Wing Chun - Pros and Cons

[Drunken Monkey]

well, most of the insistance on keeping the game standing is probably because whilst the principles work stand up and on the ground, wing chun has very limited moves/techniques to actually deal with things on the floor...

 

you win.

 

ding! ding!

[ZepedaWingChun]

Pros: If you follow the theories, concepts and principles as designed, it's a devastating art. But, "It's the fighter, not the art" that has to make it work.

Cons: "It's the fighter, not the art" that fails to make the art work as designed. Too many practitioners think that Wing Chun will just "work for them" without any effort.

[Traditional-Fist]

Pros: If you follow the theories, concepts and principles as designed, it's a devastating art. But, "It's the fighter, not the art" that has to make it work.

Cons: "It's the fighter, not the art" that fails to make the art work as designed. Too many practitioners think that Wing Chun will just "work for them" without any effort.

I agree. I will also add that in my opinion the biggest con of Wing Chun and that is that there are numerous CON artists who teach it as an incomplete art i.e. minus grappling;minus sparring;minus many hand and leg techniques that have somehow been "forgotten"; etc. etc. thus giving the art a bad name and a lousy reputation at least in some MA circles.

Another result of this phenomenon is the unnecessary cross training that many WC practitioners undertake by sometimes practising irrelevant arts (to WC) without having built sufficient knowledge in their core art. E.G. "I will practise BJJ because my art does not have ground fighting"; "I will do TKD because WC does not have 'enough' kicks" etc, etc, etc.

This mindset has evolved to the point where some Wing Chun sifus are teaching secondary irrelevant (to WC) arts to make their students more "complete" thus further validating their incomplete Wing Chun.

This is sad really. Since I moved to London I have practised WC with a friend of my sifus. Sadly he is leaving soon and so far I have been unable to find any school that resembles the WC system that I practise. This is ironic because WC is reputed to be the most popular kung fu style in the west and I live in a major world city where sometimes it seems that you can't swing dead cat without hitting a WC sifu/school, but unfortunately the McKwoons rule.

I have seen only a couple of WC school that I would consider but they are quiet different in certain applications, not wrong, but just different from what I am used to. So rather than confuse myself I prefer to go for a different style of kung fu that is not too similar but not too different either and luckily and ironically here in London one is more likely to find a good kung fu sifu from an obscure kung fu style then one from a popular style such as WC, which seems to be the victim of its own popularity. So I will start in my chosen school of kung fu in January, but of course I will continue with Wing Chun on my own.

[ovine king]

where abouts in london are you?

[ZepedaWingChun]

. . . . . the biggest con of Wing Chun and that is that there are numerous CON artists who teach it as an incomplete art i.e. minus grappling;minus sparring;minus many hand and leg techniques that have somehow been "forgotten"; etc. etc. thus giving the art a bad name and a lousy reputation at least in some MA circles.

. . . . . the unnecessary cross training that many WC practitioners undertake by sometimes practising irrelevant arts (to WC) without having built sufficient knowledge in their core art. E.G. . . . . This mindset has evolved to the point where some Wing Chun sifus are teaching secondary irrelevant (to WC) arts to make their students more "complete" thus further validating their incomplete Wing Chun.

. . . . . So rather than confuse myself I prefer to go for a different style of kung fu that is not too similar but not too different either and luckily and ironically here in London one is more likely to find a good kung fu sifu from an obscure kung fu style then one from a popular style such as WC, which seems to be the victim of its own popularity. So I will start in my chosen school of kung fu in January, but of course I will continue with Wing Chun on my own.

You hit the nail in the head, Traditional-Fist. We have the same problems here in the States. Too many people teaching Wing Chun without the full knowledge of the system, attempting to "cash in" on the art that Bruce Lee made famous. Sorry to hear you will be training in another art for lack of a training partner or kwoon in Wing Chun.

[MizuRyu]

I've only been taking Wing Chun for a little under a year, and through that time of very dedicated study I can say that it is VERY effective.. if applied correctly and appropriatly. The real problem I notice w/ WC practitioners on a general level is their lack of aggression. Wing Chun is an art meant to be used very aggressively... luckily our school emphasizes that very harshly. If you wait to react to hits, you're doing nothing but chasing hands.. which is gonna burn you... bad.

Every Tuesday in my basement I have mixed Tang Soo Do, Karate, Wing Chun, and Boxing practitioners don full sparring gear and mouthguards and apply their knowledge... we're also cross training and learning to adapt to scenarios. The first 2 weeks I did it I was having trouble with WC because I was making the NUMBER ONE mistake of most of it's users. I was chasing hands. Against the boxer that was a huge problem. After a while though, I got smart and just plowed into them, chain punch and turning step, throw some elbows in, when a hand would try and get to my face, I'd cross it or lap it. It worked very very well. One of the advantages of Wing Chun is bridging quickly to set up for a take down. It's a striker's way of applying drops and throws effectively, at least for me.

One of the things that I noticed with boxers is the side stepping. But, there's a drill that WC does where you mirror a turning step. It teaches you to stay on center and control it no matter which direction the center is moving. If these sort of concepts are aggressively and openly applied they are very useful.

[Jay]

I actually love wing chun as an art but i dont take it for various reasons-lack proper Yip Man linage schools in england. I know basic wing chung blocks and strikes as well as the training concepts e.g center line theory and i actually found that when i get close to an opponent i was actually doing wing chun and not karate but it works. At close range wing chun i devistating and beats karate any day but when i apply the wing chun with some karate take downs it works perfectly for me i really would like to take it but i cant

anyone know of any wing chun schools in south east London???

[ovine king]

what do you mean lack of yip man line schools in the uk?

i can name at least 4 schools in london that are direct from yip man via some of the first generation of his more respected students, if not the student (i.e 1st gen from yip man) himself.

where abouts are you; i can probably point you in the right direction. are you specifically looking for yip man line wing chun?

one thing though, if you've never had any proper wing chun training, then don't go around saying that you "know basic blocks and strikes" especially when/if you go to a proper class.