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OK, let's use this as a jumping off point.
Where does your lineage of Yip Man come from?
What do you see as the major differences between the two different methods ?
Obviously in light of the ongoing discussion I'm not asking for details as much as I am generalities. Strengths, weaknesses...that sort of thing.
I learned both systems from my sifu. I wont name him here but for anyone interested the details are on our website.
My Sifu was a private student of Yip Chun. He learned Yip Man wing chun from him. Then, after going around meeting the heads of different lineages he eventually tracked down Sum Nung who, after a few years of training with him, took him as a disciple. I have seen photos of him doing the Bai Si ceremony with Sum Nung.
However, as my sifu went around seeing different types of wing chun he got to see a good portion of Yip Man's Fat San wing chun and kinda liked what he saw; Sum Nung also told him a lot about Yip Mans wing chun, Sum Nung knew yip man well and had seen a lot of his wing chun in Fat San. So, when my teacher started his school in the late 80/early 90s he incorporated some modifications from what he saw in china. So things like the low stance, resting arm being pulled up and back, position of the hands when doing things like Sam Bai Fat. So our HK style wing chun tends to have a mainland china kind of flavour to it, so
while t
echnically, its Yip Chun wing chun, my sifu has modified it. My sifu always taught the Yip Man style openly; and for anyone he decided to teach it to, he might start teaching the Guangzhou style. If you were very lucky he might take you as a private student (I was very lucky). In that case you learned the Guangzhou style in the traditional way at his house.
I run my school the same way.
In terms of the differences between the systems, the Guangzhou style is much tighter, is structurally much more solid and has a much more sophisticated and sensitive control and manipulation of force. It also has a completely different understanding of what efficiency of movement means. This different idea about efficiency is coupled with the structure that the body takes and is why the structure is so much tighter in the Guangzhou style.
In terms of power generation we generate power generally (kind of) the same in both systems but the Guangzhou one is concentrated in the body in a different way which seems to make it hit a lot harder. The power generation is coupled with the structure and efficiency through the trajectory of the movements in a way that makes the Guangzhou style unspeakably more difficult than the Yip Man style, its more difficult to learn, to train at and to understand. However this different idea of efficiency gives the Guangzhou style a versatility that far out strips that of the Yip Man style.
In a case where you have someone who is dedicated, will train in the traditional manner, and can understand Guangzhou style wing chun (Obijaunsalami is one of these), that person will be very, very, difficult for someone trained only in Yip Man style to deal with. All of that is an enormous strength of the Guangzhou style. However, unfortunately, it is also its biggest weakness.
It is very hard to do it right, and if you cut corners, if you think "near enough is good enough", you just have mediocre Guangzhou style wing chun; by my estimation what you have will not just be useless but an absolute detriment. You would be better of defending yourself with no training at all. So essentially, unless you are willing to do the training in the traditional manner, which puts a huge emphasis on foundation training (Stance, punches, turns, sup yi sik) you won't actually have the wherewithal to deploy your wing chun.
And this is where I think the Yip Man style shines. It is relatively easy (though still difficult), but the more open structure, the simpler ideas of efficiency (so from point A to point B as fast and directly as possible), the simpler ways of using force and the more basic and easier system of power generation make it a much more accessible system of wing chun. And, given the amount of training the average person is interested in doing, or able to dedicate to, it is easier to become proficient, to actually pretty good at.
From my point of view as someone running a wing chun school, the Yip Man style is excellent, it is much more accessible for the average person who wants to learn a martial art and, if trained at properly, for that average person, has a level of effectiveness that should see them able to defend themselves (all things being considered).
In these terms, in my opinion, the Guangzhou style is no good as a style to teach in the context of a wing chun school (generally speaking). It is much better kept back and given to people who are dedicated and willing to train hard; that is the only way that they would make it work.
Far from holding it back as a bait, or as something to keep students paying fees in the hope that they will get it??? For me as a teacher its about giving a student a good solid system of self defence, that may one day save them from a beating; or giving them what they want and having them end up with a system of self defence that they don't actually have the physicality to use. they will cop a beating. Its better to have good, solid, functional Yip Man wing chun than mediocre Guangzhou style that they cant actually use.
That's a kind of general picture, sorry for the length, I'm happy to discuss an finer points anyone may have.
