Why People Misunderstand Wing Tsun—And Why It Works
You don’t have to search long online to find so-called “experts” debunking Wing Tsun and Wing Chun. Why is that? To start with there are 3 common reasons:
1. It’s easier to criticise than to understand;
2. The depth of Wing Tsun makes it easy to misunderstand;
3. Most people don’t evaluate martial arts using the right criteria.
If you really want to assess any martial art’s effectiveness, there are three fundamental elements you need to consider: mindset, strategy, and technique.
The Holy Trinity of Martial Effectiveness
Having spent nearly 25 years training and teaching students from all levels and styles of martial arts – from Karate Blackbelts to National Kickboxing Champions, I came up with a way to simply analyse both personal and arts effectiveness. This has been affectionately named by students as “Sifu Hitch’s Combat Triad” – and is used to take the personal judgement and bias out of a system (something we can all be guilty of in our personal passion for our pursuits).
Mindset: Does the art cultivate the right mindset for success? Can it train someone to stay calm under pressure and execute under stress? Does it give you both resilience and the understand of what it takes to win?
Strategy: Is the goal to end the fight as quickly, safely, and efficiently as possible? Does it have a clear understanding of the components that make that happen as well as simplicity of action?
Techniques: Are the movements fast, direct, and powerful? Does the system emphasise precision and effectiveness over brute force?
Any art that has those three in high degree has a high likelihood of combat success. Wing Tsun, when practiced and understood correctly, excels in all three areas. You will see more why and how this works in our Wing Tsun Combat Blueprint on our Foundations of Wing Tsun course which explains this step-by-step.
The Truth About Skill vs. Training
The next layer to understand after the art is the personal effectiveness. Being able to see this again helps you understand how you, and your students develop. Often people have a simplistic view belief that a martial art is either “good” or “bad.” But the truth, like most things in life, is more nuanced. Dedication to mastery, and intention to excel, along with a desire to win trump many other factors. The truth of the matter is that a dedicated and talented practitioner in a weak system can beat an unmotivated, trained fighter in a strong system. It’s not enough to have access to great teachers and a combat effective art, the third part of this secondary triad (the Personal Effectiveness Triad)– is that you have the sufficient intention to put it into practise and to win. I’ve seen this numerous times, and whilst it’s great to have ‘bragging rights’ for what is the best art – each art is still in the hands of the practitioners so this layer needs to be taken into account as well.
How Wing Tsun navigates this
Wing Tsun recognises the need for an untalented person to be able to beat a talented fighter. So as such, Wing Tsun makes up for the physiological and physical disadvantage by a specially designed training system. It takes out the need for natural talent because it builds your skills on so many different dimensions – speed, power, feeling, distance, awareness, responsiveness, co-ordination, targetry and timing – and builds them in a progressive manner, continually refining and challenging them to step up. It’s impossible to be talented across all of these parameters, so Wing Tsun avoids the need for natural talent and instead it’s about a systematic way to build skill from the ground up.
So you understand the context from my perspective this is not theory; I know this firsthand from my own career.
My first teacher told me I was a terrible beginner. He wasn’t wrong. Yet, by 18, I had surpassed his skill level.
My second teacher told me I had two left hands and two right feet. Again, he was right. But within four years, I had surpassed him too.
My third teacher, Grandmaster Máday Norbert, told me when I started training with him at 21 that I was like a puppet. I could do the movements, but there was no soul behind them. Yet again he was right. However, fast forward a year, and he had forgotten that first comment. Instead, he told me I was the most talented student he had ever taught.
From my experience I have subsequently seen this happen time and time again with students. Those who perhaps didn’t start with the biggest physical advantage but have the consistency and determination to deeply understand Wing Tsun and apply its principles can achieve extremely high levels. Do this you can literally defy the reality of what others believe is possible.
Wing Tsun in the Real World
As you now know, theory is one thing. Real-world results are another. So the final part of this is putting it into practise. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of training people in extreme, high-risk situations. This includes:
- Military professionals, including soldiers, Marines, and paratroopers, who have used Wing Tsun in life-or-death encounters.
- A student who, after just two days of training, successfully defended himself against a firearm attack six months later.
- A legendary boxing champion who found Wing Tsun more effective than what they had grown up using.
When done well, Wing Tsun works. Normally I prefer my English understated style. However, I think it’s again important to give you some the context to the above, so here are some of their experiences in their own words:
Military
“We cannot recommend the training with Si-Fu Julian Hitch provides enough. It should be considered by anyone feels they might be confronted with hostile situations."
Darrol, Elite Commando Unit, CQB course organiser
“Best learning experience of my career. I wish I had learned many of these skills before I had done operations. This knowledge would have saved lives.”
Jerome, 12 years Royal Marine Commando
"Superb instruction. It is my belief that these skills are vital. The soldiers that completed your course now have the skills and confidence to use them appropriately when needed."
Official recommendation by British Army Major (OC), Specialist Reconnaissance unit
Firearms
"Whilst on holiday abroad with friends, we took a taxi back to our hotel. When we attempted to find the money for the taxi driver, he pulled out a handgun and threatened us with it outside the car. We were obviously all very scared but, when it got to the stage that I thought we were actually going to get shot, I decided to disarm the man, allowing me and my three friends to run away from the situation. None of the above would have been possible if I hadn't had expert tuition from Si-Fu Julian Hitch. I only spent two days with Si-Fu Julian Hitch on a Close Protection course six months ago. His tactics and techniques truly are simple and extremely effective! Thanks again."
Dominick, Close Protection Officer
Boxing Champion
“After 10 years of boxing, including 2 Army titles, to find a more effective form of punching was incredible. The fact that all the techniques can be used on the ‘street’ in a real situation as opposes to just a classroom art was great. I found the course both demanding and extremely well run. Excellent tuition backed up by with 1st class resources and training.”
Graeme, Parachute Regiment, Undefeated 2x Army National Heavyweight Boxing Champion 52 fights 0 losses
“I learnt more from in a few hours with Si-Fu Julian Hitch than I had in 15 years of boxing with regards to striking and combat. Simple, fluid and extremely effective. Totally changed my perspective on fighting. Outstanding instructional skills speaking from professional point of view. Si-Fu is a consummate professional himself.”
Ronnie, Royal Navy Personal Training Instructor, ex-England Boxer
Martial Art Combat paradox: Immediate Usefulness vs. Lifelong Mastery
Linked to this debate about the effectiveness of Wing Tsun is the aspect of both what you focus on and how quickly you can get results. It has two areas that both need attention, but seem contradictory:
Urgency: You need self-defence that works NOW (and the old English saying goes ‘Tomorrow never comes”).
Longevity: But at the same time you don’t want to live in paranoia. Instead, you want to grow and evolve through training. (As the saying in Wing Tsun goes ‘if you are living in fear, you are not living at all’)
So what is the answer? Do you focus on combat urgency and only focus on training as if you were attacked tomorrow – in effective prioritising short-terms gains over long-term? Or do you take longer to get the results – but risk it not working in the meantime? Again, Wing Tsun proves a solution to the martial arts combat paradox. This time it is to provide both in the training.
- You can apply it quickly, even with minimal training
- It’s also a lifelong journey, offering continuous discovery and self-improvement.
This is an email from a student called Leon who wrote to tell me how he had applied it after only a couple of hours training:
“Si-Fu,
I am a new beginner and have only trained for a few hours. However, I would like to say thank you, firstly for letting my friends and me enrol and, secondly, thank you for the training which you and your instructor team have already provided.
The training has already proven itself very useful. I am in the security industry and yesterday I found myself in a hostile situation. I chased after a shoplifter with no radios, and my team was separated and didn’t know my whereabouts.
The shoplifter was very agitated and aggressive and of much bigger size than me. I had asked him a number of times to calm down; however, he did not comply and instead threatened me.
As soon as he made this threat, I found myself already in the stance with Wu Sao hand ready to strike. At this point, the shoplifter noticed my stance and seemed to back down, but he then tried to make a run past me. As I went to grab him, he actually tried to strike me in the face, but honestly, I don’t know how—I think it’s called the "Beggars Palm"—I ended up both defending and attacking at the same time.
Obviously, I didn’t want trouble, but I have only trained for a few hours, and already your teachings proved useful. I will carry on training hard, as this has made me more determined and intrigued to learn and know more about Wing Tsun. Thank you once again.”
That’s perhaps sums up best the core principle of why Wing Tsun teaches: “Prepare for the worst but create the best.”
Final Thought: The honesty of combat reality.
Wing Tsun Stacks the Odds in Your Favor
Wing Tsun doesn’t guarantee victory. Nothing does. Anyone who says anything different about a combat system is either being dishonest or delusional. However, Wing Tsun does stack the odds in your favour. It maximises your chances of success while minimising your chances of harm. To use a card analogy, it gives you’re a winning hand – but you still have to take responsibility for how and when to apply it.
And that’s why, despite what the critics say, Wing Tsun continues to prove itself time and time again. With a good teacher, consistent training and focus it gives you the best possible tools for both survival and thriving. The rest, as they say, is up to you.
If you interested in knowing more – please do check out our course “the Foundations of Wing Tsun” or visit us in person at our specialist training school in Bromley, London.
Sifu