Wing Chun

:-)-: · Blue Belt

I have heard all sorts of views about Wing Chun. What concerns me is how it fares as an anti-boxer art. I have heard from many people that it is very good against boxing, and heard from others that it is ineffective against boxing. This is adressed to any Wing Chun practitioners: how does it fare against boxers, and what are its basic philosophies? I was thinking of taking it, and really need a good art to go against boxers, my most common opponents.

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rabid hamster · Purple Belt

I don't take wing chun yet, but I read in an article that boxers say they have a really hard time with wing chun punches because they are so fast(fastest punch recorded so far was by a wing chun grandmaster named willian cheung, 8.4 punches a second!). But I think that if you did wing chun for a short period of time, the boxer would win since there are not as many techniques in boxing and I heard the punches they use are more natural. but i believe wing chun would win if you train in it for a long time(though it all depends on the person) I might be wrong though, like I said I don;'t take wing chun yet.

[ This Message was edited by: Hiya on 2002-06-16 15:50 ]

Mo_Tseu · Yellow Belt

Hi Hiya,

The incredible force of wing chun is not only in chain punching.

Bruce Lee said :

Be formeless, shapless like water my friend.

This mean that you don't have techniques to show like jab,jab uppercuts,round house...

You adapte you fighting with the techniques of your opponent. I could explain to you all the philosophy of wing chun, but would write for pages.

With the chi sao training, you develop your sensitivity. It is like pushing hands in tai chi.
Wing chun is close range combat, so you always touch your opponent and can feel the next move he will do by feeling the way the opponent is transfering is energy. Don't be freaked out by the word energy, it's just the force that he is excercing and the transfer of his center of stability.

I will let someone else explain the rest and surely reexplain my part because I have to go
sleep.

counichiwa

rabid hamster · Purple Belt

oh I see, thanks for your reply, it's interesting reading about wing chun because it's so different and unique from other arts

:-)-: · Blue Belt

I look forward to starting it whenever I get a chance. Hiya, what style of Wing Chun are you taking? I'm considering Yip Man's Centerline methods, which seem to be the most effective.

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Bon · Black Belt

From what little I've read about wing chun, they control the centre line and force their opponent to attack indirectly in a circular or curved path, ie. hooks, etc. This is what they're trying to do ---> force them to take the longest distance when striking, they can then take the shortest and most direct way which is straight to their opponent and beat them with quicker and more efficient ways.

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It takes sacrifice to be the best.

There are always two choices, two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it's easy.

John G · Green Belt

Just to expand a bit on what Mo_Tseu was saying

Some of the principles of traditional Wing Chun are:

….Avoid fighting force with force…

Deflect the punch rather stop it, body positioning and timing is important here else you cop one right in the head.

Wing Chun practitioners rarely step backward, they generally move diagonally forward left or right (usually on the opponents blindside) for an offensive manoeuvre. In addition, side stepping left or right when executing a defensive manoeuvre or making room for a kicking strike.

…Operate on the central line…

This is the practitioners attacking zone (if your caught in here your dead meat) it's the imaginary line the practitioner faces his opponent.

If you placed your arms out straight, out in front of you, cross at the wrists, and then move your arms to the lower, middle and upper levels you get a feel for where the zone is (pretty up close and personal hey?).

It's the aim of the practitioner to keep you in that zone while he rearranges your face and destroys your organs.

….Synchronise two arms at the same time…

Unlike the traditional block then strike method used in martial arts like Karate and TKD. Wing Chun practitioners use a step forward/deflect/strike action in one movement. The power of the strike is obtained from the shift of body mass utilising footwork (if you've ever seen a one inch punch you know what I mean).

….Focus on the elbows and knees before contact….

I was taught in TKD to focus on opponents eyes and use your peripheral vision to take care of the rest.
In Wing Chun I'm taught to look at the opponents elbows and knees (actually somewhere in between), the theory here is that the elbow moves 3 to 4 times slower than the fist, therefore you can predict an punch/kick a lot quicker, and attack a lot sooner.

….Use contact reflex during exchange…

This is an awesome principle, which takes years to develop, imagine knowing what your opponent's next move will be at the point of contact. Just by feeling, the opponents' vibrations and force when deflecting a punch or a kick you can predict what he is going to do next.

These are just some of the principles you learn..

Anyway I've waffled on long enough and its time to go to bed.

Hope this helps answer some of your questions.

BTW: The Wing Chun I practice is developed by Grandmaster William Cheung (World Wing Chun Kung Fu Association)

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John G Jarrett

III Dan, ITF Taekwon-Do

leo · White Belt

I used to train with guy who knew it. He kicked my rear all the time. And he won several real street brawls with it too. Its good for bar type fighting. Very effective fighting style. I don't know about these Bruce lee quotes becasue I see him as more of a movie star then street fighter or even competition fighter.

Taikudo-ka · Green Belt

I know that Bruce Lee actually won his inter-college boxing championship (against some hyped "champ", I think from England). At the time he had nothing but a little Wing Chun training, and a lot of natural skill and determination. (Note that at this stage he was still practising classical Wing Chun, and had not really begun to formulate his own system, as happened later).

Artist over the art? Maybe... but it does show that a skilled fighter can take their system to a "foreign court", play the game according to their rules and still come out on top.

So Wing Chun practitioner beating a boxer? Sure, its possible.

If Wing Chun specifically has any advantage over boxing (I'm not sure) I'd say its because on one level it has a similar approach - a fairly direct, straight forward striking system. But the way it goes about this is so very different to boxing. If they didn't know what to expect it'd be quite a shock, and they wouldn't know how to defend against it properly...

rabid hamster · Purple Belt

-:, I'm not sure exactly what the wing chun lineage I'm planning to take is. I hope it's Willian Cheungs linage, since their fighters win most of the time from what I hear, but I don't think it is. But any wing chun style is good for me.. kinda.

And John, thanks for the info. in other arts, people guard their face, but in wing chun they guard their centerline right? unless their centerline is the face, but isn't it usually around the stomach area for most people?

EDIT: I think wing chun would have a little advantage over boxing, since wing chun has kicks too, but i guess it all depends on the practioner so it doesn't really matter.

[ This Message was edited by: Hiya on 2002-06-18 16:21 ]

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