Cross Style Sparring, Good or Bad?

 

Before I knew of Wing Chun

 

Before getting into this blog I do wish to state that in my opinion, no style is better than any other, THAT is down to the individual.

 

Just because someone trained Karate for a little while but could do it, is no reason for them to say:

 

‘Karate is rubbish.’

 

When what the really mean is:

 

‘Karate is not rubbish, THEY were rubbish at Karate.’

 

Sparring is a great method of training but only when it trains what you are really training for, for instance;

 

Brazilian Ju Jitsu was designed for fighting on the beach and therefore would be reliant on grappling.

The jumping kicks of Tae Kwon Do were initially used for getting people off of horse back.

Western Boxing is used for hands only…. and so on.

 

What I am saying is that these styles all tend to have their own rules as well as their limits, and do not get me wrong, I mean NO disrespect to any of these styles, I myself trained for six years in Shotokan Karate up to Shodan level (That’s me in the top photo) and I loved every minute of it, I just wasn’t very good at it (well as good as I wanted to be anyway), so I trained Muay Thai for my kicking and heard of Wing Chun wing very good for close in with the hands.

 

I never went back to Karate after seeing Wing Chun.

 

My point is this, I often hear students say to me that they did some sparring with a friend of theirs who studies (insert style here) and,

 

“They were all over me, what was I doing wrong?”

 

Answer:

“You tried to spar using Wing Chun.”

 

Wing Chun is not a sport.

Of course there are many benefits to this beautiful style but originally this was designed for protection, real life or death, and, against a bigger stronger opponent.

Not to put on gloves and trade blows.

Sparring is fine but do remember, it’s not Wing Chun.

 

I don’t think they mix…

Kicking to the head when close is like trying to punch the feet!

Why take your lowest weapon for your highest target?

 

How do you think it would go down if your Kick Boxing pal asked you to spar using your Wing Chun and you blinded him or kick him in the knee turning him into a flamingo?!

 

Here is a fine example of why Wing Chun should not be used in competition or even sparring, and how gloves would limit your potential anyway.