Books question

[TomB]

He people,

I'm thinking about buying the "Wing Chun Kung Fu, a complete guide" series of three books by Joseph Wayne Smith. There are three books, the first explains the sets, the second combat techniques and the third the weapons.
My question is if someone bought them yet, and if so if they're worth the money. Are it good books, our don't I have to buy them, because it's a waste of money?

Thanks
Tom

Know what water is by drinking it.

[Martial Joe]

If you get it can you get the pictures of the forms on here,I would like to see them...

[Sihing73]

Hello,

I have not actually read the book so take this for what it's worth. :)

I happened on a couple fo his bookd while in Borders Bookstore. I glanced through them and was not that impressed by what I saw. I did nto see anything I had not seen before and I did not agree with some of the shapes of his movements.

If you are interested in collecting Wing Chun books and other media then it may be worth your while. If you are looking for something to use as some type of reference then my suggestion would be to see if you can find it in a bookstore and glance through it to see if it is your cup of tea. Other than that the only thing I would suggest, if you can't do this, would be to only buy one book and reveiw it first before spending the money on the whole series.

As I said I did not thing the books were that good but I have been wrong before. You may find that you like them.

Peace,

Dave

BTW: Be careful about posting things from books and other sources without the authors permission. Sometimes this can be troublesome :)

[TomB]

Sihing73, thank you very much for your reply, I think it's very useful. I actually think I'm just going to buy one book, and when it's a good book i'm going to order the rest. Thanks again for your reply!

Martial Joe, look at this adress:
martialartstechniques.homestead.com/files/vechtsporten.com (http://martialartstechniques.homestead.com/files/vechtsporten.html)
If you are refering to the pictures of the book I have to dissapoint you, because I don't have a scanner, and as Sihing73 said; be careful about posting things from books and other sources without the authors permission. Sometimes this can be troublesome.

Thanks again,
Tom

Know what water is by drinking it.

[kj]

The Smith book series you mention is not widely recommended, despite possibly having the widest distribution. By way of background (as noted clearly on the back plate of the books), the author has background in Western boxing, wrestling and power lifting, and has combined Wing Chun with White Crane and Thai kickboxing into a "new fighting system." Maybe the books are good for someone seeking that approach. Not my cup of tea.

Useful Wing Chun books are hard to come by, serving as casual references at best. The Chow and Weakland series, "Wing Chun Kung Fu" in 3 volumes, is at least more mainstream with respect to Yip Man lines.

Regards and good luck,
- Kathy Jo

[wingchun.com]

The only other really bad one, is Douglas Wong's the Deceptive Hands of Wing Chun. All bad, all the time.

:eek:

[mikey]

I own all three.
It's pretty interesting reading as long as you don't look at it as an instruction manual.
KJ is right,he tries to culminate the three book series into a sort of "I propose dealing with wing chun's shortcomings by including this and that into a new fighting system called(take your pick)kuen ,which I will be the unquestioned grandmaster".
I sort of see them as junk food for the mind.
Imagine what all those archie comics did to us! :D

[TomB]

Which book is worth buying then? I'm looking for an instructional book about wing chun, which handels most sets, and especially chin-na and dim-mak. Did someone buy that book of William Cheung,
Bill Gue -the art of the trusting fingers-?
Wasn't William a student of Yip Man? So I guess he know what he's talking about then. But I think the book is way to advanced for me yet, I only know the Sil lim Tao, so starting right away with Bill Gue would be going to fast.

Greetz,
Tom

Know what water is by drinking it.

[wingchun.com]

Probably Leung Ting's "Wing Tsun Kuen" and his followup book, "The roots of the Wing Tsun System". They are large, detailed and fairly expensive. The latest book covers a lot of ground but was poorly edited/translated. Tons of interesting pictures of sets etc.

Bruce Lee's book is not that detailed in reality and just touches on the basics.

I think Augustine Fong has a series out as well, but I have not seen those books, you probably can order from his website.

I have William Cheung's books and I didn't see that much value in them in terms of detailed information. Plus we have a slight disagreement about what Bil Jee is all about in terms of it NOT being about having rigid fingers for plunging into some body cavity, which is what William seems to think it is all about.

[wujidude]

It depends on what you're looking for and what level in WC you're at. For a beginner, Yip Chun's book (co-written with Michael Tse) is not a bad introduction to the art and to its first form. Yip Chun is Yip Man's oldest son. My one criticism is that the form is not photographed in as much detail as I'd like . . . but I enjoyed the book.

For another line of Wing Chun, I've enjoyed Rene Ritchie's book "Yuen-kay San Wing Chun". It is well-written. My only criticism is that some of the photographs are not that clear. But the discussion of principles and strategy is really nice.

As an introduction to what the art can do as a martial art, I'd recommend the late Wong Shun Leung's videotape "Wing Chun--the Science of Infighting". You can get that for 14 bucks or so off of Amazon.com. There may be a little backlog time, since it's not a frequently-ordered item.

[TomB]

Thanks a lot guys.
What I'm looking for is a book which covers all techniques of wing chun, and specially combat techniques and drill. But also pictures of the forms. I guess the series of Smith is the only one which covers each aspect of my demands. A book which only describes one set is not worth the money for me, because one set is easy learned, and you can not learn it from a book only. I reather use the book as an impression of wing chun, and the techniques I'm going to learn sometime, and also to practice some techniques at home.
Thanks for al your replies guys, they are really helpfull!! :D

Greetz
Tom

Know what water is by drinking it.

[Sihing73]

Hello,

The series already mentioned put out by Chao and Weakland, "Secret Techniques of Wing Chun" is a three book series which covers all three empty hand forms. It also presents drills and even a suggested training program.

There was also a book put out by, Stephan Chan which I think covered all of the forms including the wooden dummy(?) not sure if it is available still.

Randy Williams had a six volume set of books which covered all of the forms. I believe he has condensed these and is now re-releasing them in a 4 volume set.

As to Augustine Fongs books I remember seeing them back in 82-83 but I do not believe they are in circulation anymore. If anyone has a copy email me as I would love to get my hands on them. I regret not getting them back then. :(

You are right that you can not learn from a book. Still, with proper instruction you can use the information in a book for reference. Thing is to insure you do so in tune with what you are being taught. What I mean to say is, if your Sifu teaches you to do the form one way and you see it done differently in the book do what your Sifu tels you :p

Peace,

Dave