Wing Chun works for me

[Sihing73]

Hello,

Given the recent posts concerning the applicability of Wing Chun I wanted to share the following;

I currently teach a group of people at a Karate School. The head instructor, a 5th dan, and his senior black belts are my students. Everyone I instruct is at least 1st dan with most being 2nd and at least one 3rd dan. They enjoy the realistic approach of Wing Chun and the efficiency and non reliance on force to work.

Also, this evening I took my family to a "self defense" class/demo at a local community center. I declined particpating in the class but the instructor, a 6th degree black belt asked to see what I do. My wife had participated and told him I did Wing Chun. Anyhow I demonstrated the first form, rather sloppily as I rushed through it. He then decided to touch hands with me. He was unable to touch my center and struck me once, in the nose. After he struck me I proceded to hit him a couple of times and back him up. I ended up hitting him twice, in rapid succession and with control in the throat. At this point he decided to stop. I am sure that if we fought I would have some bruises but I am confident that I would be the winner. Of course, he may feel the same way. We shook hands and he asked me some questions about Wing Chun and invited me to his school He said he was interested in Wing Chun and expressed an interest in some of the theories and efficient application. I am a little dissappointed that he managed to hit me the one time but I am getting old and I was not really expecting him to strike me in the face, my fault as I messed up. Still, I am pretty happy that he was unable to hit my center and after hitting me the one time he could offer no counter when I started driving into him and striking him.

My point being that Wing Chun can and does work. Even if you are an older out of shape person like myself. :D It is capable of dealing with other styles as well as street defense. Since there are many more who are much better than I, my confidence in the art is unshaken.

Peace,

Dave

[Martial Joe]

...

[whippinghand]

How do you know he wasn't holding back?
How do you think you messed up?
As he was a non-Wing Chun practitioner, not necessarily trained to hit the centre, what significance does it have that he didn't hit you there?

[S.Teebas]

Out of curiosity...what style of karate was this guy practicing?

[Nichiren]

Nice one Dave...

Often people training other MAs than WC are saying it doesn't work because we only train WC-WC. I say it is the other way around. It is a b!tch sparring against WC practitioners due to WC principles and I find it easier going up against e.g. karate guys.

[Sihing73]

Hello,

WhippingHand,
Neith one of us was going all out so I am sure I did not experience his best. It is quite possible that he was holding back and I could argue I was doing the same. This was not a fight and I allowed him to dictate the tone. As to the significance of being unable to hit the center; the way I look at it if someone is trying to hit me in the chest, stomach etc and can't then it shows me that I can keep the center closed. Although not a Wing Chun stylists I am sure his system trains to hit the body, at least I hope so ;) . I messed up by not taking things a little more seriously. I assumed that we were not striking to the face and as a result I allowed one to get through. To me this is "messing up".I should have been ready for the shift in target and stopped it before it started. However, the fact that he was unable to stop me when I started attacking him still makes me think that Wing Chun works quite well. While it is still possible for him to have been holding back, as I said we were not going all out, I am not sure he would have "allowed" me to move him back and hit him sevreal times, ending at the throat, in front of the students of him that came with him for the class/demo. Of course, I could be wrong.

S. Teebus,
It was Okinowan Karate, suppossedly Isshinryu (sp?). According to him when we talked afterwards he thought it was or could be compatable with Wing Chun. He mentioned that they used gates and did not used force on force. Although, what I saw demonstrated was typical force reliant karate.

Nichiren,
Thanks, but again I must stress that this was not a fight or even an all out sparring match. He initiated it and dictated the tone. I was more passive. It was a nice exchange being what it was. I am sure, as I stated previously, that if we fought more intensly I would have some wear on me, I just feel confident that I would end up the winner. Of course I could also lose. Without actually fighting more intensly it is unfair of me to say for sure.

What I found during this exchange was that once I started moving forward and driving into him he was unable to regain any positioning in order to counter me. He was strictly defensive and I was able to shut down any attack he initiated. He even tried to kick me at one point which I was able to stop kick. He made the mistake of trying to fight me in close, something he said they do, and did not have the sensitivity to react quickly enough to my attacks. At least that is my opinion. I am glad that we parted on good terms and I am sure that if we get together again it will be beneficial to both of us.

Peace,

Dave

[black and blue]

Refreshing to see that two people from different MAs can come together (one in front of his own students) and spar a little without it becoming a battle of the ego.

There are various WC clubs and MA clubs where I live, but the idea of going to one of these would prove fatal :) For me, most likely.

Too much ego, which is a shame. Most the clubs near me have the "our way, our style is the best attitude".

I'd love to 'play' with some other styles - it's a good way to stamp out those preconceptions.

I did Karate for a few years when I was a whipper-snapper, and until last year, had the impression it was a purely force-on-force MA with deep stances and thus slow movement.

During the summer I was playing tennis and saw a Shotokan class in a sportshall opposite the courts. I walked over to take a look - most the students seemed to be brown and black belts.

Boy - those guys were fast. Fast hands, fast feet. I walked away with my eyes opened. I wouldn't want to quit WC to go back to Karate... I love what I'm doing.

But it reminds of a comment a MA friend once said. "For all the different MAs in the world, there are only so many ways for a person to punch and kick and block, and only one way for all of us to get knocked on our arse."

Karate's theory and body structure might not be what I'm looking for, and I might feel WC is more efficient and direct... but I certainly wouldn't want to face one of those guys from Shotokan class.

Having said all of that - Judo sucks!!!

:D

[BeiKongHui]

ttt for Sihing