Like most things you pay for, martial arts is half truth and half marketing. One of the greatest marketing stunts that revolutionized modern martial arts were the first UFC events where the organizers were who picked the opponents also just happen to win their own tournament. Were black belt Olympic level Judo practitioners invited to that tournament or military trained elite soldiers? If this is to determine the true, greatest martial art for hand to hand combat, shouldn’t we see US Navy Seals fighting British SAS?
As time moves forward there will be a new king of the hill just like how Facebook took over for Myspace and now Tik Tok is dominating social media. As new modern fighters come up, the new champions heavily favor champion kickboxers that learn enough grappling to keep from getting taken down.
Is Wing Chun useful?
Between Bruce Lee and the Ip Man movies, Wing Chun has had its fair share of the spotlight. Is Wing Chun effective in real life? For centuries, the origins of Wing Chun was a wartime, fatal martial art where each move directly translates into fatal moves with butterfly swords.
Is Wing Chun effective in modern times? Let’s start with the father of MMA, Bruce Lee, who was one of the first in the modern era of martial arts to combine multiple arts striking and grappling. Bruce Lee’s base in martial arts was Wing Chun clearly showing it can be used as at least an active ingredient if not one’s base in one’s success in learning to fight.
Is Wing Chun the best Kung-fu?
Wing Chun has all the basic fighting moves every fighter needs to know as well as unique advanced moves. Wing Chun has basic moves including a straight punch, parry, side kick, front kick, etc. Wing Chun will also train your reflexes to eye gouge, stand-up grappling, punch to the centerline like the neck, groin or nose. It’s “blocks” are all more like re-direction of your opponents energy so it is more tactical and less your ability to eat a punch or kick. At it’s core philosophy, Wing Chun is designed for those times when your opponent might be bigger, stronger, or even more skilled than you. It’s training your reflexes and mind to fight dirty and cheap from the first strike because Wing Chun is designed to help you survive in a war by near incapacitating your enemy as quickly as possible while conserving your energy.
Who would want to see a 3 second fight on TV where one guy front kicks his opponent in the groin, chops the neck and then gouges out the eye? Nobody wants to see that because it takes no skill to kick someone in the groin. That’s the whole point. The person that picks a fight with you is doing so because they are bigger than you, has more training, carrying a weapon, have friends with them, or maybe has a championship belt in fighting. Would you bet your life you can win that fight with jab jab cross uppercut, arm bar? You better make a run for it, or if you get caught in a life or death situation, be able to make a move that ensures your best chance of surviving.
Learning Wing Chun won’t win you championship belts on the World Stage of combat sports if you happen to be born one of the top athletes in the world that also doesn’t mind eating punches for money. What it will do is teach you effective moves by reflex that will help you survive against opponents that are bigger than you and out matched on the surface without dedicating 10 years to eating punches to your brain and paying for joint reconstruction surgeries.
