Wing Chun Bournemouth

Our Wing Chun lineage descends from the interpretations and teachings of the system by the legendary Grandmaster Yip Man, whose most famous student, Bruce Lee, first introduced the Wing Chun system to the West.

Wing Chun Bournemouth has been operating since 2000 under Sifu Paul Burdett who has trained in Wing Chun since 1995. Paul first started at the age of 14 and immediately loved the highly practical techniques and flow of the system.

At the core of the Wing Chun Bournemouth syllabus are the three traditional forms of Wing Chun:

• Siu Nim Tao or ‘Little Idea’. This form focuses on basic hand movements, structure, and stance. It helps practitioners develop proper alignment, relaxation, and an understanding of the fundamental concepts of Wing Chun, such as economy of motion and energy flow.

• Chum Kiu or ‘Seeking the Bridge’ which concentrates on developing skills to control the connection with an opponent during combat, enhancing techniques such as turning, stepping, and coordination between upper and lower body movements.

• Biu Tze or ‘Thrusting fingers’, sometimes referred to as the desperation form. This form focuses on advanced, emergency techniques for regaining control when Wing Chun’s structure is compromised. It emphasises powerful strikes, finger jabs, rotational power, and recovery skills, addressing situations where centreline control has been lost.

As students advance through the syllabus, their training is supplemented with further forms:

• Muk Yan Chong – the Wooden Dummy form of Wing Chun which trains structure, precision, timing, range control, conditioning, and flow. It helps refine combat techniques, teaching how to redirect force, maintain control, and apply concepts in realistic scenarios.

• Bart Cham Dao – the Butterfly Knives of Wing Chun: weapon skills, emphasising footwork, power generation, and precision. This form teaches advanced cutting, slashing, and stabbing techniques while improving coordination, balance, and efficient energy use in close combat.

The syllabus also incorporates specific techniques from other combat systems which complement Wing Chun. Among these are 14 fighting forms, introduced to encourage students to apply Wing Chun techniques in practical, modern street-defence scenarios.

Wing Chun Bournemouth is a friendly, fun, and safe place to train with an emphasis on helping individuals to develop core skills such as enhanced physical awareness through the application of practical self-defence techniques, while aiming to encourage students to achieve a high standard of Wing Chun Kung Fu.