Drunken Monkey

whoa, you believe the kid actually trains?

dammit, y'know, my name sounds much better in cantonese...

he isn't old enough to get a beer...

well, you probably know how us wing chun guys kick. if we kick it means we HAVE to. in that case we go for what would do us most good. in any case, a tap and a pull gets the desired result in a friendly sparring session. but yeah, i can see how it would make competitions kinda boring and a little bit dangerous.

then there's the point if a guy really does intend to shoot you, he probably won't wave it about in your face first.

well i wasn't saying anything about the guy. just how some programs are made...

dammit, mine keeps saying 'you are no god, leave this sanctuary, feeble pretender....'

totally off topic but i prefere to kick at the knee than the groin.

that's what you get when television execs who know nothing about the subject are persuaded to make a program by someone with a good pitch...

go for a gun... you guys see 'bowling for columbine'...? i know it's kinda old but it seemed relevant to mention it again. it's so hard to believe that there is so much difference between our two nations.

just a hyperthetical really... the idea being an invincible stand up hands guy. does the fact that he doesn't know how to kick or grapple make him a weaker (less rounded) fighter EVEN if he has never lost against anyone? same goes goes for a kicking guy. f he doesn't need to punch, should he learn to punch? does a grappler need to learn how to punch and kick if his ultimate aim is to grapple? maybe i've confused the scenario a bit but i think you know what i mean.

you got it spot on. wing chun exists in the very few seconds of initial contact/interception. that is why we go on so much about making things relex. we want to have moves explode on contact without having to decide if it will work or not. the many years of chi sau that we (are supposed) to do is to make sure that even if we explode with the wrong move, we can interrupt and change. and yes we want to be that close. at that range we 'should' have a better advantage as then we have all of our weapons to pay with specifically our elbows and shoulders for pushes+positions. and again i think i've veered a little.... and trying to play a grappler is difficult. i don't have much experience and i've certainly never played against a good grappler but whenever anyone goes for my legs, instinct tells me to aim elbows at their spine. but then the thought of the possible damage it can cause and the fact that i know that it is a friendly spar tells me to do otherwise. i did accidently knee a guy in the face once and that kinda stopped the grab attempt. not sure if i could pull it off again though... and yeah, once on the floor i'm about as much use as a wet towel. make that a wet towel with a big hole in it...

i think his character is best shown in the little exchange with orlando bloom... 'you cheated!' '.......pirate...'

y'know, my sifu is almost the opposite of that. we were going through some shaolin pole forms and he just said, we can ignore this bit cos it's just performance, leave this, it's just traditional bowing. still makes us perform the whole form though. good for us he says....

all work and no play makes jack a dull boy

i think the best thing about punching is that it is a lot easier to interrupt your punch and switch to something else.

like i have said, when any particular organisation releases information, it is usually for a purpose that serves their own goals. not saying this is good or bad but maybe we should try to look outside of the organisations for an unbiased point of view. i'm sure you've heard a lot of guys say things then go on to reveal that the source of their claim of superiority was their sifu/sensei/instructor/leader...

well, if you've 'stuck' with a wing chun guy you'll notice that it's not really 'sticking', more like keeping your arm in check by keeping pressure on it with out elbow/elbow position. we have a saying: 'the arm you can't feel is the one that hits you'. but i think i've veered away from topic a little. sorry.

something just came to mind. what if the guy doesn't need to go to the ground? what if a guy can 100% percent of the time finish any fight standing up, using only his hands? does he need to be more rounded? hmmm, maybe this should a new thread discussion...

well, all 'modern' chinese martial arts have an aspect of breathing (or 'chi' in chinese). to have proper control, your breathing has to be controlled and your breathing has to be settled etc, etc. but i recall a brief conversation with a hung gar sifu whose basic reply was: 'if he uses technique, use technique back if he uses strength, use strength back' and 'if he hits you hard, hit him harder' i should say that this is translated from cantonese and loses a bit of meaning...

what happened to the 'grasshopper'? and as far as i'm aware, there is a hell of a lot of hard training in mantis, specifically for the 'tik bo sam' and 'heut sar cheung'. then again, i might've got my mantis's mixed up.

you should know by now some people want to do things cos they think it looks cool. some guys like to see jumping 540s finishing with a double kick. some people prefer to see a perfect forearm deflection that collapses the opponent's structure making him fall into a punch.

i only said that about the first video of the karate against 'wing chun'. look at that clip and YOU tell me if you have ever seen wing chun done like that. and to be precise, it's ONE video (the ufc one).

both have advantages and disadvantages. the point is they both work in different ranges. kicks can be used at a longer range (where the punches can't) AS WELL as close up by way of 'short' kicks/stamps to the knees/shins/ankles. punches work at a medium range or close up. to employ the punch you have to get through the long range first. BUT once you through, you can almost do as you please. i would say that the extra range kicks offer gives it a slight defensive edge. BUT the sheer speed of punching techniques gives it an attack advantage when in range.

and then there's the point that a lot of people believe that a guy who trains kicks most, can't punch...