As martial artists we all know how to punch and kick, when well delivered either has the power to stop an opponent in his/her tracks.

At different ranges the ability to select the most appropriate weapon is paramount. At long range the obvious choice is a kick, as the range shortens, punching techniques are applied, at trapping and grappling ranges, the elbows, knees and head are used as weapons.

In the Classical Wing Chun system the latter two ranges are developed to produce short range, powerful leg techniques to compliment the hands. Once contact has been made with the hands, combinations of upper and lower body techniques come into play.

Infighting requires great skill and courage to overcome one's opponent; destroying the opponent's base by stance breaking creates an opening for a low line kicking technique, stamps, sweeps, knee hyperextensions and scraping shin kicks all have a devastating effect when applied with power.

Pinning the opponent's leading foot allows a powerful knee strike to be delivered off the rear leg of the Wing Chun practitioner, this strike is usually aimed toward the opponent's thigh or groin.

At trapping/grappling range where both hands are controlling the opponent one can hook the foot behind the opponent's heel and thrust forward suddenly with the knee, this action hyper extends the opponent's knee producing excruciating pain through ligament damage, dislocation or possible breakage. Pulling the opponent forward simultaneously increases the effect of the technique.

These techniques are trained on a variety of apparatus peculiar to the Wing Chun system. The traditional wooden dummy (Muk Yan Jong) contains within its basic form eight kicking techniques while the three star dummy (Saam Sing Jong) form contains fifteen leg check, sweeping and kicking techniques.

Chi gerk, or sticky legs is a partner training exercise in which two practitioners maintain contact with their legs while practicing kicking, controlling and stance breaking. Developing power at short range is the goal while maintaining correct balance is essential.

No kicks are attempted in Wing Chun unless contact with the hands is made first; subsequently the entering skills addressed early in a student's training are honed to allow the lower level attacks to be employed.

Long range stylists rely on their kicks and evasive prowess to control the fight, however once this range has been successfully bridged, it is the Wing Chun practitioner that has the upper hand.

Footwork plays a major role in successful leg maneuvers, circling steps to gain positional advantage have their place alongside the driving triangular steps developed for stance breaking.

The Buddhist nun, Ng Mui, credited by many families as the founder of Wing Chun trained on the Plum Flower Piles (Mui Fa Jong), footwork and leg strengthening are the obvious by-products of training atop the wooden posts.

The Fukien ground fighting system lineage dates to the White Lotus Temple situated near Shaolin, this temple was also burned at the time of Shaolin. It is possible that Ng Mui was from this temple rather than Shaolin, the female order practicing leg techniques exclusively.

Legend holds that one nun escaped to Yong Chun (Wing Chun) village after the fire and taught the leg techniques to members of the family that gave her shelter.

This story has been passed on through generations of practitioners in Fukien and could possibly be the link to Wing Chun leg techniques.