Wing Chung!

[DANABOLIC55]

i am really interested in learning a martial art, i dont know where to start. Someone help me start out!!!!

Muay Thai. You can't go wrong. Then, Brazilizn Jiu Jitsu. You will notice bodyfat changes and positive self confidence changes.
Learn Thai until you can train it on your own. Then BJJ. BJJ will take forever to get in the higher belts if that's your concern. If you have the $$$$$ then train them both.

 

[IronMind-]

where can i learn more about muay thai? i want to look for a trainer here in DR

 

[DANABOLIC55]

http://www.fairtex.com
http://www.thaiboxing.com

 

[JimiApril]

There are some more advanced variations on Wing Chun including Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, Jesse Glover's Non-Classical Gung Fu (Jesse was Bruce's first american student, and his first assistant in Seattle, Washington), James DeMile's Wing Chun Do (Demile was in the original Bruce Lee group in Seattle, Washington), and Modified Wing Chun as taught by Richard Bustillo at the IMB Academy in California. My dad teaches elements of all those arts privately in Chicago in the context of what he calls RONIN RHYTHMS ("http://www.modernphysicalalchemy.com"). He also has a bodybuilding website at "www.phaphysiquetoday.com" that will reveal how some of the "golden age of bodybuilding-late fifties to late sixties-did it "back in the day!"

Jimi April

 

[Djimbe]

Bruce Lee originally started with this style.

Actually , it was the only system that he had ANY formal training in , and he only studied at the school of Yip Man for a period of 18-22 months depending on wich of his classmates was asked the question (still a pretty accurate Margin considering that theyre being asked to remember over 40 years ago) Also of note was the fact that bruce was there while Yip Man was at his WORST with his Battle with Opium (he was a well-known Addict) and most of , if not practically all , of Bruces lessons came from other Students . Later ,after coming to America , Bruce was matched up against one of Gin Foon Marks Praying Mantis Students of 11 months and he could not best him . Wing Chun and Mantis should have level development curves , but like I said , Yip Man was SERIOUSLY into his Opium just then .

He found some flaws in it and felt that a lot of the movements where wasted. He streamed lined the Katas for efficiency and took out a lot of the wasted movements that just weren't practical for a real confrontation.

Bruce Lee knew somewhere between 1/3 qnd 1/5 of the Wing Chun system . He could not have POSSIBLY had a clear enough picture of what was and was not "Needed" to be a complete Wing Chun player . He just ended up filling the Gaps that he DIDNT KNOW in WC with crap from other MAs .

I mean , you do Muay Thai , right ? I could study MT for a while , then DECIDE that I dont realy NEED a Teep , couldnt I ? mean , I could use the Sidekicks and Roundkicks to my Advantadge , and whatnot - heck , I might even make it work for myself , but would that even BE MT any longer ? Im saying that a LOT of the Strategem , Spacing , hell , the FEEL to MT is playing of of the Spacing and Rythym that Teeping gives you , right ? So even if something may not strictly be NEEDED (you could surely win a MT Match without ever throwing a single one) that dosent mean that the style isnt BETTER with it being there , does it ?

He also added live sparing... Jeet Kun Do was born.

There was Sparring (Freeing Of The Hands) in Wing Chun in Yip Mans school , and as far as I know all of his Students teach it to this day . In Fact , I dont know any GOOD WC school that dosent spar on some sort of Schedule , although at the lower and Higher levels its less emphasised than in the middle "Ranks" . Its only schools in the US that seem to fail to Spar , I dont know of ANY MA school in China that dosent do it .

It actually AMAZES me that ppl from MT still think that Chinese Fighters dont Spar ! I think I own more Sparring Gear than anyone else I know ! You always get Comments how "Jet Li Couldnt REALLY Fight" when he went to an MA SCHOOL where sparring was A MANDATORY CLASS ! And the guy has likely sparred as much or more than anyone else on the planet ! But hey , he was a FormsChamp , so he couldnt ever have sparred , you know , TOO ?

 

[Djimbe]

Some still do call it gung fu.
Two branches of Wing chun emerged after yip mans death.
William cheung continued with origional " WIng Chun Gung fu" while
Leung ting started teaching" Ving tsun".
Both claimed to be the heir to the system and have had heated and I believe at one point violent debates regarding this.
I am not really positive as I am not certified in WIng Chun, although it is a baissi for my training.

Actually There are MANY more "Branches" - as many Branches as Yip Man had students , in fact ...

It SHOULD be noted that Leung Ting spent about 20 years in Yip Man's School , however , while William Cheung spent about 5 , and left before he was even an Adult .

Many of Yip Man's students knew him for DECADES and were adult FRIENDS , This could hardly be said for this Teenager , Im betting , if common sense prevails .

 

[Djimbe]

i am really interested in learning a martial art, i dont know where to start. Someone help me start out!!!!

Where do you LIVE ?

You dont learn from a Martial Art , you learn from a Teacher . YOu should find the best in your area and train with them . there are many paths up the Mountain , find the guy thats gotten the farthest up near you .

YOu should also be clear about what you want from a MA . Do you want to Compete , Inner Peace , Self Defense ?

 

[Djimbe]

Muay Thai. You can't go wrong. Then, Brazilizn Jiu Jitsu. You will notice bodyfat changes and positive self confidence changes.
Learn Thai until you can train it on your own. Then BJJ. BJJ will take forever to get in the higher belts if that's your concern. If you have the $$$$$ then train them both.

This is a Horrible answer , bro .

there are PLENTY of CRAP MT gyms out there , and you CAN go wrong . I dont want to call anyones Gym out by name , but style means squat . Ive seen MT gyms that just plain Suck , and then Ive seen some that will turn you into Iron .

And BJJ is the most Overrated thing since Ninjas in the 80's . Im NOT making any negative statements about the system itself at all , Im just saying that its NOT going to give the 155 lb guy that goes 2x/week the soloution to the 300lb ex-Con . Not everyone that does BJJ is a Gracie .

 

[Djimbe]

There are some more advanced variations on Wing Chun including Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, Jesse Glover's Non-Classical Gung Fu (Jesse was Bruce's first american student, and his first assistant in Seattle, Washington), James DeMile's Wing Chun Do (Demile was in the original Bruce Lee group in Seattle, Washington), and Modified Wing Chun as taught by Richard Bustillo at the IMB Academy in California.

I wouldnt reer to ANY of wha any of the above listed do as ANY sort of "Advancement" on Wing Chun Unless you have seen Chris Chan's , Duncan Leungs , Robert Chiu's , Moy Yat's , Ho Kam Ming's , or Leung Ting's Wing Chun . In fact , I would call what they wre doing freaking Remedial by comparison . And even that would be biting my toungue QUITE a bit . Quite simply put , this guys couldnt shine any of the guys I lesteds shoes in a fair fight , and on the average theres a 30 year age gap in their Favour .

 

[JayC9]

My brother studied Wing Chun for 3 years and got pretty good at it, used to tour around a bit giving demos etc, he studied with master O'Neil in the UK. I tried it myself for a few months and found it very interesting although I didn't like the instructors aggresive approach.

There's definitely a lot that can be taken from the style. I like the direct centre line attack, shin stamp, lap sow and a few other moves but prefer Muay as a stand up style.