Wing Chun and.. ?

Hi all

First off let me say I'm a total beginner; I started learning Wing Chun a few weeks ago. I did a year or so of Judo when I was ~10 (I'm 20 now) but never got very far with it.

Although I'm studying Wing Chun, the school I am with only does Wing Chun classes one evening a week. I am really enjoying it but once a week doesn't seem like very much. There are some other classes on offer with the same school, such as kickboxing, kung fu (I think it must be a generic class with different styles), and Taijiquan. These are all taught by the same sifu (although noone seems to call him 'sifu', I guess that's what he is). There are also various classes in other martial arts in the area, not taught by the school I'm learning Wing Chun with.

So, as you may have guessed by now, if you're in a perceptive mood (), I am wondering if I should try something else as well. Who knows, maybe it would suit me better than Wing Chun

I am not sure if this would cause any negative effects to my Wing Chun training. I am tempted to take up Judo again, because it was a lot of fun and easy to get into quickly. I'm not sure how compatible that might be though.

Another reason I'd like some more activity is that I am not exactly in shape. I'm 5'9" and about 12 and a half stone (that's 175 lbs, or ~80 kg), and the excess weight is probably about half muscle and half beergut I'm a computer programmer by day, which involves the occasional light bicep curl when I lift my coffee cup but that's about it I do some weights at home every night though, so I'm not just pure lard.

Anyhow, I digress. There seems to be a lot available: Aikido, Judo, Ju jitsu, various styles of karate & kung fu, kickboxing... I have noticed cross-training is a subject of some debate among martial arts practitioners.

I would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks

First off, let me be the first to say that cross-training is never a bad thing.

Alright, here's the way I see it. Keep in mind I'm only one man and this is only my opinion. You are out of shape as you stated. My recommendation would be to take up the kickboxing class. Kickboxing, while not a great fighting art, is notorious for getting people back into relatively good shape.

Once you're back in shape, THEN return to a fighting art. If your sifu is teaching actual combat Taijiquan, I would jump on that! It's hard to find a legit Taiji teacher.

__________________
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(\~-. Ninja Kl0wn .-~/)
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Water overcomes the stone;
Without substance it requires no opening;
This is the benefit of taking no action.
Yet benefit without action,
And experience without abstraction,
Are practiced by very few.

I am also of the opinion that cross training isn't bad, and in fact that it is good. Just look at all the NHB fights, almost all of them are won by MMAs. I would suggest looking into Taijiquan, it works in the same area that Wing Chun does, so they would complement each other well. (Bruce Lee did Wing Chun and Taijiquan before deciding to create JKD, though he wasn't very good at either, so perhaps his descicion to create JKD was premature). Doing Judo as well wouldn't hurt. However, for complementing I think Jiu-jitsu would be better because it deals with striking as well, on the other hand, if the striking is similar enough but different from Wing Chun you might find yourself with a problem. The reason I think you should go into at least some grappling style is so you can deal with it if someone grapples you. Also, if you look at all the martial arts throughout the world, grappling arts are far more prevalent than striking arts, nearly every country has some Wrestling style. This means that you are very likely to run into someone with grappling experience. The way to beat a grappler is to strike them, but you need to know how to grapple properly before you can make use of your striking effectively.

As was previously stated there is nothing wrong with trying a few different items in the Martial Arts buffet. I would suggest try each one out for a couple of weeks. Try as MANY martial arts as you can, but only 1 every week or so. When you find the one that's "you" jump on it and devote yourself to it with abandon.

When I was directed to a legit Kung Fu academy I was barely practicing on my own and was taking Karate, Jujitsu, and Judo. Now I have so much material I can't find the time to devote to everything! The point is find something that's complete and will keep you interested enough to go all the way. Good schools nowadays will teach grappling/chin na and striking so if you can find classes like that I strongly recommend them.

The key to remember is to do what makes you feel good.

__________________
"You must eat bitter before you can taste sweet"- Iron & Silk
"I see no virtue where I smell no sweat"
"Arm yourself because no one else here will save you" - Chris Cornell

I think before you decide, you should train in a different style that you are interested in for around a month, then if you don't like it try the next one. The reason is i don't think you would be able to fully appreciate the style until you have got used to it.
Personally, i have more fun every class that i go to - merely because i'm get better at it. So i don't think you should rush into a decision.

Thanks a lot for the advice, guys. I was tempted to try a grappling style, it seems like Wing Chun is all so close up you're almost grappling anyway

To be quite honest Axiom, I think Jujitsu and Wing Chun would be about the best combo you could come up with! I would try those 2, but be careful not to do like some people...you know jack of all trades, master of none! Good Luck & Happy Hunting!

__________________
If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are.
-Zen proverb

From the pine tree
Learn of the pine tree.
And from the bamboo
of the bamboo
-Basho

After a bit of investigation into Jujitsu, I've seen it mentioned on severl club websites that you don't do sparring, although you do sort of take it in turns to attack each other. Something along those lines. Is this true I quite like the sparring bit.

In my jujitsu school, we did full contact sparring. We bought boxing gloves that had finger seperations so we could grab anytime we wanted, head gear that covered forehead, temples, and ears, and foot pads that covered top part of foot only. The sparring was fun, but sometimes got to intense. We would start off squaring each other up...then exchange blows and try to get locks, throws, ect....but it didnt stop there!!! The match continued on the ground until someone was choked out, or tapped out (gave up). It was very intense and tiresome, after 1 or 2 matches you generally had to stop for a while...the matches often lasted 15 minutes a piece. But that is not to say that any other jujitsu school would do this.
But the techniques are such that you dont really require sparring. Nothing is done alone except basic striking, after that you will learn locks, throws, chokes, ground tech. ect.... you will start off with the attacker moving slowly at you (ie round punch to head....very slow) but after a while...he will throw full force.
I think that from what I have seen of wing chun, the strikes and targets of striking along with methods seem to fit nicely in with jujitsu techniques and vice versa....at the very least one will improve your abilities with the other art.
The only thing I can say is look around at the jujitsu schools and ask them about sparring, same for wing chun....but make sure they allow students to train at multiple schools at the same time, because many traditional stylists do not allow training at 2 schools at the same time. Good Luck!

__________________
If you understand, things are just as they are; if you do not understand, things are just as they are.
-Zen proverb

From the pine tree
Learn of the pine tree.
And from the bamboo
of the bamboo
-Basho

sparring is good, but in my opinion it should only be done if the techniques are known really well. with people I have sparred with, the people who do techniques more than sparring are way better fighters.