i have long arms and legs is Wing Chun a style for me?

[silversurfer]

Im interested in Wing Chun I am 6 foor 1 and I weigh around 192 pounds I have long arms and legs. Is wing chun a benificial style for my body type???? Am i gonna be dissapointed if I take this style??? What are your opinions especially from you lanky guys or gals......

Mike

[_William_]

I too have long arms and legs. I think at close range, long limbs can be a bit of a disadvantage but IMO you can still excel at wing chun no matter what your bodily proportions are.

[Mr Punch]

I too have long arms and legs. I think at close range, long limbs can be a bit of a disadvantage but IMO you can still excel at wing chun no matter what your bodily proportions are.

I don't. That's why Yim gave us elbows!

Long limbs can be great, just don't let them play the inside game. And even in the clinch, it gives you good leverage. The only reason I can think of for it being a disadvantage is if your teacher is short!

[ghost5]

Mat said it very well. I have long arms and short legs. Still stand 6' 1". I never thought about it being a disadvantage, just meant I could reach them before they could get to me. And those elbow things come in handy, too.

If I worried about body style deciding if I did KF or not I would never have started. I ain't exactly the classical build for sports. So, instead of worrying about it I just went out and did it. IMHO you should do the same.

Go learn and have fun.

[Liddel]

IMO this should not affect you, the question should be, can you touch your elbows together infront of you ? even if not, you can bennifit from Ving Tsun but only if it suits your mindset.
Im 6"1 ,75kgs and VT has helped me increase my power in ever aspect.(im stronger than i would be without it !)
I find it an advantage to have long arms during Fighting, reach wise, in the clinch etc, (because of the forementioned leverage point made) and the ability to use my elbows for defence in the clinch. Because of my "lanky" arms i personally feel its benifited my training of elbow power which is where a huge amount of force is derived from in VT.
Size IMO in VT only matters if you are ridged (very hard, not flexible because of muscle base) and you have what i call "The Beefcake walk" meaning your so big your walk is more like a waddle, and your torso size has your elbows outside your body all the time... which we call flying elbow. This is not compatible with our Kung Fu... Still,
You can learn and benifit from many parts of our system but it will limit your ability to attain a high skill.
Hope this helps your decision.

[anerlich]

Long legs are a definte asset for the flying triangle choke in the secret TWC dummy set. Practising this on a hardwood dummy is the main reason TWC guys with short legs speak in a high voice.

[viper]

im very short but wing chun isnt based on the size of a body as such its bout how you use it so as a system i stand by it and many of the guys i train are bout youre the same size as them and they have little problems unless allow someone smaller to get into there own range thats where exp counts so get into it.

[mortal]

Having long limbs is a big advantage.

[Samson]

You have to find a style that you feel comfortable with there are styles that are better suited for tall people. Wing Chun was invented by a woman for women and smaller folk to be able to defend against larger opponents so they say. Like I said choose what feels comfortable for you