Wing Chun Online
- Thread starter vince1
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Headhunter
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Do it if you want and it's better than nothing but it's no replacement for a real teacher you need to have someone to correct you
wingerjim
Green Belt
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Sorry you live so far away from a school, but you cannot learn Wing Chun online regardless of what the ads say. Wing Chun requires a great deal of touch with a training partner and correction from an instructor. Even after 6 years of study my teacher, who is coming up on 30 years of Wing Chun study, still corrects me all the time even though I thought I was doing everything 100% correct. The nice thing is what I am doing wrong is very small compared with the past, as this is the essence of Martial Arts, to continue the journey refining ever so much more but rather than big mistakes, the mistakes are very small now...so much so likely nobody else with even 10 years of training might notice, but a true master notices. What I would suggest is to try to drive those 2 hrs 1 or 2 times per month and come away with something to work on at home each time and work on it at home as much as humanly possible. Do this for a number of years and you will learn Wing Chun. Take the online course and you learn how to do real cool movements but will never get them correct and it will not be useful at all. Good luck and I don't mean to discourage you but am telling you the facts.
I'd say this is especially true of a form-based training method (like WC), because there's no "failure feedback" early in the process. To the OP - you need an instructor to help you get it right. Learning it wrong will actually lengthen the learning curve. Once you have some base, online training can help build on the base (same or similar style), but that's about as far as I'd go.
You CAN learn from video. But it needs to be done in conjunction with hands on instruction. I would advise driving the 2 hours to link up with the Wing Chun school and get started. Find out what system they do and what videos or home study course the instructor would recommend. Then start working from those videos and travel back to see the instructor for hands on training and correction as often as you can. Find a partner to train with you and make the 2 hour drive with you. You cannot train Wing Chun solo very well. And that way you have someone to split the driving with!
That's a good point. I didn't recommend the combination of live and video, simply because most instructors I know wouldn't have a specific recommendation for a beginner. However, if there exists a good set of training videos for the same style of WC, and it is recommended by the instructor you're training under, then it would be helpful. If he's recommending it, then he will likely be aware of any key differences between his approach and the one in the videos.
wingerjim
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I disagree with KPM in that you CAN get some ideas from video instruction, but this is almost exclusively knowledge and not instruction that applies to the physical aspects or WC, so my thinking was spend the money on gas to drive 2 hrs or waste the money on videos for a beginner. WC requires so much touching with a training partner nobody can learn the essence of WC from a video. Sure a video can give a skilled trainee some ideas but someone new cannot make heads or tails out of the essence even with another training partner lacking experience. Maybe if vince1 is closer to another student of this school, say 1/2hr in his direction, he can connect with that individual for some training but WC requires a teacher.
Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
Video can be good as a supplemental tool, but not as the primary or only source of instruction. Not all video is compatible as a supplementary tool, with all instruction. There is a lot of variation out there. Video that does not closely match with the direct instruction will cause confusion and problems.
best to get your instruction face-to-face with a good instructor, even if the drive is long, even if the training goes slowly because the visits are infrequent.
Video training is not better than nothing.
best to get your instruction face-to-face with a good instructor, even if the drive is long, even if the training goes slowly because the visits are infrequent.
Video training is not better than nothing.
My thought was that the right set of videos can improve the practice one puts in alone, between visits to an instructor. Rather than depending upon your own memory, you have a more accurate model to work from.
wckf92
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Dude...this question gets asked A LOT on a LOT of forums across the ol' interweb. I'd suggest using the search function as you'd probably dig up a lot decent threads, opinions, and input (both good and bad).
- Thread Starter
- #11
I appreciate all the advice and may initially go to the school 2 hours away on a monthly bases. If I can find another student from the same school closer to me then I may work something out on a weekly bases. You are all correct that there is nothing like working with a training partner as well as a teacher(sifu) observing and making corrections. My weekly Southern Mantis/ShipPalKi classes are in person working with a partner.
Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
Tell us about your mantis training. Is it going well? Is there a need for the wing chun?
wingerjim
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Sure there is a need for WC because life just is not life without WC.
No disrespect intended wingjim, but you are wrong. And I know because I have done it quite effectively. It has worked for me when I didn't live close to my teacher. In fact, one of my teachers lives in Hong Kong and I live in the US! I have most certainly learned many good things from video and learned them fairly well. It just takes a little physical talent and some hard work, but it can be done.
Absolutely! Let's say you live 2 hours from a TWC teacher. So you get GM Cheung's video series that he did for Black Belt Magazine about 10 years ago. So you can see the GM himself explaining how to do things and demonstrating the forms. What better reference can you have to support your hands on training than that???
Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
If your teacher is also in Cheung's lineage, and if there have not been significant modifications along the way, then yes, those videos could be a useful aid.
If you are in a different lineage, especially one that does not trace thru Yip Man, then those videos could equate to more problems than they are useful.
- Thread Starter
- #17
I am always interested in learning something new to add. I started with Southern Mantis-Chow Gar, Seven Star, Northern Mantis with some Hapkido and Ship Pal Ki Kung Fu about a year ago. The main focus is Southern Mantis and Ship Pal Ki. I really enjoy the Southern Mantis and the Ship Pal Ki is starting to grow on me. I have a very good teacher(sifu) with well over 45 years of martial arts training in many martial arts. I have a red belt in TaeKwonDo that I acquired about 35 years ago .
Flying Crane
Sr. Grandmaster
Good stuff.
For myself, I also trained in a number of different systems, and through that variety I was finally able to focus on one system that was the best fit for me. I suggest you keep that in mind, but feel free to explore.
- Thread Starter
- #19
Yes I agree and is the reason I like the southern mantis so well. It's a very well thought out martial arts system and have been told that thee WC is closely related. I am over fifty and would rather surprise an attacker in a close range situation and find the mantis very useful.
Which is why I said if you were 2 hours away from a TWC teacher......and getting the GM Cheung videos. And also why I told the OP to find out what lineage the teacher 2 hours away from him follows and then ask the instructor what videos he would recommend.
