This story is a small part of a large effort by MixedMartialArts.com to understand what works in martial arts. The process is to study what happens on the street, or in this case a television studio, rather than what happens in the arena. Check out the Best Of stories on:
•Martial Arts on The Street
•Style vs. Style
•Stop Bullying
No one who drives a Toyota Prius believes that in a race it will accelerate faster than a Tesla Model S. However, through an unfortunate but little-understood process, the practice of learning a martial art can so twist an adept’s understanding of reality that they believe the equivalent of a Prius being faster than a Tesla. To give a direct example, despite all the available evidence, true believers claim that Wing Chun is a highly effective martial art. To the contrary, although it has aspects that are useful for some, it’s demonstrably terrible.
Nevertheless, some Wing Chun practitioners are so misguided that they will actually test their art by calling out real martial artists, and then actually fighting. One would assume that this only happens once, but the depth of delusion is such that sometimes it even happens twice.
Ding Hao vs. Xu Xiaodong (Kung Fu vs. MMA)
In 2018, there was a contest headlined by amateur MMA fighter Xu Xiaodong vs. Ding Hao. The latter is reportedly one of the four great Wing Chun masters in China. The former is an MMA enthusiast who has suffered punishment at the hands of the government, after a years-long campaign demonstrating that traditional Chinese martial arts are typically ineffective in a fighting context.
The fight took place with a Sanda rule set, that prohibited ground fighting. This left Xu Xiaodong without the techniques he would typically use against a striker with no ground game (close the distance, get a clinch, take it to the ground, do anything you want). And Ding Hao fought without gloves.
Xu Xiaodong too had some advantages. For one, he was larger. And more significantly, he practices a martial art that is rational.
What Happened
Ding Hao showed aggression and a degree of speed. But his striking technique is ridiculous, as even a child can see. And striking is what Wing Chun specializes in. Ding Hao’s grappling game is nonexistent – in just a few minutes he is taken down four times.
The bout was declared a draw. This makes sense in a context where Wing Chun is considered an effective style.
What Happened Next
While Xu Xiaodong opponents cannot fight, they are grandmasters at making comical excuses. Ding Hao demanded a rematch.
Xu Xiaodong, do you still remember my fist? said Dao as translated by Fight Commentary Breakdowns. You’re lucky I didn’t KO you last time. I’m going to defeat you publicly and KO you. If you’re afraid of failure, then admit defeat.
Xu, if you are a man, accept my rematch. Don’t lose to my punches again and say I sucker punched.
And Xu Xiaodong vs. Ding Hao was not the only fight at the event; the comedy continued. Ding Hao’s teacher, Yu Changhu, had also demanded a challenge fight.
Yu Changhua vs. Xiong Chengcheng (Kung Fu vs. Western Boxing)
Yu Changhua, is a Wing Chun master with a third-generation direct Ip Man lineage. Changhua is a member of the Chinese Kung Fu Association, a national Kung Fu Class I referee, and is the figure responsible for the national Wing Chun quantitative examination in Jiangxi province, among other accolades.
His opponent is an amateur boxer named Xiong Chengcheng. Chengcheng suffered a compound fracture in his arm during middle school, and after repeated surgeries, the arm is weakened to the point that it cannot be used in a fight. So he determined to box one-handed.
In the West, the term Kung Fu has come to mean Chinese Martial Arts. Rendered as gōngfu in pinyin, it actually means any study, learning, or practice that requires patience, focused hard work, and time. Chengcheng is a real gōngfu master – he put in the time and became a capable boxer, with only one hand.
Boxing is universally regarded by rational people as an effective means of self-protection. Wing Chun has proven time and again to be one of the less effective martial arts. However, what would happen if you leveled the playing field a bit? What would happen if you pitted a Wing Chun practitioner against a boxer who is only using one of his arms?
What Happened
The Wing Chun master reacts in typical fashion when these unfortunate individuals actually attempt to use their art under pressure. They assume an unusual stance, start to lose, then revert to an utterly unschooled form of boxing, wrestling, or both, and ultimately lose.
Mike Tyson was once asked if he was worried about Evander Holyfield and his fight plan. “Iron” Mike’s reply is now famous: “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Yu Changhua gets punched in the mouth – by a boxer with only one good arm – and that was the end of that.
What Happened Next
Yu Changhua offered a characteristically comical series of excuses. The main one appears to be that the promoters didn’t feed him enough. After losing to a guy with one arm, and seeing his star pupil dropped four times by an average amateur MMA fighter, the excuse was that lunch was too small.
Apparently, Wing Chun is a great martial art, but only if you have a big lunch. Take note Wing Chun experts – never get attacked unless you have had at least one big meal recently.
You have to have entrees, explained Yu. You can’t just give us soup, it’s not enough.
We finished the food, we asked the server, ‘Is there any more?’ They said no, just this. We said, ‘OK, can you give us some rice at least?’ We didn’t feel full.
Yu said further that when lunch was over, he and his star pupil had to go to the supermarket to buy snacks. Unfortunately, that strategy didn’t work.
We didn’t eat the crackers we bought,” said Yu. “I think I ate one chocolate.
However, the winner, Xiong Chengcheng is a true martial artist, and offered a refreshing perspective in an interview you can watch HERE.
While Xu Xiaodong is on a mission to expose traditional Chinese martial arts as ineffective in a real fight, Chengcheng is a big advocate of Wing Chun, and simply wants to see it evolve while retaining its Chinese core. He says the heart of Wing Chun is working in a real fight, and that even if you add Muay Thai, boxing, and BJJ to Wing Chun, it will retain its Chinese culture. That is a beautiful and necessary message.
The Lesson
Chinese martial arts represent an extraordinary cultural heritage. And arguably the most underappreciated art in mixed martial arts is Sanda. This wrestling and striking style draws its techniques almost exclusively from Chinese martial arts techniques. It is ridiculous to believe that all Chinese martial arts don’t work.
And it is ridiculous to think that Wing Chun does work. Much of the popularity of Wing Chun is due to its association with Bruce Lee. However, when Bruce Lee actually tried Wing Chun, in the famous fight with Wong Jack Man, he realized that it was not an effective means of self-defense.
“I’d gotten into a fight in San Francisco with a Kung-Fu cat, and after a brief encounter the son-of-a-bitch started to run,” said Lee to Black Belt magazine. “I chased him and, like a fool, kept punching him behind his head and back. Soon my fists began to swell from hitting his hard head. Right then I realized Wing Chun was not too practical and began to alter my way of fighting.”
The fight took place in 1964, and over half a century later, Wing Chun adherents remain utterly oblivious. Wing Chun is very far from the worst martial art, and training in it absolutely imparts some useful attributes. The reality though, is that Wing Chun in its current state is a Yugo, believing itself to be a performance vehicle.
Sanda, western boxing, Combat Sambo, MMA, Muay Thai, Kyokushin karate and its offshoots, and many other striking-based arts are all proven highly effective. Wing Chun is proven mediocre, at best. The allure of the art given that fact is difficult to understand.
Wing Chun needs to adapt, or die. Or maybe its adherents are so profoundly deluded that the practice can stumble on like this forever, a rusty bicycle that comically preens about, trying to sell itself as a Tesla.
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