Have you ever used Wing Chun in a street fight?

I've been looking for a martial art to study for a while now, and I was pretty sure that I had decided on Wing Chun. However, after coming to these forums, I have begun to question whether or not it's even worth taking (my first priority is learning self-defense). Out of the people here, has anyone actually applied WT/C/VT/etc. in a street fight? If you have, did it work? Just curious. I know that it depends more on the student and teacher than the art, but assuming that I am a reasonably athletic and coordinated person who is strong for my size (which, unfortunately, is around 110 lbs, hence WC) and that I find a good teacher, I want to know if I will be able to use it successfully in a fight. If I can find a Muay Thai school, would that be a better choice, even given my small size?

P.S. I know that Krav Maga and some other arts would be better choices, but there are a couple of problems:

1. Where I live, my choices seem to be "karate" (which, granted, could be anything :rolleyes:), "kung fu" (again, since many schools are hesitant to even say what style they teach), kenpo, wing chun, aikido, and, of course, taekwondo.

2. I'm going to be going to college in a few months (I also need an art that I can continue there, but I'll be going to the Los Angeles area so I'm not worried), so I need the ability to stop someone without using excessive force, esp. since they might be drunk.

Yes, I've used Wing Chun offensively and defensively and it did work. Fights lasted about 5 seconds.

Regarding the rest of your post: There's certainly people more qualified than me to answer here, but as an on/off student of MA for 15 years and a dedicated Wing Chun student for the last 5 years I will say--

Sounds like you want to learn something quick. If that's the case, the few months before you leave for college will not be enough time to learn to use any art effectively. Perhaps if you trained full time under a good instructor there’s a chance.

If you are after something quick, suggest you learn some basic boxing combos, two or three basic takedowns, some basic grappling and practice these over and over. Forget about learning any style or system at all in that short of time.

If your interests are purely self-defense, then there are many things beyond the physical --strategy, situational awareness, force of will, positioning, negotiation, learning to run, using your wits, avoiding "bad" places and mostly being able to remain calm and think rationally under the tide of an adrenaline rush and in the grip of dire situations.

1renox- What did you do the guy you were fighting? did you KO him out?


zeppelinfr34k- HHHHHMMM, 1renox is right, thats not enough time to learn. But I would go with the Wing chun out of all those mentioned. Good luck.

Wish I had KO’Ed them!! That would have been cool, but my experiences are limited and not very exciting. These were against poorly trained or completely untrained idiots. If they had been trained, it might have been different, but Wing Chun strategy and techniques did work.
Of my Sidai that have also been in fights, results and circumstances were similar; no KO, only a few punches were thrown and somebody ended up on the ground. It bothers me to hear guys “blow their own horn” about such things, and I don’t want to hijack this thread, but I’ll relate the incidents only this once on the forum and for the sake of zeppelinfr34k to take from them what he will.

Offensive: 3 guys make a rude remark within my earshot about my teenage daughter and wife. We were near a college and I think they were just freshmen blowing off some steam. But, it set me off. We had a heated discussion there for about 30 seconds and they really make me mad when one of them offers more disrespectful remarks. So now there is a matter of honor at stake. I threw a finger jab to draw the leaders hands up, entered to his side and trapped his elbow. This also puts the 2 other guys on his other side so I can see them. He was about 6 inches taller than me. His head was beyond my reach. I’m watching his hands and controlling his elbow and he draws them up to his face and started shaking, almost crying. It was weird. I almost felt sorry for him then, so I just put some soft punches to his kidneys and pushed his away into his buddies. They were all so shocked. I said, “You should apologize now.” and they did.

Defensive: Coming out of store last year after some Christmas shopping, I bump into some guy going in and say, "I’m sorry, excuse me." in passing. As I’m walking to car, he rushes after me screaming,”I’m going to kick your _ss!” He looked much like Tank Abbot. He pushes my shoulder and says again, “I’m going to kick your _ss.” So I know that by touching me, he means to carry it through. When he reaches out to do it again, I yield to the push, step around and help his arm along with double larp sau. The guys so big and got so much momentum that he stumbles and falls scraping his knees up (he had on shorts and it was about 50 F outside—go figure). He starts to get up, but I yell in my most dominating voice, “STAY DOWN”. He does. He might have been drunk for all I know. He looked like Bluto from Popeye cartoons.

To zeppelinfr34k:
If I misinterpreted your post and you are looking for an art for the long term, Wing Chun is a good art because at a high enough skill level, a smaller, weaker opponent can use it and win. In both of my encounters I was definitely smaller than the opponents. I’m actually very strong though and lift heavy weights regularly. Theoretically, when I’m 80, I should be able to use Wing Chun to some degree of effectiveness based on skills, not athletic ability. I don’t think I will be able to do 400 lb. squats when I’m 80.

Jeez—I hope this doesn’t sound like preaching, but no matter what style you do study, the hardest thing is being able to control yourself. There are guys who have studied for a decade and got beat up. Maybe it will happen to me too someday. IMHO, an MA must have intent and purpose which is more important than any style or system. The web is full of first hand stories of guys who get in a fight and loose all composure and then lose the fight, not because of lack of skill, but because of not being able to conquer their own mind. Maybe when older, I’ll change my screen name to SonOfYoda.

In my lineage, strategy and positioning are integral to the system, so knowing how it comes into play even before the first attack does help in calming the mind. Oops, getting long winded, sorry---I’ll shut up now.

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It bothers me to hear guys “blow their own horn” about such things, and I don’t want to hijack this thread

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Not at all. I find it very interesting to hear when someone uses MA's in the street, in no way does that mean you are blowing your own horn. After all, I did want to hear about it.:)

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but my experiences are limited and not very exciting.

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I thought they were cool. Especially the defensive one, I found it funny! The offensive one was very interesting, because you show how used not only WC, but restraint when you were mad. Thank you for sharing that with us.

Thanks for the advice. I know I can't really learn a lot between now and September; what I'm hoping to do is spend a lot of time right now learning the basics, since I have so much free time, and then find a school near where I'm going to college. Also, thanks for sharing your experiences; they were both interesting and informative.

If you spend all your Free Time Drilling your Basics , like Footwork , etc , then you will be in good Shape .

Once you get to LA , you can look up guys like Robert Chu (Amazing Hands) . I think hes in that Area ...

You can Check at :

www.Chusaulei.com

it works.

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Originally posted by zeppelinfr34k
I've been looking for a martial art to study for a while now, and I was pretty sure that I had decided on Wing Chun.

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Wing Chun is an excellent martial art to learn. It works in a fight. You WILL be comfortable throwing hands in a combat situation. No question about it.

Go to www.wingchun.org to find a wing chun school in your area.

Just make sure you have a good instructor. Communicate to your potential instructor that you want to learn self-defense, and don't want to spend 6 years training before you can defend yourself. Communicate this as respectfully as possible. He/she will understand...

I don't know about wing chun, sorry.....but LA has GREAT schools in about everything else.

MMA, Gracie Jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, Boxing and traditional arts.