Wing Chun in MMA

**callum828** · Posted On: 6/30/2010 1:34pm

Searched this topic on the forum and google, there's a thread about it on Sherdog but not here, so hopefully I'm not retreading old ground.

Basically, the local MMA gym to me, which I'm thinking of joining for the summer (and will probably review for Bullshido) trains what they call 'tri-style' MMA. From what I can learn from the website, it's a registered martial art (with kyu rankings as well) which is meant for MMA competition. The three main styles that make it up being Muay Thai, BJJ and Wing Chun. According to the website, the gym's main coach found that things like trapping and sticky hands were useful enough to integrate into ground and standup fighting within an MMA environment.

What does everyone think? I'm skeptical frankly. It seems to me that this guy spent a lot of his youth on Wing Chun and doesn't want to feel that was wasted, and so has incorporated it into his MMA. I think that registering it as a martial art has more to do with marketing than 'tri-style' being a particularly new approach to fighting. After all, if Wing Chun was particularly effective, it would be seen in MMA normally, if only some aspects of it.

That said, this club apparently does compete to some degree, in both kickboxing and MMA fights. Most of their fighting seems to be internal competitions and 'light touch', with videos on the site of what this entails. But without having trained there I can't say how effective their training really is.

Any thoughts?

**Soldiermedic** · Posted On: 6/30/2010 6:00pm

I think the silence on this is deafening. If you want to train in mma you should go to a dedicated mma school. More often than not, schools that "combine" mma and tma tend to just try to be cashing in on the mma's current popularity

**Rivington** · Posted On: 6/30/2010 6:42pm

How's about a link?

**callum828** · Posted On: 6/30/2010 7:47pm

Originally Posted by Rivington

How's about a link?

My bad, forgot to put it in.

http://www.swufc.co.uk/

**nomamao** · Posted On: 6/30/2010 10:33pm

I'm not sure I'd recommend that school based on the standup I saw in those videos, but I did like some of the takedowns in them. It seems like when they attempt "the chun" it does them no good. But, that's just my take on it.

I can't comment on their groundwork as I don't really know jack about it.

If you can take up BJJ or MT on their own, I'd suggest it as opposed to going to this school. If this is all you have in your area and you are really interested about going in there, at least they compete.

***battlefields*** · Posted On: 7/01/2010 5:56am

I did a bit of checking cause it looked like another chun school learning a bit of bjj an muay Thai and then saying they "picked the most effective techniques". The website talks about extensive experience but does not provide specifics, forget the instructors chun, i'd suggest focussing on finding out the bjj and muay Thai credentials.

Also the assistant instructor Joe Slack is said to have won national and international judo comps but I couldn't find him on the uk ngb for judo website, granted I'm not a member so verify. I will reiterate, I found nothing on him in relation to judo which is a little odd, but there are better Internet searches to be had.

**callum828** · Posted On: 7/01/2010 6:31am

Originally Posted by nomamao

I'm not sure I'd recommend that school based on the standup I saw in those videos, but I did like some of the takedowns in them. It seems like when they attempt "the chun" it does them no good. But, that's just my take on it.

I can't comment on their groundwork as I don't really know jack about it.

If you can take up BJJ or MT on their own, I'd suggest it as opposed to going to this school. If this is all you have in your area and you are really interested about going in there, at least they compete.

It's either this place or local judo/kykokushin clubs. I'm tempted toward the latter. It'll be cheaper and I know what I'll be getting. Sadly there are no MT or BJJ clubs nearby.

**PointyShinyBurn** · Posted On: 7/01/2010 7:00am

There is no Joe Slack on the BJA Dan Grade register: http://www.britishjudo.org.uk/techni...tSurname=slack

He might have won kid's competitions at a lower lever, or conceivably with the BJC. Googling "Joe Slack" Judo turns up nothing but a kid's competition from 2001.

Based on that video their grappling isn't completely horrible, but no one looks particularly technical. If I was in that area I'd probably drive into Cambridge and train at http://www.axisbjj.co.uk/home or http://www.pro-amfightcentre.co.uk/default.html.

P.S. Or maybe here: http://www.tokonacademy.com/Profiles_DavidWebb.htm if Letchworth is easier.