Do they teach you how to get out of things like headlocks in wing chun?

Discussion in 'Kung Fu' started by Vinny Lugo, Dec 17, 2016.

  1. Latikos

    Latikos Valued Member

    Or if the instructors see it as their job to get you fit.
    It can be a hard style and the main focus might still not be in sit-ups and Co an class.

    My Judo teacher is strong as a beast, but in Judo class we hardly ever do strength training - because it's something that can be done at home alone.
     
  2. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Or it could be that a school thinks a person should be mature and disciplined enough to do a lot of calisthenics on their own time and not waste valuable class time teaching said calisthenics instead of their martial art.:rolleyes:

    I, for one, would not spend money on a class that is supposed to teach me martial arts, but spends too much time telling me to do calisthenics. I can do sit ups on my own. I don't need a class for that.

    Also, if one is pushing oneself properly doing martial arts, it will develop fitness. It is not like they are mutually exclusive. Do a whole bunch of forms in a row, full power and intensity and intention- Low stances. Tell me that isn't a workout. If you think it isn't, you aren't doing it correctly.

    Or sparring? Sparring isn't fitness related?

    Or try this one. Do a form, but EVERY stance change, hold the stance 5-10- or 15 seconds. (I do mean a form that has footwork when I say this one.)

    Really? you think doing actual martial arts won't get you physically fit?

    Not saying one shouldn't do sit ups etc. I AM saying your assertion like focusing on martial arts in a martial arts class means a school doesn't care about physical fitness is -frankly - a really ignorant thing to say.
     
  3. Latikos

    Latikos Valued Member

    So much this!

    I'm sweating like a pig after we did Kihon in class - but somehow only me.
    So I asked my instructor once, how that's possible (I admit it; I felt a bit stupid :D ) - and see told me it was, because I'm doing it right.

    Sparring the same.
    That's his favorite way to get condition into us: Lots of Sparring and rolling, because it gets you off the feet.
     
  4. Vinny Lugo

    Vinny Lugo Valued Member

    Fair enough. But they should at least tell you to go out and workout outside of class. Many places just don't. Then when its time to spar, you are out of gas after one round.
     
  5. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    Really? You make this statement based on what? How many schools have you actually gone to enough to proclaim "many places just don't?"

    Please list just how many places you can speak for with personal experience. One introductory class does not count. I mean been at enough places long enough to actually know firsthand the school's philosophy on things like fitness, workout ethic, etc.

    You have barely begun your martial arts journey, but you run around making proclamations about who does what and how a school should be run.

    You know what prepares you not gassing when sparring the best? SPARRING does! Lots and lots of sparring. Do you really think sit ups and push ups prepare you to not gas better than actually sparring?

    I have seen very fit people in other ways who still gassed in sparring. Because, they weren't used to sparring specifically.
     
  6. Ben Gash CLF

    Ben Gash CLF Valued Member

    A lot of "how to choose a martial arts gym" type FAQs now tell you to avoid places that do large amounts of calisthenics because you're basically getting unqualified PT when you're paying for martial arts training. I used to do a lot of calisthenics when my classes were structured differently and what I found was that we didn't have enough time to teach technique properly and spar, and everyone was too tired to spar well. I stopped it dead for a bit but the students said they missed it, so now we just do 10 minutes a night.
    For an instructor lots of calisthenics can be a low effort time waster (I actually found it boring and wanted them to hurry up so I could teach something) if they don't want to work too hard.
     
  7. Dead_pool

    Dead_pool Spes mea in nihil Deus MAP 2017 Moi Award

    Warm ups should be just that, a warm up, and not a full work out.

    Although that said, I always hit one fundamental exercise a class hard, to remind people to work out in their own time.
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2016
  8. aaradia

    aaradia Choy Li Fut and Yang Tai Chi Chuan Student Moderator Supporter

    My school has a separate class where the focus is specifically primarily conditioning. It is a bag workout class, where they alternate rounds between various rounds on the bag and calisthenics. So, we have a row of bags (the row is similar to the one in my current Avatar picture actually). And usually one person on the bag and one person behind. The person on the bag will say do something specific on the bag, while the people behind do some PT oriented thing. (Squats, push ups etc.).

    It's a popular class. (Although there is a certain percentage of students there that seem to think that class is an adequate substitute for sparring class. But it isn't.)

    I used to go, but I can't now. It starts at 6:00 and I don't get off of work until then.

    Mind you, my school can do that because it is a full time school, with a huge variety of classes. So they have the luxury of offering that AND regular group classes focusing on the MA's. I don't think a lot of schools have the full time building and staffing to be able to do both.

    In classes like our sparring classes, sometimes the focus is more on techniques than conditioning, while other times there is more emphasis on conditioning. Sometimes the mix is pretty even. The emphasis on conditioning is usually achieved through lots of rounds of matches. On occasion, they will mix in a bit of PT conditioning. Right now in our Tuesday sparring classes, one instructor has a full power match going on, while the others run or do squats in a circle around the match. That is during the second half of the class. The first half is focused building techniques through drills. Our Saturday sparring class was all about building techniques with no real emphasis on conditioning.
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2016
  9. butcher wing

    butcher wing Oi, Fatso!

    There's a Chow Gar Southern Mantis school in Chicago IIRC. Worth you having a look IMO. Strength and conditioning is also part of the training. Beware though its a tough system but it will be worth it.
     
  10. Tom bayley

    Tom bayley Valued Member

    Me to for the same reasons, great minds think alike?

    I have also found that a short intensive warm up not only warms up the body but wakes up the students and helps them to stay switched on in the class.
     
  11. icefield

    icefield Valued Member

    Sadly this isn't the case, if it was the case that martial arts classes can get you fit on their own just by doing the forms and other traditional methods wouldn't see so many obese unfit martial artists who cant squat there own bodyweight for reps, cant run a 10min mile or press their own bodyweight.

    If your class has lots of timed bag and pad rounds, real contact sparring and hard grappling then it probably takes care of your fitness goals to a large extent, if your class doesn't do the above its probably wise to throw in allot of extra work.

    And with regards to the whole do a form slowly and hold positions thing, there a difference between doing something that hurts because you aren't used to it, and doing something productive to actually get you fit.

    Its better to say some martial arts, and some types of sparring can get you in shape, but ford and tag sparring probably wont help
     
  12. icefield

    icefield Valued Member

    Your old place was probably sports orientated and knew the benefit of being in shape to compete, most wing Chun schools dont compete and don't have outstanding levels of fitness or grappling

    If you want to learn to escape grappling holds and your two choices are a mma orientated karate school or a wing Chun school...do you really have to ask strangers which one to attend, common sense should answer that for you
     
  13. Rolo1982

    Rolo1982 New Member


    Good God ive never seen wing chun like that in my life!
    Francis Fong is indeed something else :cool:
     

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