Quote Originally Posted by lawrenceofidaho
I would not argue that there is a high level of interest around those things in the WC community, but how much do they really help improve anyone's wing chun fighting ability? (sports conditioning excluded) -I don't mean to say that they are not interesting endeavors, but I feel they have little to contribute to an individual's performance when it comes to sparring / fighting / combat application. In my opinion, they are often a distraction from spending time engaging in more fruitful activity (assuming one's goal is to develop some realistic fighting skill.)
Well believe it or not, wrestlers from former Soviet block countries warm up with gymnastics tumbling routines. This gives them a lot of nimbleness, coordination and balance. I hear Rickson Gracie does a lot of yoga for breathing, strength and flexibility conditioning. As do other BJJ guys. So what's a distraction to you is not to others in the realistic fighting community.

Edmund, I feel that you and I agree on probably a lot more than you think, but I believe that acting as an apologist for wing chun and saying that it's evolving just fine is doing it a disservice. I think it needs to be criticized and challenged in order to grow as a fighting art.
Oh I'm a big criticizer myself. But I think I've moved beyond what you're saying. There's interest in fighting in WC already. A troll like Silent Warrior isn't going to generate more.