I think part of the problem is that WC's core principles look so good on paper.
Shortest path attacks seem like a good idea.
Simultaneous attack and defense is a good idea.
Attacking high with high and low with low seems like a good idea.
And so much ink has been spilled.
And the ideas have been talked about so much.
Oh, and Bruce Lee did Wing Chun.
And we all know that Xiaolong pwned Chuck Norris so...
This is all true. I would consider these sayings general ideas and things to keep in mind. It sort of sets up a mindset.
There are also however some problems:
1) Mythology trumps actuality -
This is a myth. And, honestly, WC really doesn't do it that much. WC is mainly an in-fighting striking art. Problem is that if you can't put big power behind those strikes and you are fighting close you are going to get grabbed. And WC doesn't handle getting grabbed very well... as has been discussed ad-nauseum.
As a long time WC practitioner, I've personally never believed that the system was created by a nun, and all that lore. IMO we really don't know where the development of the system came from, but I do believe each generation of Sifu's/practitioners has helped the art evolve, up until the point that it became over commercialized due to greed and the idea of being leader of a group of followers, basically big ego's. But there are some WC groups out there that are not a part of this type of thinking, that are really there to develop functional combat abilities.
To be fair this is conditioned based on a CMA background in which martial arts were largely a battlefield affair. The last place you want to be on a battle field is on your back. At best you get stepped on. Thing is that the ground isn't all sharks and hot lava. And the truth is that fights do frequently end up there because when two people are trying to destabilize each other one will likely fall down somehow. Predicating a system on the assumption that you will not end up there, especially an infighting system, is a bit of a stretch.
It is very unwise to predict or to think about any type of outcome in regards to combat. As far as I am concerned, you better have the training to back up your ability to defend yourself, and live in the moment while in combat. When nothing else has worked to avoid a confrontation, a decision has to be made to either fight or flight, and when you fight you have to put all your effort into the defeat of your opponent. Thinking about an outcome while all of this is happening is a no no in my book.
Honestly this should read fast and strong beats slow and strong. Thing is that if you don't condition for strength in some way it doesn't matter how fast you are, at best you can hope to run away.
True, but are we talking about strenght here or power. From what I understand, WC striking power comes from the ground and the legs, the strongest most powerful muscles in the body, backed up by a structure that can capitalize on that idea.
2) Overspecialization
WC is a very clever infighting striking system (subject to the three issues enumerated above) however it has bupkiss for long range techniques and zippola for wrestling. When you combine that with the mckwoon attitude that "crosstraining is teh bad" it produces a lethal combination. Please note I am not saying that all, or even most, WC kwoons are mckwoons. I'm just saying that the level of specialization of the art makes it one particularly dependent on crosstraining to produce a well rounded fighter.
The idea of being a "well rounder fighter" is brought about IMO due to the sportizing of the Martial Arts. Yeah, if you want to compete you shouldn't train in WC, because that is not the purpose of it. And if your interest is more varied, I whole heartedly advise those type to study whatever they feel the need to, but the question is, is that really needed when one is defending themselves in an everyday envirnoment situation. Most of us are limited in the amount of time we can spend on MA training.
3) Your fingers are not a knife.
Putting on my rational sceptic hat for a second so people who believe in qi blasting and dim mak better plug their ears and go lalalalalalala.
Biu Ji and other techniques based on... well... poking seem to mistake fingers for a knife. This leads to problems.
BJ that I practice now, has nothing really to do with finger strikes, although the idea of finger strikes is a part of the WC system, more of an advanced practice. The first thing learned is how to hit hard, move fast and eat up the space of the guy attacking you. BJ is most about what happenes when your structure is broken, lost or you find yourself in situation where the normal training doesn't consider. It's out of the box training.
Now, mind, a lot of WC's core techniques map really well to short blade combat. But down that road lies serious jail time... :s
. anyway without getting to specific, i just dont see it. yes its a good art but no it is not the grand ultimate martial art. now there are guys on here who are gonna come at me with all sorts of crap, like oh you havent learned enough yet yadda yadda yadda yackity shmackity, just know also i have two friends who are really good sifus in wing chun. and lets just say what i said before, while i see its efectiveness especially in close range combat, there are alot of places where it needs to be compensated where things need to be added to make it more of an effective fighting form. just my opinion.
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Originally Posted by SimonM
