WELCOME TO WING CHUN STREET DEFENCE

Welcome to the Wing Chun Street Defence website – home of the only martial arts club in Chipping Norton specialising in Wing Chun Kung Fu..WCSD established its home at Over Norton Village Hall on Saturday mornings over 8 years ago and shortly afterwards added a Wednesday venue at Salford Village Hall. This is now our primary club for the Cotswolds

The Cotswold club is currently for adult students only.

The Chief Instructor – Barry Holland, is also available for private tuition on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays across Suffolk within 30 miles of Stowmarket with some private slots available for the Cotswolds on Wednesday mornings and early afternoon.

Call us on 07527-283429 to find out more

TRAINING

CHIPPING NORTON WEDNESDAY TRAINING

The Wednesday class takes place at Salford Village Hall, Salford, Chipping Norton, Oxon, OX7 5YW, (18:30-20:30) and costs just £28 per month for one hour or £55 for up to 16 hours per month. Venue details are here: Salford Village Hall Venue

Some students attend both sessions whilst others attend only the first or second hour.

PRIVATE TUITION

I also offer a range of options for private tuition. Find out more here: Private Martial Arts Training

Life Coaching

I also operate a life coaching and executive training company. For more details please visit lifecoachingservices.co.uk

Patreon Page

The club operates a Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/barryholland where subscribers can see exclusive videos of public and private sessions from the last five years plus other martial arts and personal development material.

Differentiators

What differentiates us from other clubs is:

Every training session follows a structured lesson plan.
Every lesson plan is based around the individual’s and not the group’s progress.
Through video analysis students gain insight into how they can improve.
We operate two pay monthly models but there is no contractual commitment.
You can choose to attend on Wednesdays, Saturdays, both or on an ad hoc basis..
Private tuition is also available from £30 per hour.

We operate small, friendly clubs and welcome both men and women in the Cotswold club and men, women and young people aged 12+ to train in the Clare Self Defence Club.

WING CHUN BACKGROUND

Wing Chun Kung Fu was created by a women (Ng Mui) around 250 years ago and therefore issues such as physical strength, body shape, fitness and size are less important than structure, stability, angle and the use of body mechanics.

WHO TRAINS WITH US?

Within our membership we have a range of students spanning the entire spectrum; men, women and teenagers, complete beginners, advanced black belt and Dan grades from other martial disciplines such as Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Tai Chi and Jujitsu and everyone leaves their ego at the door and learns Wing Chun at their own pace.

Whether you are a novice or an experienced martial artist, why not join us and see whether Wing Chun can work for you.

WING CHUN’S POPULARITY

Wing Chun has become a very popular style of Kung Fu since the release of the motion picture Ip Man, starring Donnie Yen as the titular hero and the subsequent follow ups with Ip Man 2 and the recent Martin Scorcese creation, GrandMaster. The burgeoning Wing Chun market has been helped by the 2016 release of Ip Man 3 which sees Donnie revisiting the iconic role of Ip Man and even Mike Tyson gets in on the act. Wing Chun’s popularity has been helped along the way by proponents of the art such as Robert Downey Junior, who uses Wing Chun to great effect in the Sherlock Holmes films and of course by (arguably the world’s most famous martial artist) Bruce Lee, who originally trained in Wing Chun as a student of Ip Man, before developing his own “non-rigid style” Jeet Kune Do that borrowed from many martial art forms. It is also worth mentioning that just like every other martial art, there are many differing styles of Wing Chun depending upon lineage, school, teacher and ethos, all of which have their uses.

HOW WING CHUN SELF DEFENCE WORKS

Our particular brand of Wing Chun focuses on the traditional empty hand forms and the wooden dummy form that we then adapt for modern day applied self defence techniques, helping you stay out of danger and quickly, effectively and convincingly, discourage any further aggression.

Unlike other martial arts that rely upon a learned pattern based of a visual cue and repeatedly practiced response (e.g. I see your right fist heading towards my face therefore I raise my arm in an upward arc in front of my face in order to block it), Wing Chun develops the practitioner’s sense of touch over time, allowing them to develop a set of stimulus responses based upon the context of the situation. This creates in the student an increased ability to react according to the pressure they sense so that they are able to ascertain and respond to the level of threat, the size and power of the opponent, the level of aggression and the position of the attack. Over time Wing Chun students develop a wealth of automatic responses and shapes formed by the opponent. After 12 months of training it would be reasonable to expect one of our Wing Chun practitioners to subdue and suppress an attacker within a few seconds of the violence erupting.

WING CHUN CLUB ORIGINS

The club is owned and run by Barry Holland who trained with Sifu Nikolaos Gourgounidis who spent 14 years learning and teaching Wing Chun. Barry also spent time in China learning under the guidance of Sifu Wang Meng. Barry originally trained self-defence with the British Army over a ten year period. In 2010 Barry attained a Black Belt in Shotokan Karate and progressed to 2nd Dan winning several medals and trophies at various competitions along the way, culminating in winning 1st place for Kata at the TISKA National Championships.

In 2012 he transferred his skill set over to Wing Chun. In reality this meant unlearning much of what had previously been taught in order to absorb the martial art effectively. Barry takes an holistic view of the mind and body and introduces elements of Yoga, psychology and well being into the well-structured, yet fun Wing Chun classes.

WHY WING CHUN?

I decided to learn Wing Chun following an incident where I used all of my previously learned skills sparring with a Wing Chun practitioner, only to discover that the techniques my opponent used effectively negated any strike or counter-strike I endeavoured to use. This impressive display was what led me to change styles to what I believe is the most effective defence form available.

CAN ANYONE LEARN WING CHUN?

If you are considering starting a martial art or wish to convert from an existing style, it is worth knowing that Wing Chun’s strong focus on body mechanics means that gender, physical strength, age and fitness play little part in the ability to overcome any adversary, making this the perfect martial art for adult women and adult men of all ages.

We look forward to welcoming you along to one of our classes to see if Wing Chun Kung Fu works for you. Why not book a free lesson or just come along and watch by calling the contact number now? There is no obligation and your decision could prove life-changing.

THE WCSD DIFFERENCE

At WCSD we use accelerated learning techniques to speed the learning process. This incorporates many of the senses, taking advantage of experiential learning techniques and embracing modern technology to assist in making your training experience the most rewarding ever.

KEY BENEFITS OF WING CHUN

Helps develop speed and awareness
Quickly teaches you how to defend yourself and loved ones
Develop fighting skills against real-world opponents
Increases fitness, stamina and strength
Reduces reaction times
Improves confidence
You don’t have to train for months to make it work
Effective from lesson 1!
Teaches traditional Wing Chun forms
Learn Empty Hand Form 1 – Siu Nim Tao (Sil Lim Tao or Little Idea)
Learn Empty Hand Form 2 – Chum Kiu (Seeking the Bridge)
Learn Empty Hand Form 3 – Biu Jee (Bil Ji or Thrusting Fingers)
Learn Wooden Dummy (Muk Yan Jong)
Learn street defence applications including knife, firearm and other weapon disarms
Creates an arsenal of technical choices
Develop and adapt at your own speed