Wing Chun, Krav Maga or Kali

[MFGQ]

Hi all, i wanted to know what was your opinion in this 3 MA that for me are 3 of the best MA for self defense. I wanted to know which one was the best for you

thanks for you answers

[ravenzoom]

Well I don't know anything about Kali, so I can't answer for this one, but I picked Wing Chun for having practiced it for a while. I would really like to take Krav Maga since I'm sure it is very useful also, but in the long run I'm sure Wing Chun is more complete (although no ground game). Just look at this clip, it is convincing:

http://www.fightauthority.com/movies/accion3.wmv

[stonecrusher69]

I say Wing chun is best only because its what I study.Kali is good also with sticks and knifes but they don't do much empty hand fighting.Kav maga Looks very effective from what I've seen in books.It looks like a combo of chinese striking arts,western boxing,and ju jitsu.

[fallen_milkman]

Kali actually does do a good bit of open hand work. Also, all the weapon techniques apply to hand techniques, so you're learning them right from the beginning. I chose Kali, because a knife is very easy to carry in a self defense situation, and easy to use.

[niel0092]

I really like kali. It starts with weapons but the techs are applicable for empty hand use right away. It includes lots of joint locks, standing grappling, and nasty strikes.

here's the local kali school where lots of people at my school cross train. I really like it.

http://www.mnkali.com/

As for the other arts, I really cant make a comparison as I dont have experience with them. My gut feeling is that as with any art it's really going to depend on your instructor and how much you can "take home" from your lessons.

Not sure I was much help...

[Hansen]

Well I don't know anything about Kali, so I can't answer for this one, but I picked Wing Chun for having practiced it for a while. I would really like to take Krav Maga since I'm sure it is very useful also, but in the long run I'm sure Wing Chun is more complete (although no ground game). Just look at this clip, it is convincing:

http://www.fightauthority.com/movies/accion3.wmv

Cool video. Very entertaining.

However, I don't think most of the techniques the guy shows is Wing Chun. There are no ground grappling techniques in traditional Wing Chun (i.e. Yip Man/ Wong Shun Leung style). No notable joint manipulating moves, very few kicks, and no elbow or knee techniques. Most of the schools that claim to teach Wing Chun in the States have been influenced greatly by Bruce Lee, who had already begun incorporating other styles outside of Wing Chun into the art back in the late 50s/ early 60s. For a good look at traditional Wing Chun, James Lee's book is good and so are William Chung's stuff. But even their stuff has evolved from Yip Man's original teachings, and James Lee was one of Bruce's students (though he tried to keep his book as close to traditional Wing Chun as possible). Nonetheless, you can check out their books here:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0897500377/qid=1123274471/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-3493194-9120005?v=glance&s=books

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0897501187/qid=1123274498/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/002-3493194-9120005?v=glance&s=books

In the video clip, the Wing Chun elements are limited to the traps and some of the entries. There are a couple kicks the guy does that seem Wing Chun based and he does execute a short jik chung chuie, but most of the other stuff looks more Jun Fan/JKD or muay Thai influenced as opposed to strict, traditional Wing Chun. In fact, there is one sequence of successive knee strikes that is shown that comes from a classic muay Thai drill. And I have never seen that particular kneeing sequence outside of muay Thai (or a muay Thai influenced system such as Jun Fan kickboxing or Shooto). He also finishes his opponent in one clip using a boxing hook. And many of the elbow strikes are definitively muay Thai in expression.

I don't know who the person is in the video. It's hard to tell due to poor resolution. But if anyone has any idea who he is, I might be able to reveal more based on the guy's martial background.

I chose Krav Maga, only because I felt Wing Chun was incomplete and Kali is primarily a weapons based system. So I didn't feel it was fair to include Kali into the mix. But it is still a great art.

[TheOttoman]

Sami Berik uses Wing Chun & Tai Chi Chuan as a strong base, then adds boxing, Muay Thai, Jujistsu, greco wrestling.

 

as long as you have a strong base you can pick and mix what u lack in.

[Hansen]

Sami Berik uses Wing Chun & Tai Chi Chuan as a strong base, then adds boxing, Muay Thai, Jujistsu, greco wrestling.

 

as long as you have a strong base you can pick and mix what u lack in.

Was that Sami Berik?

In either case, it would explain why the clip looks nothing like traditiona Wing Chun.

Edited August 5, 2005 by Hansen

[ysc87]

if you want to learn self-defense quickly, i would actually recommend krav maga over the rest. I really like wing chun after learning it for a short time, but sadly, the range is very limited. wing chun is a great supplement to any MA, but not a great self-defense art unless you've been at it for many years.

krav maga, despite the fact that the attacks are fairly linear, the drilling will prepare you mentally, and that could prove to be more useful than the actual techniques.

kali is pretty fast paced, but it is kind of a technical art compared to KM, where the whole point is just to just block and attack at the same time until your opponent isn't breathing anymore. kali is learning how to defend against attacks from different angles.

personally, i'd take JKD over anything. (although i admit, picking jkd is basically picking choice d: all of the above )

[Goju_boi]

yeah go with krav maga,that just gets the job done period