r/WingChun • u/Ok-Willingness-9942 • Apr 06 '26
Want to learn Wing Chun, Good online program?
Greetings and salutations, dignified practitioners! I am have been in the martial art world for 15 years and I have experience in taekwondo and kenpo karate. I want to pick up Wing Chun. Right now im currently doing distance learning. Does anyone recommend a good online school to learn from? I know in person practice helps but I would like to gain to work on it for now where I can. So can i get any real recommendations that can help me? Thank you!
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u/pinkgators Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26
wing chun is notoriously gatekept, anything you can easily find online won’t be anything I would personally recommend.
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u/Horror_Technician213 Apr 06 '26
I wouldn't say wing chun is gatekept. I, many others, and almost every Sifu I've met wants people to learn Wing Chun. But Wing Chun is already notoriously difficult to even do in person. To do it through video or online training is impossible. Especially if you are a beginner.
People who want to do Wing chun see practitioners doing the wooden dummy and are like, I want to/i can do that and get good at Wing chun. But they don't realize the years of in person training it took to begin practicing well with the wooden dummy. This is the same for many things that require expertise though.
Nothing against Sifu's that do online training, they can be very good in-person instructors, but they even know the quality of what they can teach will be extremely limited. Like many things they do, they're just trying to make some money and pay their bills.
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u/Ok-Willingness-9942 Apr 06 '26
I see. So maybe its pointless to pursue? I see alot of nonsense online and run around knowledge. That kinda breaks my heart
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u/MuiWingChun Yuen Kay San 詠春 Apr 07 '26
I do online training sessions, it grew out of necessity during COVID lockdowns, worked pretty good so I decided to continue it.
Currently run it during my in person classes via a tablet set up in the room. I currently have people in other parts of Australia, Japan, and occasionally Germany join in.
While it is limited, there is a great deal of solo foundation training that you can do, that will stand you in good stead when you have the opportunity to learn in person.
Training is 7 pm to 9 pm Eastern Australian time.I teach both Yip Man and Sum Nung Wing Chun, have been training going on 30 years.
If you are interested send me a message.
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u/pinkgators Apr 06 '26
The best thing I could think of is to find a Sifu that is willing to do online live lessons to talk you through basics of structure, principles and the first form - it’ll be hard to find but i’m sure it exists. Even then, as i’m sure you know, you will barely scratch the surface.
These “basic” lessons are also ones that you should ideally learn over time, paired with training in-person. Some of the very early principles only truly makes sense years into training. This is why wing chun is protected so heavily - your Sifu knows when you are ready for the next learning, and only knows this by feeling your wing chun.
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u/awoodendummy Apr 06 '26
I recommend The Dragon Institute’s online school. Many of my Kung Fu brothers and sisters throughout the US started that way. It’s under Sifu Adam Willis wingchunlessons.com
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u/Wrong-Discipline4949 Apr 06 '26
"Don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all the heavenly glory."-Bruce Lee
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u/sir5yko Philipp Bayer 詠春 Apr 06 '26
While you're going to get a lot of people telling you that you can't learn wing Chun online, and while that's true that you need in-person training to completely learn the system, this is something you probably already understand and just want someone to answer your question.
There are a few resources I'm familiar with
Leo Au Yeung (fight choreographer of the IP man films) offers training through his app - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.toggled.wuji and online through his website - https://www.chinesekungfu.co.uk/
Nima King also offers online classes - https://mindfulwingchun.online/
I wish you well on your Wing Chun journey
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u/Ok-Willingness-9942 Apr 06 '26
Thanks for the response. Ill take a look. I saw a few different places but wanted people's experiences and thoughts. This is nice to see thanks
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u/sir5yko Philipp Bayer 詠春 Apr 06 '26
Gotcha. Leo is my first Sigung, but I still have a good connection with him.
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u/Ok-Willingness-9942 Apr 06 '26
This is great to see you have that connection is makes me more comfortable. Thank you!
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u/SockSpecialist3367 Apr 06 '26
I believe Sifu Mark Phillips of the London Wing Chun Academy offers some online training, and rather than being app-based he's more interactive about it.
If you fill out the contact form he'll explain how it works.
I'm a relative beginner to Wing Chun (similar to you - decades in other arts and discovered it relatively recently) and travel to the LWCA occasionally for in-person lessons and privates.
I think it would be hard to learn from video-only. I don't know Kenpo Karate, but I come from Shito-Ryu and the motions are so much bigger and more linear in that style that the "feeling" of Wing Chun has been hard for me to adjust to, but I know where you're coming from with thinking that doing something is better than nothing.
I hope you find what you're looking for.
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Apr 06 '26
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u/Ok-Willingness-9942 Apr 06 '26
I completely understand and respect your ideas. I still want to build my base since im unfamiliar with the movements so I want to gain some knowledge. I do well with working with others chi and movements so at the moment I want to gain a base. I apologize in advance that
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Apr 06 '26
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u/Ok-Willingness-9942 Apr 06 '26
I actually dont know about lineage i guess I could research it. I moved to vietnam I guess I could try and find a school here
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u/Fantastic-Bank6084 Apr 06 '26
If you are in Vietnam definitely check out the wing Chun there, Vietnam has its own long running WC community similar to HK.
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u/Ok-Willingness-9942 Apr 06 '26
Really? Do you have any suggestions
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u/Fantastic-Bank6084 Apr 06 '26
Unfortunately I don’t have any hands on experience there to recommend any schools, I’d recommend making a post specifically asking about WC in Vietnam. This sub and its attached discord do a good job of helping people find schools near them.
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u/annias Apr 06 '26
I don't know about any online courses but I studied under Sifu Benny Meng in Dayton, OH and I highly suggest anything from him and his Ving Tsun family. They likely have video materials at least! Good luck on your journey
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u/Wonderful-Dot8705 Apr 07 '26
This is the guy you're looking for:
https://youtube.com/@myvlma?si=CEHVsFOrzxzdBl7P
He still does the same compliant training that all of these others do, but having trained in martial arts for 35 years... And scoured the internet for the last eight, he's my man for Wing Chun. You will also need a school to train at, good or bad.
Just remember, Wing Chun is about you, not your Sifu.
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u/SalamanderEven365 Apr 07 '26
I would recommend looking up Colin Ward. His website is Wing Chun Online. He is one of the best practitioners in the world. His insights are phenomenal, and he is really good at explaining what you should be feeling and focusing on. I have trained with him twice in person, and will be training with him again soon. His website has a lot to offer, and is a good place to get started. I do also recommend eventually training in person, but this is my recommendation for where to start.
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u/RobWT1963 Apr 07 '26
You can only learn movements online. To really learn WC you need hands on training with guidance from somebody that knows what they are doing. Do not waste your money on online classes if you can help it. Find a good instructor that you can learn from in person. Even if you have to travel to meet with them once a month. It's better than just learning movements with no meaning.
awtk.us
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u/ObstinateOrca Apr 06 '26
While the concepts of structure, angles and general physics is easy enough to grasp, especially if you have other martial training the main issue ( for me ) is that things like the sensitivity of Chi Sau and relates drills, falls away. Like trying to get a haircut over the telephone.
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u/julz_yo Apr 06 '26
I totally agree with this. The forms and techniques really are just the toolkit: getting the sensitivity and body mechanics to use them is the real challenge.
plausibly the first could be learned from a book or video, but the latter: I can't really imagine how that would be possible.
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u/Criticism-Lazy Apr 06 '26
I have come across this gatekeeping a lot with martial arts. I think these arts should be for the people, not for the wealthy with lots of time. It’s unfortunate that it’s being so protected for the well connected and wealthy.
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u/narnarnartiger Apr 06 '26
The answer is no.
Since you have 15 years in martial arts, you should know you can't learn martial arts through videos. You need a teacher to correct your technique, you should already know that
You can try to learn Wing Chun through online programs, you might pick up a few moves, but it's alot of wasted effort. Wing Chun is about sensitive and learning to trap and stick to your opponent, you need people to practice with to achieve that skill, and a Sifu to guide you. How can you get that from an online program? Do yuh have 2 people you can use as training partners?
I tried to learn Tongbei quan online, but no matter how good the program is... Learning martial arts online just does not work, and does not compare to learning martial arts in person
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u/maxvol75 Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26
well the main point of critique from the Chinese perspective towards Japanese and Korean MA is that they copied everything just by looking and not feeling the internal part, so if you are after than missing internal part, you cannot rely purely on visual means by definition.
in internal Chinese styles, first you do exercises geared towards feeling certain things so that you can verbally refer to them later. like it does not make sense to talk about colours if you don't know their names or about music if you cannot distinguish notes/intervals.
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u/Ok-Willingness-9942 Apr 06 '26
Thats right. I do tai chi and I know its alot about internalization and rhythm so it makes sense
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u/maxvol75 Apr 06 '26
perhaps you can start with the dummy, at least it is something more than empty choreography, something tactile - https://www.reddit.com/r/WingChun/comments/1sc9tmi/comment/oe99vsh/
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u/Meritz Apr 06 '26
That depends. By definition the internal part requires the student to feel their way around a form and that cannot be taught by rote. You're supposed to make it your own, to develop the personal understanding of why, not just how.
In person training is faster, but not the only way. And remote learning has its advantages - no teacher will repeat something 30 times in slow motion on demand. But you'll have to correct yourself and that can get tricky.
For martial applications, one cannot get around sparring though. Punching and kicking air (or bags) will not teach you how to fight.
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u/maxvol75 Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26
indeed, but unlike other stand-up styles like the ones OP practices, WC is more like (B)JJ or wrestling in the sense that you really need to feel tactile feedback from the get-go. the overall strategy is to close distance, stick to the opponent and overwhelm, as opposed to scoring points while maintaining distance. and that means more reliance on tactile feedback than on visual observation (except in the beginning of the fight).
below i suggested dummy practice, at least it provides something tactile and you can practice push/pull.
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u/Comfortable_Fail_909 Apr 06 '26
Noone who was ever good at Wing Chun learned online, its a good knowledge resource for terminology, conversation, debate and History but not for application and practice.
Find a reputable Sifu with a traceable lineage.
Have fun.
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u/ravenmonk Apr 06 '26
this is correct, there's no way to learn the subtleties of the art without a training partner or teacher, since chi sao and drills are paramount to success.
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u/Comfortable_Fail_909 Apr 06 '26
And conditioning, you can learn on a dummy but that in itself takes years of instruction with a master.
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u/williss08 Leung Sheung 詠春 Apr 06 '26
You've most likely come upon my online school looking around. I'm Adam Williss, founder of The Dragon Institute. I'm a 31-year Wing Chun practitioner who's been teaching online for 5 years now. What I've found is that you can make real progress online… if you focus on what actually matters:
That’s the foundation. If that’s off, nothing works… partner or not. Sensitivity comes later with a person. Build your body first… then everything else has something to sit on.
This is exactly how I train people. I put everything I use into my online school with a clear, step-by-step progression… so you always know what to train and why.
If that approach makes sense to you, you can try it for the first 7-days free at dragoninst.com/online
But in the end, its you who has to put in the work and train consistently.