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It's not Chinese dancing! By Yoshi Kundagawa “What's the new dance step you’re doing, Yoshi?” I hear that all the time. Even from guys who really should know better. You probably do as well, especially if you practice footwork for Wing Chun.
Wing Chun, or “Chinese Dancing,” is a soft style with a strong philosophical bent to it. The name originally came from the ideograms for “Ever Spring,” and it is well-suited. I was bored of walking with bruises and sore muscles, and I needed to switch to a softer style while I was recovering. I admire Kung Fu styles, so learning Wing Chun was so simple. Only without as much falling, or as many punches to the sternum as most Kung Fu styles. But the joint locks reminded me that I was practicing an actual martial art. (Some advice. Anyone who says: “Hey, let me show you a joint lock!” is a sadist. Just say no. Really.) In many ways, Wing Chun is like the early forms exercises you do for Kung Fu, then carried to their logical extreme, instead of being used as the fundamentals of a hard style. What attracted me to Wing Chun, aside from the sprained wrist on my primary punching hand, was the flowing footwork that its practitioners possessed. Well, okay. It was the flowing footwork that I saw in Jet Li’s films, while I was waiting for my wrist to finish healing. Even so, just from watching the films, I could see definite applications for Wing Chun footwork in my list of techniques once my wrist was better. Wing Chun footwork focuses on balance more so than with a strong kicking style, which can leave you quite exposed attempting a circle  kick. Particularly, the footwork demands that you be in a low stance, but not one that’s so low that your mobility is affected. Everyone who practices martial arts has heard of this stance, or that stance. And unless you’re working in front of a mirror, you’ll do the sloppiest stance you can get away with without your sparring partner kicking you repeatedly. What I found cool about Wing Chun is that the form drills (San Sik is what they’re called) REALLY emphasize flowing movements. If you are doing it correctly you will break a sweat. The muscles in your hamstrings and quads will be burning but, the end result is worth it. The forms become like second nature, like they’re learned by your hips and knees, and you just do them once the pain has eventually gone away. Naturally, everybody will be talking about your new dance moves, but Wing Chun footwork pays for itself nicely. Since learning it, I’ve been much more conscious of how my bent knees increase my reach with punches and elbow strikes, and it’s been much harder to throw me to the mat in Jiu Jitsu. The parts I’ve compensated for from the footwork, I’ve learned have been in mobility. It’s sometimes possible to plant too hard, which makes it tempting to break stance to give pursuit. Particularly when you’re flowing from a down block and trying to transition into a kick - it's at that point, the Wing Chun footwork has to kind of skip a beat while you switch back to a harder Kung Fu kick. Anyway, I’m glad I took the time to learn this form. It’s provided me an excellent base to work from, and a few more tricks to use in sparring matches. Particularly fun is when someone makes fun of the dance moves and then says: “Yoshi, how did you do that?” Article Source About the Author: Yoshi Kundagawa is a journalist covering the mixed martial arts industry. 
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