I believe the drills are good, definitely a must but they tend to setup a rhythm. “Free” or open sparring can also imitate the erratic and off beat rhythms that occur in non training scenarios.
Not all drills are like that.
Alpha Dog:
have you found success in using your method of “not sparring” when you actually do spar? I know it sounds funy but i guess im asking if you ever “test” your training methods some way?
Alpha Dog, I would even go further and say almost all drills should not be like that.
It’s kinda wrong to test one’s commitment to not sparring by sparring! It’s like checking your progress in quitting smoking by lighting up.
Why should I test what I know with sparring, unless I have doubts about Wing Chun’e efficacy? And if I have doubts about its efficacy, why am I bothering to train in it?
I test myself all the time, but not by sparring.
Why should I test what I know with sparring, unless I have doubts about Wing Chun’e efficacy?
I think that is fallacy Alpha Dog, let me see if I can explain why I feel this way. To know something works doesn’t mean you know it works for you, or you can make it work. My mother knows a computer works, but she can’t necessarily make it work like I can make it work. Not sparring because you believe it works I guess relies a little too much on faith for me. At some point any skill has to be challenged for you to know it works. My belief is that while drills and chi sau can be challenging, there are other levels of challenges as well. Sparring, fighting are the two most prominent.
I already know it doesn’t work for me perfectly, yet, which is why I feel it’s better to spend more time working on WC and less time verifying what I already know.
You’re entitled to your opinion – but as for me, I started learning WC the day I stopped sparring.
hard to understand why you started learning WC the day you stopped sparring. Will you stop doing WC if the day comes you have to fight?
It seems to me if you can’t do it sparring how can you expect to do it fighting?
That is a good question.
Originally posted by Alpha Dog
I test myself all the time, but not by sparring.
… and …
I already know it doesn’t work for me perfectly, yet, which is why I feel it’s better to spend more time working on WC and less time verifying what I already know.
And as opposed to ingraining imperfect habits?
Perfectly put.
Regards,
- kj
I find it odd that wing chun people tend to claim that sparring reinforces bad habits. I also find it odd that wing chun people can be so stubborn about different methods of training. I don’t find it odd that most wing chun people can’t fight 
but they have pretty forms and nice structure and man can they drill and drill and drill.
How many WC people have you fought? Just curious.
How many non WC is more pertinent as it’s a much more likely scenario and they wont be following familiar lines of attack.
Whichever is fine with me. At any rate I’m certain Grabula won’t be able to distinguish one from another.
But he seems to have run off to watch Bruce Lee movies.
Originally posted by KingMonkey
How many non WC is more pertinent as it’s a much more likely scenario and they wont be following familiar lines of attack.
Agreed. Working with other stylists is very valuable experience indeed.
It still isn’t necessary to have routine and bloodthirsty death battles in order to identify your weaknesses and appreciate which areas are most direly in need of work. Unless one enjoys bloodthirsty death battles for their own sake.
Regards,
- Kathy Jo
It still isn’t necessary to have routine and bloodthirsty death battles in order to identify your weaknesses and appreciate which areas are most direly in need of work.
Of course not, drilling and training can help you do this, but you can’t truly know a thing unless you put it to the test. Is it necessary? Probably not, but if it becomes so, then what? Do you choose to push your training as far as you can or do you choose to push only some of it a little of the way and hope for the best?
I’m not claiming it’s necesary to fight by any means. If you choose not to fight/spar that’s your own choice but do not claim to know what is and isn’t necessary if you haven’t gone and come back.
It seems dogs have no hips as well
Originally posted by Grabula
If you choose not to fight/spar that’s your own choice but do not claim to know what is and isn’t necessary if you haven’t gone and come back.
LMAO – who are you talking to now? Yourself?
no one in particular, but I have noticed an odd habit of “understanding” something without experiencing it, something I find a bit odd and perplexing.
So all that I wrote about spending 6 months sparring adds up in your mind to never having tried it huh? Okay. I hope you’re wearing headgear at your sparring matches.
Re: Fighting
Originally posted by Adam R
[B]How many of you on this forum actually fight on a regular basis?
P.S. Not including that controlled game called ‘Chi Sao’. [/B]
I spar a couple of times a week under the strict supervision of my Sifu. I’ve been in 1 fight in 2 years and it ended in one punch. Where I live “fighting” on a regular basis is a good way to get you rear end shot off since it is legal to carry concealed handguns here.