Wing Tsun is an ancient Chinese martial art founded on the notion that fighting is fundamentally bad, but also that, if you must fight, you must win. This idea is best summed up in a saying of its creators, the monks and abbess at the Shaolin Temple in southern China:              

It is better to move away than grab;

It is better to grab than hit;

It is better to hit than hurt;

It is better to hurt than kill;

  It is better to kill than be killed.

The Abbess among its creators was, according to legend, a princess named Ng Mui, who taught its principles to a young woman called Wing Tsun – Beautiful Springtime – so that she could stand up to the village bully, to whom she was going to be forcibly married.

 That women were involved in its creation makes Wing Tsun unique among martial arts. And that it was created at the Shaolin Temple – the ancient Chinese seat of learning from which Buddhism spread into eastern Asia – means that, even though it is based upon the idea of meditation in motion, it cannot be separated from the philosophical principles of both Zen and the Tao.

 Married to each of its forms, or sets of movement, are fundamental wisdoms to help guide the practitioner towards their best life. We call these the Four Doors of Wing Tsun, and within them lie eight philosophical ideas that have been tested by students of the art for 1,500 years, and thus hold true today.

 In the First Door of Wing Tsun, and within its first physical form, one learns first to Know Oneself – an idea central to both western and eastern philosophy since the Axial Age – and to Stay Relaxed. Wing Tsun recognised that tension leads to mistakes, both in life and in an unavoidable fight. Here, the student learns to become conscious, aware.

 In the Second Door and form, one learns Not To Force, to be adaptable to a given situation, to go with the flow; and one learns Positivity. Here, one learns to connect one’s newly recognised consciousness and awareness to one’s broader environment.

 The Third Door is about self-realisation. It’s about understanding the virtues of Simplicity, of accepting one’s personal Freedom and Responsibility, and of learning that, in life, bad things happen and one must Expect To Be Punched.

 And in the Fourth Door, one strives to reach Zen’s ultimate goal: to let go of self and to realise – that the secret to real success is to do what you love, and to do it well regardless of the outcome.

 True success is to find and practice that which gives meaning to you. It is hard work (kung fu), to be sure. But that is Wing Tsun.