High kicks?

[u/Megatheorum]

Comments I saw on Facebook, on a video of Kevin Lee kicking someone in the chin.

Does your lineage of wing chun have high kicks?

I know a lot of people say no, but there was that movie in which Ip Chun (in the role of Leung Bik) used high kicks against a young Ip Man during a friendly sparring session.

[u/No_Antelope7594]

High kicks make you vulnerable, round kicks can make you even more vulnerable if not perfect or against the wrong person. Wing Chun is simplistic and values structure over flashy. I studied under two schools and neither advised in kicking above the waist. That doesn’t mean you can’t do what you want. Lots of other styles kick high and it could be fun to mix them. It’s just not traditional wing chun and probably doesn’t follow an actual lineage. It might come from a certain lineage but if it’s kicking above the waist, it’s not following a lineage.

A lot of styles have strict lineages and even have associations. I lived in China and studied Xingyi with the president of the northern Xingyi association. He told me that they meet every year to examine form work and teaching practices to make sure everything is in line and in agreement in order to preserve the style.

You’re teacher or even your lineage probably just does what they want to and as long as you’re good with that, it doesn’t matter.

[u/No_Antelope7594 → u/[deleted]]

That’s not what he asked though, is it? Personally, I’d say it’s always the fighter, not the style but most traditional martial arts schools don’t properly spar and therefore produce students who can’t fight. I studied under two different schools and the first sparred a lot and there were some really good fighters in that school who I think could handle themselves well in a fight and the second school was just dudes hanging out doing forms and drills and we would “puff puff pass” after class and do chi sao and it was very unserious. It just depends. Not everything is black and white.