4 Reasons Why Wing Chun Gets A Bad Reputation

Like many other traditional martial arts, there can be the good, the bad, and the downright ugly. Wing Chun is no exception to this. Of course, there are very solid gyms that teach solid, fundamental techniques. But then there are other gyms that are a pure cash grab. Yes, they will teach you something which somewhat resembles Wing Chun. However, there will be no sparring at all, with little focus on why you’re doing techniques.

Due to the somewhat insular lineage of Wing Chun, it can be difficult to track who was promoted by who. In addition to this, a lot of the original Wing Chun practitioners are dead, so this doesn’t help our search either. Instead, we are left with a fairly dated fighting style that is difficult to judge during a modern age revolution of martial arts.

McDojos

This is the real main problem when it comes to giving Wing Chun a bad reputation. A student with 3 or 4 years of experience under their belt may be able to tell instantly whether a sifu is legitimate or gained their knowledge on a plane from Hong Kong.

With that being said, an average out of shape newcomer with no experience in martial arts doesn’t have much of a chance. This is because a training partner who has been practicing for just 1 year, would already seem like an expert to someone with no ability. Sadly, if you have a reasonable amount of skill in any kind of martial art, it is really not difficult to trick a beginner into thinking you’re a master.

To some people, this may seem harmless. If you’re teaching a complete beginner some martial arts skills to become competent, does it matter that the instructor exaggerates their lineage and skill? Yes, of course it does. This is precisely why Wing Chun gets a bad reputation in the first place.

When the new student becomes disillusioned with the idea they were training legitimate Wing Chun, they will leave the gym. If they pick up a new martial art such as kickboxing or judo, they will soon realize that this is far better than the rubbish they were learning previously. Even though they likely didn’t learn real Wing Chun, they still will compare the two martial arts to one another and believe Wing Chun is inferior.

Unrealistic Movies With Underlying True Stories

This reason is less sinister than lying teachers, but it does give people an unrealistic idea of what Wing Chun really is. It also exaggerates what Wing Chun can do in a fight.

Wing Chun movies have become increasingly popular over the last few decades and had quite a resurgence. This is largely due to the success of the film series Ip Man. The problem with Ip Man is that the first and second movies are mostly based on his life in Hong Kong and the struggles he had setting up a martial arts school. This part of the story is true or at least attempts to be.

However, truth does not generate Hollywood the income that it wants. Therefore a lot of exaggerations are seen throughout the series. This includes several fight scenes including one where he fights 10 karate black belts. With 4 of them attacking him at once. Anyone with an ounce of sanity will know that this is not legitimate, so I am really not sure why it paints Wing Chun in this light. It would be highly improbable that the best fighter in the world would be able to handle even 3 trained martial artists at once.

Linear Style

This is one of the main reasons why Bruce Lee turned away from Wing Chun and instead cross-trained in several different martial arts. The concept of Wing Chun is to control the centerline. This is a fine concept, but it is too rigid.

If you are primarily focused on the centreline then there will be other things that you miss. For example, Wing Chun requires your opponent to be relatively close to you when compared to other striking martial arts. However, this closeness also brings a disadvantage. If you are up against a skilled judoka or BJJ student, they will be able to put you on the floor at this distance. Your training will then be rendered useless since you aren’t stood up.

Bruce Lee understood the frailties with Wing Chun which is why he was not happy with training only a single martial art. If the sifu is too enthusiastic about Wing Chun’s ability in a street fight or a real-life situation, this should be a red flag. There is no single martial art that is the solution to any sort of 1v1 combat. This is another reason why Wing Chun gets a bad reputation.

What Happens When Someone Knows How To Fight?

Following on from the previous point. In modern-day, Wing Chun is often not sparred enough. This brings up all kinds of problems as if you have only tested Wing Chun against other compliant training partners in the dojo. You will surely overestimate your own ability.

When put up against another striking art such as western boxing, Wing Chun’s weaknesses begin to show. A good boxer will allow the Wing Chun practitioner to control the centreline. Their ability to move around and create angles with good footwork will overcome this slight disadvantage and allow them to strike from places the Wing Chun practitioner is unfamiliar with.

It should also be mentioned that Wing Chun really has no defense at all against takedowns. Therefore against a reasonable wrestler, even if you are the world’s greatest Wing Chun master, you will still have a lot of problems.

Summary

Overall there are some fair reasons why Wing Chun has a bad reputation. Although, with that being said, it is mostly due to the fact that there are a few charlatans giving Wing Chun a bad name. A good amount of people who practice and teach the art are decent and legitimate people. Unfortunately though, like many things in life, if someone does a bad thing, people associated with them are tarred with the same brush.

If Wing Chun was able to self-police its lineage and Mcdojos more, then perhaps there would be fewer people teaching things that they have no knowledge about.