Attn: Jasbourne......Wing CHun footwork

[BoxerChick]

Hi Jas,
I noticed in that book on Wing Chun I looked at that
the footwork seems very, VERY similar to boxing.
It seems more flatfooted, but the step and slide stepping is ver
much like what my boxing coach tought me when I first started.
Also the stepping out on zones to the side of the opponent is exactly what we do in our boxing gym.
What type of footwork do you do in your wing chun style?

[JasBourne]

Well, I'm no expert, so a more detailed explanation would be found by asking the fine folks on the Wing Chun forum. But for the most part, footwork is relaxed and rooted, and there is a lot of what I think (not sure, not a boxer) you guys call a step-shuffle (we call it pic bo), where you step forward and pull your other foot under you and balance your weight there. We use that a lot to close the gap and to free up a leg for kicking.

Serious, ask in the WC forum, we have some VERY knowledgeable folks there :)

[Black Jack]

Thats a odd comparison,

To me they look like apples and bannas, boxing IMHO being much more dynamic than the WC footwork, one of the reasons it went into JKD over the old WC patterns.

[vingtsunstudent]

lol
i'm sorry blackjack but you must not have seen much wc footwork.
do you believe a wc man(or woman) just stands around without much movement.
it seems odd to me that any martial art or artist would just stand around & make such an easy target of themself.
the reason for todays boxers moving in the way they do has a lot more to do with the ring & shoes they where.
in the old days when they fought on more unstable surfaces & with shoes that had hard leather soles it was a fact that they shuffled more due to the fact that bouncing around as they do now could have led to falling or injury let alone the stability & power that could be gained from a firm stance.
these are just a few reasons as to why boxers move the way that they do now & not all of them are for the better.
vts

[yuanfen]

Not so. Wing chun is a very mobile system and boxing is basically onesided- north or south paw. Wing chun footwork can take you in all directions. JKD adopted other footwork because Bruce Lee's wing chun was not fully developed and he had moved away..

[Mutant]

agreed w/ yuanfen & wingchunstudent.
good wingchun footwork is very fast and dynamic...

[fa_jing]

The biggest practical difference between boxing footwork and WC footwork, IMO, is that you don't plant both your feet in WC until the moment of impact. Whereas boxing seems to plant then start the movement of the punch.

-FJ

[Black Jack]

In fact I have seen and sparred with Wing Chun on a number of occasions, a friend of mine takes Wing Chun up in Chicago, Yip Man Wing Chun.

I also agree that old school bare knuckle boxing, something I have a historical interest in as a western ma'ist, was more hsing like than what we see today.

From what I have seen and experianced and maybe its just my viewpoint, but I have heard the same from more than a few others, is that WC footwork is not very dynamic, something I agree with, even more so when compared to the fast and very mobile footwork of western boxing.

Now maybe this is only one lineage of WC, as I have heard that there are others out there who are more fluid in footwork, maybe it was budda palm or redboat but I am not for sure.

Either way I know what I see and what I have experianced, does that mean that it is not a good way of moving, no it does not, it just is not for everybody, and my viewpoint still has not changed to the facts I have seen.

[vingtsunstudent]

hi black jack
i study the wong shun leung method & our footwork is quite dynamic & yes i to have seen some wing chun men move terribley. this i think can also be attributed to the fact that many wing chun instructors today & even ones who studied under yip man never actually fought on the streets so therefore they do have a limited understading of how to move in a real situation.
what they do know comes from experience in chi sao & this is where a lot of versions of even yip man wc have lost it.
i am probably goin' to cop it for sayin' that but it is a fact & i feel very sorry for those who instead of understanding will only get defencive at my comments.
i could go on & tell you where i see problems in most peoples footwork & stances but i would only start even more trouble amongst my wing chun brothers & sisters & that is no longer my aim.
vts
ps it is good to see your interest in old school boxing, what i know of there footwork came to us accidentally on a train, a sihing of mine was reading whilst travelling from training when this old fellow next to him noticed some of the pictures of the postures, anyways this old bloke still helped to teach at one of the boxing clubs in sydney somewhere but after seeing our footwork was quite amazed as he thought that form of moving was gone forever, apparently he was quite excited, shocked & overwhelmed with memories all at once.
sorry they did have a couple of hrs train ride so they did get through a bit of talking apparently.

[Black Jack]

Vingtsunstudent,

Makes clear sense to me, as there would be different basis's for movement patterns in the different WC family's, some more static, some more free, I am just reporting what I have encountered, which is limited to one group and only a few individuals as well as the comments of others who have stated the same thing.

[vingtsunstudent]

cool
i never intended to offend you, just wanted to piont out that we aren't all the same & for whatever reason you may have to fight a wing chun man(if ever) that your downfall is not is not your lack of blindness or understanding.
vts