No Outside Game??? Huh???

[Cephalopod]

I can see that you don't like the idea of "cross training".

Personally:

No matter what range my opponent is at, I want my instinct to always be the same, to bring me to a range where I am the most effective. If he is trying to keep me at distance, I will try to close that gap asap. I am more trained at close range, I can do the most damage at close range

I agree with Mook that there are only so many training hours in a day, but I will add this:

If I mix my Wing chun training with to much sparring at tap-tap range, what will be my instinct when the SHTF? I expect that the brain freeze will be prolonged by trying to decide what distance I want to be at.

I love to cross-train but to me that means to scrap with someone of a different style and to immediately close the gap so the he has to play my game, not the other way around.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

immediately close the gap so the he has to play my game, not the other way around.

I like this strategy too.

What will happen when you try to close the gap, your opponent just help you to close that gap more than you want to (such as the clinch range)? If you are good in both short distance striking range and also are good in clinch range, you will feel much more comfortable.

WC is already train in short striking range. I just don't see any good reason not also to train the clinching range at the same time.

 

[mook jong man]

I like this strategy too.

What will happen when you try to close the gap, your opponent just help you to close that gap more than you want to (such as the clinch range)? If you are good in both short distance striking range and also are good in clinch range, you will feel much more comfortable.

WC is already train in short striking range. I just don't see any good reason not also to train the clinching range at the same time.

We already train clinching range , our preference is to clinch around the back of the neck.

 

[drop bear]

Well, his philosophies may not have been original (a lot of them are derived from Taoism and Buddhism), but I never heard of anyone before him who expressed the idea of freeing yourself from styles. I think every high-level martial artist does this, whether your chosen art is wing chun, TKD, karate, or whatever.

Edward Barton right.

Kano.

Bimba.

 

[geezer]

...WC is already train in short striking range. I just don't see any good reason not also to train the clinching range at the same time.

Absolutely. Because WC specializes in close striking, we are always close to the clinch. If you don't train the clinch too, you are very vulnerable.

 

[Cephalopod]

What will happen when you try to close the gap, your opponent just help you to close that gap more than you want to (such as the clinch range)? If you are good in both short distance striking range and also are good in clinch range, you will feel much more comfortable.

Admittedly, when I wrote my argument I mostly had the eponymous outside range in mind.
To a certain degree, however, the same applies. If my opponent puts me in the range of a boxer's clinch I feel disadvantaged, mainly because I sense an impending take-town. My priority therefore is to maneuver my way back to my preferred distance. That being said, my preferred distance is indeed quite close...where I can pin, apply unbalancing pressure, deliver short centerline blows under the jaw and strike with my elbows.

Should I train at a clinching distance? Abso-stinkin-lutely! Just as I train closing the gap with a distance fighter. But the goal of my training remains the same. Get him in my game.

 

[wingchun100]

Even in clinching range, they are still in our game because we train to hit HARD with no wind-up or telegraphing. Plus there are always good old elbows and biu jee.

 

[kung fu fighter]

My outside game is totally designed to get inside ...not to hang around and sharp-shoot from far away.

I like this statement! this is true for me as well.