Principles

The tenets of Wing Chun are practicality, efficiency and economy of movement. This core philosophy becomes a useful guide to practitioners when modifying or refining the art. New techniques which do not conform to these principles are often discouraged and discarded.

Practicality

Wing Chun was designed purely for fighting rather than artistic or sport applications. As such, its techniques emphasise practicality and effectiveness over aesthetic or athletic value. Most strikes are fatal and target vulnerable areas of the body such as the throat, groin, eyes and lower torso.

Following this utilitarian approach, the names of Wing Chun techniques are purely descriptive. For example - spreading hand (tan sau), wing arm (bong sau), slapping hand (pak sau). Wing Chun terminology is traditionally rendered in the Cantonese dialect of Chinese.

Efficiency

Wing Chun believes in using the least amount of required force in any fighting situation because it is a more efficient use of the body's energy. Wasted or unnecessary movement which does not produce a combat advantage is discouraged.

Wing Chun believes that small movements, properly timed and correctly positioned, can and should be used to defeat large movements. This is achieved through balance, body structure and relaxation. The famous Chinese "8 taels to move 1000 catties" (referring to an old Chinese measurement system) is appropriate here in describing how a small amount of force, precisely applied, can repel large attacks.

Strictly speaking, there are no blocks in Wing Chun because they are believed to be inefficient. It is better to deflect the force (as opposed to meeting it head-on) and counter-attack at the same time. The practitioner uses parries to deflect the incoming strikes and offset the attacker. A parry usually requires a very small amount of energy when compared to hard blocks which exists in so called external martial-arts such as Karate or Kung-Fu.

A parry can be used to deflect the strike of the opponent and launch a counter-attack at the same time. Also there exits an idea to offset the striker's balance and attack vulnerable points. Internal martial arts does not have the concept of handling an attack with an aggressive counter-attack, but try to use the attacker's energy against himself.

Economy of Movement

Wing Chun believes that the shortest path between two points is a straight line. Thus, most Wing Chun movements are linear and initiated along an imaginary centre line. The Wing Chun punch, for example, is delivered centrally from the practitioner's chest rather than diagonally from the shoulders, because the distance is shorter.

Wing Chun uses all four limbs in fighting because this offers the practitioner more options in selecting the best limb for the task, thereby producing the most economical outcome.