You Can't Judge Fighting Skill on YouTube

Sorry for not posting last week! My modem died and it took a good week or so to get a new one ordered. I can't believe how dependent i've become on "the net" now - can't pay the bills, can't watch tv or stream music to my media centre..and of course, gotta rely on my old penthouse magazine for the occasional lonely night. Too much info? :)

Ok back to business..

I was forwarded this clip from a fellow WT brother (on a completely unrelated topic to this post). The two fighters are UFC elite, Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida in a training session.

Focus in on the first minute of the clip:

Now, for a second, I want you to ignore who these people are. I want you to imagine that instead of these two buff, intimidating, amazing fighters are..for a second..doing what they're doing but are:

FAT, SCRAWNY, WEARING CHINESE SILK OUTFITS, or any combination of this.

All o sudden, i can picture all the comments coming in about how these guys suck, or they don't know real martial arts, or they would be toast in MMA, etc etc.

My point here is that YouTube is by no way a proper means to judge fighting skill or ability, add to that the perception if the two fighters are not in "gladiator" shape...their skill is automatically downgraded.

it's interesting how our frame of mind shifts, just like that.

You can have to hardcore badasses with absolutely no skills, just wildly flailing at each other...and as long as they're ex-marines or whatever, and look the part, people will always be "wowed".

until then.

Is Inch Power Useful?

The concept of "inch power" in wing chun is the delivery of a strike within an inch or a few inches away of its target. Demonstrated by Bruce Lee and many other wing chun artists, the "inch punch" pretty much sums it up and always gets an "ooh" or "ahh" from the crowd.

Now, there's a difference between the delivery of inch power - for demonstration purposes, it's more of a push so that it "pushes" the opponent into the chair and gives a more dramatic effect. While, actual fighting application, the strike "hurts on the inside" and is meant to drop the opponent, rather than to push him or her away.

But, how useful is inch power anyway? In the context of the street fight, would we want to rely on inch power? Wouldn't we want to capitalize on striking with as much force as possible and with ideal distance, rather than only a few inches away?

In the face of adrenaline, drugs, etc. how effective would the inch punch really be? In the context of being on the ground? against a grappler?

Or perhaps, developing the inch punch is simply a means to make your "normal punch" even more powerful?

Until then.

Is Change OK?

This was asked in one of the forums I occasional visit. Is it okay, or "right" for martial arts to evolve?

At first glance, i think yes. It has to.

But then, I remember how in my past martial arts, so much emphasis is on passing tradition, or performing a kata as our ancestors meant it to be performed, or how Sifu's Sifu's Sifu used to do it.

There's also perception that such traditionalism is inherent in martial arts - as shaolin kung fu dates back to so and so years and it's lethal, and it's the real deal, etc etc.

As I look outside the environment of martial arts - the eco system, business, academic system, transportation - everything changes. EVERYTHING. It must. If it doesn't, it dies..or at least becomes practically useless (or useful, but to a very limited way). Things that don't change, do not thrive forever.

So it must be okay to change - to change how we apply wing chun? how we interpret wing chun? to how we teach wing chun.

Do you agree?

Until then.