As a student and critic of Wing Chun martial arts, I would absolutely not recommend this book. In fact; this book is poisonous to any students of Wing Chun and will hinder the development of your Wing Chun. As I read through the book; the amount of errors are astronomical; furthermore: by tracing the multitude of lineages in Wing Chun, none will affirm GM Philip Holder's Wing Chun training. There are accounts he trained under Moy Yat system in NYC and the William Cheung (explains why Wahnish front kick knee is so high(trademark of William Cheung)) but none will affirm authorizing teaching credentials to the Holder/ John Ryan Wahnish lineage of Wing Chun.

I do not know if the previous people who posted reviews practice Wing Chun martial arts but from my account: clearly this is not Wing Chun martial arts. Lesson to learn for readers; check the lineage of authors because that will assure correct foundations and solid Wing Chun. If you're interested in Foundational Wing Chun in NYC, look elsewhere, take an introductory class: there are plenty of distinguished Wing Chun martial artists in Chinatown. This book is for people who know no martial arts but believe they are getting the real deal.

Translations of some hand positions are incorrect, it appears forcebly Ching'lish, Mandarin and Cantonese were utilized to describe some hand positions. What happened to the Gan Sau or Gan Da? That is a crucial hand position for applied CQB when stepping into opponents waist and above kicks. Gan Sau is an absolute BASIC of Wing Chun which unfortunately is not included inside this text. The theory of Center Line Theory is another crucial dogma of Wing Chun; repeatedly in the book the demonstrators violated the Center Line Theory.

Wing Chun practitioners must spend crucial time to develop the Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma especially when learning the Sil Lum Tao. Without a solid foundation; there is no future for Wing Chun. As I gracefully read through the book with my red pen; I have listed approximately 40 errors to the demonstrators feet, especially in the application of foundational Wing Chun hand techniques. The kicks on this book belongs in a separate paragraph.

Because there is long list of criticisms for this text, I will only list a few. The author has no idea of what Shaolin is; it appears as if the research was simply wikipedia. Nor does the author understand the courtesy bows of Shaolin monks. Major criticism of the demonstrator's Siu Lum Tao, the demonstrators hands are too high; blocking the practitioner's line of sight, too tense (unable to fluidly flow), not correctly cultivating the posture to understand the techniques. If you're in a confrontation; it is irrational to block your own line of sight. Moreover; the demonstrator does not understand "clean" Sil Lum Tao. The training of Sil Lum Tao is to practice and reinforce the Center Line Theory; there are sections I do not understand why the demonstrator repeatedly fails to utilize the Center Line Theory.

The Punching and Kicks section are not Wing Chun. No solid foundations are no solid martial arts. Never in Wing Chun history is there a side or round kick. Not even for Modified Wing Chun. Not even for Southern Chinese Kung Fu. The use of the Side and Round kick is a direct contradiction to the Center Line Theory, and the failure to use the proper Yee Jee Kim Yeund Ma stance.

The exercises in the later half of the book completely violate the basics of Wing Chun. The demonstrator over shifted and failed to target the Center Line of the opponent. Many times the pictures depict the demonstrator chasing the arm and not correctly cultivating timing and judgment of delivering the correct technique. As for all Chinese Martial Arts; the foundations are learning to move in horse stances and the Yee Jee Kim Yeung Ma, this book fails to underscore the importance of proper footwork. There is a Chinese saying "Hands chase your body falls, but if legs guide, body and hands follow."

Lastly; the Training Notes of each Section, for myself, appears to be a book filler of empty pages.

This book is the Wing Chun equivalent of a Language primer. Before we can speak a new language we must first learn it's alphabet and sentence construction. Sifu Wahnish's book is a fantastic introduction to the Wing Chun 'language'. The photos and descriptions of they style's 6 stances and 16 hand positions give you the alphabet you'll need. The presentation of the guiding principles of the art are clear and concise leading nicely into the first form, the 'Sil Lum Tao' (frequently referred to as 'the dictionary' of the art). Add this to the commentaries on training and teasers of more advanced techniques and you've got a book that you'll be sure to refer to often.

(p.s. I saw that the first run of the book sold out but the second run is out there and is on Amazon so hunt for it if you have to it's worth it!)

As a Wing Chun student, I am finding this book to be invaluable in my practice. The theory and forms are clearly and carefully explained, with numerous step-by-step photos accompanying the text. Sifu Wahnish's love and respect for his art and his students is apparent on each page.