WingTsun Kung-Fu is close-range, reflexive, and built for the distance real violence actually happens at — arm's length, no warning, no referee. We've been teaching it on the South Side for over twenty years.
Most martial arts are taught for the mat: a known opponent, a known distance, a known start. The street gives you none of that. New Path trains the situation you will actually face — sudden, close, and already in progress.
Real attacks begin inside your reach, not across a ring. WingTsun is engineered for exactly that distance — trapping range — where kicking styles run out of room and grappling hasn't started yet.
Under adrenaline, complex technique disappears. We drill sensitivity and structure until the response is reflex — your arms answer the pressure before your mind has finished processing it.
WingTsun was built on the principle that structure and angle beat raw mass. You don't meet force with force — you borrow it, redirect it, and take the shorter path.
Our adult program puts real weight on awareness, de-escalation and exit strategy. Knowing how to end it is what makes never needing to a choice instead of luck.
The core program. Practical self-protection built on structure, sensitivity and the centerline — plus the awareness and de-escalation work that keeps you out of it entirely. No experience required, and no assumption that you're already in shape.
Start HereStructured classes that build respect, patience and focus through positive reinforcement — then back it with real skill. Kids learn to hold a boundary, read a situation, and carry themselves like someone not worth choosing.
For ParentsThe adult curriculum delivered directly by Shifu Willis, at your pace. Best for students working around a hard schedule, catching up quickly, or addressing a specific concern they'd rather not work through in a group.
Request A SlotNeither of these is a separate class you sign up for. They're what the same three sessions a week produce.
Martial conditioning, not machines. Strength, stamina and mobility come out of the footwork, structure and drilling themselves — so the fitness always has a purpose behind it instead of being its own chore.
New Path has taught self-protection alongside mental, physical and spiritual health since day one. The forms are a practice you keep for decades — long after the ability to spar hard has come and gone.
All classes run at the Don Nash Community Center, 1833 E 71st St. Youth and adult sessions overlap by thirty minutes — families training together can come once and cover both.
The low-risk way in. Come train, see the room and the instruction for yourself, and decide afterwards — no monthly commitment attached to it.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday classes.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday classes, all levels. Private one-on-one training available separately.
One phone call to (872) 348-2444 confirms a time that works. No forms, no sales appointment, no commitment on the first conversation.
A t-shirt and something you can move in. No uniform to buy before you know whether this is for you, and no equipment to bring.
You'll work through real fundamentals hands-on, at a pace set for a first-timer. Nobody spars you on day one.
You'll know within one class whether the room and the instruction fit you. If it does, we'll talk about a schedule then — not before.
An imaginary vertical line down the middle of your body. Eyes, throat, sternum, groin — every target worth hitting sits on it. Yours and his. Everything in WingTsun is organised around controlling that line.
A hooking punch loads up and swings wide. It carries real weight, but it has to travel all the way around to reach you — and while it's travelling, his own centerline is completely open.
No block, no wind-up, no step back. You go straight down the centerline that he just left unguarded. Same instant he started, a fraction of the distance to cover.
His arc is still in the air. That's the whole system in one movement — not strength, not speed, just the shorter path taken without hesitation. Geometry, drilled until it's reflex.
Hesitation is what gets people hurt. When nothing is blocking the line, you take it — immediately and directly.
Contact is information. Staying attached lets your arms feel where the opening is instead of your eyes hunting for it.
You never trade strength with someone stronger. You give way, let the force spend itself, and keep your own structure intact.
Space is his advantage, not yours. When he pulls back, you go with him and stay in the range where your training works.
Shifu Ean Willis has spent more than forty years in martial arts and over twenty-five of them studying WingTsun specifically. He opened New Path in 2002 to teach it the way he believes it should be taught — against real situations, for people who may genuinely need it, on the South Side of Chicago.
Training covers self-protection first, but never only that. New Path has taught mental, physical and spiritual health as part of the same curriculum since day one — because the goal was never to produce fighters. It was to produce people who don't have to be.
New Path Wingtsun Kung-fu was not intimidating. Shifu Ean is knowledgeable and patient. I felt like I've known him all my life.
He's a great teacher and is enthusiastic about martial arts. He really does care about his students as well. And be prepared to leave sore after a good workout.
As a man that has trained in the martial arts from childhood to adulthood, I must say that I have a vast and great appreciation for Sifu Willis and New Path Wing Tsun. I enrolled my 12 year old son in this class and have nothing, but rave reviews. Initially, my biggest concern was relinquishing my son into the care of someone I didn't know, but those concerns quickly disappeared.
I hired Shifu Willis to give a self-defense demonstration for a Domestic Violence Organization and I have been intrigued and he has captured my interest ever since. Taking this class was one of the best decisions that I have made both physically and mentally.
Shifu Willis is a super particular teacher — he will not have you move forward before getting step one correct before moving a step two. He'll show you the benefits of everything and show you the shortcomings as well.
I feel prepared enough to use one of the fundamentals of Wing-Chun in any confrontational situation.
I never thought that I would gain such confidence in myself until I took Wingtsun. Sifu is a great instructor.
I traveled far to meet and work with Shifu Willis. He is a phenomenal master of the art!
Real classes at the Don Nash Community Center. No staged photography — this is what a session actually looks like.
Filmed in class, not staged. Pick a clip to see a principle applied.
We train at the Don Nash Community Center on East 71st Street in South Shore. Call and we'll tell you exactly when to come by — you're welcome to watch a class first if you'd rather see it before you step on the floor.
(872) 348-2444