My Honest Opinion on Wing Chun and the IP MAN Movie

I get asked about Wing Chun all the time. It might be the most mainstream version of kung fu in the west and I also trained it for a while before switching over the Shaolin Kung Fu. Why? Cause I watched the Ip man movie with Donnie Yen. I know. I was very impressionable. Anyways, this video is about Wing Chun and the shortcomings I see in its style, community and marketing. Enjoy!

@SenseiSeth Can I Make Wing Chun Work?

@MartialArtsJourney Why I Finally Quite Wing Chun

Disgusting Behavior

Chapters:
00:00 I love the Ip Man Movie
03:18 Does Wing Chun Ignore Weight Differences?
04:20 Do Wing Chun techniques prepare you for fights?
06:12 Can you use Wing Chun to defend yourself?
07:32 The Business behind Wing Chun
08:48 How Wing Chun is taught
10:26 The best reason to train Wing Chun
11:15 Summary

Music Produced By

[SenseiSeth]

I feel like most martial arts, the principles are USUALLY pretty sound. But then the practice will get a little wonky. Love your approach here sir 👏👏

[MartialArtsJourney]

Thanks for the shoutout Ranton! I'm really glad you're bringing attention to these subjects. Traditional martial arts can offer a lot as long as they are transparent and honest in what they offer without misleading the students and/or pretending to be something they are not. The more people will know what some martial arts and what they aren't, the better choices they will make when choosing a martial art. So thanks again for bringing up this subject!

[jorgeestevez]

I am 64 years old, I began training in Boxing at 12 and at 15 I found a Wing chun class that impressed me to no end. I had attempted to join a Shaolin school located at 34ths street Braoday in Manhattan, but they did not spar at all, Pretty moves, but coming from a boxing back ground, it sucked. However the Wing chun school I joined, with Sifu Duncan Leung, had us sparring on day 1!They especially liked me because of my boxing background. To this day I coach boxing and use many wing chun principles. In a nut shell, I don't care what TMA you practice, if you don't spar, you will never make it work. After my Sifu left the states, every Wing chun school (in fact all Kung fu and Karate) I visited were focused on uniforms and Kata. I was used to punching and getting punched. So I dropped out of martial arts and continued boxing. I still have my wooden dummy and practice wing chun forms. what I have learned is that not every technique is effective every time. Real fighting is chaotic. Also, I feel that Wing chun is more of a grappling art rather than striking, Chi sao works great for me in boxing as I tie up an opponent, and in grappling, the unconventional attacks throw people off, but no technique works great ALL the time. 50 % skill, 50 % luck, 100 % circumstance. Thats real

[kmal]

This video-essay type content is amazing, you're an incredible writer. Your points are clear, concise, and easy to follow (also love your vocabulary, eg "praxis-oriented" "self-aggrandizing" "litigious"). The diversity of your channel is absolutely unique, and you do it all well

[UnicornCentaur]

This video made me feel so much better about the school my son trains in! The Sifu is so humble and positive, and never bad mouths other styles or schools. He's even honest about what works or doesn't work in a street fight. He also loves that my son has other training (Taekwondo and Krav Maga) Thank you so much for this!

[jimmycarpenter]

I like how real you keep it. I'm a veteran and have seen combat. We train and train and train for pretty much any situation you can imagine but when the actual combat happens most of that training goes out the window for most people because it never starts the way you expect it. You can train as much as you like but nothing teaches like actual experience.

[FantasticMario]

Ip Man 1 is such a vibe. One of the most satisfying parts of the movie is showing other styles and masters using there fighting styles! You get scenery and atmosphere before the fire nation attacks. It makes you appreciate the beginning so much more!

[midasthestallion]

Gus Thomas: "Mr. Wilson, karate is one of the oldest forms of self-defense known to man."
Grady Wilson: "It ain't older than running."

[bmacaulay]

Mike Tyson said it best. “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”. 😂😅😂😅😂

[katamekothriis]

I actually watched Ip Man fairly recently, and I have to say I absolutely loved it. Donnie Yen did an absolutely amazing job and the fight choreography is some of the best I've seen in any movie. I'm so glad you decided to talk about this amazing film!

Also, fun fact, Donnie Yen actually broke one of Mike Tyson's fingers during the fight scene.

[chriskrueger]

I studied many martial arts. Including Wing Chun off and on for 6 years. Last July I started boxing. As a kid and adult I loved watching boxing. Studying it made me have a whole new respect. You just don't know how hard it is! Boxing has definitely improved my fighting ability, and has given me a much greater defense than any martial art has. Not to mention the conditioning and realism. Getting in the ring and sparring with the coaches was a major eye opener!

[belikewater]

Spot on my friend. If I’m honest, every art is guilty of exaggerating it’s ‘self defence’ ability and many people learn the hard with a beating…

[davidpolttila]

The style of wing chun showcased in the movies is a lot more dynamic than how people practice it in real life. Donny Yen slips punches, covers up for incoming attacks, and employs a lot of strategies outside of the regular curriculum. Of course Donny Yen did the choreography, and has a lot of different styles under his belt.

[YokaiSteve]

Bruce Lee was the perfect example of "take what is useful, get rid of what is useless" when creating his own form of self defence.

[roshansharma]

Talking about "don't let anyone argue you out of your own personal enjoyment of something" is just the best advice! Thank you!

[kneelbeforesaed]

I practiced wing chun for 2 years, and I enjoyed every aspect of the martial art. What I did not like was my sifu filling my head with the idea that I could fight anyone with the practical application of wing chun. The longer I practiced it, the more I realized that I would never win a fight in real life. My sifu was over exaggerating what we were learning every day. With that in mind, I continued training in wing chun for fun and I met many great people during that time.

[cds]

This is so spot on to my own experience. I trained Wing Chun as my first martial art and thought it was the best and that I was ready to take on anyone. Then a buddy invited me to come along to his BJJ class and it was a massive eye opener. Lots of sparing and they had a kickboxing class to round out the students skills. Made me realise how impractical my skills were training with them for one day.

[EB-imfu]

As someone who used to practice the art and teach it, you are spot on about the politics, egos and practice methods. Most especially the part when you said AT LEAST attend a session of boxing. Because I did the same thing and several years later, I am now into Boxing(competed), Muay Thai, BJJ and ultimately, MMA. I saw Rokas' video few years back, and like what I said in that video, you guys hit the nail on the head describing the culture of practicing WC. People even invent their own self-defense achievements saying they beat up some thief trying to pick their pockets etc. They are prone to self-aggrandization since they don't spar therefore not being exposed to violence. And they've got egos. Sparring humbles you and determines where you are in the skill hierarchy, which is consistent to most of the gyms I went to. Sparring is crucial in reminding you how much you suck, that you are not that special, keeps your head on the ground.

[e.j.leonard]

Not only is the Wing Chun in Ip Man Choreographed, giving an unrealistic idea of it's effectiveness the fact that it's choreography is devised to have Donnie Yen be the performer pushes that illusion even further. Because even compared to other martial arts actors and real fighters, Donnie Yen's is ridiculously charismatic and his hand and foot speed is just obscenely fast. All action choreography is meant to make the hero's style look effective, but Donnie Yen is the master of selling that conceit. I mean, look at the new John Wick movie; Donnie is so good at moving on screen (even now that he's getting old and isn't as quick and dynamic as he used to be) that he can almost make the `blind assassin' trope feel believable, not just with swords but even when they're all using guns!

TLDR: Remember that whoever you are you are not Donnie Yen, the actor, let alone the fictionalized version of Ip Man that Donnie Yen portrays.

[athenovae]

I’m glad my Wing Chun school didn’t advertise at all. LMAO Literally just a bunch of kung fu enthusiasts in a warehouse storage/office district that opens after work and we’d practice Hung Gar Nei Kung, Tai Chi, Choy Lay Fut, and Wing Chun. No nonsense about authenticity or school politics. 🥰

Also the only “advertisement” they did was a morning hour long exercise program for ppl to warm up their bodies like chi kung. No word of martial arts at all. I only found out by word or mouth from my mom who heard the name which had Wing Chun in it. hahahah

Update: school closed down a couple years ago and then opened back up but idk what happened after that. It’s been a while 😭.
Name is Đông Phương Hội Vịnh Xuân Quyền - Far East Association Wing Chun Kuen