1ONEfighting

Nice essay WW, but I did say I WAS TROLLING. MY arguments were not to be taken seriously. BTW, My MMA fighter has a .308 rifle, and your kendo guy is dead.

My 2 cents are as follows. MMA practitioners by and far train harder and better than any "structured style" on the planet. To claim allegiance to one style is the equivalent of shooting one's self in the foot. You take what works, and you drill it to perfection against an uncooperative and fully resisting opponent. Don't confuse crosstraining with MMA either. Mixed Martial Artists train, eat, and live fighting. I would wager that any MMA fighter, even at the lowest levels with an 0-10 MMA record, would wipe the floor with any non-MMA fighter on the planet, under any set of rules. But then again, I am trolling.

Jennum also was an alternate who made it to the finals without facing a single opponent, and fought a Karate stylist (Harold Howard) for the title. Neither were to be considered "grapplers".

Everyone likes to think there is some 70 year old Tai Chi master meditating in the Himalayas that can whoop every foolish sport fighter, but I stopped believing in the Easter Bunny long ago.

Well then surely Castillo's instructor would be on it, the web isn't THAT old.

My old boxing coach was getting tooled on in the Cornhusker State Games and won the gold because the guy broke his hand on his head.

People always bring up Tyson breaking his hands, but did you see the guy he hit? By no stretch did Tyson lose that fight.

Bruce would love how his revolutionary approach to martial arts has become as rigid and dogmatic as the arts he rebelled against in the first place. It's Jeet Kune Do, not "Imitate Bruce Lee Do".

I would learn this kick by playing Streetfighter 2 and using Ryu or Ken. Kens kick is faster, but Ryu's hits harder.

The essence of your art is whatever you want it to be. Some people will never fight in their lives, and practice martial arts just for the exercise and enjoyment it brings. Some apply that knowledge to the ring, where they can use their art without fearing for their lives or legal repercussions of using their art on the street. Some feel anything less than pure self defense is beneath them, and dream of the day they FINALLY get mugged. You look at one martial arts class, regardless of style, and you will find a bunch of people who love their art for very different reasons. The essence of the art lies in the individual. None of the approaches are wrong, per se, just different interpretations of the same inkblot.

I have a shillelagh that belonged to my great grandfather. Mean old coot.

What I meant was there is no reason WC could not adapt to the ring, apart from the objections of the individual fighter. I use completely different strategy every fight. No two fights are the same. Many of my self defense strategies translate to the ring, ALL of my ring strategies translate to the street. I have much more freedom and options on the street, which actually makes it somewhat easier. When I started competing in MMA, headbutts were my favorite technique. They're banned in the ring now, but it doesn't mean I've forgotten about them. I've merely forgotten my name after using them. Why not? Just consider ring fighting a training device, not the end goal of your martial art. What IS the essence of Wing Chun? How is it diminished by rules, when rules are already placed upon it by the law? Is this a subtle way of telling me to shut up?

I checked https://www.bjj.org and they had no John F. Castillo in their rank page. Ask what his lineage is.

"Just a question isn't this more like sparring than a fight?" Exactly. Some of the best people I know I met through the ring. It's a sport. Not life or death. When I fight on the street I have an entirely different temperament and arsenal than when I fight in the ring. I don't view sport fighting as "watering down" my art. It is a much tougher test of skill to have these limitations placed upon you, and If you can make it work, it sharpens your strategy building ability, which is very necessary should a life or death situation arise. It builds a core set of techniques that you KNOW you can apply under pressure, techniques that will not fail you should the need arise. Why CAN'T Wing Chun adapt to the ring? All it takes is willingness and an open mind.

Another issue with it would be adaptability. Most martial arts claim to be able to adjust to any situation. Sometimes you do have to take it down a notch and adapt to a less lethal situation. Say a close friend is drunk and gets angry and you become the focal point of that anger. Are you going to gouge his eyes, elbow his face into a fine paste and cave his kneecaps? NO. You aren't ALWAYS attacked by a group of thugs with bike chains and broken bottles, no matter what you tell the other guys in the bar. In a ring, your opponent is not your enemy. Most likely, you know the guy, you've met him a few times, had drinks after shows, etc. You have to have the self-control to limit the techniques you would use on your opponent, and exploit the holes in his game with the tools you have left. If your art can't do this, your art lacks basic adaptability and lacks self control. Is that a complete art?