What are your thoughts on this?
There are so many things one could say and so many interpretations of what should have or could have happened....especially in terms of either the boxer or wing chun fighter's skill level..or lack thereof if that's what you see.
What do I see?
i see a lot of space for both fighters to move back.
There's a lot of room to retreat, to circle, to side-step. All annoying to the wing chun fighter who likes to get in close.
Of course, there are tactics to help minimize the attacker moving away, but at the same time, that's very very difficult to make happen especially at someone at my average skill level.
At one point, I thought the wing chun guy could've had a chance if only he committed fully and since the boxer was going quite easy (hands down, didn't really take wing chun guy too seriously). If the WC guy just ran right through him once, I think that would've set the tone.
Anyway, what are your thoughts?
Until then.
2 comments:
I think that, as pointed out in the comments, there's a real range disadvantage here for the wing chun guy: his opponent has a significantly longer range with his arms. That, combined with the fact that, like you said, there was a lot of room for backtracking, gives the wing chun a real handicap. Things might have faired better if they were about the same size and they had a smaller fighting field, but we can't be sure of that ofcourse. Wing Tsun only works when you're really, really close, so what I think he should've tried is to get so as to make things really uncomfortable for the boxer, at a range where he wouldn't be able to generate force easily. That being said, this is far from an easy thing to do. Also, I think he might have benefited more from using kicks to control the distance, break the opponents structure up a bit.
Besides the obvious phisical disadvantage of the wc fighter, I just don't think he was prepared for this fight.
The obvious difference is that boxing is practical, but wing tsun is theoretical a lot of times. In these peacful times what most people who want to seriously practice a martial art/figthting sport are in dire need of fighting experiance. Boxing suplies that by sparring and matches, it's fight oriented. But wing tsun does not have a tradition of sparring. The most fight oriented practice is sticky hands, but a real fight starts from the outside range. Becouse of the lack of sparring, wing tsun artists (most of them) doesn't learn the importance of distance, and more importantly, how to close it, which is a real dealbreaker for them, as the whole system is intended for close quarters.
Replying to Pablo's comment: boxing already has means to generate force in close quarters, by hooks and uppercuts, and boxing is not just one style. Boxing basics is fistfighting stripped down to it's core. After learning the basic footwork and punches the "customization" for a person is limitless. So basically you can have your own style. An out-boxer is very different from an in-fighter.
If I'd be a wing tsun guy, I'd try to modify (AFTER learning the art properly first) it so that my footwork would be suitable for matches in a ring/larger confined space. There are some methods for closing in the distance in kung fu too, but I think boxing has a decent foorwork too. Also, I think that becouse the wing tsun fighter in the video was smaller, he shouldn't have attacked the boxer's head (and also becouse boxers employ dodging well) but his solar plexus, heart and liver.
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