Wing Chun focuses heavily on being very efficient, simple, and yet effective. That essentially equates to using as little energy as possible to get the job done. Granted, being in shape will help you if you ever find yourself outnumbered and need to run, or have to fight longer than you'd like.
You should start off with the 1st form (Siu Lim Tao or various spellings of it). Then maybe do some basic punch/tan/bong/gan/kwan sao applications. Then single-hand chi sao, onto double chi sao. Then the wooden dummy.
The order of some of these may be switched up except for SLT being first. No matter what though, always come back to the SLT form and connect what you learn from your new lessons to the 1st form. The 1st form contains so much information that you will never get them the first time you do it.
Remember: Wing Chun is highly adaptable. There is a lot of basis on the concepts. You don't have to LOOK like you're doing Wing Chun so long as you're following the principles. If you ever get to watch Gary Lam perform higher level Wing Chun, it looks less like trapping/chain punching that we see everywhere in the media, and more like bypassing the enemy and going straight for a standing take-down by controlling the arm, elbow, or jaw/head.
The vast majority of all Wing Chun instructors start you off slowly and teach you the basics. You will learn how to stand and you will learn basic strikes and blocks. You will move onto the wooden dummies later, but that isn't difficult. As far as being small is concerned, Wing Chun was developed by two Chinese "women" who were much smaller than most people today are. Being small can be an asset in Wing Chun because you are a harder target to hit. I think you should listen to the free podcasts about Wing Chun at the iTunes store under "podcasts." There are some very good interviews with the best Wing Chun practitioners in the world on those podcasts. A very good one there is called "Wing Chun Interviews." That should put your mind at ease and even get you "excited" about taking Wing Chun. What I like most about Wing Chun are its effective trapping techniques and its quick movements that often fluster an unskilled opponent.
Everyone starts out with the basics... you'll learn to do a warm up, stretches and basic punching and kicking. You'll probably learn about the centerline theory, standard pigeon toe stance and probably start learning the first hand form, "Siu Lim Tao" which means little idea.
Your instructor knows what to do to put you at ease. Tell them exactly what you've written here and everything will go smoothly.
Okay, so I am signing up for Wing Chun and I am really nervous. I have never in my life taken martial arts, I'm 24, and really small.
I'm also not in the best shape either, so I'm worried that WC is going to kick my a**, and that I won't be able to follow along properly.
My third concern, is that I'm very shy and I know I need to get over that. I want to know in detail, what to expect. I'm having serious confidence issues right now
