Wing Tsun®, often shortened to WT, is a particular school of the Wing Chun style of Kung Fu developed by a student of Grandmaster Yip Man named Leung Ting.

In the western world most teachers descend from the German Grandmaster Keith Kernspecht who also developed a simplified but effective brand of WT designed to be learned more quickly called 'Blitz Defence'. Due to an unfortunate split, one of GM Kernspecht's most skilled students, the Turk Emin Boztepe has now formed his own organisation which teaches widely in the USA.

1997 another highly skilled student of GM Kernspecht, Sifu Salih Avci, created his own organisation the WTEO. The headquarters of the WTEO are at Eschweiler, Germany. Avci Wing Tsun and Avci Eskrima is currently only instructed in Europe (2004).

The European headquarters of the EWTO are at Langenzell Castle near Heidelberg in which members of the EWTO conduct intensive training and research into both Asian and European martial arts.

In practising Wing Tsun, the focus is less on drilling powerful and quick techniques as in many martial arts such as Karate and Tae Kwon Do but so called 'sensitivity drills' where the students learns a softness in the limbs which prevents the restriction in movement created by being permanently tense. The system also stresses minimal movements to achieve the necessary effect so all movement is as efficient as possible.

One of the characteristics of Wing Tsun is its development of a systematic, progressive system for transmitting the art. The WT system provides for a set of levels of achievement, each of which must be mastered before moving to the next. In the west the system contains 12 student grades which cover the first two forms, Siu Nim Tau and Chum Kiu, applications of the movements of the forms. In the later grades the Chi Sau sentences are introduced. After the student grades are 12 master grades, beginning with the 1st 'Technician' grade - perhaps the equivalent of the WT black-belt. From this level onwards the student is permitted to learn the advanced forms beginning with the Biu Tze form and later the Mook Yan Chong Fa (Wooden Dummy), Luk Dim Boon Kwun Fa (Long Pole) and Bart Cham Dao (Eight Cutting Broadsword) techniques.

External links

• Avci Wing Tsun http://www.wteo.org
• Wing Tsun Austria http://www.ewto.at
• EWTO Online Magazine http://www.wingtsunwelt.com
• Leung Ting US site http://www.leungtingwingtsun.net
• UK Wing Tsun site http://www.wtdefence.com
• Wing Tsun Scandinavia http://www.wingtsun.dk/
• Blitz Defence http://www.blitzdefence.com