The Wing Chun Compendium books

[wingchun100]

Has anyone ever read these two books by Wayne Belonoha? I've been wanting to add some new WC books to my library, and I was wondering if they were worth the investment.

 

[ShortBridge]

I don't own them, but I've borrowed them. In general, I don't like technical books on martial arts, but I have to say that these are extremely well done. They are kind of an investment and I'm not sure they changed anything for me, but there is certainly something to them. Someone who didn't know Wing Chun would not learn Wing Chun from them, of course, but I know that's not your situation, but they are a thorough reference for someone who has had training.

There were a few chapters that I really didn't like, like the ones on chi and chinese medicine, but that's personal preference. There were others on things like the characters associated with terms that I found very helpful.

If I recall he is Moy Yat lineage, so the forms broken down correspond to they way they do them and may be different than yours.

 

[wingchun100]

I don't own them, but I've borrowed them. In general, I don't like technical books on martial arts, but I have to say that these are extremely well done. They are kind of an investment and I'm not sure they changed anything for me, but there is certainly something to them. Someone who didn't know Wing Chun would not learn Wing Chun from them, of course, but I know that's not your situation, but they are a thorough reference for someone who has had training.

There were a few chapters that I really didn't like, like the ones on chi and chinese medicine, but that's personal preference. There were others on things like the characters associated with terms that I found very helpful.

If I recall he is Moy Yat lineage, so the forms broken down correspond to they way they do them and may be different than yours.

Do they go into things like Chi Gerk? My Sifu told me to start practicing leg work at home, and I know what certain moves look like such as Bong Gerk, Tan Gerk, Pak Gerk, and even Jut Gerk. However, he mentioned GAN Gerk, which I have never seen executed. I have been browsing for days now, trying to find a video demonstrating it, and found nothing.

 

[ShortBridge]

I honestly don't remember, but I will say that no one could learn something like Chi Gerk from a book. They are good, but clinical. Very useful for things like looking up characters. But, not instructional.

 

[wingchun100]

I honestly don't remember, but I will say that no one could learn something like Chi Gerk from a book. They are good, but clinical. Very useful for things like looking up characters. But, not instructional.

My bad if it came out sounding like I think I can learn from a book. I was just eager to see a picture of what the technique looks like. Classes are few and far between for me (due to scheduling conflicts), but I was just eager to see what it looks like.

 

[Cephalopod]

Oh hey, I forgot that I have those books somewhere behind the couch!

I picked them up years ago thinking that they would make excellent reference material. I mean, they are so huge they must cover all angles and aspects, right?

Actually one of the things I had in mind was to learn more of the Chinese terminology and the corresponding meanings and backgrounds. My sifu has always been stingy on that stuff. He claims to regard it as irrelevant to acquiring good wing chun skills. Personally I think he just hates hearing another white guy mangle his native tongue.

For that purpose the books served quite well.

I did, however, get quite irritated at the author for what I perceived (at least at the time) as rampant dogmatism. A good deal of the text deals with his philosophies of all things related to wing chun as seen through a very rigid lens. He speaks of how Moy Yat had the kuen kuit carved into stone tablets and how anything that doesn't follow these iron clad rules is either false or heretical. Again, this is my interpretation at the time.

I came across a chapter on "unstoppable" chi-sao techniques, and how since they cannot be stopped in the context of "good" chi-sao they should not be trained either in offence or defence.

That's about when I stuffed the books behind the couch.

I should take them out again and give them another go with a more open mind.

 

[ShortBridge]

That's more or less how I remember them too.

 

[Vajramusti]

That's more or less how I remember them too.

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I thumbed through and gave my copy away.