Is bulking up the answer to making your WC better?

[geezer]

If your WC doesn't work as well as you'd like, is bulking up the answer? Check this out:

I have nothing against working on fitness and strength. I just wonder how far you need to take it to have effective WC/VT/WT. Also, is it really necessary to get such a severe sunburn? Your thoughts....

 

[yak sao]

*sigh*....if only the founders of WC knew how to fight

 

[yak sao]

Just in case I slipped one past you, that was sarcasm

 

[KPM]

There is no doubt that strength and overall fitness levels contribute to the effectiveness of any martial art. Doing some work at a gym outside of Wing Chun class is typically going to benefit anyone that chooses to spend the time. But WHAT you do at the gym certainly matters! Training for bulk and definition like a body builder will soon have diminishing returns for any martial art. Body building workouts tend to lead to tight muscles as bulk increases. There comes a point where the amount of muscle mass slows down the speed of movement. These things are not good for martial art! But training for a combination of strength and endurance that does not produce a lot of bulk will certainly help martial arts practice. So then the question becomes training time. If someone has lots of spare time for training and can practice their Wing Chun adequately and still have time to spend in the gym...then more power to them!!! Personally, I've never seemed to have that much free time. So I spend it on martial arts practice and not going to the gym. However, in a perfect world I would spend some time at the gym working purely on fitness levels. Not only would this be good for health, but I'm sure would improve my martial arts as well.

 

[yak sao]

The approach that was taught to us was to involve as many major muscle groups as possible in an individual exercise rather than isolated muscles so that body is working together as a unit.
This also enhances overall strength and endurance.
examples: squats vs leg extensions, and pulll Ups vs dumbbell rows .

 

[DanT]

I asked my sifu years ago if you needed to build muscle to be good in kung fu, and his answer stuck with me:

"You don't need to be stronger than the opponent, but you need to be strong."

I have found that through strength building exersizes, my kung fu has improved tremendously. Before I could only Squat 250, now I can squat 300, and along with that my kicks have become increasingly devastating. Before I could only bench 180, now I can bench 225 and my punches have grown significantly more punishing. It's like I said, you don't have to be stronger, but being strong helps a lot. At the end of the day, it's the muscles that move the body, not some secret life force.

 

[KangTsai]

As of now I take more a bodybuilding approach in the gym, with a little strength stuff (it's a bit hard, because there are no power racks, or even plate-loading bars for that matter). I believe it speeds up the process of "getting" the technique. Core strength and small-muscle strength (stability) especially.

 

[geezer]

As of now I take more a bodybuilding approach in the gym, with a little strength stuff (it's a bit hard, because there are no power racks, or even plate-loading bars for that matter). I believe it speeds up the process of "getting" the technique. Core strength and small-muscle strength (stability) especially.

So do you feel that a body building approach helps your martial arts?

 

[Nobody Important]

Strength & size is never a bad thing.

 

[dudewingchun]

Id say training for just typical bodybuilding hypertrophy probably isnt the best cardio wise. Muscles need oxygen, and having huge muscles takes up more oxygen. Big buff guys quite often gas out around round 2 in UFC fights..

Imo becoming more explosive and increasing stamina is better for everything fighting wise.

 

[KangTsai]

So do you feel that a body building approach helps your martial arts?

Not necessarily. By bodybuilding approach, I meant heavy lifting at around sets of 10 repititions.

 

[Danny T]

Good usable strength is important. Bulking or body building not so much.

 

[drop bear]

We are talking about an art that relies heavily on bulldozing people.

Of course mass is going to help.

 

[geezer]

We are talking about an art that relies heavily on bulldozing people.

Are you talking about Wing Chun?



Of course, size, mass, and brute force are always a factor, but I never thought of WC as emphasizing that. Quite the opposite in fact.

 

[Danny T]

We are talking about an art that relies heavily on bulldozing people.

Of course mass is going to help.

I've not been exposed to any wing chun that relies on 'bulldozing' or at least not what I consider bulldozing.

 

[drop bear]

Are you talking about Wing Chun?

The style that has forward intention as a base line concept.

And i heve seen some very solid chunners out there.

 

[drop bear]

I've not been exposed to any wing chun that relies on 'bulldozing' or at least now what I consider bulldozing.

 

[geezer]

The style that has forward intention as a base line concept.

And i heve seen some very solid chunners out there.

Yeah, there are some strong WC guys. But forward intent is not bulldozing. It's more like a spring. A spring always pressed forward, even if it's being compressed backward. You can have forward intent while retreating (compressing) or off-lining (being pressed to the side or deflecting). Head-to head bulldozing like Kyokushinkai is not good WC. Especially for the smaller guy. Try evasive Spanish bullfighting instead.

 

[Danny T]

Drop Bear...
So bulldozing is anyone going forward in a fight?

 

[geezer]

The Karate guy appeared to use more bulldozing in this clip. The WC guy looked less massive, just more relentless in his forward pressure.

Forward pressure isn't about body pressure so much as keeping the pressure on so to speak. It's about directing continuous energy at your opponent's center... regardless of whether you are advancing, being pushed back or deflecting to the side.

If you think of it as springy-energy as we do in my lineage, a spring can be heavy or light and still returns energy.