Willow in the Wind: Wing Chun's Soft Approach

The southern Chinese martial art of Wing Chun is known for its fast and aggressive attacks, such as chain punches to the head or finger thrusts to the eyes, but its best fighters are those who have mastered its more advanced, “softer” elements -- the ability to use structure and footwork to absorb, neutralize, and dissolve an opponent’s attack before counter-striking.
In Willow in the Wind, Sifu Donald Mak explains the benefits and efectiveness
of Wing Chun’s soft approach. A senior student of Master Chow Tze-chuen, one
of Grandmaster Yip Man’s most devoted elder disciples, he has been teaching
and practicing Wing Chun for almost 40 years both in Hong Kong and around
the world. Sifu Mak is also the founder and Chairman of the International Wing
Chun Organization (IWCO), which has over 100 aliated schools in 16 countries
around the world.
One aspect of Wing Chun’s soft approach that is often underestimated, or
simply not taught, is the role of footwork, together with Wing Chun’s
“shadowless kick.” Willow in the Wind devotes two entire chapters to these
unique aspects of Wing Chun, teachings that also mark an important return to
its fighting origins. Grandmaster Yip Man was known to have trained just as
hard on his footwork and kicking as he did on his hand fighting.