Hi All, It's been quite a while since I've been here at MAP. For a while I was concentrating in Filipino and Indonesian arts, but I've been moving in the direction of CMA for some time now. Wing Chun particularly fascinates me and I just found a school that has opened up near where I live. I was hoping some of the folks here could give me some background or feedback on this school/lineage: http://www.texaswingchunclub.com/ From what I can tell this comes from the Koo Sang and Gary Lam lineages. Apparently their parent school is in Oklahoma: http://www.tulsawingchunclub.com/ I find their combative philosophy interesting and I also find it interesting that they teach (it seems) quite a bit of chi kung but I'm not familiar with them other than the website. Any feedback would be appreciated. Marcus
yeah, there seems to be a lot of hyperbole on both sites, but that could be their marketing angle, too. I was wondering of anyone knew about them or had any experience with them..
Well the problem is, in Wing Chun the training is usually hyperbole. It's not a good sign when they start talking like Shredder on the website.
Agreed. On the other hand some people believe that you have to say stuff like that to get students in the door. It's possible that they teach quite differently. It wouldn't hurt for the OP to watch a class.
This is the first part I saw: "Our Wing Chun training curriculum is tournament tested and street proven to be overwhelmingly devastating! Over the years our Wing Chun instructor, the "International Chinese Martial Arts Mid-America Champion", has pitted his combat skills inside and outside the ring, demolishing the attacks of his opponents. You can possess these skills too! We can definitely train you to become a martial arts champion if that is a goal you have.These are Victory medals won by him in the October 2013 ICMAC-Black Belt, Continuous Fighting Division and the Midwest Kung Fu Black Belt Point Sparring Division. Where he fought, chased down, knocked down, and battered the attacks of top level Black Belt adversaries. Dominating match after match and no contest lasting more than 2 rounds. Wing Chun kung fu is the reason why! We are 100% committed to teaching only what truly works against realistic high pressure attacks from unknown, and hostile Black Belt experts... Where nothing is choreographed or staged. " I want to know where all these unknown and hostile Black Belt experts are going to attack you. Seriously though I think they should clarify that they can teach you to be a martial arts champion in their own stylized tournaments. This is not the gentleman above; however this is an example of the type of sparring and fighting in these ICMAC competitions: [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaUuMJIAaxw"]ICMAC Los Angeles 2014 sparring11 - YouTube[/ame]
Well I've seen worse. Fair play for giving it a go. All the same I really wouldn't bother training there.
There's not much on there which would make me want to train there and plenty I saw which would keep me away.
Ditto. It reminded me of the old Kung Fu and Karate advertisements found in comic books back in the 60s and 70s. Graham Weedon is a well respected Wing Chun instructor in that area. Give him a call and try one of his classes out. Plano Wing Chun and Escrima
''We are a licensed affiliate of the xxxx xxxxx Martial Art System. Master xxxxxxx is, without question, the most skilled Wing Chun practitioner in the world, and perhaps ever.'' This is from the Plano WC web page. Seems just as bad at making claims as the earlier suggestion. There are some that think versions of the Leung Ting version of WC aren't necessarily very special at all. LFD
That video is quite literally a disgrace. They all must be gift wrapped from technical mount and beaten as penance.
I will stand by my statement that Sifu Graham is a well respected instructor in the Wing Chun community regardless of affiliation. His training is excellent and he is a superb instructor. As advertised on their website you will find, "Our organization and school exists to train Practically, Scientifically, and Realistically. These arts are simultaneously simple and sophisticated. They require thoughtful, challenging training. We do not specialize in the preservation of Chinese or Filipino heritage and customs. We play down titles and ego. Malcontents are not welcome." So no silk pajamas or altars to past masters. Just good down to earth practical training. Now having said that, I will admit that if you train there for any amount of time, you will hear a lot of Dai Sifu xxxxxx this and Dai Sifu xxxxxxx that and it can seem almost hero worship at some point, or at least to my ears it did but having never met or trained with Dai Sifu xxxxxx I will not dispute or make any kind of judgement on any of the claims made by the school about him or his organization and his accolades by their website are probably pretty well deserved but I do understand the point you were making.
Thanks for your response RobBnTX. Just FYI, both my sifus were of the ''silk pajamas/altars in the front'' group and were both equally happy to throw down. I have to say that your implication that someone from a foreign culture is automatically not effective sounds to me a bit xenophobic. What's wrong with different cultures? Are you implying that if someone wears cultural clothing and has appropriate cultural habits that their training will be poorer? Sort of kidding (half) but you need to not worry about how things look as much as how they work. That is one of the only appropriate measures of a martial art if fighting is what you are about. Just sayin' LFD
Hey I was just describing the school and didn't mean to imply anything. I think you read too much into what I wrote. I was just trying to be helpful to the OP and did not ever intend to start a debate over the merits or culture of this school. They do not need any defense from me. With that said I am out of this discussion.
