Losing my faith in Wing Chun?

Hi all. I have been training Wing Chun for about 4 and 1/2 years now (with a 6 month gap due to illness) and feel I could be losing faith in the system.

My instructor is very good and teaches a realistic and practical approach and works the class hard physically. It is certainly a very good Wing Chun class. I train 3 times a week, twice in class and once privately. My main reason for training is for realistic self defence.

The problem I have is that I still don't have 100% faith that the techniques I have learned would work for me in a real live encounter! There is very little pressure testing or sparring of any sort in my class, most techniques are practiced either in the air or with a very compliant partner. I also find the footwork far too rigid and unflexible. I do however think the centre line principles are second to none.

I have started cross training with submission grappling (for two months so far) and am thoroughly enjoying that, though it is very rough in comparison! I also weight train 3 times a week (since December 2006).

I am very interested in Muay Thai and have been looking for a school local to me but so far no luck. The instructor at the grappling gym said he could teach me Muay Thai privately (for £20 an hour!!) but I would much rather train it in a class room environment. There is an MMA class at the grappling gym which I might try out.

Maybe it is just a phase I am going through with my Wing Chun training or maybe I have come to a realisation. I feel if I quit Wing Chun now it would be a waste of the last 4 and 1/2 years but at the same time if I am not totally happy, why keep wasting time?

One of my long term goals in life is to teach self defence in some capacity, I am an avid reader and fan of Geoff Thompson and his principles.

Help!

 

I know this might not be the most concrete piece of advice, but the best thing you could do is whatever makes you happy.

 

Though this may be a painful situation for you, I can't help but applaud your self-awareness and the positive step you've taken in your thinking about martial arts. If your goal is to gain actual fighting ability, a class without sparring is simply the wrong place for you. If you're interested in striking muay thai sounds like an excellent choice, but why not try out the MMA/grappling gym? You may find their training methods to be more to your liking.

 

In my opinion, that is one of the hardest decisions someone have to make.

Deep down, you probably know what to do, but can't bring yourself to do it because that would mean accepting that you wasted a lot of time.

Think about this: for each second you hesitate, the more time you waste, the heavier the burden of this decision becomes, the more you will hesitate.

Don't fall into this vicious cycle of procrastination; time is too valuable for that.

Try the MMA class. You'll quickly realise if your Wing Chun was crap or not. If it was not, at least you didn't totally waste your time. If you realise it was, better you quit now than waste more time.

 

*smacks forhead*
*picks up telephone*
me: "cindy!? hey, yeah its me. listen, ive been thinking. yeh, we should. i know its too soon and i sound crazy but we should just do.. you know.. whatever makes us both happy! its time. cindy, i love you baby. i wanna spend the rest of my life with ya. ill show you i can make good. cindy, we're going to disneyland!"

 

I found the same thing with my wing chun training. I felt like i didn't know how good i actually was at due to the very rare sparing. So i left. Plan on taking up bjj and muay Thai quite soon.

 

...and yet another has fallen to the MMA side of MAs Planet

 

Not me. I think it's only a matter of time tho. Would a reference to star wars and the dark side of the force seem too tired and used here?..... yeah.

 

I would have gone with full contact karate, but there isn't any in my area so i am going with muay thai. I actually like the traditional stuff i think. But i would have added bjj regardless.

 

If you're interested in practical self-defense then you need to spar. This is a given. At the very least, I'd check out MMA/MT. On the other hand, it might be worth talking to your instructor. Tell him your concerns and see if it's possible to have sparring introduced to your current class. What have you got to lose?

 

I have been involved with WC, Boxing, Ground Combatives, and weapons training for many years. I think what some people need to understand is the "One size fits all" concept is not a good approach to Martial Arts. Ranges and their culivation, conditioning and preparing the participant to excell in those ranges is really a good approach. Jonny,...I think having a Wing Chun background will serve you well if you cross train with the BJJ and the Muai Thai. Instead of looking at your Martial Training as "this or that",... embrace the path. Embrace where you have come from and where you are going.

In my professional opinion, you must cross train and understand ranges if you really want to look at realistic fighting and applications.

Kew-Do

Sifu, Kyle Weygandt
"East Wind Shaolin Boxing Academy"

 

I had almost 7 years in a style when I decided to jump ship for something with alive training. I'm so glad I did. And if you regret it, you can always go back.

 

Um... are you hitting on me?

 

4.5 years is okay, you didn't entirely waste your time, at least you've learnt how NOT to train. Some people make the bizarre move from a realistic art to a LARPing fantasy one like (nearly all) Wing chun, because they haven't made the mistakes you (and I, and many others) have. Luckily for you, it only gets better from here.

Welcome to the dark side. BWAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!

 

Wing Chun + Muay Thai + BJJ

 

[Muay Thai + BJJ] > [Wing Chun + Muay Thai + BJJ]

 

Another person is lost to CMA due to dead training.

 

(Xsin2[Wing Chun]^[viet vo dao])+(MMA-tan^-1kyokushin) = sqrt(ninjutsu/muay Thai)

 

[dead drills]/[standing around talking]*[total lack of exertion]=_ing_un

 

Dead drills divided by standing around talking? I think your equation is wrong.