It is amazing how opinions of a style are formed by just watching one or two people. Wing Chun is a thinking mans art. Wing Chun is based on sound concepts. It does not matter if William Cheung, Yip Chun etc can fight or not. They have the techical knowledge of the art. If they teach you all there is to know about the concepts and how the movements, stance and biomechanics work, then it is up to the specific practitioner to apply them. Neither your master or style will fight for you.
Here are a few quotes from Wong Shun Leung from David Petersons excellent book Beyond The Pointing Finger (something most conclusion jumpers on the list would do well to read regardless of their style):
“Just as you cannot expect to win a chess game without sacrificing a few pieces, so you cannot expect to win a fight without being hit or kicked yourself.”
“Teachers and students are deluding themselves if they believe martial arts bestow any superhuman qualities”
“Someone who is looking at Wing Chun and who hasn’t trained the full system, or who hasn’t spent enough time with a teacher, probably won’t know enough footwork. They won’t understand the mobility involved in Wing Chun…the angles of attack, the methods of advance and retreat. They won’t understand the full use of kicks in all situations. As a result, they tend to add in things that they think are better, to compensate for their lack of knowledge.”
“Many Wing Chun guys don’t know how to fight. In Chi Sau you will practise those techniques which you have learned from the forms. We are training our reflex actions for certain situations created by our opponents. Some people have the wrong idea that chi sau is to teach you to tie up your opponent or stick endlessly to each others arms. It is not. It is to train the reflex ability to continue your attacks if they have been deflected.”
This next one is a very important quote I think, given how some of this discussion has gone along.
“When the Wing Chun practitioner fights and is defeated, the idea is not to think that the other man is better than himself. Instead he needs to ask himself what were the mistakes he made which allowed the opponents attack to succeed. This is the kind of positive thinking which any fighter must possess”
“It is never a case of correcting one’s system, but improving one’s self. Say you play chess with a very good chess player. Even if he wins, he will have had to sacrifice some pieces along the way, but he knows those sacrifices were neccesary to ensure the victory. Some people, when they get hit, feel that they have been hurt and that their particular gung fu system is no good. In Wing Chun, if this happens, we don’t think in these terms. Instead, we’ll ask ourselves “What have I done wrong?” or “What is it that I can’t do?” Our question isn’t ever “How does Wing Chun work?” but, “How can I manke Wing Chun work for me?” In other words don’t be bound by Wing Chun, or any other system for that matter, make it work for you. Be the MASTER, not the SLAVE”
To the guy that dismissed Wong because he lost a fight once, these quotes should assure you that he wouldn’t care what anybody called him or thought. As you can see his philosophy would have been to analyse where he went wrong and move on. He would have treated it as a learning exercise.
Peedee, just as there are many rubbish people in your sphere of fighting, there are also many rubbish people in any style of fighting. Normally those who promote themselves the most are some of the worst. I’m sure some of the lesser known guys such as Ken Chung, Tom Wong, Alan Lamb, or mainland Chinese teachers such as Sum Nung would show you the harder side of Wing Chun you seem to have missed. Who knows, you might even find something, should you take the time to learn thoroughly, that you would like to incorporate into your own fighting.
Regarding Wing Chun guys that have entered NHB events, I too have seen how badly they have been defeated. However I can also say catagorically that I didn’t see any of them use any Wing Chun ‘techniques’, footwork, or anything else connected with the style for that matter! I suppose it is a bit like a BJJ going into the ring and then only using boxing techniques and then having BJJ criticised for being rubbish.
Regarding the Wing Chun punch looking slappy; there are many people in Wing Chun who look like they are doing a Wing Chun punch, but are in fact not doing anything of the sort. The power of a Wing Chun punch is, as 9 chambers correctly pointed out, generated from the ground (as he was also correct about it’s limitations on the floor). The arm is relaxed during the punch (and does not have to be tensed at the end as popular theory goes) with the arm being powered by the elbow. The full weight and power of the body powers the punch. It is not powered from the waist, the elbow, or any other individual component for that matter. The idea is to link the entire body as one unit.
Regarding any style turning to a brawl; In Wing Chun, if this is the case, then the practitioner has not internalised the system. If it goes awry at very close range that I would suggest that there is something very, very wrong with the way that person is training since that is the range they should be most comfortable with!
As an extra side not, trapping in Wing Chun is but only a fraction of the style. Wing Chun is about adaption. It contains locks, breaks, kicks (many), elbows, takedowns, and in the case of many of the mainland variations (and indeed theone Yip Man originally taught on the mainland) low level punches/attacks.
That’s my $20 worth! Now, as one of the other posters suggested, can we talk on a more technical level?