Is Wing Chun Effective in a Street Fight for Self Defense

This video is not meant to bash the art of Wing Chun or upset anyone! I have the utmost respect for the art, and there is definitely benefits to take away from training it it. However, I do not personally believe it is the BEST for street fighting and self-defense.

If you are exclusively looking for a martial art that is tailor-made to keep you safe on the streets, be sure to do your research and find what best suits YOU! Wing Chun is a beautiful, ancient martial art that will help you improve as a human being, but is not the number one choice when focusing on winning a fight.

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[davidporter]

Actually, Wing Chun has seriously helped my boxing & stand up in general. As a stand alone style, it would not be my first choice, but is a game changer for fighters who have been training for years. It's an advanced style in my opinion

[LesZapata]

I don't think you understand what wing Chung is about. Your blocking example was horrible and misrepresents the fundamentals of Wing Chun. You don't apply power to counter power, otherwise, you're doing it wrong. It figures, haters find the worst practitioners to propagate their misinformation and bias. Conditioning is not integrated, leaving the student to tailor it for his or her needs. Don't hate on what you don't understand.

[MepsiPax]

I say it every time. It's not the martial art but the martial artist.

[oi]

Anyone who says that you "block" in WC has definately no clue how the system actually works.

[josephdvid]

Bruce Lee was an amazing martial artist by combing martial arts together such as jujitsu boxing and wingchung.

[metainstincts]

Him: “No-“

Donnie yen who beaten 8 man in a fight would like to know your location

[ghcheong]

First of all, Shane, There are two types of Wing Chun.
1. Kuo Lao Wing Chun ( Traditional Wing Chun )
2. Modernized Wing Chun

They all have their own strengths and flaws, but I can safely say they are every bit as effective as other arts.
Secondly " When someone is throwing a strong haymaker, it'll be hard to block with like this or like this..." I would say, of course it won't work! Wing Chun has a theory of consistent forward intention. Meaning, you keep applying forward pressure until you drop the guy. In a situation where someone throws a strong hay maker, usually the person's whole body weight will be on the punch. Some will advice to rush in, my teacher taught me to guide the hand away and downwards laterally , throw the person off structure / and then rush in and counter with hands and feet movements, attacking the side of the off balances person.
Which brings me to my third point, Center line theory . While many preach of the center line theory being the way of the punch, you don't just strike the center of your opponent ! If one only strikes at the center line on the torso, he is asking for trouble. In Wing Chun, we always preach to leverage every advantage you have to overcome your opponent. I find that attacking the opponent when he is off balanced or when his side is facing me works best. The theory is simple. If you attack head on, the hands are in a two against two battle. Attack when your opponent is at his side, it is a two against one battle. Trap the hand facing you, and it becomes a one against zero battle and from there, the opponent is at your mercy. Useful for driving up someone against the wall or other environmental leverages.
Finally, the lack of footwork in Wing Chun . That is the only part I agree with you in this video. There needs to be an upgrade in the footwork in Wing Chun . The video that you showed of the guy back paddling is not exactly because of foot work though. In Wing Chun, we have this footwork called " Targeted feet or Biu Ma, where we jam our lead leg between the opponent's inner thighs and advance forward. That leads to the opponent not able to turn and change stance because the lead leg has occupied the center of gravity of the person. Sorry for the long comment Shane, but I hope next time, you can dive deeper into any other art and do some research and spar with some of the relevent masters before making a video deeming an art as " ineffective ".

[paradoxcolonia]

its not about the style, its about the fighter

[EdilarinProducts]

in order to apply wing chun into a street fight, you'll have to practice it for seveal years unlike others where you can start fighting in a year

[markus]

Another big difference I noticed was I was able to produce more power in my punches at close range, especially throwing rips.

[christinbichlele]

use every martial art aspect create what is your own every martial art is effective

[QBALL]

This is why I respect you, Shane. You don't tell BS.

[JackDangles]

As far as the Wing Chun blocks go I'd say it depends on how its applied. If someone blocks like that while immediately cutting into an attackers centerline and moving them it can be devastating, but most people probably don't do it that way.

[mokyan]

I watched the video and read through many comments, and have been thinking about this recently. I have been training in wing chun for about 9 years off and on (work/life changes, time, etc.), more often in recent years, and have learned the 3 empty hand forms, the dummy, the lok dim boon gwon pole, and the knives form (bat jam do).

I have found that over time, your movements can become LITERALLY 'automatic' when you make contact with the opponent (seriously, I don't even 'think' about it and only notice what happened when we stop, but I'm not magic) and that for a given situation, you often will respond with a different move or deflection (and/or attack) based on how it 'feels' at the time. I noticed that today, with given drills, sometimes I just did something else that worked but it just 'felt' right based on the attacker or myself or even if our alignment or position changed. Plus, I really like how wing chun 'flows' from strike to strike, not just chain punching. Krav maga calls this 'retzev', or "continuous combat motion" where you string attacks together and don't stop till the opponent is down.

Regarding the video talking about only being 'in the center', for an attacker it is simpler to move sideways or even diagonally, like a boxer would, and then turn and strike, on that 'center' line of attack. you can even trip or sweep the leg or foot as the attacker falls past in some cases. Wing chun doesn't teach to fight 'force with force' head on: rather, that saying, "take what comes, follow what goes, strike through on loss of contact" is a better descriptor - adapt to the situation.

If someone was throwing a 'big haymaker' like the video mentioned, you can step right in and punch or palm strike the face, and your left arm could not just 'sit there' to block, but actively 'accelerate/strike' the attacker's forearm with yours. This uses the 'inch punch' power of quick acceleration of a strike in a short distance. Another way I like for blocking is just covering with the left arm on the side of your head .

The other attack option, which often feels habitual (and gives time for the arc or a weapon attack) is to simply step to the right or the right diagonal to deflect the right punch with your LEFT arm while turning and striking the attacker with your RIGHT palm, hand, or elbow. You deflect/dissipate the hard force coming at you, and just flow into your attack.

That being said, in recent times I feel like I need to adapt/improve my traditional wing chun. I have never been that awesome at chi sao, I feel motion and react, but others still hit me. I know it helps reflexes but it is NOT fighting. That range from long to boxing is the problem, you have to get through it to reach the attacker. Sometimes when someone is hitting me in chi sao, I roll a bit and then do a quick shove/po pi to throw them off balance, and often it works. :)

I was taking krav maga classes for about a year, 1-2 times per week (busy schedule) and I thought that was pretty helpful, to train things we rarely, IF EVER, train at wing chun: ground work, shrimps, rolls, ground kicks, grappling, chokes, grabs, and of course weapon attacks. Also light sparring, we almost never have done sparring in wing chun except for belt/sash testing. I know that boxing training in this regard is far superior, you take hits and strike regularly.

While working on things in krav class it REALLY helped me to see people punch DIFFERENTLY from wing chun. The boxing punch starts more to the side /shoulder and comes to your head in an angle, versus straight toward you as a wing chun punch. I did notice that for many drills, when moving the wing chun footwork, balance, etc. was super helpful, the instructor mentioned that I moved well and it seemed easy. Also in some drills I would deflect and attack, then attack again, almost automatically from drills and wooden dummy practice. I especially notice this when we got a little hyped up / doing striking, it felt natural to do a string of attacks.

I believe that JKD is actually 50% wing chun, then with boxing and fencing additions. Regarding footwork, rather than the 70/30 for wing chun I have a little more like 60/40 and sometimes 50/50, but I can still be rooted, pivot, and move well, including exploding off the lead or rear foot to move or strike.

I know the boxing punch has longer reach and great power, but I am concerned that when I DON'T have gloves on that I would break my hand. I do wing chun punches to wall bags and heavy bags, also palm strikes, since palm strikes to face/head won't break my knuckles.

So then, all that considered, I am wondering if I should go back to taking krav maga classes since they involve weapons, ground work, throws, and additional hook and uppercut punches (which can be blended into wing chun with inch punch and waist turning power). The instructor is IKI certified from Israel, has over 25 years of teaching experience, and before krav training he did karate and BJJ, and he is quite the jiu jitsu dude. He also has done some kali I think.

So I DO think wing chun is effective for self defense, but the difficult things in my mind are if you fight a boxer (more reach/range, great footwork, power, hooks, and slipping!), a grappler, or an armed assailant. Plus, we don't spar in our wing chun school, a couple friends and I goof around and do some light sparring, brainstorming, and that helps. But for a random punk who is trying to attack you out in the world, I do feel that it is helpful and fast. Plus, overall I strive to live at peace in the world and avoid ego battles.

I wonder if I blend my wing chun with krav maga if that would help round me out and develop some mad skills. :)

[jusasukegaming]

You just have to know how to use wing chun

[blackcorpion]

Maybe u haven't see master Wong channel. He give pain to his opponents. With his wing chun. It can be use for street self defense

[kangzhuang]

Two things:
First, if all a Wing Chun student is doing is sticking hands and fixed drills, of course his art won't be functional.  The same could be said of a boxer who only does pad and bag work, but never spars.

Second, I question the efficacy of any martial art in modern "street fighting."  Guns, knives, uneven surfaces, glass, multiple attackers all come into play.  Krav Maga might take these factors into account, but how many non-Israeli practitioners actually pressure test their Krav techniques at full force against non-compliant attackers?

[TFSMikeRath]

Shane I totally respect your point of view and I agree with some of the points made.  However, I've seen Wing Chun guys that use it correctly and utilize their abilities that are found in Wing Chun.  Moving off angle while having your hand up with trained action response rather than just standing still.  Moving with similar footwork that I've seen professional MMA guys use, which isn't the best, but it is stable and you would have to understand how they sink into their stance as well use their centerline, which many western arts don't always use. 
Now, I'm not a wing chun guy, but I've worked with it and with people who studied it and there was a lot of good things coming out of it.  Check out Domonic Izzo and Indy Wing Chun and even London Wing Chun here on youtube.  Lots of good stuff and you can see the uses of it.

[JeetKuneDoBelgrade]

Wing Chun is a tool for a certain range in fighting. That is all.

[jamoush]

You actually make a good point about footwork. I practice wing chun, and my sifu says the biggest problem with a lot of wing chun schools is that they lack good footwork which completely destroys their structure and therefore the power behind a lot of strikes.