Kung-Fu FAQ
This area contains answers to specific questions about the system of Kung-Fu which is taught by the UKKFF. If the question or answer you seek is not shown below, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly.
What is Kung-Fu?
Kung-Fu is one particular type of martial art discipline. It is mainly unarmed, and uses all the natural tools of the human body for the purposes of combat.
Is Kung-Fu a sport?
No. There are no rules, regulations, designated playing areas, referees, weight categories, banned techniques, spectators, league tables, or time restrictions to work within. This does not make it ‘better’ or ‘harder’ than martial sports. The two are just intended for different purposes.
What does ‘Kung-Fu’ actually mean?
The term Kung-Fu literally translates as hard work. It can be used to describe all skills of quality which have been mastered over a long period of time, not necessarily just skills of a martial nature. However in practice, the western world uses the term Kung-Fu to describe all martial arts of Chinese origin, regardless of how those arts may have been subsequently developed since their inception.
What type of Kung-Fu does the UKKFF teach?
We teach the Federation Wing Tsun System, which is a unique, strategy-based approach to Wing Chun, developed by Sifu Lee Paul Heron.
Is Wing Chun a type of Kung-Fu?
Yes. Wing Chun is one very popular type of Kung-Fu which has become extremely widespread worldwide. In fact there are many types of Kung-Fu, called styles. Wing Chun is one particular style of Kung-Fu.
What does ‘Wing Chun’ mean?
The term Wing Chun literally translates as Beautiful Springtime. The oral history of the art states that a girl named Yim Wing Chun was the first student to receive the art from it’s legendary founder Ng Mui. Ng Mui was a Buddhist Abbess, one of the Five Elders of the now world-famous Shaolin Temple.
Are there different styles of Wing Chun too?
Yes there are. The spelling Wing Chun is used collectively, whilst several of the more popular approaches usually adopt a particular spelling to differentiate themselves. For instance; the Wong Shun Leung method usually uses the spelling Ving Tsun (VT), whilst the Leung Ting system uses the spelling WingTsun (WT) without a space between the two words. A great many other approaches use the generic Wing Chun (WC) spelling, the more classical Yong Chun (YC) spelling, or use various hybrids such as Wing Tyun, Ving Chun or Wing Tchun.
Which style of Wing Chun is the best?
Well, that’s like asking which car is the best. The answer will probably be different for each person you ask, and there are several very good approaches out there. Over the past 22 years, the UKKFF instructors have trained in all the major styles of Wing Chun (WT, WC, VT), plus many of the minor ones too. We hold high instructor ranks in several, and have also taught them for other organisations in the past. However since discovering the Federation Wing Tsun System in 2005 we have become convinced that it is the best unarmed system currently available, and now it is the only Kung-Fu system we offer or promote.
What is so different about the Federation Wing Tsun System?
It was developed using weapons concepts & body mechanics as the baseline standards, which means it blends seamlessly with our armed disciplines right from the start. Our students can study armed & unarmed combat together and nothing clashes, which was previously the case with EVERY other Wing Chun method we know. Also, it uses strategy as an integral part of ALL training, so students constantly learn to plan ahead, and finally it has the most structured, comprehensive & complete training programme that we have ever seen, bar none.
Are there weapons in Wing Chun?
Most Wing Chun methods officially include the ‘Long-Pole’ (Luk-Dim-Boon-Kwan), and the ‘Butterfly-Knives’ (Bart-Cham-Do). However in practice these weapons are only introduced right at the end of a students training, meaning that unarmed thinking dominates, and very little time is spent training with, fighting with, or understanding the weapons. Our approach is different – we have an entire discipline devoted to weapons training, which our members can train straight away, and which blends seamlessly with our Kung-Fu system. By the time most Wing Chun students are allowed to pick up their weapons, our members can already fight effectively with single-sticks, double-sticks, stick & knife, double-knives, palm-sticks, staff, and machetes too. It’s then a very simple matter to pick up the specific Wing Chun weapons, use and understand them.
Will I get hurt during Kung-Fu training?
Yes, you might – martial arts are dangerous by definition. We don’t teach children, we don’t teach anything that we can’t prove the value of, and we don’t hit off-target because that’s not the reality of violence. However we DO use a lot of control, a very structured, progressive training programme, and all students only work at the level that they can handle. Don’t be under any illusions though, mistakes can & do hurt, but you won’t be harmed in training.
Do you do sparring in Kung-Fu?
Yes. There are progressive sparring drills at every grade within the training programme, leading towards fully random sparring in a variety of situations once people are controlled, safe and confident.
Do you do have Chi-Sao training in the Federation Wing Tsun System?
Yes. We have specific, specially-developed Chi-Sao training programmes for each of the three unarmed forms within the system.
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