Everybody in Ving Tsun is “Kung Fu Fighting.”

Pronounced “Wing Chun,” Ving Tsun is a soft-style but aggressive form of Kung Fu. Soft-style generally means that the defender will use minimal force in order to remain steady as he or she turns the attacker’s momentum against himself or herself.

Ving Tsun was developed by Yim Wing-Chun, a young Chinese woman, over 250 years ago. As a subdivision of Kung Fu, Ving Tsun is a practical form of self-defense that caters to all individuals both young and old. It is based on positioning, leverage and simple physics, allowing the individual to borrow their opponent’s force and turn it against them.

Now, this does not mean that Bruce Lee, Ip Man, Jet Li or any other Kung Fu expert would consider Ving Tsun a less than respectable art form. These concepts are the reason that smaller, weaker people are able to defend themselves against bigger, stronger opponents.

If you do not have the time to dedicate to daily meditation and learning how Qi affects every aspect of your life, you can go to Ving Tsun Club here at St. Edward’s University where techniques learned in the first class can be applied to defend one’s self.

This particular program allows individuals to learn techniques in a short amount of time. Rather than building strings of moves upon each other, each class allows students to learn new and practical moves that can be used in conjunction with other moves or on their own.

The reason for this sporadic yet effective technique is so students no longer feel defenseless, even after just one meeting. Ving Tsun instructor, or Sifu, Kenny Felton, prides himself in assisting his students in any way possible.

“If I can make a difference by helping one person defend themselves, then I’ll be happy,” Felton said.

The Ving Tsun Club meets in the RCC building every Monday and Wednesday from 8-9 PM.