We need a kick in the pants!!!

[yak sao]

Personally, I haven't had as much to contribute lately either. I don't know what it is, but it's like I've been losing the faith. That long slow process of disenchantment.

You have a classic case of organizationitis. I had a near terminal case of it myself some years back that almost drove me out of MA in general and WT in particular.

The cure for me was to set out on my own and get back to the original reason I got into MA in the first place.
You've been at this a long time, do you really need ( or want) some grand poobah telling you how to do this stuff?

 

[Callen]

Personally, I haven't had as much to contribute lately either. I don't know what it is, but it's like I've been losing the faith. That long slow process of disenchantment.

There's so much good Wing Chun out there! If you're feeling stuck, maybe you could train with some new Wing Chun folks and discover different methods and interpretations. All-lineage workshops and training in new places are pretty awesome as well.

 

[ShortBridge]

It's hard to discuss traditional martial arts on-line without fans of UFC via YouTube talking over you about how stupid what you do is and demanding proof (via YouTube) that what you do is worth while.

Or sometimes someone who maybe doesn't see themselves as a troll taking over the conversation to say that it's necessary to combine your traditional system with some modern system or method and posting videos of someone who clearly doesn't do what you do as proof.

Give me a dedicated Wing Chun forum and moderate out the haters and maybe it would go differently.

I can't imaging trolling a forum dedicated to some system that I don't know to tell those people that what they do is wrong. Or a CrossFit forum and jumping into every topic to talk about playing the saxophone. But that's what it feels like to try to connect with other Wing Chun players and talk about what we do on-line.

 

[skribs]

I post on both Reddit and here. I'm on the r/Taekwondo subreddit, there isn't much more activity there than there is here. What there is more of over there is casual posts about Taekwondo.

Here, you'll get discussions on what the art was and where it's going. There you'll get "am I doing this form correctly" or "can you tell me if this is a good dojang?"

What I really think is drawing people away is YouTube and other similar media. Why read when you can watch a video? Why discuss in a forum when you can just comment "TKD is dumb" or "your moves suck, train harder" on a YouTube video?

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I post on both Reddit and here. I'm on the r/Taekwondo subreddit, there isn't much more activity there than there is here. What there is more of over there is casual posts about Taekwondo.

Here, you'll get discussions on what the art was and where it's going. There you'll get "am I doing this form correctly" or "can you tell me if this is a good dojang?"

What I really think is drawing people away is YouTube and other similar media. Why read when you can watch a video? Why discuss in a forum when you can just comment "TKD is dumb" or "your moves suck, train harder" on a YouTube video?

Normally my dilemma is agree/like/useful/informative. This is the first time I'm debating between clicking agree and dislike. forum and actually discussing things is so much better than commenting on a video or gif. sadly, not a lot of people care.

 

[skribs]

Normally my dilemma is agree/like/useful/informative. This is the first time I'm debating between clicking agree and dislike. forum and actually discussing things is so much better than commenting on a video or gif. sadly, not a lot of people care.

I'm not saying that's what it should be, just that's where society is going. Watching > reading.

I fall victim to that. I'd rather watch a movie than read a book.

 

[yak sao]

.... I'd rather watch a movie than read a book.

just read a book with lots of pictures.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I'm not saying that's what it should be, just that's where society is going. Watching > reading.

I fall victim to that. I'd rather watch a movie than read a book.

I find myself listening to books far more than reading them these days. It's not doing good things for my ability to focus, though, so I'm working my way back to reading (at one time, I was reading a book every week or two).

 

[skribs]

I find myself listening to books far more than reading them these days. It's not doing good things for my ability to focus, though, so I'm working my way back to reading (at one time, I was reading a book every week or two).

I don't think I have a problem focusing. You should have seen what one of the kids did in class today. Oh, I've been playing XCOM 2 lately, and I just made significant progress in my campaign. I really need to do more squats. What was I saying?

Oh, right, I have no problems focusing.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I don't think I have a problem focusing. You should have seen what one of the kids did in class today. Oh, I've been playing XCOM 2 lately, and I just made significant progress in my campaign. I really need to do more squats. What was I saying?

Oh, right, I have no problems focusing.

This is going way off topic, but that reminded me of something I read awhile back

The National Attention Deficit Disorders Book on how to....Hey lets go ride bikes

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

It's hard to discuss traditional martial arts on-line without fans of UFC via YouTube talking over ...

When talking about WC, I always like to put up this clip for discussion. People may say he is not doing WC. If to use chain punches to knock opponent down is your goal, there may be more than 1 path to reach there. As long as you can achieve your goal, it doesn't matter which path that you may want to take.

Instead of looking at the difference between MA systems, I like to look at the commonality between MA systems. How can a non-WC guy who can do chain punches so well is worth a lot of discussion.

It's just like a non-wrestler who can do a nice wrestling move, I also like to know what his secret training method is.

Without comparison, we may look at something only from one angle (such as WC point of view). With comparison, we can loot at the same thing from many different angles (such as boxing point of view).

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Personally, I don't have a lot to say on the subject anymore. It's been a long slow process of disenchantment.

MMA training has forced me to supplant most of what I learned over 25 years with more functional techniques.

I wouldn't say any of it was wasted training, but it's certainly not the route I would take knowing what I know now, for my specific goals.

I feel the same way as you do. Any particular MA system no longer interest me any more. My interest is in the kick, punch, lock, throw, ground game integration.

I do have strong interest in the WC centerline theory. But my centerline theory application (to separate opponent's arms away from his head and establish a clinch) can be different from most of the WC guys centerline theory application.

 

[Martial D]

I feel the same way as you do. Any particular MA system no longer interest me any more. My interest is in the kick, punch, lock, throw, ground game integration.

I do have strong interest in the WC centerline theory. But my centerline theory application (to separate opponent's arms away from his head and establish a clinch) can be different from most of the WC guys centerline theory application.

Ya. All of that.

Centerline stuff is still totally valid, and all of the chisau I did does help me nuetralize guys arms and force in a way that I probably wouldn't or couldn't had I not done it. Yet, exactly none of that is taught in winchun proper.

For me it's a series of drills to help with a very specific and peripheral aspect of fighting.

 

[Cephalopod]

... all of the chisau I did does help me nuetralize guys arms and force in a way that I probably wouldn't or couldn't had I not done it. Yet, exactly none of that is taught in winchun proper.

For me it's a series of drills to help with a very specific and peripheral aspect of fighting.

I'm sincerely interested to hear more of your perpective and experience of the highlighted part.

I feel that the greatest tangible progress I've made as a martial artist after these many years of wing chun is in my ability to neutralize force; to absorb and bypass incoming aggression or blows without getting knocked off balance. In my previous MA training, I had learned to punch and kick fast and hard and to have 'solid stances', but all went out the window when I clashed with a heavier guy because I was unable to deal with all that energy.

Do you have misgivings of the principles of WC that you learned or gaps in the training methods?

 

[Martial D]

I'm sincerely interested to hear more of your perpective and experience of the highlighted part.

I feel that the greatest tangible progress I've made as a martial artist after these many years of wing chun is in my ability to neutralize force; to absorb and bypass incoming aggression or blows without getting knocked off balance. In my previous MA training, I had learned to punch and kick fast and hard and to have 'solid stances', but all went out the window when I clashed with a heavier guy because I was unable to deal with all that energy.

Do you have misgivings of the principles of WC that you learned or gaps in the training methods?

Both I guess. I started training in WC in 1995 or 94, and I've never really stopped. I have come to believe that there is more bathwater than baby, mostly due to pressure testing.

I have since completely thrown out or altered beyond recognition the overt elements(the stance, footwork, power delivery method, hand positions, etc) but still find some of the principles(trapping, entry strategy, gate theory, sticky hands) useful in practice.

The thing is when you change how you train, especially if you add a lot of sparring or other heavy pressure testing, the end result will be shaped by that, rather than a rigid curriculum or syllabus.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

The thing is when you change how you train, especially if you add a lot of sparring or other heavy pressure testing, the end result will be shaped by that, rather than a rigid curriculum or syllabus.

My question on this is probably semantics. Does that change make it no longer WC? By my definition, it doesn't.

 

[vince1]

What's happened to our forum here guys?
Nobody's posting. Is it because we've said all there is to say about our art?
Or are we tired of going over the same things again and again?

I've noticed we have some new blood here and they're bringing up some decent topics. Maybe not so new to many of us, but I think we need to engage the new guys and share some insights. It just might help them along in their journey and it may reignite a spark in us and remind us why we've dedicated so much of ourselves to our training.

I am a new forum member and have posted a few topics for discussion and contributed to some other posts. I quickly noticed some forum members just like to argue and talk in circles. I won't be posting very often or contributing as often because of this. I do realize many people on this forum are long time martial artists and have a lot of good advice to offer . I have come to realize it's better to send a PM when looking for advice rather than post.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I am a new forum member and have posted a few topics for discussion and contributed to some other posts. I quickly noticed some forum members just like to argue and talk in circles. I won't be posting very often or contributing as often because of this. I do realize many people on this forum are long time martial artists and have a lot of good advice to offer . I have come to realize it's better to send a PM when looking for advice rather than post.

Two years after you join, you don't get to keep calling yourself a "new forum member", vince.

 

[vince1]

Two years after you join, you don't get to keep calling yourself a "new forum member", vince.

It's been that long ! I am getting old.

 

[geezer]

My question on this is probably semantics. Does that change make it no longer WC? By my definition, it doesn't.

Of course it's not Wing Chun anymore! And all the more so if you aren't paying your association dues!!!