Is wing chun too popular?

[sunkuen]

Anerlich commented that "Probably more than half the world's current MA practitioners would be doing something else if it weren't for Bruce Lee."

Would that be such a bad thing?

[Axiom]

I got the impression he meant that they would be doing something other than martial arts, rather that doing another martial art. Could be wrong of course.

[reneritchie]

I don't think it would be such a bad thing at all.

RR

[sunkuen]

me neither

[Wei Sui]

I think an art can be too popular for it's own good. Dilution of the art. High demand allows for high supply (teachers), some of the teachers (who aren't qualified to teach) can take advantage.

[Grendel]

Originally posted by Wei Sui
I think an art can be too popular for it's own good. Dilution of the art. High demand allows for high supply (teachers), some of the teachers (who aren't qualified to teach) can take advantage.
Wei Sui et al,

All these points about the popularization of Wing Chun are well to consider, but Anerlich was paying respect to Bruce Lee, not to the proliferation of Wing Chun at whatever cost to the integrity of the art.

From a selfish point of view, I think Wing Chun is too popular. ;) I'd rather fight other styles than someone who knows good Wing Chun. :)

Respectfully,

[sunkuen]

This thread isn't to criticize what anerlich said , it simply brought up a good question.

[red5angel]

"I think an art can be too popular for it's own good. Dilution of the art. High demand allows for high supply (teachers), some of the teachers (who aren't qualified to teach) can take advantage."

sounds familiar.........

[Spectre]

So if a martial art is too popular and can lead to less than satisfactory instruction, what ensures a less popular art doesn't still have a shortage of good instructors?

It can also be said that with a wider range of Wing Chun practitioners, there is more of a measure to being good. It can be a lot easier to be better than 10 people than 10,000.

Just a few thoughts...

Kevin

[Chum Kil]

That's a relative question, depends where you live. Here in Utah my answer would be NO. When it comes to Martial Arts the more the merrier, let the public decide on which one's they want to spend their time and money with. Choice is what I'm looking for. I'll do the research on my own to determine who I want to train with.

[burnsypoo]

The popularity/"commercialism" of WC never really concerns me too much.

If some people are putting forth crap out there, then so be it, all I care about is making sure my stuff isn't crap, and that the way that I pass anything on isn't crap.
-BP-

[reneritchie]

See, then I hope other people's stuff *is* crap, so that when they try to mug you, you can be all like *k'pow* *k'plam* and stuff. 8P

RR

[burnsypoo]

Originally posted by reneritchie
See, then I hope other people's stuff *is* crap, so that when they try to mug you, you can be all like *k'pow* *k'plam* and stuff. 8P

RR

No way champ, I'm gonna sit them down and lecture them in the error of their ways. I'm going to make it my personal mission to spam-bomb these guys' brains with my own il-informed and unwelcome propaganda.

So, 20 "crap WC schools" open in your city? So what. Suddenly the "name of WC" is bad and you can't show your face at the Kwiki-mart?

All you can do is represent if the question ever arrives.

"What the -explitive- was that?"
"Wing Chun, go tell your friends."
(smoke rolls in and shadowy figure fades into the black)

-BP-

[Alpha Dog]

Maybe you think so because it's what you do, ergo you tend to pay more attention to it.

I believe karate was already pretty popular in North America before Kato came along; and I was reading a book a while back by a guy who has studied various martial arts including karate for about 30 years -- his big complaint was that, no matter what dip**** town in the USA he travelled to, the local yellow pages always had an ad for a school run by an 11th generation Karate Master.

North America is the land of opportunity -- it only follows that it must also be home to the opportunist. This extends beyond Wing Chun and other martial arts as well.

[anerlich]

Axiom is correct in his interpretation of my Bruce Lee comment.

[Alpha Dog]

But I don't think you can rule out the possibilities that these people would (a) be doing another MA or (b) that someone not unlike Bruce Lee would have made it to Hollywood. China was in the spotlight, as was Hong Kong -- it was inevitable that the West would have fallen in love with Kung Fu.

[NPMantis]

Just to put it in perspective I have heard there are 100,000 Karate schools in the UK compared to 5,000 Kung Fu school, WC may be popular but Karate is so much mor popular - this is probably due to the superior deadly technique (or at least that's what my Karate friend says when talking out of his ass)!

[Axiom]

It's certainly a great deal easier to find somewhere that teaches Karate. Most people have very little idea of any difference, though, including the differences between styles of Kung Fu (or Karate, for that matter).

[NPMantis]

Tell me about it, there are at least a dozen karate schools near where I live, I can't believe I have actually found a Wing Chun place near to me, the nearest KF place to me other than that is at least a half an hour travel, and I live in London so you'd expect more schools here than most other parts of the UK.