Wing Chun Kung Fu.....waste of time and $

[sakuraba fan]

I did it when i was 16. I learned how to punch wrong with a vertical fist. I learned how spar with no contact. I learned the least effective way to get a workout. I learned how to count to 10 in chinese. I learned how to tie a sash around my waist after supposedly earning it from completing the form test. I learned that it wouldn't work when my 265lb 6'4"inch brother (I'm 5'8" 140lbs LOL) showed me a little of his capabilities he did growing up in Miami. So for you newbies, stay away from Wing Chun Kung Fu if you want to learn to fight.
And for you martial artists that have never been in a real fight. Don't be so confident that you can take anyone out because you have a belt that is considered high or whatever you call it.. My experience.....I have always been into boxing...I learned from Mike tyson videos of the 80's and a couple different gyms in miami and now in Michigan. For a 140lb guy I hit very hard with both hands. And i'm not very slow either.....well on my first fight I went in there confident thinking I would do this guy in like mike tyson did people........i threw a couple of pussy jabs...he came at me i hit the ropes and stumbled and covered from his violent flurry......standing 8 count....... threw couple more jabs back against the rope....bent over......hit me with solid right on the jaw.....I went down fight was over. It wasn't that I lacked physically cause I trained like a damn olympic fighter would train........I didn't have it mentally in my first REAL time out... It's experience. and controlling your fear. Unless of course you have no physical skills and couldn't knock a man out if you hit him with a bat across the chin, then perhaps golf or basketball are sports you should take up..

[RishDog]

Hey,

I read your argument, and i feel that like most wing chun school around its too traditional, meaning you learn lot of un-modernised techniques (in my opinion)

Now i train Wingchun, but its modernise, which obvioously means its changing withthe world. We incorporate Boxing, a bit of Mui Thia, Close Quater Combat (wepaons etc) and of course BJJ. I reckon its the best type of training around on the Gold Coast, Australia. There are 2-3 other wing chun school, and they, well in all do respect to them, are..how would i put it nicely..shite! We are encouraged NOT to do a role punch, i don't like them personally. Some schools they tell you to finsih your opponenet with role punch, luckily we don't!

Therefore the point of my argument is, well..you tell me (i don't know anymore). But you do have some point, about wing chun being street in-effective, thats probably why we cross train styles within the school. I am sure there are some wing-chun schools like that in US where they cross teach ya stuff, but i do agree with you in some point.

I read somewhere that MMA is a cominbation of kickboxing, boxing and BJJ. Is this true? or is MMA a style in such, or just a term describing multiple styles integrated. I haven't heard much of MMA over here, so i am curious? anyone??

[MrPoopy]

If you incorporate boxing, muay thai and bjj, then why bother with wing chun at all?

[RishDog]

Well, i probably went a bit overboard with the incorpartion..ummmlet me think of how to put this, we still do lot of wing chun. The boxing element is come form punching, but we still do other win cun attacks. Also we learn blocks from wingcun like pak sao etc, and we do learn chi soa (and wooden dummy).

How about this, imagine a wing chun practiioner, but his punches look a bit like boxing (no roll punch but we do palm and elbow) and the kicks are still wingchun, but we do abit of mui thai, is probably not as much as i say we do...

Could ya answer my question about MMA also please? i really want to know!

[mjmnam]

it isn't a style in itself, more a complilation of styles

[RishDog]

So is it a term they use to descrbie a number of styles? or is it a a style which uses a number of styles... (if any of that makes sense to you)

[mjmnam]

hmmm... a Mixed Martial Art(ist) (MMA) is a term used to describe any person or event that utilizes more than one style of martial arts in a fight. Two commonly paired styles are BJJ with Muay Thai. how bout that?
MMA is not, however, a style in itself.

[Steelsings16]

Haha Sakuraba...your class sounds like my TKD class..which is why i'm quitting and going into Krav Maga....its such a joke...I learned how to kick at air, how to count to 8 in Korean, and, like you, that it wouldn't work against my friend, who only took like 3 TKD classes....she's not even that much taller than me...pathetic...TKD can do nothing against chokes, bearhugs, etc...that 'middle block' crap agains a front chokehold is like beating your arm against a wall. Very wise to go into something else, sakuraba. I'm going to. Our classes sound about the same!

[Bri Thai]

I did Wing Chun for about a year and was very disappointed. It was back in the mid 80's when it was banded about as being the in vogue Martial Art that was unbeatable.

The instructors were a couple of bullying clowns. We did one drill were the object was to lightly tap your opponents face if you got through his guard. Good old King Clown decided to prove a point by slapping me full power across the face in front of everyone. I reverted to plain old Shukokai Karate and smacked his chops for the next few minutes.

I think it can provide some good moves to incorporate into your repertoire, but I have not yet seen a pure Wing Chun stylist who gave me the impression he could handle himself for real.

[Einherjar]

I think it can provide some good moves to incorporate into your repertoire, but I have not yet seen a pure Wing Chun stylist who gave me the impression he could handle himself for real.

That's not true... according to my own experience on the subject.

I started practicing martial arts at six and spent like eleven years learning Karate Shito-Ryu. Back then, I lived in a kinda rough neighbourhood (you know the type I'm talking about) and, while I found my Karate was useful (I could outpunch and outkick most of the guys), I knew that I should start training a more realistic art if I wanted to earn some respect from the tough players.

I had lots (and I mean LOTS) of fights during my teen years, so I gradually became aware of the fact that Karate alone wasn't going to suffice to handle myself in a real scrap. It's not that Karate was a bad art in itself, it was the way we used to train (no full contact sparring, lots of punching air techniques, no questioning the sensei...). Perhaps if I had practiced Kyokushinkai I wouldn't have needed switching to boxing and, somewhat later, Kickboxing and Muay Thai.

While I enjoyed training Muay Thai immensely, it soon became obvious that I needed to learn something that would teach me how to defend myself in many different situations and scenarios (grappling, weapons...). So, after eight years of work and hard training I started to train Shooto.

It was a whole new world to discover and it was very revealing too. After the initial shock (everyone seemed to be able to beat me to a bloody pulp. My hitting techniques alone were not enough to keep them away from me and I always ended up on the ground, being strangled, armlocked or whatever) I gradually became proficient in the new art and I soon discovered that I was kinda good at it.

Now I could beat much taller and stronger guys than me (the more skilled you become and the more ranges you can control, the easier it is to fight bigger guys). It was a damn good confidence builder.

I spent five years polishing the brand new abilities and I began to crosstrain Wing Tsun (not Wing Chun, BIG difference) and some Filipino Martial Arts. And, guess what? Now I'm a much better fighter and I can control more ranges.

I have found that Wing Tsun suits me like a glove and, if correctly trained (poor Muay Thai training is Tae Bo or Cardio-Boxing, poor boxing training is dancing), it can be a devastating art.

We train full contact sparring all the time with little or no padding; we use the focus mitts, the speed ball, the heavy bag and the thai pads in every workout; we train VERY realistically (black eyes, bruises, blood spilled are rather common things indeed) and we train HARD.

I feel safer now because I know I have become a more proficient fighter. I spar a lot with Muay Thai, Boxing, BJJ and Shooto practicioners, so I'm always testing my abilities in order to keep things in perspective.

Filipino Martial Arts is another matter entirely. Weapon training is very frustrating (blades and sticks are very serious things and you can't afford the luxury of getting hit even once. It's so damn difficult...) and rewarding (once you get used to the sticks, a mere punch or kick -relatively harmless and slow- suddenly become so easy to deal with).

[Bri Thai]

Well you certainly have confused me. I said that Wing Chun could be useful to add to your repertoire. You said I was wrong, and then went on to describe how you have found it useful to add to your repertoire........

[Einherjar]

Well you certainly have confused me. I said that Wing Chun could be useful to add to your repertoire. You said I was wrong, and then went on to describe how you have found it useful to add to your repertoire........

Hehehe... I'm sorry, perhaps I'm a bit too much talkative. I was talking about the "pure Wing Chun stylist who gave me the impression he could handle himself for real" part.

What I mean is that, whenever I fight, I don't resemble a Thai boxer anymore, I only use Wing Tsun techniques (unless I'm grappling or weapons are involved).

Sorry about the LONG post, anyway.

[Bri Thai]

No worries. But the $1million question would be this. Could you fight as well using just Wing Chun WITHOUT having had that tremendous grounding in other areas?

[Einherjar]

But the $1million question would be this. Could you fight as well using just Wing Chun WITHOUT having had that tremendous grounding in other areas?

Hell, no! I don't regret a single moment training non-Wing Tsun martial arts.

Everything I have learnt during my martial arts career has served a purpose. Karate gave me the opportunity of build solid foundations, clean technique and patience. Boxing and Thai Boxing taught the importance of taking punches and never surrender (as well as some sound, effective techniques) , timing, endurance, accuracy and range. Shooto made me a more complete fighter and so forth...

But (there's always a but, isn't it?), there are some guys I train with, who don't have any previous martial arts background and still are terrific fighters.

Don't get me wrong,man. I have LOTS (and I mean it) of respect for Thai Boxers. They are tough, fast, strong and very, very, very dangerous opponents. The way they train makes them so. It takes some guts to train THAT HARD and then step into a ring.

I rate Muay Thai VERY, VERY, VERY high.

[crazyjoe380]

this post is funny as hell .. lol