My old sifu was quite good at Wing Chun, but that was not the main focus of his teachings. I did enjoy “playing hands” and working on the first form which I believe translates into “Little Idea.” Please forgive me if I am wrong on that. I’m trying to think of info from over a year ago. Anyway, I have recently visited two Wing Chun teachers and have enjoyed the applications from this style. I wish the training contained more physical conditioning though. Is it normal to not have cardio training? My main point of this thread though is to hear feedback on why my fellow CMA practitioners chose Wing Chun as their main system of study. Also, I was wondering if you cross train in any other styles or conditioning methods. Thank you for the upcoming feedback.
Some schools have cardio and do not. For me What I’m looking for is a good W.C. not a cardio program. I do that on my own time why waste time doing that in class.
Myself I believe you have to mix it up with all styles and levels of M.A. to test out your stuff and see what works and what does not. W.C has has the answers if you look hard enough you’lll find it. Why I chose W.C. was simple reason. I found it to be a very practical M.A.
We rarely do any cardio training, but that doesn’t bother me as I can do that away from class. We get some physical training in class from doing the forms but it’s not your typical TKD workout, that’s for sure.
It used to bother me, but I’m more interested in using the class to improve my technique. All the other stuff like cardio, strength, speed etc you can develop on your own.
Time is precious. In class, you’ve got lots of people to train with, perform drills with, Chi Sau with, spar with, etc. That’s where the time should be spent, IMO. Do your roadwork at home.
I pretty much agree with everyone else here. I do my weight training and “cardio” (not aerobic - anaerobic) at home. I am also not training for the Lei Tai or the ring (or at least not yet). I also have no misconceptions that my non-MA training outside the kwoon would necessarily prepare me for the rigors of competition fighting.
However, our school does promote a “MMA Conditioning” course that I have never attended. I like the fact that it is available once I become more skilled/confident though.
[QUOTE=peace&love;899228] Is it normal to not have cardio training? My main point of this thread though is to hear feedback on why my fellow CMA practitioners chose Wing Chun as their main system of study. Also, I was wondering if you cross train in any other styles or conditioning methods. Thank you for the upcoming feedback.[/QUOTE]
The intensity at which you train your Wing Chun SHOULD BE YOUR CONDITIONING! i.e. if you are not pushing yourself hard, then it ain’t worth doing.
Suki
i dont think i chose wing chun as much as i chose the teacher, but i enjoyed the style enough to continue, and when i left the school i thought i should stay on the same path for awhile,
with me its more the sifu than the style
at this point in my journey, i know most styles have something, but i would rather work with an amazing sifu in a style i never heard of than work with a mediocre sifu in a style i love
[QUOTE=eomonroe00;899382] i would rather work with an amazing sifu in a style i never heard of than work with a mediocre sifu in a style i love[/QUOTE]
Amen brother
Couldn’t care less how good the teacher is. The issue is how good can he make me. Looking good and teaching good are different things.
Suki
Couldn’t care less how good the teacher is. The issue is how good can he make me. Looking good and teaching good are different things.
You have a very humble and rare attitude about martial arts. Good for you. I had an instructor once who wasn’t a great fighter, but he was a great teacher and a decent fighter.
People would come in the school from other styles/lineages and ‘tag’ him in chi sao or some other drill. It was a petty way for them to feel big cause they ‘hit’ the instructor, even though it was a static drill or not a fighting exercise.
If in martial arts we only learned from physically able teachers, what would happen when the skill of such people begin to deteriorate should they succumb to age and the effects of osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.
My point is that great fighters don’t remain great. The greatness of their fighting ability withers with age. However, the power of their mind, their faculties to discern between effective an ineffective and their ability to draw out the most potential from their non-fighter students is what matters.
It’s not a humble attitude. It is pragmatic and based on the people who have taken their wisdom and experience to help me in Wing Chun and Non-Classical Gung Fu.
Suki Gosal
[I]Couldn’t care less how good the teacher is. The issue is how good can he make me. Looking good and teaching good are different things.
Suki[/I]
There are many components to a great teacher, yes? teacher and molding students is probably the most important aspect.
In other areas of life I have found that the best teachers have walked the walk,
one individual i greatly respects tells me when he can longer train what he teaches, he will no longer teach it.
what are your thoughts?
[QUOTE=eomonroe00;899668][I]
one individual i greatly respects tells me when he can longer train what he teaches, he will no longer teach it.
what are your thoughts?[/QUOTE]
I am going on 52.
I know I am not training for the cage, or the ring
I may need self-defense, but it will be a very rare occaision if at all
there will no longer be testosterone-induced fronting leading to fights
although I am in great shape, I probably shouldn’t spar or grapple heavily
But, I still learn, train, roll, and spar
and teach.
One of my Sifu/friends is 75 yrs old.
He still has a great deal to share with me.
[QUOTE=TenTigers;899687]I am going on 52.
I know I am not training for the cage, or the ring
I may need self-defense, but it will be a very rare occaision if at all
there will no longer be testosterone-induced fronting leading to fights
although I am in great shape, I probably shouldn’t spar or grapple heavily
But, I still learn, train, roll, and spar
and teach.
One of my Sifu/friends is 75 yrs old.
He still has a great deal to share with me.[/QUOTE]
I agree..even if say the sifu can’t do what he used to do back in the day he still has that experience that can’t be replaced. Like a great coach who’s seen and done it all.
I had a teacher who used to say “old masters fear nothing but the elbows of youth.” Interesting saying. Had I ever managed to connect with something like that, I’m sure he would’ve crumbled… I never did, though.
He also used to say “Age and treachery will beat youth and skill every time.” Made me laugh, but I can’t count how many times he gained the advantage by tricking me or uprooting my structure or mind in ways I didn’t even know of. And just as I’d get wise to one, he’d pull out another. The f*cker. Made me learn, though. 
My WC training has never included cardio. It was assumed that I’d pursue this on my own.
I chose to train in WC because of its simplicity and effectiveness. I found the theories of the art intriguing. And I’ve been able to apply them in real-time via sparring.
I do cross train however. In fact I claim three styles as my main arts. They are WC, Choy Lay Fut, and Capoeira. Each of these styles provides something that makes my martial art practice more complete. WC provides an effective theory for combat and helps me to maximize my use of close quarter techniques. CLF has excellent power generation and multi-directional attacks. Capoeira has superb footwork, take downs, ground movement, and close quarter applications.
I’d suggest training in WC if it a) compliments your existing martial arts practice, b) has theories that you can understand and apply, and c) can be taught by a competent instructor.
AH
[QUOTE=peace&love;899228]My old sifu was quite good at Wing Chun, but that was not the main focus of his teachings. I did enjoy “playing hands” and working on the first form which I believe translates into “Little Idea.” Please forgive me if I am wrong on that. I’m trying to think of info from over a year ago. Anyway, I have recently visited two Wing Chun teachers and have enjoyed the applications from this style. I wish the training contained more physical conditioning though. Is it normal to not have cardio training? My main point of this thread though is to hear feedback on why my fellow CMA practitioners chose Wing Chun as their main system of study. Also, I was wondering if you cross train in any other styles or conditioning methods. Thank you for the upcoming feedback.[/QUOTE]
***ALTHOUGH this topic has been brought up a number of times before on this forum, nonetheless thank you for bringing it up again, p & l …I started out in wing chun 33 years ago as a student of Moy Yat - and the lack of physical conditioning within his school used to drive me nuts - as did his answers about such things (which were very similar to a bunch of the answers you’ve been getting on this thread):
He thought it was a waste of time to do stretching, pushups, situps, cardio, etc. in the school. Fortunately when I became a student of William Cheung 25 years ago, his program, especially as it was introduced to us by the visits of his top American student at the time, Blaine Collins - included lots of conditioning…
which I’ve kept going to this day (have been teaching 3-4 days per week since 1984)…and I ALWAYS SPEND the first 25 minutes or so of every class on conditioning (the classes go from 2 to 3 hours).
IT’S AN ABSOLUTE MUST.
As far as crosstraining is concerned, I believe that’s an absolute must also. I do catch as catch can wrestling and a little bit of boxing also - and mix the three into an mma approach - something I’ve been doing over the last 6 years or so.
The lack of concern for conditioning, and a corallary of this: the lack of concern for consistent hard (full) contact sparring, are two of the biggest weaknesses within the wing chun world (the entire CMA world?), imo…
although fortunately there are some notable exceptions to this general rule.
Why Wing Chun?
Simply because WC is very effective when practiced correctly.
WC is a soft style. A soft style is higher level compare to hard style. IMO
Why wing chun? Why not? I train wing chun because of its efficiency, easy of use, and easy of thought. What I mean is it is easy to think about all the time. I also love how the theories of Wing Chun can be applied to other martial arts. I do cross train and have trained capoeira for some time and I love taking the theories of WC and applying them to capoeira. There are holes in all art and cross training your mind in each can help fill the holes.
I lucked out big time finding a Sifu that has not only a knowledge of Wing Chun but also a Passion for it that can only be fuelled to love it more by my need to learn. I am not sure my sifu knows how good he is or how much i appreciate him teaching me
P.