Modern Wing Chun Kung Fu - Fight Like a Woman and Master Your Life

By ERIC ORAM

"Modern Wing Chun is an invitation to apprenticeship in the practice of self defense, physics, and (eventual) practical miracles. My 20 years under the tutelage of Sifu Eric continues to enhance my formidability regarding martial arts, conflict resolution, and (equally) my work, family life, and community. If you read this book, you will grow and change. If you LIVE this book, the possibilities on and off 'the mat' are limitless."

—Robert Downey, Jr.

 

Modern Wing Chun Kung Fu is a comprehensive overview of this devastatingly practical and effective fighting system—and a guide to how its principles, strategies, and concepts will enhance your daily life

Get a modern look inside this 300-year-old martial art—developed by a woman—expertly guided by one of the world's leading authorities of Wing Chun, Si-Fu (Master) Eric Oram

Throughout the book, Oram shares glimpses into the master-student relationship in his apprenticeship under Wing Chun Kung Fu Grandmaster William Cheung

In this book you will learn:

• Wing Chun Kung Fu's unique and powerful history
• Wing Chun's concepts, principles, and strategies
• How the principles and strategies serve as a blueprint for mastering your daily life
• Defenses against punches, kicks, elbows, grabs, grappling, knives, sticks, baseball bats, strategies vs. multiple opponents, and more!
• Si-Fu Oram demonstrates examples of Wing Chun's primary techniques in over 250 detailed photos
• You will also hear from several of Si-Fu Oram's students about how Wing Chun has impacted their lives both on and off the mat

 

"For all who are reading this book, not only is it a practical guide for modern Wing Chun Kung Fu in daily life, but it's also a practical guide on life itself taken to a high level. What I mean by that is Si-Fu Oram conveys the mind-body-spirit required for this martial art, while also discussing what i believe to be critical components of a healthy and successful life: discipline, focus, training, competition, feedback/critique, humility, and confidence—to name a few. I've had the great pleasure to train with Si-Fu Oram and witness these components first-hand, and it continues to shape my life for the better. Coming from the military, his lead-by-example persona and detailed instruction is world-class. When you take the tenets of this book and apply them to your daily life, it's the recipe for success."

—TJ "T-MAc" Mackie, LtCol USMC retired TOPGUN F/A-18 PILOT

• Language: English
• Publisher: ERIC ORAM
• Release date: Feb 24, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224664405

Book preview

Eric Oram

Modern Wing Chun Kung Fu

Fight Like a Woman and Master Your Life

Copyright © 2024 by Eric Oram

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

First edition

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DEDICATION

I first dedicate this book to my wife, Peggy. Without her love and support, this would not have been possible.

And to my late father, Kent Oram, who brought Wing Chun into my life and was a constant source of guidance and inspiration. Love you, Pop.

Contents

Foreword

By Robert Downey, Jr.

Preface

Acknowledgement

Introduction

PART ONE

Combative Applications

PART TWO

Life Applications

1. Chapter 1

BORN OF FIRE, MADE OF WATER - A BRIEF HISTORY

How It All Began

2. Chapter 2

GETTING YOUR MIND RIGHT

LESSON ONE

Way of the Small Thought

LIFE APPLICATIONS

LESSON TWO

Perception is 9/10s of the Law

LIFE APPLICATION

Iron Will

Takeaways

3. Chapter 3

PRINCIPLES

Principle #1

GUARD YOUR CENTER

Principle #2

DON’T FIGHT FORCE WITH FORCE

Redirection

Release

Principle #3

USE BOTH ARMS TO ATTACK AND DEFEND AT THE SAME TIME

Principle #4

WATCH THE ELBOW

Principle #5

USE CONTACT REFLEXES AT CLOSE RANGE

Principle #6

INTERRUPTIBILITY

The Four Keys to Interruptibility

BALANCE

ECONOMY OF MOVEMENT

STAY RELAXED

INDEPENDENT MOVEMENT OF THE LIMBS

Principle #7

USE LINEAR STRIKING MOTION

LIFE APPLICATIONS

Don’t Fight Force with Force

Interruptibility

4. Chapter 4

STRATEGIES

Strategy #1

GUARD THE THREE GATES

Strategy #2

SAME ARM, SAME SIDE

Strategy #3

USE THE FIVE STAGES OF COMBAT

Stage 1 - Before Contact

Stage 2 - Contact

Stage 3 - Exchange

Stage 4 - Pursuit

Stage 5 - Retreat

Summary

Strategy #4

USE THEB.O.E.C. FIGHTING STRATEGY: Balance, Opening, Elbow, Crossed Arms

B - BALANCE

O - OPENING

E - ELBOW

C - CROSSED ARMS

Strategy #5

FIGHT ON THE BLIND SIDE

LIFE APPLICATIONS

Strategies

Guard your Gates

B.O.E.C.

Use the Five Stages of Combat

Blindside

5. Chapter 5

FOOTWORK

THE GOLDEN RULES

Centering

Two Tracks

Not Too Wide, Not Too Narrow

Move on the Balls of Your Feet

Keep Your Center in the Center

COMBAT STANCES

Side-Neutral Stance

Front Stance

THE STANCES IN MOTION

Moving Laterally, Forward and Backward

LIFE APPLICATION

6. Chapter 6

KICKS

Front Kick & Side Kick

Round Kick & Stomp Kick

KICKS AS COUNTERKICKS

KICKS TO THE WAIST AND BELOW

LIFE APPLICATION

Timing is Everything

7. Chapter 7

BASIC ARMS MOVEMENTS

BACK TO BASICS

STRIKES

The Straight Punch

How To Get Power in a Straight Punch

The Crooked Straight Punch

Palm Strikes

Vertical Palm Strike

Side Palm Strike

Reverse Palm Strike

Elbows

BLOCKS

Pak Sao

Lop Sao

Bil Sao

Bon Sao

Gan Sao

Lau Sao

Chuen Sao

SUMMARY

LIFE APPLICATIONS

Master Your Basics

Relax & Breathe

The Best Defense is a Good Offense

8. Chapter 8

CHI SAO

Parallel-Arm Chi Sao Drills

Cross Arm Chi Sao Drills

Summary

LIFE APPLICATIONS

Listen

9. Chapter 9

COMBAT APPLICATIONS

Against a Low Round Kick to the Knee - Variation I

Against a Low Round Kick to the Knee - Variation II

Against a High Round Kick

Defense against a Jab - Cross Arm Variation I

Defense against a Jab - Cross Arm Variation II

Defense against a Jab and Hook Punch - Cross Arm

Against a Quick Jab

Against a Jab and Cross Combination

Against a Double Hook Punch Combo

Against a Jab and Spinning Elbow Combo

Against Knocking Down Your Guard and Hook Punch

Against a Front Kick

APPLICATIONS VS. GRABS AND GRAPPLING

Against a Front Shoot and Tackle

Against a Single Leg Takedown

Against a Headlock

Against a Straight Punch Attack From the Mount

KEEP IT SIMPLE

10. Chapter 10

OFFENSIVE APPLICATIONS

LONG RANGE ENTRY TECHNIQUES

Long Range Entry from a Parallel Formation

Long Range Entry from a Parallel Formation II

Long Range Entry on a Grappler from a Parallel Formation

Long Range Entry from a Cross Arm Formation

SHORT RANGE ENTRY TECHNIQUES

Short Range Entry - Cross Arm Formation

Short Range Entry - Parallel Formation I

Short Range Entry - Parallel Formation II

LIFE APPLICATION

An Example

Conclusion

11. Chapter 11

CONCRETE APPLICATION - INTO THE STREET

THE GOLDEN RULES

Awareness

Escape

Find Anything To Use as a Weapon or Shield

Don’t Quit

Guard Your Center, But…

Control the Hand that Controls the Weapon

Put Pressure on the Assailant

EDGED WEAPONS

Against an Overhead Stab

Against a Reverse Stab

Against a Straight Stab

BLUNT WEAPONS

Against a Forehand Stick Attack

Against a Forehand Bat Attack

Against a Forehand and Backhand Attack with a Bat

Against a Forehand Pool Cue Attack

AGAINST MISC. GRABS

Against a Rear Choke

Against a Two-Hand Choke

Against a Bear Hug

Against a Low Wrist Grab

MULTIPLE OPPONENTS

LIFE APPLICATION

Focus on What You Can Do—By Dr. Thomas Schoelhammer

12. Chapter 12

FINAL THOUGHTS ON PERSPECTIVE

The System Doesn’t Care

Conclusion

TESTIMONIALS

About the Author

Foreword

By Robert Downey, Jr.

In 1999, two great phenomena in sports and entertainment occurred: The Shamrock/Ortiz bout at UFC 22 offered a glimpse into the future of cage fighting, and the theatrical release of The Matrix – in which Neo learned Kung Fu via download and took on all comers, human or otherwise. In the following five years, as I struggled to overcome personal obstacles and reshape my career, I developed an overt drive toward martial arts. Without consciously knowing, I was seeking an instructor. When a student is ready, the Si-Fu will appear! Having carefully examined the tenets of multiple disciplines, I found myself at the LA Wing Chun Kung Fu Academy in 2003 and have been there ever since.

What I couldn’t have known was that mindset, principles, combat stages and strategies would be co-existent with a code of loving tolerance in what is essentially a continually modernized, traditional street fighting style. Training, often as not without protective gear, was a bit of a trust exercise, relying on (just barely) pulled punches, counterkicks, eye gouges, chokes, arm breaks, etc… the onslaught that is Wing Chun, seemingly happening too fast for my eyes to follow. Speed kills. And for the first several years at least, I was continually spared. Si-Fu Eric insists that there are answers to every problem set a physical confrontation might offer. It’s nothing ten thousand repetitions won’t cure.

A half decade in, I’d become fairly adept at the basics, making my way through gradings. The next hurdle was higher than I expected. It’s not math, it’s jazz. In other words, knowing your time tables and being able to read the music of Wing Chun will only make you a more graceful and fluid chew toy for your instructor and Si-Hings. At times, I felt like I wasn’t getting it. Fortunately, the system is designed to take self-judgment and train it out of you. More than occasionally, the feedback loop is painful. So it seems ego, elbow, groin, and eyes (not necessarily in that order!) are primary targets of a style that capitalizes on the no-no’s of fight sports.

It’s important to state that I’m no expert, nor do I consider myself a tough guy. I’ve had my share of scrapes, but I’m keeping my day job. That said, I’ve always had interest in consciousness and entertainment. Sometimes both.

In 2008, I asked Si-Fu Eric to be the fight consultant on Sherlock Holmes. We chose to infuse Sherlock with a dose of Wing Chun to supplement AC Doyle’s description of him as an expert single stick player, bare knuckle boxer, and Baritsu (a pseudo-Westernized Jiu-Jitsu ) adept. That notion suited Guy Ritchie fine, as he had been a Gracie-system student for over a decade (Filthy Rich, as he’s known on the mat). Si-Fu suggested we take Guy’s style of pre-viz as a cue to demonstrate the character’s alpha wave mind state and utilize a variety of traditional techniques.

Life imitates art. Sherlock sees the future. Si-Fu Eric repeatedly asserts that every student should see themselves as the future master in the now.

In the upcoming Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Si-Fu, the stunt team and I have added multiple opponents, found weapons, anti-choke and grappling, as well as weapon disarming techniques to Sherlock’s repertoire. Correspondingly, art imitates life, as I have been exposed to those aspects of the system at the Academy for some time.

As to the semi-frequent, misinformed assumption that Wing Chun Kung Fu is a soft or internal style, no doubters, be they UFC, NFL, or Krav Maga, to name a few, have ever left a cross training session feeling quite the same way. In the broadest sense of the word, I suppose it’s a yin style. Kind of. Like a mercenary business woman, multi-tasking up a storm, or an African lion stalking the Savannahs. I’ve come to believe that the system, at its core, is a design for living: side-stepping obstacles, attacking issues from the blindside. Life is hard. Fortunately, as Si-Fu says, life problems are Wing Chun problems and Wing Chun problems are life problems.

Dustin Hoffman is quoted as saying The Inner Game of Tennis is one of the best books he ever read… about the craft of acting. I suggest Modern Wing Chun Kung Fu is therefore a go-to manual for business, overcoming adversity, relationship building, parenting (though not as punishment!), and of course, self-defense in the 21st century.

My limited experience is literally a drop in the ocean. I am sincerely grateful to be associated in some small way with the Traditional Wing Chun Kung Fu ancestry, Yip Man, Si-Gung William Cheung, and Si-Fu Eric Oram. Welcome to MWCKF.

Robert Downey, Jr

Venice, CA

November, 2011

Preface

When I was 10 years old, the school bully had set his sights on me. I was a pretty shy, friendly kid and he was twice my size. So, I did my best to avoid him. I never tried to start any trouble with him, but I had a bullseye on my back and he was relentless. Finally, I was fed up and told my dad what was happening at school. He had a background in martial arts and street fighting, so I hoped he would have an answer.

Sit down, he said. I want to show you something. He put a video into our top-loading Betamax video cassette player. I sat as he pressed play.

Watch this, he said. I was suddenly introduced to Bruce Lee and his classic martial arts film, Enter the Dragon.

When it was over, he turned to me and asked, So what do you think?

I was blown away—to see such a slight person perform with such awesome speed, power, and, most of all, confidence. He was not intimidated by anyone, no matter how great the adversary.

The answer to my dad’s question: I want to do that.

After researching the martial arts schools across Las Vegas, my father enrolled me in a particular karate school—the closest thing to Chinese martial arts in Vegas in the late 1970s. The school acclimated me to a lifestyle of focus, discipline and respect. I was laying down the foundation for being a disciple and was learning to follow the path of a mentor.

I did struggle with the application of this martial arts style, however. When we were required to spar, the techniques would crumble. My questions to my instructors went unanswered, so I eventually looked to the black belts and their sparring sessions for insight. This confused me even more. They abandoned the formal techniques and resorted to using basic punches and kicks in a game of high-speed tag. Why were we learning all these elaborate techniques if we were never actually going to use them?

Around this time, my father wanted to get back into training. My dad’s den quickly filled up with literally every single martial arts book and video available at the time. After all his research, he concluded that William Cheung’s Wing Chun