agreed and i am not saying that. wing chun is a set of physical movements and theory. two things. you can’t have one without the other. true you could apply the theory to other arts or movements, but without both it is not wing chun
A person is not wing chun, nor can what and what is not wing chun be defined by a set of specific guidelines. Wing Chun is a subject to learn. You are, technically, using wing chun if you use even one of its unique concepts. Or even if you take a concept and modify it whichever way you’d like. You are using wing chun.
The movements are templates to express not how the technique MUST be performed, but are instead a physical representation of the concepts.
For instance, take a movement in wing chun where you can uproot someone - If you understand that concept, the physical template is just a way to help you learn and understand it better, then you can apply that to an infinite number of movements from an infinite number of positions, adapting to the changes present in a real fight.
However if you simply do the movement specifically as shown, even with adjustments to it, you are limiting the concept into that physical template. You are specifying that instead of an infinite number of expressions of this concept, you are limiting your concept to only a few expressions, and by that you are implying that a fight will always go in these few ways.
A jab in boxing, for instance, has an infinite number of expressions depending on the fighter and the person they’re fighting against. It is adaptable, adjustable, and applicable and even the top professional boxers out there, do not use it the same way every time, or even adhere to any guidelines of the physical template. I’ve seen boxers throw a textbook cross with their shoulders and hips in full rotation, land it and not knock someone out. AND I’ve seen boxers throwing a cross using ONLY their arms, with no rotation, and knock someone out.
In a real fight, it is constantly changing, and so too must you be constantly adapting, changing, and your concepts and understanding of what you can do in certain positions will dictate how your body naturally should act, not “he is throwing a hook, I must pivot and tan sao as shown and expected.” That is the type of thinking that not only gets people killed, but limits their potential.
All of Wing Chun’s technical movements begin with barriers, tan sao, pak sao, bong sao, etc. because we need a way to name and identify something - But the concept you’re missing is, there are no barriers. There are infinite representations and expressions of these concepts and ideas.
