Women training Wing-Chun Kung-Fu are not as common as its counterparts in Judo, Karate, Taekwondo and Jui-Jitsu for instance. Wing-Chun still has a long way to go to break away form the generic impression the public have of Kung-Fu.

The difficulties in self defense arise when, by its very nature, most potential victims do not want trouble and are, on the whole, willing to try and walk away and not strike out first. Therefore, the advantage of the aggressor is further amplified, and if you are very scared your mind is working at a million miles per hour hoping someone else will help you out if you feel helpless and unable to cope.

In our Wing-Chun for Women classes we discuss these ideas in greater detail and give the viewer some powerful tools to better understand the circumstances surrounding aggression. We, at International Kaplan Wing-Chun Academy, do not teach 'quick fix' self defense in terms of daft tricks requiring a compliant opponent. We teach a methodical approach that is analyzed and tested in many different situations.

The theories and skill training methods developed by our Academy lend themselves very well to producing talented Wing-Chun Women. If we were to look at the percentages alone, we would have to say that women reach a far higher standard than the men. Women make particularly good progress in the early training as they tend to be less competitive in the way they use their strength. They are more able to 'feel' the intention in 'sticky hands' sessions and are still able to generate tremendous force behind their strikes. In fact the most difficult aspect of the women's training is the initial attitude of their male training partners.

If the Wing-Chun relies on the Centerline as a quintessential point, and it is to be protected and attacked at all costs, then the women are as dangerous as the men in applying a finger strike! Not many people can afford to ignore a strike to the eyes.

The use of elbow techniques is of great use to women as it is hard to make the elbow soft, one has to hit softer to cause less damage. After getting over the habit of over rotating the palm when using the elbow, the women consistently strike hard and accurately with this weapon as most men will attempt to grab and hold or wrestle a woman down and not throw a clean punch. We have to teach men to use their body more efficiently to generate power in a strike and women are no different. We have found that women certainly do not lack strength but they do tend to use their strength differently.

Physical aggression is, at its least, painful and can go from, an emotional scar that will last a lifetime, to ending that lifetime there and then. It is not with a flippant attitude that we accept to teach you new skills and try to strengthen your character for such moments. It would be a dreadful wrong to charge you with false confidence of your abilities and subdue your need to scream, bite, gouge and scratch. We need to build upon those instinctive reactions and hone them into applicable skills.

If you have been brought up well, and been told to respect others and lead a generally good life it is very hard for you to understand why someone should be violent to you. Victimization and prejudice are the territories of the psychologists, you need to understand only yourself and learn to deal with that. You need to accept that some people are so out of tune with themselves that they do not understand why they behave as they do. Whatever their excuse it is not helping you!

How do you accept that a person attacks another because of their gender, color of skin, sexuality, religion etc? When a person raises their voice we have learnt that they go deaf too. Some people forget and respond by shouting back, who is listening? It quickly escalates. Simply maintain steady eye contact and be prepared to move, don't be distracted by the words, keep stating that you don't want trouble, but do not apologize more than once and mean it. Many good people will apologize regardless of fault and this is a good trait. The problem escalates when you try to make them hear your apology and then try too hard to justify yourself.

For example: If you are walking innocently down a street and another person bumps into you, it is only polite to apologize out of courtesy, irrespective of who was at fault. A decent person will hear your apology give a quick acknowledgement (even apologize back) and move on. If someone stops, turns around and acts in a manner that could be read as aggressive, apologize again but do not mean, do not try to justify yourself, say it clearly and 'act' as if you mean it. You are no longer thinking like a victim. If something is going to happen you will be be better prepared emotionally. If nothing comes of it you can walk on knowing nothing you did was meant to exacerbate the situation.

The advice above is the same for men and women. Always try to talk your way out, by giving the signs you feel they want. But maintain eye contact, victims don't see it coming!

The advice here is aimed at those situations where there could be seen to be a chance. There is no defense for a brick or baseball bat over the back of your head, no chance is just that, no chance. Awareness of your environment, common sense and strong confident body language will be good steps toward prevention of an incident. A simple confident walk carrying a sturdy umbrella may make the mugger/rapist etc. look for a softer target.

The history of Wing-Chun says that the style was invented and further developed by women. Whether or not this is true is now irrelevant as it is the efficiency of the style in modern times that matters. Is Wing-Chun still a great art for women who want to be able to defend themselves against bigger or stronger opponents? Well, of course it is.