‘Wing Chun Kung Fu is simple, direct & pragmatic’

By Prem N. Kakkar

Rajesh Bista with his "deep love for Nepal and a great passion for Wing Chun Kung Fu" is the right blend of a person who was born and brought up in England. Born some 17 years ago in Britain to parents who had migrated there, coming back to Nepal always brightens up his eyes.

He says that he had been training in Wing Chun Kung Fu for four years now since the age of thirteen under the guidance of Sihing (senior brother) Wayne Bradbury with the Kamon Martial Arts Federation. This is the first thing he wants to talk about. The reason being that when he arrived about six weeks back from UK to see his family, there was a sheer inquisitiveness in him to find out the popularity of martial Arts in Nepal. And to his surprise "martial arts is more popular in Nepal than in UK". He was also taken aback by the fact that the Taekwondo, Wushu and Karate practitioners trained in the same building without any confrontation like "my style is better than yours" and so forth. This was a consolation for Bista, the young man bubbling with energy.

Even at the age of seventeen he emits a sense of confidence though he is studying A level with Biology, Chemistry and History in Bristol, England. The fact of training five days a week for at least 2 to four hours everyday has given him great faith in Wing Chun Kung Fu. This makes him feel surprised that Wing Chun Kung Fu has not arrived in Nepal as has taekwondo, karate and Wushu.

When asked why he had so much interest, he only said that he wants to tell the martial artists and the people of Nepal of the beauty and pragmatic art of Wing Chun Kung Fu.

As for the origin of this art, Bista had to say that it dates back to thousands of years ago. "It was the monks who had developed Kung Fu but the Wing Chun as we know came into being about 350 years back. A female Buddhist nun in mainland China was frustrated at the fact that even after training for 20 years she was still unable to defeat the larger male counterparts in the Shaolin Temple, she developed a system of fighting which relied on good structure, shape, technique, sensibility and power not strength, brute form and ignorance. The art is named after her name Miss Yin Wing Chun (it translates to "beautiful springtime’)." This is in short the history of Wing Chun Kung Fu, according to Bista.

Bista has great respect for Bruce Lee, the late great martial artist, who had also trained in Wing Chun for five years. Bruce Lee had shown the world the beautiful yet powerful art of Kung Fu in his 5 adult movies. Bista says that today, in the 21st century, Wing Chun is the most popular martial art.

As for the principle of Wing Chun Kung Fu, Bista elaborates that it is a very dynamic and pragmatic fighting system and has four main principles (not rules). At Kamon they practice Centre Line Theory, Economy of Motion, Simultaneous Attack and Defend Theory and Tension Theory. A main strategy of Wing Chun Kung Fu is striking the opponent in a straight line which means the shortest distance between the two points. It also leads to ‘simplicity’ which is related to economy of motion. "It is fast and effective as the shortest route is taken and it is simple and direct."

As for the Tension Theory, Bista says, "According to the theory, the fighter’s punch is very hard like iron bar but a straight Wing Chun punch is both soft and hard intertwined. The punch is a powerful, whip like."

Following the principles, he says, "the Wing Chun artist are able to flow around the opponent like water, forming any shape then crashing like water as they hit the opponent."

He believes that Wing Chun close quarter fighting will very much complement Karate or Taekwondo long range kicking and vice versa.

Like Bruce Lee has been an inspiration for the young Bista, he believes that adaptability and pliability are integral for a martial artist. He also wants others to take up Wing Chun Kung Fu as it is not be bound up by classical techniques. "Choose the one that is most suitable," he advises. He wants martial arts to be taken to the next evolutionary stage.

He especially wants to thank Shihan Jagat Gauchan, founder of the Kyokushan Karate Organisation, for the opportunity given to him to see how martial arts has flourished so well in Nepal. He also felt it his duty to thank his Master Sifu (master in Chinese) Kevin Chan the "well known Wing Chun master as he established Kamon Wing Chun across England with great success."

Finally, he wishes that Wing Chun Kung Fu would spread its wings in Nepal with the degree of success achieved in England.

(This article is based on an interview with Rajesh Bista. For more information on Kamon Wing Chun, log on to www.kamonwingchun.com)