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Promoting holistic wellbeing during the polycrisis: An essay on inner development through the martial art of Wing Chun

Ross Watson, Andrew Kemp Orcid Logo

PLOS Mental Health, Volume: 2, Issue: 9, Start page: e0000433

Swansea University Author: Andrew Kemp Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1371/journal.pmen.0000433

Abstract

This essay explores the traditional martial art of Wing Chun through a psychological lens of inner development for holistic wellbeing. Originating in Southern China, Wing Chun emphasises fluidity, adaptability, and effectiveness, guided by five core principles: Simplicity, Practicality, Efficiency,...

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Published in: PLOS Mental Health
ISSN: 2837-8156
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa71315
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spelling 2026-01-27T15:14:53.4433183 v2 71315 2026-01-27 Promoting holistic wellbeing during the polycrisis: An essay on inner development through the martial art of Wing Chun dfd05900f0e2409d3f67dca227c59a93 0000-0003-1146-3791 Andrew Kemp Andrew Kemp true false 2026-01-27 PSYS This essay explores the traditional martial art of Wing Chun through a psychological lens of inner development for holistic wellbeing. Originating in Southern China, Wing Chun emphasises fluidity, adaptability, and effectiveness, guided by five core principles: Simplicity, Practicality, Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Directness (SPEED). Grounded in Buddhist and Taoist philosophies, these principles provide a foundation for understanding and promoting psychological wellbeing. We propose a novel psychological framework that maps these principles to psychological constructs, including Radical non-attachment, Embodied empowerment, skilful Adaptation, self-Control, and psychological Hardiness (REACH). Each construct within the REACH model functions synergistically, providing an opportunity for holistic cultivation of a resilient and adaptable mindset, grounded in mindful awareness, psychological flexibility, and fierce compassion. Radical nonattachment (underpinned by the principle of simplicity) facilitates a socially-engaged mindfulness, supported by a compassionate awareness of self, others and nature. Embodied empowerment (effectiveness) enables navigation of internal and external cues with greater agency while promoting a deeper sense of groundedness and engagement with the world. Skillful adaptation (practicality) promotes flexibility, creativity and the experience of psychological flow, supporting dynamic engagement with the environment. Self-control (efficiency) supports nonconscious regulation, facilitating purposeful goal-setting with reduced cognitive effort. Psychological hardiness (directness) supports the development of fierce compassion, transforming adversity into growth and enhancing capacity for working toward social justice and resisting dominant social narratives. Presented as an opportunity to promote power resources, these interrelated constructs bridge martial practice, mindful awareness, and social engagement, providing a robust foundation for psychological interventions supporting inner development and wellbeing at multiple scales, focused on self, others and nature. Journal Article PLOS Mental Health 2 9 e0000433 Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2837-8156 10 9 2025 2025-09-10 10.1371/journal.pmen.0000433 COLLEGE NANME Psychology School COLLEGE CODE PSYS Swansea University This work was supported by a Mission Award from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (Grant Ref: APP65361 OPP734) 2026-01-27T15:14:53.4433183 2026-01-27T15:06:13.1645010 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Psychology Ross Watson 1 Andrew Kemp 0000-0003-1146-3791 2 71315__36115__d5bc03ad9fc24ba29d92e7bee7e8ba76.pdf 71315.VoR.pdf 2026-01-27T15:10:06.2109305 Output 587693 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 Watson, Kemp. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Promoting holistic wellbeing during the polycrisis: An essay on inner development through the martial art of Wing Chun
spellingShingle Promoting holistic wellbeing during the polycrisis: An essay on inner development through the martial art of Wing Chun
Andrew Kemp
title_short Promoting holistic wellbeing during the polycrisis: An essay on inner development through the martial art of Wing Chun
title_full Promoting holistic wellbeing during the polycrisis: An essay on inner development through the martial art of Wing Chun
title_fullStr Promoting holistic wellbeing during the polycrisis: An essay on inner development through the martial art of Wing Chun
title_full_unstemmed Promoting holistic wellbeing during the polycrisis: An essay on inner development through the martial art of Wing Chun
title_sort Promoting holistic wellbeing during the polycrisis: An essay on inner development through the martial art of Wing Chun
author_id_str_mv dfd05900f0e2409d3f67dca227c59a93
author_id_fullname_str_mv dfd05900f0e2409d3f67dca227c59a93_***_Andrew Kemp
author Andrew Kemp
author2 Ross Watson
Andrew Kemp
format Journal article
container_title PLOS Mental Health
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container_issue 9
container_start_page e0000433
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
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publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS)
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
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department_str School of Psychology{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Psychology
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description This essay explores the traditional martial art of Wing Chun through a psychological lens of inner development for holistic wellbeing. Originating in Southern China, Wing Chun emphasises fluidity, adaptability, and effectiveness, guided by five core principles: Simplicity, Practicality, Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Directness (SPEED). Grounded in Buddhist and Taoist philosophies, these principles provide a foundation for understanding and promoting psychological wellbeing. We propose a novel psychological framework that maps these principles to psychological constructs, including Radical non-attachment, Embodied empowerment, skilful Adaptation, self-Control, and psychological Hardiness (REACH). Each construct within the REACH model functions synergistically, providing an opportunity for holistic cultivation of a resilient and adaptable mindset, grounded in mindful awareness, psychological flexibility, and fierce compassion. Radical nonattachment (underpinned by the principle of simplicity) facilitates a socially-engaged mindfulness, supported by a compassionate awareness of self, others and nature. Embodied empowerment (effectiveness) enables navigation of internal and external cues with greater agency while promoting a deeper sense of groundedness and engagement with the world. Skillful adaptation (practicality) promotes flexibility, creativity and the experience of psychological flow, supporting dynamic engagement with the environment. Self-control (efficiency) supports nonconscious regulation, facilitating purposeful goal-setting with reduced cognitive effort. Psychological hardiness (directness) supports the development of fierce compassion, transforming adversity into growth and enhancing capacity for working toward social justice and resisting dominant social narratives. Presented as an opportunity to promote power resources, these interrelated constructs bridge martial practice, mindful awareness, and social engagement, providing a robust foundation for psychological interventions supporting inner development and wellbeing at multiple scales, focused on self, others and nature.
published_date 2025-09-10T05:35:10Z
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