Do not fight force with force.....
One of the first principles we learn in Wing Chun to, as above, "do not fight force with force". Growing up, i copied my brother and father and trained a lot in the gym. I had plenty of muscular power and it helped when i was a cyclist. I guess it even helped when i was faced with multiple attackers before i started training Wing Chun.
However; after i started training Wing Chun as a fultime student, my Sigung suggested that i stop training with weights as it was re-enforcing the tendancy to fight force with force..... a habbit that we can all practice with out any instruction. Instead, it was suggested that i practice my forms (particularly the Shil Lim Tao) as often and for as long as possible. These forms were developed to specifically train the required musculature involved in correctly performing Wing Chun.
As a personal trainer, i still used weights occassionally as i had to demonstrate technique to clients, etc; althought i kept that to a minimum and concentrated my own training on Wing Chun specific practices. Personally, the best non-martial cross training i found for strength, endurance and energy conservation was rock climbing.
Good luck with your training.
Peace out!
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