Nothing is as frustrating as arguing with someone who knows what he’s talking about.
Sam Ewing
I had a comment from a reader with the ballsy name “Awesomeman.”
He said: “You should see the video in youtube called “is wing chun ineffective in a street fight for self defense” that guy called Shane was ignorant about wing chun, you should watch it and react to it.”
So I took a look. This video op-ed is from a young guy named Shane on a site called “FightTIPS.” Not sure exactly what his business is but it looks like online fight training?
There are a few problems I see with Shane’s video op-ed piece (problems symptomatic of our internet “discussion of fighting” culture) and I think he did one thing right.
The thing he did right was to refrain from being an asshole about his opinion and from insisting his opinion was the only only possible one.
So props to him — he gave his opinion and some supporting remarks (he sees problems with the Wing Chun footwork and with the efficacy of blocking “heavy haymaker or hook” punches with a block and attack action/ Tan type block).
But he didn’t launch into a bunch of name-calling and harsh words.
To some degree, Shane (and the commenters) were going over the usual UFC/MMA/K1 VS “fill-in-the-blank” classical martial art.
People love to put Wing Chun into this sort of comparison. There are many many people saying that in an MMA-syle vs Wing Chun fight, Wing Chun loses badly. Look at any random page on Bullshido and you’ll find this idea expressed with a lot of conviction.