Why Wing Chun absolutely belongs in MMA

Wing Chun skills test against 13 attackers

Why Wing Chun absolutely belongs in MMA

I’ve seen Wing Chun catch a lot of negativity in recent years, largely in part due to misconceptions and misinformation about the art. As Bruce Lee said there exists within the Wing Chun lineages what he called “Classical Messes” meaning Sifu’s who adhere to their teachings vehemently unwilling to adapt and modify their systems relevancy.

“Classical” Martial arts were created during a time when an extremely small portion of the population had any exposure or experience in the fighting arts and has seen a decline in effectiveness with martial arts or fighting becoming mainstream culture. With time comes change, which many traditional martial arts have neglected for the sake of tradition. If one is training for the aspects of art itself, discipline, and lessons which accompany martial arts this is not a problem. However, if self-defense is the primary reason for training in the art the art itself must evolve and adapt to the times alongside the ever-evolving human mind and weaponry. Part of the beauty of Wing Chun is its extreme flexibility, a Wing Chun practitioner spends their training time building the response of the nervous system to stimuli within the bridge (touching) range and allows their reactions to take over during use. The majority of the “Wing Chun” fights I see online are inexperienced practitioners attempting to duel a ring fighter, which is missing the point of the art entirely and is akin to attempting to fight a shark within the water.

My Sifu would constantly tell us “A Wing Chun fight, should never last more than 1–3 seconds or else you’re just playing”. There is the entry which will counter off of the first strike thrown by the opponent in the range where a simultaneous parry/attack are thrown, followed by the follow-up technique flurry which involves doing anything and everything to finish the opponent and prevent another dangerous exchange or allow your escape. Violence should always be the very last resort of self-defense and the ideal location to use Wing Chun is in a small enclosed area or alley where mobility is limited.

This is not to say that the art itself has absolutely no relativity or use in ranged fighting or duels. Just as using Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu alone within an MMA match is but a single distance within fighting, so is the use of Wing Chun alone. The range scale of fighting distances start from the weapons range to striking, infighting, grappling, and lastly ground fighting. A proper martial artist should be well versed in each of these, just as proper practitioners of Jeet Kune Do are required to hold ranks in arts of every range. The infighting range would be where Muay Thai fighters throw knee and elbow strikes but before the clinch, and this is where the Wing Chun range lies. This takes an extreme amount of confidence and ability in order to fight within this distance but allows smaller fighters to take advantage of the limited movement space just as smaller boxers after closing the distance on their opponent.

Beyond the basic techniques of Wing Chun lay the true values which are the principles instilled in every practitioner. I’m not preaching about our dignity or humility but the fighting principles in which the science of Wing Chun is based on. I was an avid Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner before a few injuries and am ranked under a student of Master Joe Moreira. Joe’s BJJ system is incredible and completely uncomplicates the learning process of the complex art. For example, one of the principles for being on your back is to never have your head and the opponents in line, this will give you the dominant position on your opponent. Wing Chun practitioners have principles as well, whether they know it or not and allow what seems to be the complex art of fighting to become simple rules you adhere to.

BJJ and Wing Chun share a ton of similarities I will be sharing more on this in the future so stay tuned!