"Don't fight the force...give into it...go with it...use it ! " - The words are not those of mystic Obiwan Kenobi, but those of Dr. Leung Ting, the ever pragmatic exponent of the WingTsun system. Dr. Leung learned his WingTsun (WT) directly from the legendary Master Yip Man shortly before his death. In fact, many believe that Dr. Leung's system represents the final and most refined version of Yip Man's art. Even Yip Man's own son Mr. Yip Chun has endorsed Dr. Leung lending credence to this opinion.

In light of this information, it is not surprising to find that Dr. Leung's WingTsun is perhaps the "softest" version of the art in practice today. In his system you won't find students flexing and battering their arms in a futile effort to make them hard and invulnerable. Rather, the WT student learns to become soft and flexible so that he may harmlessly absorb and redirect an attack.
 

The greatest sin a WT man may commit, is to brutishly oppose force with force. Conversely, the highest virtue is to learn to borrow your opponent's force and turn it against him. Learning to effectively use an attacker's force is no easy task however, especially if one's opponent happens to be strong, fast and dead set on busting your head! Therefore, the student of WT proceeds through a step by step training program that gradually develops the necessary sensitivity, flexibility and reflexes for realistic self defense. Although the specific training methods and techniques discussed are peculiar to WT, the basic principles involved are universal and merit consideration by practitioners of all styles.

In WT there is a saying: the first stage of learning is to get rid of your own force; the second stage of learning is to get rid of your opponent's force. Only then can you attain the third and final stage, which is to truly borrow your opponent's force. The first stage, that of abandoning the deeply rooted psychological dependence on raw, muscular power is the most difficult for a student to accept. This is especially true of the stronger students who have learned from a lifetime of experience to rely on their muscles. However, such students are usually quick to change their minds when their weaker kung fu brothers begin to surpass them in skill!

The simple fact of the matter is that "hard" resistant force is anathema to the concept of flowing with, and using your attacker's force. To accomplish this, you must become "soft." By "soft" I do not mean limp like a wet noodle, but soft and springy like a strip of bamboo. By adopting this kind of elastic force, even a small person can absorb and redirect a very powerful attack. Generally speaking, practitioners of hard styles strive to make their limbs as tough and rigid as a piece of oak. Unfortunately, under sufficient stress, oak breaks, and this is precisely what happens to the hard stylist when he confronts and even stronger opponent.

By contrast, the WT man's flexible, bamboo like arms bend and compress before a strong attack and snap back with vicious speed when released. In WT the arms function as springs to absorb and return the energy they receive. This "spring principle" is one of the most basic means of borrowing and opponent's force. Furthermore, the concept of "springy energy" is fundamental to WT theory and a component of every strike, parry and counter in the style.

A corollary of this "spring principle" is the avoidance blocking as a means of defense in WT. Dr. Leung has noted that other styles depend upon four main blocking movements: upward, downward, inside to outside and outside to inside. These blocks may be hard or soft, close fisted or open handed, linear or circular, but they all reflect the same concept. In WT such movements are unnecessary. Instead, we simply let our arms spring forward along the central axis of our body, or centerline, towards the centerline of our opponent.
If he does not deflect our arms, of course he will be hit. If he does obstruct our attack, whether by block, parry, or counter punch, we simply let the force of his defensive movement bend our arms into one of the classical WT deflecting positions such as tan sau (palm up hand) or bong sau (wing arm). At this point our opponent has no choice but to withdraw his attack, allowing our arms to uncoil and strike.