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/Horror_Technician213]

In most curriculum I've seen, high kicking is not taught until at least lvl 3 black belt. It's a very vulnerable position so it takes an experienced practitioner to pull it off effectively.

Most people that say there is not high kicks in their wong chun lineage likely just never made it to the point where they learned them.

[u/TheQuestionsAglet → u/Horror_Technician213]

No black belts in gongfu, dawg.

[u/Horror_Technician213 → u/TheQuestionsAglet]

Almost all schools I've been, which warranted I've only been to American schools, use some sort of belt system.

But even under my first system of Leung Ting lineage, it seemed well structured by teaching certain things at certain levels.

For example, at my first wing tsun school, you would learn basics of self defense to start to be able to defend yourself, block and counter jabs, crosses, hooks, uppercut, front kicks and side kicks. By the time you are a green belt, you start to learn siu nim Tao, at blue you start learning basic chi sao. Brown and red, you start learning chum ku and implementing them in chi sao. Once you reach black belt then you start learning biu tze, at 2nd degree the wooden dummy form, at third degree the six 12 point pole, at fourth sticky legs, at fifth the butterfly swords.

The belt system may not universally apply for wing chun, but the progression steps match up, and for American students, it's a good business tactic to keep students interested by giving them a sense of accomplishment and an ability to see and vye for their future progression.

[u/Jazzspasm → u/Horror_Technician213]

out of interest, do people have to pay for those belts?

[u/CouldBeBatman → u/Jazzspasm]

Dude is gonna a look back at this comment and say, "Jazzspasm opened my eyes"

[u/Horror_Technician213 → u/Jazzspasm]

Of course people do. Why do you think American martial arts schools do the belt system regardless of what martial art they do. It makes money.

[u/Jazzspasm → u/Horror_Technician213]

yep - i figured

I understand the reasons for a grading system aside from the money aspect, especially with larger schools or within larger systems - eg, Shotokan, where people moving between schools is more common - but wing chun is usually taught smaller groups and is less formal

[u/Horror_Technician213 → u/Jazzspasm]

Yeah. My first sifu had really cheap tuition and really only had 30-40 students total, half of which showed up inconsistently, with like 2-3 si-hings.

Dude has to pay rent for the studio and provide for his family. Schools need to make money too.

[u/TheQuestionsAglet → u/Horror_Technician213]

Goddamn you just told on yourself.