Wing Chun (Traditional)
Traditional Wing Chun Kung Fu (TWC) is a style of the Chinese martial art Wing Chun. It is claimed to be the authentic, more effective version of Wing Chun taught exclusively to William Cheung by Yip Man. Cheung claims it is superior to the conventional Wing Chun system, referred to by William Cheung as "modified Wing Chun".Stance
The difference of Traditional Wing Chun to the claimed "modified" Wing Chun is its fighting stance. According to Cheung, a fighter from the Modified Wing Chun system faces his opponent fully with his toes pointed inwards and fights square on attacking straight forward down the opponent’s middle or centre line. Traditional Wing Chun adopts a sideways stance with a lead leg and a rear leg. However, both hands remain ambidextrous and equidistant from the opponent and a position is taken up to the outside of the opponents leading elbow referred to as the blind side to aid controlling the opponents balance while at the same time counter attacking.
The sideways stance proposes two advantages: increased mobility and a protected groin. "Modified" Wing Chun, it's claimed, emphasises structural stability. Bridging the gap to the opponent is achieved by "shuffling" forward. The soles of the feet are in constant contact with the ground so that structure is not compromised. In contrast, Traditional Wing Chun compromises stability for interruptability of the footwork, and the feet are picked up and placed down ball of the foot first, allowing for change of direction at any point during the step. Also, in the Traditional Wing Chun stance, the groin is overshadowed by the lead leg, making it less vulnerable to a centrally-rising kick.
"Central line" theory
Traditional Wing Chun includes an additional line of reference besides the conventional Wing Chun "center line", entitled the "central line". In the claimed "modified" Wing Chun, the center line is an imaginary line that bisects the human body lengthwise, cutting through vital areas such as the heart, groin, solar plexus, nose and face. Protecting and attacking from the centre line becomes the imperative on which Modified Wing Chun's offensive/defensive techniques are derived.
Traditional Wing Chun's "central line" is slightly different. The central line is any area in front of the torso where both hands may be crossed. It is within this area (or "gate") that attacks are greeted and counter-attacks launched. The proposed advantage of the central line is that the practitioner's vital centre line is pointed away from incoming attacks whilst retaining the ambidextrous use of both hands. Footwork is of paramount importance as the Traditional Wing Chun fighter will stay out of line of the opponents force but keep the opponent within this functional central line area where both hands can still be used for simultaneous attack and defence. The diagonal stance also allows the rear leg to be used for additional structural support against particularly forceful attacks.