May i reitterate that it was never my contention that "weight training makes you slow". One can train with weights in many different ways to enhance either fast or slow twitch fibres, as well as to develop explosive power or shear "strength".
My contention was, and remains (and only in relation to Wing Chun as i have trained it for the past 13 years), that training with weights hinders the practitioners ability to master the principle of "do not fight force with force"; that being the primary principle of the system.
In any form of weight training you are using your own strength (force) to move &/or resist a counter force (the weight)... this is in contradiction to the principle mentioned above.
Now, before we get into the, "oh, so your saying that no resistance training can be performed to practice Wing Chun, ipso facto one can not practice forms because standing in the stance requires you to fight the force of gravity"..... no. Resistance training is beneficial. My point being that "lifting weights" can hamper the beginner-intermediate students ability to grasp the funtamental principle.
Understanding this is what enabled me to become technically superior to the bigger, stronger "weight trainers" in our classes. I didn't have the strength to fight their force, so it was necessary for me to develop foot work, range, timing, positioning, tactics and the bio-mechanical structure with in techniques. This is what is refered to in Wing Chun as learning to "fight like a woman".
As i say, i am ONLY refering to that basic principle with in the system of Wing Chun Kung Fu.
Cheers all...
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