Not another one of these.... And you spell Taekwondo wrong!!! Beside there is no better art. All depend on the person, and plz let this be the end of it.
2 competely different styles. its better to use what is useful from both and then call that the 'better one'
I have practice in both so... If you like fighting with kicks, Tae-kwon-do is a good art.Espacialy if you want to compete(with points) Wing Chun is a more realistic Martial Art better used for street fighting(there are no contest in WC),it is taught that way... CHOUSE YOUR DESTINY
OK.... I'll bite. Wing Chun (tsun, etc.) is an offshoot of Southern Chinese White Crane, a product of the 'junk boat' days after the Chinese Boxer rebellion. Fighting practitioners had to go underground into hiding, and many settled working in the boat opera companies. Styles and ideas were mixed and continued to proliferate, finally yielding various styles of fighting that were bases on the Crane system; that was one of them. As with the crane system and most other Southern styles, the emphasis was on close fighting. In those days the Northern Shaolin temple had taught among other things something called "longfist fighting", with fully extended arms and a good deal of space between the combatants; this had been suitable for use in a spacious area. The Southern styles developed for use in cities, with alleys so small you could barely walk in them let alone fight longfist. What developed was a tremendously effective close quarters fighting method that has stood the test of time well. Wing Chun and other Southern Crane-based styles are highly effective indeed. TKD on the other hand came from Shoto-Kan Japanese Karate, a modern style from the Tokyo area. Shoto-Kan had been highly simplified by its founder, Funakoshi, mainly to serve as a means of training and conditioning Japanese school children for their mandatory 2 year stint in the budding Japanese war machine. Shoto-Kan had come from the teachings of Itosu, a famous Shuri-Te practitioner. Itosu had initiated the use of Shuri-Te in the Okinawan middleschools, and had developed some simplified katas for school children to use. Funakoshi, who taught at the school, learned this modified art from Itosu, and later took it to Japan and further simplified it. Choi Hong-I traveled to Tokyo and trained 2 years with Funakoshi, and a further 2 years under a related school nearby, before returning to Korea and establishing his school which he then called the Tae Kwon school. Tae Kwon is similar to Tae-Kyon, the name of a much older Korean art that had been wiped out during the Japanese occupation of Korea at the end of the previous century. The Koreans were so irritated with the Japanese (who wouldn't be after such an occupation!) that they later modified their martial arts and claimed that they were 2000 year old Korean relics. While this is complete BS, it is understandable in a way. Wrapping it up, it is impossible to compare these two things casually. One must know exactly what they are in order to make an intelligent comparison. If all you want is fitness and tournament competition and you don't care about retiring from it early, TKD might be great for you. It is hell on your joints, and older folks just can't do it at all sometimes; plus it does not go that deep. If you really want a good, close quarters combative system, Wing Chun would be a good choice. Certainly there are many other equally good choices as well. -Chris J.
Which styles of Wing Chun are you referring to Chris, or do you mean all of them? I'm wondering about the source of your information.
