Jeremiah Blatz (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} jeremiahblatz) wrote,@ 2008-07-26 12:29:00 |
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Martial Arts Walkabout #11: City Wing Chun
Long ago (July 3rd) I went for a free intro class at City Wing Chun. This was not a trial class, it was a special class for prospective students. The instructor welcomed us all in and had us fill in a form about ourselves and why we wanted to learn WC. He then had us gather around and gave us a tour of the school. There was one mid-sized room with a wooden dummy, some makiwara (wall-mounted punching pads) and a B.O.B. At City WC they don't actually teach you any wooden dummy forms until you're an advanced student. Early emphasis is on "self defense," which I think means 2-person drills.
After the tour we got a speech about how WC was the best martial art in the world blah blah. It may be true, but I've heard this speech at many different kinds of places, and they can't all be right. We then went into actual training. The intro class was separated from the regular class, so we could hear what they were doing, but not see it. The topic of the intro class was chain punching. We did chain punching while standing, chain punching while stepping forward, chain punching while doing squats and kicks. The instructor also showed us a chi kung type forearm/wrist exercise. After that was a one-on-one thing where the instructor went over their various membership programs.
I definitely got a good workout at the class, in that WC punching uses a muscle in my shoulder that I apparently had never used before. Despite not getting tired during class, my arms were sore for days. That said, there were a lot of red flags during class. They held themselves out as a self-defense school, but seemed to only teach self-defense against drunk guidos with no training. (Which is fine, but not really what I'm looking for.) Their programs were all gimmicky, and implied that you could basically buy an "instructor" rank. They did have a program that included actual free-form sparring, but it was expensive and you had to buy a lot of gear (including headgear with a face mask, chest pads, etc.). And, of course, you can't even watch a real class.
So, who knows? Citi WC might be awesome, effective, and fantastic, but i can't tell, and don't expect I will find out. Unless I pick a fight with one of their students, which is not likely.
Long ago (July 3rd) I went for a free intro class at City Wing Chun. This was not a trial class, it was a special class for prospective students. The instructor welcomed us all in and had us fill in a form about ourselves and why we wanted to learn WC. He then had us gather around and gave us a tour of the school. There was one mid-sized room with a wooden dummy, some makiwara (wall-mounted punching pads) and a B.O.B. At City WC they don't actually teach you any wooden dummy forms until you're an advanced student. Early emphasis is on "self defense," which I think means 2-person drills.
After the tour we got a speech about how WC was the best martial art in the world blah blah. It may be true, but I've heard this speech at many different kinds of places, and they can't all be right. We then went into actual training. The intro class was separated from the regular class, so we could hear what they were doing, but not see it. The topic of the intro class was chain punching. We did chain punching while standing, chain punching while stepping forward, chain punching while doing squats and kicks. The instructor also showed us a chi kung type forearm/wrist exercise. After that was a one-on-one thing where the instructor went over their various membership programs.
I definitely got a good workout at the class, in that WC punching uses a muscle in my shoulder that I apparently had never used before. Despite not getting tired during class, my arms were sore for days. That said, there were a lot of red flags during class. They held themselves out as a self-defense school, but seemed to only teach self-defense against drunk guidos with no training. (Which is fine, but not really what I'm looking for.) Their programs were all gimmicky, and implied that you could basically buy an "instructor" rank. They did have a program that included actual free-form sparring, but it was expensive and you had to buy a lot of gear (including headgear with a face mask, chest pads, etc.). And, of course, you can't even watch a real class.
So, who knows? Citi WC might be awesome, effective, and fantastic, but i can't tell, and don't expect I will find out. Unless I pick a fight with one of their students, which is not likely.
