Why Wing Chun Is My Martial Art

When a Taiji master, proud of his rock solid stance, challenged Bruce Lee to try to push him out of it, Bruce walked over, punched him in the face and knocked out a tooth. Stunned, the Taiji master fell over as Bruce Lee looked at him and said, "I don't push. I punch. Maybe you should stop boasting."

When an "iron shirt" qigong master boasted on stage that he could withstand any blow to his body, noted wing chun practitioner William Cheung walked up and flicked a standard centerline punch to his body. When the "master" relaxed, William let out his real punch, knocking the wind out of the guy.

When noted bare knuckles no-rules challenge fighting champion Wong Shun Leung was asked if he thought he was the best fighter in the world, he said, "No, only the second best." Who was the best? "Don't know. Haven't met him yet."

And when noted wing chun practitioner Jason Lau worked as a bodyguard for a Saudi prince, he was fired because he had stolen his employer's Rolls Royce to take out a woman, then proceeded to total it.

I've studied (or at least dabbled in) eight different styles of martial arts. I tell a lot of people that the reason I stuck with wing chun is because Phil, my teacher, was the only martial arts teacher I'd ever known who thought that it was not only okay to drink alcohol, but encouraged it; who had no problem telling an incredibly tasteless joke; and who believed that a martial art is, indeed, for fighting.

These are all true. But the fact is, when I fight, I'm an asshole. Everyone in a fight is, if they're honest with themselves. And wing chun is the perfect art for assholes. Every move is not just a defense or an attack, but a pugilistic way of giving your opponent the finger. We don't defend and then counter, we attack at the same time. Sometimes, our defense is a punch up the middle. It's our way of saying, "You fucking pussy. This is how little I think of your attempts at attack." We face our opponent because we can't fucking be bothered to get into a proper "fighting stance." And when we encounter an obstruction to our attack, we slap the offending limb out of the way and continue it without pause. "Get the fuck out my way and take this punch like you like it, bitch!" is the metaphorical expression that we're conveying. Our answer to just about any problem is to punch. Sure, there are nicer, more ethical or moral ways to defend ourselves. We just don't care to, because by the time a conflict's descended into physical violence, ethics, morals and niceness have long fallen along the wayside, so why not let it all hang out?

No other martial style, provides such a frame work that allows a practitioner to be an asshole -- even as compared to the average guy assholish enough to get into a fight in the first place. In this sense, practitioners of all other arts are deluding themselves into thinking there's such a thing as a "nice" fighter."

God, I love wing chun.