Wing Chun ,martial art or religion

Wing Chun, one of the most popular kung fu styles today is slowly becoming a religion. Many of the brunches and schools  have all cult characteristic since the beginning of Kung Fu craze in the late 1970’s. So what’s make a religion and what Wing Chun has in common with religion?  Here is a list of  characteristic common for most of the major religion systems today and we will compare that with Wing Chun.

1. Most religions include belief in the supernatural  or belief in some other Ultimate Reality beyond, yet connected to, human experience and existence. Vast majority of wing chun practitioners  believe that the art is some form of spiritual system, many believe and incorporate parts of other far eastern religions and make their own personal  believe system where kung fu practice cannot be distinguished from religious practice.A lot of them believe that Wing Chun is ultimate fighting system and in the end will grant them superior fighting powers. Some believe in supernatural energies and forces . Some are aware of this fact, most are not.

2. Religions distinguish between the sacred and profane (or ordinary) in terms of time, space, objects, and people. There are sacred days, objects and people in Wing Chun. Ancestors like Leung Jan , Leung Bik, Yip Man are worshipped as saints or gods are worshipped in other religions. These people are depicted as morally and ethically perfect and they had skills no one else ever achieved and could perform a miracles ( breaking a revolver with bare finger, fighting 300 life and death matches ect.). Artifacts left by those ancestors also hold a special place in Wing Chun community , anything that belonged to these people is highly respected and it is equal to sacred objects from formal religions. Sacred days are also established like Yip Man’s birthday, Wing Chun day ect. There are also places of pilgrimage like Yip Man’s tomb or his museum , Leun g Jan’s house ect.  

3. Religions strongly encourage or require prescribed ritual activities for individuals and communities of faith.  Most religions celebrate and reenact sacred stories through annual rituals, and Wing Chun is not an exception, annual ritual celebration are common and widely practiced. Also, personal rituals are practiced in the school or in individual practice. A lot of schools have altars and worshiping the ancestors is required before every class.

4.Religions commonly promote a moral code or ethical principles to guide individuals and communities. This is something that is happening in wing chun right now. The moral code is in the process of being established by practitioners. More and more moral messages in the form of supposed Yip Man’s quotes are surfacing every day . Although it is obvious that these moral messages have western origin , they are vastly accepted without any question and spread further among wing chun community.

5.Religious life engages and incorporates common emotional and intuitive human feelings.  These feelings include a sense of the wonder and mystery of existence, joy, guilt, and the bond experienced in the community. All these are common in Wing Chun and most of people practice the art because of these experiences. Many are not aware of this and they hold a belief that they practice martial art.

6. Religions both encourage communication and provide ways to communicate or connect with the divine. Wing Chun through its practice offers connection to the “divine” ancestors and their supernatural skills. Meditation is also common among wing chun practitioners and first form of the system is regarded as a tool of spiritual and supernatural forces and abilities cultivation.

7. Through sacred stories, the religions provide a coherent worldview. Creation myths (called histories) and stories about lives and achievements of famous ancestors are equal to creation stories and stories about saints from other religions. Creation myth gives a purpose of existence of the system and its practitioners while ancestor stories establish moral and ethical guidance system and also goals of practice (which can never be achieved).

8. Religions organize life for individuals--including dress codes, personal sacrifices, and appropriate occupations--in the context of their respective worldviews. In this area Wing Chun is still not developed enough, while the dress code do exist in most schools\organizations and everyday practice is a paramount of every practitioners life there are no restrictions or recommendations for occupation or serious persona sacrifice. On the other hand many practitioners do make sacrifices in a form of paying tuition fees which are often way over their real financial capabilities so they have to cut some other things from their lives in order to pursue Wing Chun lessons.

9. Religions require and promote social organization and institutional forms to carry out the necessary functions of worship and leadership, preserving orthodox teachings and practices. If anything Wing Chun surpasses any other religion on this point. Lineage is everything, we have cases that people with no martial skills what so ever are highly regarded in the Wing Chun community just because they are blood related to the founder of the style. People take pride to be connected and have “learned” from these figures because they believe that they are preserving the true, orthodox teaching of the founder if the art.

10. Religions promise an inner peace and harmony despite the vicissitudes of life. Wing Chun offers the same, it is advertised as an omnipotent system of practice that has answer to anything.

11.Most religions anticipate the coming of a gifted person  who will help usher in a new age of peace and tranquility. In this area Wing Chun is complete and accomplished religion because Wing Chun messiah already came in a form of Yip Man.

12.Religions must propagate themselves through the recruitment of new members and procreation within the community of faith. This point does not need to be elaborated , there is no other art that can compare with Wing Chun in matters of marketing and recruitment as well as talking bullshit about other martial styles.