Martial arts are never a static skillset. In other terms, what worked once a upon a time in the past – may not work as effectively nowadays. And since knowing effective martial arts can spell the difference between life and death in extreme scenarios, it makes it all the more important to learn the good from the bad.
Two highly popular martial arts that are being learned by hundreds of thousands of people all around the world are Wing Chun and BJJ. But how do these two martial arts relate to one another? Is one inherently better than the other? Be sure to read the rest of this review to find out.
Is Wing Chun better than BJJ?
First off, it’s the wrong way to ask a question like this one. There are so many levels and intricacies to each martial art that it can make it that much more difficult to appraise them and compare them against one another.
For example, Wing Chun is a martial art that works best in the trapping range – when the opponent is standing near the Wing Chun practitioner. What is Brazilian Jiu jitsu? BJJ derives its full effectiveness when the practitioner gets the opponent to the ground. So, how do you compare a stand-based martial art to a grapple-based martial art?
Well, first you would need to see which of the two is more effective in neutralizing an opponent. Now, by most credible martial artists’ standards, Wing Chun lies somewhere on the more outdated spectrum of martial arts. BJJ, on the other hand, has a proven level of effectiveness both in real life fight scenarios and in the ring or octagon, in MMA bouts.
Check out this video on Wing Chung.
Since there are so few serious practitioners of Wing Chun that have made a name from themselves in the MMA world at the highest levels – and there are many practitioners of BJJ at the highest level of MMA, it follows that BJJ is the more effective than the two. But there’s still a case to be made for Wing Chun’s effectiveness against more than one opponent, as opposed to BJJ’s effectiveness in the same scenario.
Is It Worth learning Wing Chun?
Wing Chun may be somewhat outdated by modern standards, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t benefit by learning this martial art. We’ve already mentioned that Wing Chun can be extremely effective in the trapping range, when your opponent is standing close to you. Practicing Wing Chun means that you will go through lots of drills in this stance – and with this, you will develop laser-sharp focus and reflexes that you will gauge your opponent’s reactions with.
You will master movement, in a way, and you can then utilize this knowledge in BJJ, as well. Even though Wing Chun isn’t as effective as some of the more modern martial arts, such as Sambo, it still holds an important place in the martial arts hierarchy. And by learning even some of the most basic tenets of this martial art, you will significantly improve your martial arts base – which you can then translate in other martial arts, as well, such as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
