Why Wing Chun?

[greyseal]

I think it likely that most of us who post on this particular forum study/practice Wing Chun. I have been learning about the martial arts since I was about 15 years old, and now I am thirty-two. That doesn't mean that I've always practi ced: I've been reading and watching for a long time. Anyway, I have been facsinated by Kung-Fu for a number of years and actively searched for a school. The one I finally found was a Wing Chun school, and I dig it. What I'm curious about is why you ladies and gentlemen chose Wing Chun. Or perhaps...(deep ominous chuckle) it chose you?

[vertical fist]

I've loved MA since I was a little kid. I watched alot of Chuck Norris movies and was even an Official Fan Club member. :D When I was 9 or 10, spent about a year or so learning Tang Soo Do at a local school. My parents pulled me out cuz my grades were bad. :( Kind of a blessing in disguise. I did'nt spend years and years learning "bad habits" from one of those "hard styles". So my MA studies turned to video games and movies. Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Seagal flicks, :rolleyes: :D
About a year ago, a friend turned me on to Wing Chun, started teaching me things, pak, bong, fuk. Showed me Siu Leem Tau, little by little. By this time I'm really in love with the art so I got with some cool bros locally to train with, some cats from Sifu Randy Williams' Close Range Combat Academy.
To answer the question, I guess "she" chose me. Where I train is a private group, not a commercial school. My friend's old school is too far away for me to train regularly at. The only KF around my area is Tai Chi, which is cool but not alot of that arts' combative principles are taught too much. Everything around is karate, TKD, karate, karate. :rolleyes: If the schools were available I might look into Mantis, Chin Na or Pentjak Silat but I love WC. It's a great art and I'm very blessed to be able to study it.

"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do."

[Martial Joe]

I chose wing chun...because...well I didnt know much about it but it was under kung fu...I ended up lucky and got a really good sifu.

Wing Chun is the best for stand up fighting...

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[txwingchun]

my story is similar i started in karate when i was young. then moved away still held an intrest in MA though. When i was about 15 i started in TKD it was fun but it never seemed effective to me it was more sport oriented. I started getting into MA magazines and books for years to find something better for me. Finally after my TKD teacher disappered i was back out of MA then he showed up a year later so i went back to him,i was dumb enought to spend $1500 on "lifetime membership" well actually my mom spent the money cause she knew how much I love MA. Anyway he disappeared again. About a year later I joined another Kungfu school that lasted about a year. Then one day I saw the light it said Wing Chun so i searched and found a great school. but it was all the across town, no car so i took the bus. didn't work out so i tried again about 2 years later to the same school. **** the bus still didn't run late enougn. So I got discouraged and gave up trying for about 8 years. finally i tried again and bam i'm back in and i love it! 8 years of sloppy,lazy, sorry skills to fix but that's ok because I pratice my ass off every day.I won't get out of this again unless i'm dead or end up in a wheeel chair! :D

[Sharky]

i wanted to do kung fu, and my bro said wing chun was "the best". I then fell in love with the dummy (ahem) and then saw a film of chi sau and thought it looked awesome.

My anus is superior™

[rogue]

I went from WC (OK, also JKD) to karate and TKD! Loved the art but it just didn't fit me, don't ask me why but it just didn't. Still appreciate the art though and always like to see how WC handles situations and compare it to karates solutions.


Rogue, you're an @ss!! Watchman

Adventure is just a romantic name for trouble. It sounds swell when you write about it, but it's hell when you meet it face to face in a dark and lonely place.
Louis L'Amour

BTW, did I mention that Rogue was an @ss? Watchman

[Sihing73]

Hello,

I was about 15 or 16 years old. Had a blck belt in Judo and was competting. I thought I was pretty tough. Anyhow we had the guy from Hong Kong at my work, I worked after school at a Heating and Air Conditioning place. I kept buggin him aobut whether he knew Kung Fu, he ketp saying no. Anyhow he finally got tired of me and taught me a lesson. He put me down several times without actually hurting me. I asked what that was and he said Wing Chun. I asked him to teach me and he said no. I bought every book I could find on Wing Chun and a little while later he agreed to teach me. I am not sure what his lineage was and after a short time he returned to Hong Kong, taking his sister who I was dating with him :(

I was drawn to the simplicity of the system. The idea of using less to accomplish more really gelled with me.

Peace,

Dave

[Martial Joe]

thats touching Dave...do you know who that guy was?

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[Sharky]

did he always not like you or something sihing73? you gave the impression that he hated you!

My anus is superior™

[Sihing73]

Hello Martial Joe,

His name was Bernie Wong, not sure about his Chinese name but that is what he used in America.

Hi Sharky,

Well, I guess I was a pretty irritating kid. I mean here I am only 15 or 16 and I kept pressing him to "show me something" :) which he did. But, the big problem was that his sister and I were dating and he did not like me a white guy going out with his sister who was Chinese. However, he and I became very good friends and in our short time together he opened my eyes to many things. After his return to Hong Kong we stayed in touch a short time and then I received a letter advising that he and his sister had died. Nothing ever after that, not even sure who sent the last letter.

Peace,

Dave

[cobra]

The aggressive and direct nature of the art and the simplicity is what lured me in, now, if it were as easy to learn as it is simple.

Just my 4 cents!!

[JasBourne]

Why WC? For me, because it made sense, the only martial art that really made sense to me. I spent a few years checking out moo duk, karate, hung gar. All powerful systems, all with, to me, one basic flaw: too much wasted motion.

Set up strike/kick, deliver, regroup. In, hit, out, repeat. Shift weight, position limbs, shift weight. I kept thinking what Bruce Lee said once, about how pointless it was to be waving your arms all over the place. I never said so in any of the classes, but I couldn't shake the feeling that there had to be a better way, a more elegant way, a more efficient way - something that took split seconds and fractions of an inch, that used physics instead of just muscles.

Wing Chun fit the bill - not pretty the way the other systems were, no one looking at me doing WC ever says 'oh that's so cool'. But when I use the tools correctly, when I manipulate the energy of my opponent's strikes and I KNOW where he will be next, how his body will be structured, where his mind is, and I have the suckah, he's mine and he knows it, then I know that WC is the absolute best foundation for close-quarters combat ever devised.

:)

[Anarcho]

That's a really sad story, Sihing73. :(

[mun hung]

Did'nt have intentions of learning MA again after a lifetime of it. Was totally disenchanted with what MA had become. (with all the commercialism and lousy instructors out there) Being real "picky" as far as MA instructors go; I really was'nt convinced that there was any "real" kung fu left or anyone skilled enough to teach it.

Then one day, I was introduced to my SiFu, his pak sau and his "whipping" tan sau. He changed my mind. Been addicted ever since! Was I looking for Wing Chun? No. I guess I was just waiting for A SiFu to "show me something". I'm glad it was Wing Chun.

[Sharky]

that's really sad. do you know if they are actually dead? what do u mean "advised" taht they were dead? do u mean that you should 'consider them dead' and not contact them any more? was he in trouble for teaching wing chun?

sorry to pry - it's just a wierd an sad story, that begs for the truth to be found...

My anus is superior™

[ATENG]

(nt)

---------------------
Its all fun and games til someone loses an
eye. Then its just fun.

[bratok304]

That's sad dude, why did they have to die? How did they? Accident? Or you were dating a 80 year old? (J/K) ... :D :( :( :( :( :(

[Slayer]

I have done a few arts, Karate, ( sight ) Tae kwon do, ( sight ) Judo, Ninjitsu, Hung Gar, Boxing, and I wrestled. Out of all those I only though Boxing, judo, and Wrestling was good. Then I learned about Wing Chun, it was simple which made it really effective. With the sort easy moves, I can use it on the streets without anyone seeing that I am a Martial Artist.

[wuhsin]

began learning wing chun last year (aged 13), mostly because my brother taught me a little at home, and it seemed considerably more effective then boxing or judo (which is all my secondary school teaches). i had the choice of either wing chun or mantis and i went there for 3 lessons in a row to make up my mind, of course now i do both, but i decided wing chun, why? first the pure system of doing something both attacking and defending, and the centerline, that and i didnt really want to show that i was a MA until i was sure i could beat everyone at my school. now everything going pretty sweet, a lot of my friends want to join (cept the ones who are sure that boxing is better) and are still angry how i beat them.. :)

``fill the space - if they expand you contract, they contract you expand''

[Sihing73]

Hello,

I don't want people to miss the point which is not what happened to the person who taught me Wing Chun in the first place. The question was what got me into Wing Chun in the first place and that was the fact that I had been defeated rather easily by a Wing Chun guy.

I am saddened by what happened but I really have no confirmation about what happened. All I know is that we kept in touch for a time and then there was a final letter advising me that they had died. No explanation as to how and I do not know who sent the last letter. I would rather remember the good times then speculate on what may have happened.

Peace,

Dave

[Scott]

One day I was loitering around an old Chinese man's Bonsai tree shop, and he asked me to come in to sweep. I swept his shop every day for several years, and eventually I learned that I wasn't actually sweeping--I was learning Wing Chun!

-Scott

"Life is hard, but so am I." -- The Eels.

[greyseal]

Those are some excellent stories. I like the fact that you all answered with sincerity and not any amount of ego getting in the way. Any body else have their story to share?

[greyseal]

Watchamn..I know you're out there...What got you into Wing Chun?

[Anarcho]

I started because my friend did Wing Chun and said it was good. Exciting, huh?

[Martial Joe]

Slayer~Good point about people not being able to tell that your a MA...your right...

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[tiger_1]

im traning about 11 years and like first im like martial arts and kung fu but my only choice in that moment is be wing chun and intonjutsu ;im mean wing chun is only real kung fu style of animal styles ( but in last time in world we have that many wingchungers but that litlle wing chun) - just friendly tiger_1 ;)

/

[Gandolf269]

I had always been interested in learning some form of Kung Fu (I was a big fan of Bruce Lee and the David Caradine series when I was younger. One day my wife drug me to a book store where I proceeded to look for a book on Tai Chi. Luckily the only Kung fu book was on Wing Chun (M. Tse and Ip Chun). The theory really made sense to me, so I found a school nearby, and now we are both hooked on the art.

____________
'...and China is still serving rice in Tibet!'

[EmptyCup]

My grandad did Hung Gar and some other style...my mom did taekwondo and my uncle did Shotokan. My dad did Wing Chun. One big martial arts family :)

Used to get into alot of fights in grade school because I didn't take sh!t from anybody...my dad began forcing me to learn Wing Chun since I was 7, around grade 2 because he knew that being a asian kid meant you were generally smaller than the white and black kids. He figured I needed to make up for this disadvantage in size with martial skill...

I never took it seriously until I was 15 or so...that's when I began learning from another sifu, but at least I had a great foundation from my early training. My dad was always very critical of bad habits and such in my techniques and so I constantly had to watch myself. My current teacher never pays that much attention to his students :)

Anyways, that's my quick and unremarkable story ;)

[jesper]

Well I was mighty cocky after doing MA for a while and having only lost one fight.
One day I heard about this young fighter who was supposed to be very good, so naturally I challenged him :). 20-30 seconds later I begged him not to hit me anymore, and have been practicing WT ever since.

[Abstract]

I always loved MA since i was a kid, but moms was overprotective, so i played bball to keep her at peace, but my pops taught me abit of boxing..when I was 15 i wrestled in high school for 2 years, also a friend taught me alittle JKD, i was more like his punching bag when i couldn't throw him, but i picked up what i needed at the time. Never had the ca to go study WC anywhere, tried Kempo for a year, but didn't like the way it moved, it was too rigid. Once i found a good sifu in WC i signed up & will be sticking with this for good. ;)

[Sharky]

i think watchman got into muay thai at 15 cos of bruce lee, and then switched to wing chun :D

Edd

================================================== =
The battle started with a grapple, he had real long hair so a grabbed a hand full, and chopped 'em in the Adams-apple, his partner in back of you tried to attack you, so I'ma twist 'em up like a pret-zel then I'ma tag you/I can't believe he wanna grapple again, I swung 'em around like I was dancing wit 'em, put his arms in back of his head and snapped 'em again, I fractured his limbs and put em in the figure-"6 subtracted from 10"...

[wingchunwsl]

i was into martial arts. i did tae kwon do but later found out it wasn't something really for me so i looked around my area for schools but couldn't find any really good schools.

i later bought a jeet kune do book. in there, bruce mentioned he did a chinese style known as wing chun and that just stuck in my head.

one day later, i saw an article of wing chun and at the bottom, it said that the guy studied his stuff in monterey park- somewhere sorta close to where i lived.

checked it out one time and took a class a second. unfortunately, i had no ride except for two "friends" and after the first class they didn't want to take me. had to wait for a few months later and finally got to participate in a real wing chun kwoon.

[Watchman]

Sharky is incorrect, but he's close. ;)