, who was widely accepted as the grand master.

Overall Wing Tsun combines the best of the hard and soft applications unique to the mother art Wing Chun and taught in a progressive and systematic way, wherein a student who has stopped training can continue his studies anywhere in the world where there is an affiliated school, and start exactly from where he has left.

This is the best single book on Wing Tsun (or wing chun and ving tsun for that matter) for the beginner and continues as a resource for the more advanced student. Yes, I am a student of the author but have read the other books. What mostly makes this a great book is the complete coverage of the techniques AND the extensive, well-researched and honest approach to the history of Wing Tsun. The stories of late great Grandmaster YIP MAN are almost worth the price alone. The history of the art is the subject of so much speculation, one wonders what the various other author's sources are in so many of the articles, books and papers available. The author here explains the legends and then explains his position on the probable reality.
Some criticisms of the book have included the fact that the author doesn't reveal every detail of his art in the book nor does he cater to advanced students in it. Not every detail IS given. No revelation of every detail would serve either the curious reader, the novice student or the author. One cannot learn martial arts properly from a book alone and "knowing" cannot replace the hard work involved in training. In any case, much of the footwork, fighting techniques, chi sau and applications are contained in his other books which are numerous and in lower cost paperback.
The best part of Wing Tsun Kuen is the chi sau section which correctly conveys the nature of the real fighting ideas of Wing Tsun instead of the "fixed movement" thinking of some other arts or their teacher's approaches.
I dare say that this book's world-wide distribution has not only helped the author grow his own organization but indirectly boosted the careers of other lineages by reference.

This book is the Bible of Wing Tsun. Out of all martial arts books I've read, NOTHING has compared to this book. It is very well written, and you get more than your worth for the price. If you practice Wing Tsun or Wing Chun, get this book. You can learn alot off it providing you know the art.

This a a great reference book on this great style of Chinese kung fu. Any WT student will benefit from reading this book and using it as a reference to their training. It features the complete Siu Nim Tau form and talks about the second and third forms as well as the weapons. Loaded with pictures and illustrations. The only minor problem is that some of the translations and grammar are not quite correct but it can still be understood.

This is a good book and the hard cover gives a good feedback touch sensation.

Asian World of Martial Arts is not the publisher of this book. Leung Ting is the only publisher of this book.