Anyone else start Wing Chun by accident?

[Bkouba]

Hey guys I'm fairly new around here, I'm always interested in what got people into different styles of martial arts. I don't even like saying I do specific style because they all kind of blend together when it comes to fighting... I find it interesting hearing how people go down different paths in life ect. I started training WC through a series of fortunate accidents. In all honesty had they not happened I doubt I would have ever given WC a thought.

 

[futsaowingchun]

I started in Wing chun because my friends in school was in it so I just tagged alone. Most of them lost interest but I just got more deeper into it. At a certain point there is no turning back..lol

 

[almost a ghost]

I was actually teaching Karate in the late 90's and covering another Sensei's school. There was a furniture store next store and the manager was in his 60's and had a background in Wing Chun an showed me some things. Years later, and after being out of Karate for so long, I decided to pick up training again and did some Shaolin Kung Fu, one of the guys there had just relocated from San Francisco and had a background in Wing Chun. During that schools "sticky hands" exercises he just dominated. Again, I had to stop training and years after that I was in a better position to train again and those two run ins with Wing Chun really stuck in my mind and eventually I found a Wing Chun instructor.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

One day I sparred with 1 of Yip Man's students (both of us were UT Austin students), I threw a punch, he blocked it with Tan Shou. That blocking gave me a strange feeling. My punching force was reduced by the friction of my punching arm and his Tan Shou arm. The farther that my arm extended toward him, the less punching force that I had. During the sparring, he also had a good "low reverse side kick" that he stepped down the inner edge of his foot along my shin bone. It was very effective with leather shoes on. I decided I wanted to be able to do that too. For many years, I liked to use Tan Shou to deal with my opponent's punches. Many years later, I evolved Tan Shou into "rhino guard".

 

[Vajramusti]

Hey guys I'm fairly new around here, I'm always interested in what got people into different styles of martial arts. I don't even like saying I do specific style because they all kind of blend together when it comes to fighting... I find it interesting hearing how people go down different paths in life ect. I started training WC through a series of fortunate accidents. In all honesty had they not happened I doubt I would have ever given WC a thought.

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Little to with Bruce Lee. I was looking for a self defense system for my two sons and my neohew, My wife didnt wan ttheir noses rearranged by boxing. So I voted most of the karate, tkd and taichi MA schools In tucson. My oldest son was already taking judo.
Then by chance I ran into Danny Chan playing volley ball in Bear Down gym at the U of A. What a short power spiking ability he showed,,(his son later was on the US volley ball team.
I was sparring witha karate black belt friend of mine0 a direst student of Dr,Otsuka who branched off from his shotokan sensei.Funakoshi.But wadoryu or the Japanese arts was nt my tea.
Danny urged me to meet with sifu Augustine Fong-which I did, I began to take the k ids to the kwoon.. At first I was not impressed
but then my understanding of the depth of the art grew and here almost 48 years later it keeps growing.
As chance would have it I was living and teaching in Tucson.-I took advantage of that chance happening. The kids left wc but this old man stayed.
My oldest had done some judo- wc heped him with stability, Yoiungest son went on to box some at a gym in Phoenis named after Tyson. And my ne[hew before walking away from wrestling and football was the top seeded high school wrestler in Oklahoma.
Wing chun hands helped all 3 kids.