Have you had to use your art?

[Fajing]

Okay, I realize that this question has probably been addressed a million times, but I missed it, therefore I must ask. How have peoples arts worked for them in everyday life? Have you had to use your art, Wing Chun or whatever, and was it effective? I am just curious, in my small amount of experience (2 actual fights in my adult life) the fights were over in seconds. If this question is too personal, I also understand. Rock on! :cool:

[Fajing]

Wow, really? No one has ever used their martial art in a real "street" confrontation? It is great to hear that we live in such a peacefull world! LOL :p :p :p
Okay, just a bit of humor. Like I said, this may be too personal of a question. Anyhow, the reason I asked simply concerned all the disagreements dealing with Wing chun and MMA ect. I've noticed that some people deem Wing Chun an ineffective style on the street. Now, personally I don't train for MMA tournaments. I practice Wing Chun because I love it and martial arts in general, in addition to taining for self defense. In the two physical confrontations I have had to deal with, Wing Chun proved very successful. One involved a Tae Kwon Do practitioner who thought his style was far superior, therefore decided to attack me (apparently because he has issues), and the other concerned a large man (6'6'' about 265 I would guess) who attcked me outside my workplace. In both of these situations I responded with Wing Chun and ended the confrontation within a few seconds. Now, once again I realize that I have not competed in MMA tournaments, nor do I ever plan to. Real life is what I want my martial art to work in, and so far it has, very well. I would think that this is many people's objective. STREET DEFENSE! Finally, I just wanted to mention this due to the comments I have read concerning Wing Chun really working. I guess it basically comes down to WHAT you are training for and the PRACTITIONER themselves. In my experience the practitioner is key, no matter what style is practiced. All depends on the person. ;) Okay, I just had to get that off my chest. Rock on!!

[Sihing73]

Hello Fajing,

I would tend to take everyones war stories told on the net with a grain of salt. Those who have used the art will remain confident in its applicability without feeling the need to beat their own drum. I am very secure in my approach to Wing Chun and base that on my years as a Police Officer and from having taught defensive tactics at a county prison. However, this does not mean that I have any real idea of what I am doing, I may have just been lucky. Besides, in law enforcement you can not use Wing Chun to simply strike and beat your opponent you need to explore the controlling aspects which are found within the art. All in all a good education for me. I will say that my Sifu feels my appraoch and method of teaching may be a bit more brutal than he likes. But, having seen victims of street attacks who used the watered down crap being taught at a lot of schools and got hurt worse as a result I will go with brutal anytime.

Since you wanted stories of having used Wing Chun in real life............................
There was this one time when I was a State Trooper in Northumberland COunty, PA. I was responding to an auto accident and was attacked by a young black bear. I did not have time to get my gun out so I used a Fak Sau to his throat and then I chain punched him into submission. While he was laying on the ground incapacitated from my fierce attack I drew my service weapon and shot him twice in the head. But, he was already on the way to the happy hunting gground sin the sky from my having crushed his throat with my Fak, I only shot him to spare him the pain and ease his suffering. I still have his head hanging on my wall.

Semi true story-who ways Wing Chun won't work for real..........honest :D

Peace,

Dave

[Fajing]

There was this one time when I was a State Trooper in Northumberland COunty, PA. I was responding to an auto accident and was attacked by a young black bear. I did not have time to get my gun out so I used a Fak Sau to his throat and then I chain punched him into submission. While he was laying on the ground incapacitated from my fierce attack I drew my service weapon and shot him twice in the head. But, he was already on the way to the happy hunting gground sin the sky from my having crushed his throat with my Fak, I only shot him to spare him the pain and ease his suffering. I still have his head hanging on my wall. Dave

Very good post! And that's what Wing Chun is for! :p I'm not joking. You never know when you might need it and for whatever reason. I started the post to actually get an idea of how people's martial arts have benifited or helped them in the everyday world. For example, saving their life. I'm glad that yours helped you and was successful. However, concerning tooting one's own horn, I don't mean it in this way. My point was that Wing Chun truely can be successful in a street fight, contrary to what many believe, but my apologies if I came across as bragging. Thanks for the interesting response. Rock on!! ;)