Wing Chun Kung fu Training

Wing Chun is meant to be a quick impact martial art and this should be drummed into your wing chun training from the very beginning. However it is really important to note why it is you are taking the martial art. Is it to become a better fighter? To be a competition fighter, or to be able to protect yourself in a real life situation or is it just plain fitness? All extraordinarily acceptable reasons however all of them need a different attitude and approach in its purpose.

While you are practicing on the wing chun dummy you are faced with a static opponent. This is in bleak contract if you’re faced with someone practiced in taekwondo coaching “their kick can knock you into the week after next. The actual question is are you able to go the distance?

In reality a street fight will often last one 1 or 2 moments..if not seconds it can occur quite spontaneous and if you are on the incorrect end of it -you can become undone reasonably quickly,you wont know what occurred.

On the other hand if you are coaching for competitions its a different discipline altogether where your number one ally is fitness and stamina. Think about it just the practice of holding your arms n the air for any particular period is difficult work and it just agony wounds if you are not conditioned for it. Try it out for 5 minutes and you can see what I am saying.

That explains why in the first wing chun form -Sil Lim Tao the important point is on holding your guard up. I remember the drills of holding this form for soo long -soothing like half an hour (a kind of Chinese torture trick from my SIfu) but it was a lesson well learnt. This conditioning taught me to keep my hands up under intense eventualities and this is the number ability/capability you can learn in any preparation for competition fighting (or any confrontation for that matter).

In the competition environment many wing chun ideas aren’t materiel. I.e Larp sao, bill jee, as you are gloved up this is not very and there are particular rules to adhere to. As well there are surprise impact moves and trapping strategies, which can sometimes be hard to execute.

This is where you need to be adaptive as a martial artist. You need to adjust to your environment-but where should your focus be?

Wing Chun and Other Strategies

Truthfully you need both strategies to become a complete martial artist. Contest fighting will give you exposure to varying styles where you can experience the dynamic of fighting an experienced competitor and a gain enormous learning curve. You may find out about yourself and face a very real fear in a controlled environment- so if the real thing happens (which we are hoping never will & always try to avoid) you can face with a clear mind and confidence in your ability under the final pressure.

George kane first begun Wing chun training in the early 90′s and right away saw this form of fighting as the final fighting systems for newbs and seasoned martial artists. You can read more about his wing chun kung fuexploits at his popular blog

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