Anyone here train or have trained under Scott Baker? (From New Zealand)

[SAAMAG]

Just curious...

[t_niehoff]

Just curious...

I trained some years ago with Scott when he visited me -- he has quite a bit of fighting experience (including UFC 2).

[SAAMAG]

Cool...so in that one session...what did you guys work on? What was your assessment of him? You can PM if you like.

[t_niehoff]

Cool...so in that one session...what did you guys work on? What was your assessment of him? You can PM if you like.

No need to PM. Scott is a really nice guy, is very good at what he does (though we do things differently), knows the WT curriculum very well, and is open-minded. He also has a lot of fighting experience.

When we met, we spent most of our time working on the WCK weapons (pole and knives), although I did show him - because he asked - a little bit of our approach to WCK and we did mix it up a little (mainly for illustration purposes) -- but he went easy on me because at the time I was still wearing a knee brace, recovering from a dislocated knee that I got training.

[SAAMAG]

Awesome. I've been working with him as of late And found the same to be true. I never heard any mention of him here so I was curious to see if anyone else had experience with him to share with.

[CFT]

^^
Is he the internally "biased" sifu you've mentioned before?
How does this approach differ to what you practiced previously?

Thanks.

[SAAMAG]

Yep. His approach I like far more actually than what've I've done to date--both from a fighting perspective as well as a whole system perspective.

As much as I don't like chi-superdom stories from people who shall remain nameless (if you say their names they come back), I do realize that the aspect of chi comes as part of the whole in gung fu, and working with Scott allows me to explore that side of things without going off the deep-end. There are no fantasy skills and no illusions about chi somehow overcoming one's biological processes to give someone superpowers. He interrelates the aspects of chi gung with the gung fu in a realistic fashion...east/west semantics aside.

From a mechanics perspective, with the forms he said I look like WSL's line when I do them. He said that's a great line as it's a proven fighting line (not implying anything about other lines though). But for his approach, he recommended I go with a very soft/rubbery application of the forms, with little to no muscular tension. Whipping sounds should be heard with many of the motions, etc. That part wasn't too hard a transition because of my past Tai Chi and Shaolin work. There are differences in actual techniques used and when, applications of the movements seem to be in line though.

From a teaching perspective we see eye to eye in terms of how drills should be worked, techniques should be used, principles and theories...etc.

Overall so far he's corrected a lot of my rustyness, adjusted micro movements, and the like. He's my first private Sifu I've had in a long time after my step-brother. I prefer things that way over "schools" because I feel the quality is better. I'll be continuing my training with him from this point on I think. IMO he's a far better source of information and experience over the current selection in my area. I'm pleased I found him, just wish that I'd been able to find him sooner.

I would recommend anyone that has a chance to work with him to do so. It's well worth it.

[kung fu fighter]

Here is Scott Baker fighting in UFC 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTlpmw4C454&feature=related

[SAAMAG]

And here's an accompanying article which explains his views on the fight:

Wing Chun and MMA competition (http://www.wingchunkungfu.com/joomla/index.php/articles/34-sifu-baker/60-mma-wckf)

[wkmark]

And here's an accompanying article which explains his views on the fight:

Wing Chun and MMA competition (http://www.wingchunkungfu.com/joomla/index.php/articles/34-sifu-baker/60-mma-wckf)

I thought I read that article before. Thanks for bringing it up again. Very insightful.

[anerlich]

I've seen white belt BJJ matches and novice MMA matches that were much more technical than that. But this was 1994, and few people outside Brazil had any idea about BJJ. It WAS a white belt match for all intents and purposes. Scott's "Wing Chun escapes" did work against another white belt ... I doubt they'd do much against a purple or black belt.

DON'T wear a gi if your opponent is more skilled than you in grappling. You might as well put on a straitjacket.

I don't know why they both kept it on the ground when both have their forte in standup.

You have to give the guy big props for stepping up, way out of his comfort zone. and he seemed to learn from his experience. Bravo.