Who is the best Wing Chun Fighter?
Due to the rising popularity of other striking arts, Wing Chun is underrated in modern-day fighting. This is because there are a lot of fake “masters” of the sport who have never really trained or sparred properly and then teach their students poor technique. One of the more recent incidents was when Chinese “Wing Chun Master” Ding Hao got knocked out by an MMA fighter in less than 2 minutes. This automatically makes Wing Chun look bad since any person who considers themselves a master of a striking art should not be getting stopped this quickly.
In addition to this, Wing Chun is not suitable for modern MMA as a lone martial art since it offers no defense against takedowns. Only one pure Wing Chun fighter has ever competed in the UFC. This fight was ended quickly by his opponent. Perhaps this is partially responsible for the decline in popularity of the striking art.
However, as with all martial arts, there are good and bad techniques, students and instructors. The list compiled below is of the best Wing Chun fighters we know of. Granted some of these fighters are mixed martial artists, but that is very common in modern times. Since there are not really many full contact Wing Chun tournaments, the fighters must be compiled from many different sources rather than pure Wing Chun gyms.
Table of Contents
#1 Bruce Lee
Without a doubt, Bruce Lee is the most accomplished martial artist the world has ever seen. He is the true father of mixed martial arts and was ahead of his time knowing that a singular style could never be the best. Lee was a student of Ip Man & Wong Shun Leung, he gained a lot of his fame and movie deals from learning the art but later realized he must also learn other styles to truly become the best. Lee was a trailblazer for other names on this list, the MMA fighters would literally not exist if Lee hadn’t changed things.
Bruce Lee always fought in a Wing Chun style but modified some of the features he did not think were appropriate for mixed martial arts tournaments. For example, he did not like the footwork of Wing Chun, which many would agree is the weakness of the art. Lee also did not like the rigidness and rules of Wing Chun such as never kicking to the head and never meeting force with force. Lee forged his own path and realized what worked and what didn’t.
Learn more about Bruce Lee’s training methods here.
#2 Ip Man
Ip Man is perhaps the most famous Wing Chun master of all time and taught 2 other names on this list including Bruce Lee & Wong Shun Leung. A true martial artist, Ip Man has a lineage like no one else (other than his students of course) descending from Ng Mui, one of the five elders of the Shaolin temple. He is rightly credited for revolutionizing and popularising Wing Chun.
We can only really see footage of Ip Man from modern-day movies which are not really an accurate representation since everything is theatrical and over the top. However, Ip Man was a true fighter, like everyone in the Hong Kong and South China region. The 1940s and 1950s were a time when martial artists would go to each other’s gyms to fight and test their skills. Something which is lost in modern-day and no longer practiced.
Learn more about Ip Man’s training methods here.
#3 Anderson Silva
Anderson Silva is another MMA fighter who actually achieved more than Tony Ferguson. Whilst Silva is also not famous for using Wing Chun in the octagon, he no doubt trained it and used it sparingly during his career. Silva has achieved legendary status in MMA defending the middleweight championship a record 10 times – something which may never be seen again in the sport.
Anderson Silva is also known for his versatile style which was ever-evolving and mastered several disciplines much like Ferguson again including Muay Thai, BJJ & Wing Chun. Silva can be seen in this video against Michael Bisping using counters to attack him at close range. He is probably the closest thing to a real-life Ip Man movie that you will ever see on this planet. His movement and striking ability was pretty much unmatched and has never been rivaled in MMA or Wing Chun.
#4 Tony Ferguson
Tony Ferguson is obviously a very well-respected martial artist, interim titleholder, and at one point was considered top 2 in the weight division behind Khabib Nurmagomedov. Ferguson is known for his crazy mix of styles but perhaps is least known for his Wing Chun. In this video he can be seen trapping his opponent’s strike and then landing an elbow to the temple of his head.
Whilst Ferguson also excels at Muay Thai, wrestling, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, it is clear to see he is also a very high level at Wing Chun. It is very rare to see this being used in the cage and some fight analysts may describe it as “dirty boxing”. This popular phrase discredits the fact that a lot of fighters such as Ferguson are actually training Wing Chun. This can be proven in the above video since he is using a wooden dummy to practice which is synonymous with the art.
#5 Wong Shun Leung
Wong Shun Leung is probably best known for his tutelage of Bruce Lee. Even though Bruce Lee and Wong were both students of the Master Ip Man, Lee mostly trained with Wong and he is credited for taking his striking to the next level. Wong represented Wing Chun at various martial arts tournaments back in the day which is lost in history due to the lack of video and secrecy surrounding them. The tournaments were essentially MMA fights in which the competitors only knew their master’s martial art. This is because cross-training was not a thing back in the 1950s, with Bruce Lee being the first person to fully accept mixed martial arts.
Wong is also famous for being the fight choreographer during Bruce Lee’s timeless classic Enter The Dragon.
Really? Bruce Lee was an intermediate Wing Chun level at best and Ip Man was a total opium addicted fraud. Yuen Kay San and Sum Nung were the most skillful Wing Chun Masters during their lives. Yuen Kay San fought hundreds of ‘death duels’ over a 30 year period and never lost a match.
On the other hand… Ip Man avoided such duels because he was a coward with a trepidation for real fights. A notable occasion was when Ip Man provoked a master of Northern Mantis and then hid when the Mantis Master came looking for him. Yuen Kay San ended up fighting this duel in Ip Man’s place.– Ip Man was the lowest practitioner in the Wing Chun family with Yuen Kay San at the top.
Ip Man was not regarded as a master or sifu by any reputable masters of any lineage of his time. He was a Japanese collaborator during WW2 and Ip Man and his family were opium traffickers –Ip Man fled to Hong Kong to avoid arrest by the Chinese government… not Japan. Ip Man was a traitor.
Ip Man had very little knowledge of the Wing Chun system and Ip Man’s teachings should NOT be called Wing Chun… Ip Man Do would be more appropriate.
Bruce Lee? –Bruce Lee was a phenomenal athlete and fighter. Ip Man and Ip Man’s teachings were of little to no significance and Bruce Lee openly criticized Ip Man’s teachings.
The recent movies and most stories about Ip Man are based on Yuen Kay San’s and Sum Nung’s exploits… name switch. This is why the Ip Man camp waited for Sum Nung to die before all the publication and cinematography occurred. Sum Nung once challenged Ip Man to a duel because of his (Ip Man’s) claims. Ip Man did not show up… so Sum Nung traveled all over main land China to visit, challenge, and shut down all of Ip Man’s schools… he beat up all Ip Man’s “masters” and probably; perhaps simultaneously; a handful of students while he was at it.
Most Wing Chun is a watered-down reductionist version spread by Ip Man and his disciples. Though admittedly a few of them have evolved and improved beyond their initial training… they can be a handful; but are few and far between.
Why didn’t Yuen Kay San or Sum Nung shut Ip Man down? An elder practitioner with first-hand knowledge through practice with both Ip Man’s direct disciples and Sum Nung informed me that Yuen Kay San was restrained from doing so due to his seniority over Ip Man and cultural norms… Sum Nung was restricted from doing so due to British Hong Kong’s and the PRC’s strict policies concerning martial arts duels.
Then there was Bruce Lee… probably attracted by the fighting reputation of Wing Chun. Bruce Lee basically became Ip Man’s golden ticket. However, Bruce quickly figured out that Ip Man’s teachings were full of holes and sought instruction elsewhere… and essentially discarded Wing Chun when he came up with Jeet Kun Do.
10 years after Sum Nung’s death Ip Man’s disciples became quite industrious in their efforts to revise history and steal Yuen Kay San’s and Sum Nung’s legacies, accomplishments, and identities applying them to Ip Man… this has been done using movies, books, “documentaries,” and anything else they can think of.
Why? With Sum Nung and likely everyone who knew both Yuen Kay San and Ip Man dead… maybe they didn’t expect much resistance. There are also a lot of people heavily invested in Ip Man’s teachings… Grand Masters even; though if Ip Man wasn’t himself considered a Sifu or master by any reputable Wing Chun practitioner of his time… What does it really mean to be a “Grand Master” of Ip Man’s teachings?
So… I just glossed over the greatest act of “martial con artistry” in history.
So today… Wing Chun’s fighting reputation has been largely ruined by guys calling themselves “masters” being easily defeated by just about anyone that can throw a half decent punch.
There are a few guys out there who have figured out how to improve on initial teachings, plug the holes, supplement with other martial arts, and actually be pretty good. Though they are few and far between as Ip Man guys go.
Proof? Watch the Ip Man movies and then watch actual fights on U-Tube. Also look up “Yuen Kay San Ip Man controversy” on google.
If Ip Man practitioners were half as good at fighting as they are at cinematography… Wing Chun would probably have a decent reputation. Sadly, that is not the case and I don’t blame the average practitioner… most don’t know any better.
Things about Ip Man:
-Briefly instructed by Yuen Kay San; but kicked out of YKS school
-Took a 10-year break after he was kicked out and then began teaching in HK because he was broke and couldn’t afford his opium
-Because of the above he had a very limited knowledge of the system and his skill was magnitudes below Yuen Kay San and Sum Nung
-Combined with Ip Man’s limited knowledge; he taught a reductionist view of what he did know, because he thought it was too complex and likely wanted to keep an edge over his disciples
-Bruce Lee was smart enough to figure out what he was learning was mostly garbage… so he looked to other fighting styles and created Jeet Kun Do
-Ip Man was not a hands-on instructor and trained all his 1st generation disciples differently… this is why they are all squabbling over who was taught properly
-If Ip Man did not like a disciple he would continue to train them to take their money; but deliberately train them improperly (like Wimp Lao from Kung-Pow)
-Ip Man was primarily interested in funding his opium habit; not teaching good kung-fu. This is why he would train improperly rather than remove a student.
-Ip Man frequently pressured his direct “master” level disciples into giving him money so he could buy opium
-Ip Man is/was NOT the heroic saint portrayed in recent films/movies and nowhere near the portrayed skill level… He had a partial understanding of the system (compared to Yuen Kay San and Sum Nung) and conveyed only some of what he did know or understand
-Ip Man marketing and cinematography being what it is and most being ignorant to historical truths…The vast majority of Wing Chun practitioners are Ip Man lineage. —so they get their butts kicked. A LOT!!