A LOT of people describe wing chun as a martial art ideal for smaller people. I am a rather large person, but interested in learning this martial art. Can I?
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Sifu Victor Botes from the Fighting Spirit Boxing & Martial Arts Club in South Africa, http://www.fightingspirit.co.za replies:
The Wing Chun system is based on structure.
First, you learn all about “self structure” then you learn about “applied structure.”
That is all about using your structure against other people. If your size is anyone’s problem, I think it may be the other persons problem, but not yours.
Just do it and learn how to utilize your body to your advantage.
I have two students in my classes who are polar opposites. The first one is a young woman who is 5″something (I’m not sure) and is probably barely 100 lbs, if that. The other is a 6″something guy who weighs 325 lbs. I tell them that there is an advantage and disadvantage for both of them.
First off I want to say that Wing Chun is amazing for the fact that it really can work for anybody, no specific body type is required.
With that being said a person will always have to find a way to work with their natural strengths and weaknesses. It’s really just a trade off.
I tell these two students that the bigger guy has an advantage in the fact that he has more mass, and therefore has a higher potential for striking power when used properly. On the other hand he has a challenge in developing the flexibility needed to use all of the Wing Chun techniques. The same is true for her but reversed, she has less mass and as a consequence her structure needs to be perfect for her to have the stability for delivering successful attacks. But flexibility comes naturally to her, I’ve actually commented to her before that it’s lame how smooth her huen sau looks even compared to mine, I’ve practiced Si Lum Tao every day for 9 years (normally several times a day) along with other technical practices and still I have to try much more than she does with the wrist flexibility. So ya basically anybody can learn Wing Chun, just become familiar with your body type and talk with your sifu to find out what you will have to work extra on. Thank you to anybody who takes the time to read this comment. Take care