Wing Chun/Kick Boxer Sparring match

Alrighty..so just wanted to post This vid. I've been talking to Eryn and Jason about some of Wing chun's cons (which all martial arts have) as well as some of its pros, and while doing some "Youtube research" i found this hilarious video and just thought i'd share if you guys hadnt seen it before. Now before you watch i have to just comment that the difference in skill between these two is as wide as the grandcanyon. The kickboxer (dark gloves, shin guards) is incredibly tense, unconfident, and a horrible telegrapher. He also throws dangerous techniques that get him in trouble because he executes them incorrectly, and the Wingchun guy just rips him a new one. Check it out.

The kickboxer has some pretty decent technique when throwing his strikes, but he has almost no sensitivity to close quarters combat. Plus, like you said Courtney, he telegraphs all his moves.

There was a fight a while back between Michael McDonald and Lyoto Machida. Michael McDonald was a great champion kickboxer at the top of his game, while Machida is currently one of the best MMA fighters in the world. Machida just went for a takedown, completely out of range of McDonalds strikes, took him to the ground and submitted him. Here's the video to that fight:

Wing Chun, IMO, is one of the best arts to learn for CQC.

I like the end when the Wing Chun guy just runs the other one off-screen, and the camera pans over and shows the kickboxer on the ground while the WC guy is on top shadowboxing his head.

And yet either of those MMA guys would be dead in an alley with dozens of stab wounds if they tried that out in an urban setting. Or blown up by an IED in Iraq. It all depends on the situation. A wing chun guy would have an advantage over a longfist guy if they were stuck in an elevator together.

I just think, in general, a xingyi guy who knows his stuff and is no stranger to getting hit would be a better bet than a guy using quick, light punches that distract rather than annihilate in a straight up unfriendly arranged duel.

I love the Jiulong baguazhang stuff I travel for. But it can't be sparred with, so I use my personal amalgam of stuff to spar. If someone breaks into my house in the middle of the night, I'll shoot them.

I think that at an equal skill level, a kickboxer would have a slight advantage over a wing chun guy in a sparring match, because kickboxing was made for that scenario. I'd think the odds would be reversed in an actual fight (provided the wing chun guy had decent training, e.g. not just a forms guy).

It's always rock paper scissors. The key is just to not get yourself into situations where you're not going to win.

Haha, yeah, bullets always trump fists. That scene from Indiana Jones comes to mind.

Wing Chun is something I've never really truly trained. I think sticky arms does a pretty good job at training the CQC element that Wing Chun works with, but I don't think Wing Chun alone is enough to be well-rounded. It doesn't work on the ground game, and it's not designed for long range. And, banging your hands and feet on a dummy at an older age will lead to qi blockages and eventually sick qi. I'd like to train on a WC dummy while I'm still young and my joints are able; it just looks fun to me.