Low Impact Martial Arts for any age
Low impact martial arts for any age. Wing Chun practitioners are known for their ability to train in thier complete style into the later years of life without pain or discomfort. Not many combative martial arts can claim that. Many styles of martial arts put immense pressure on the joints, bones, tendons, and ligaments such as the shoulders, knees, neck and back of the practitioner.
“if you can go grocery shopping, kick a cart and grab items off of shelves, then you can do Wing Chun!”
Wing Chun provides low impact martial arts training with highly effective application and can be used at any age.
The modern founder of Wing Chun (Ip Man) has two sons that are still training to this day. Ip Ching and Ip Chun are in their late 80’s and early 90’s. Martial arts training and classes will be remembered for a lifetime. You will recall there low impact martial arts teachings and instructions, should they not also be able to be trained for just as long? Wing Chun can and will have you doing so just like so many practitioners of the martial art of Wing Chun before you, this is not legend but fact. Wing Chun or low impact martial arts does not concentrate on large high kicks, jumping techniques or any fancy movements that may strain or stress your joints, back, neck or limbs. Wing Chun doesn’t want you leaving the ground, the best balance and stability you have now and in your later years is with your feet on the ground. At the Sifu Och School of Wing Chun Kung Fu we tell people; “if you can go grocery shopping, grabbing food with your hands and kick your cart forward with your feet, you can Master Wing Chun, not just practice it.”
This is an informative article specifically on Wing Chun and its benefits as low impact martial arts. This article talks about taking the reasons behind its power in Low impact martial arts, its ability to extend your training into the later years of life because of its low impact on the joints, knee, neck, back, muscles and tendons. (this article can not be copied or used on any other site)
The style of Wing Chun is compact and extremely effective at any age, from children, teens, men, women and even older individuals. Even Ip Man the Modern Founder of Wing Chun (Ving Tsun Gung Fu) started learning at the age of 13 years old from his Master Chan Wah Shun, Chan Wah Shun was 70 years old at the time he taught Ip Man. The style of low impact martial arts Wing Chun was made so no matter what your confrontation whether it was in a parking lot, alley, your home, bathroom or telephone booth you could use it. Training is on quick reaction with the hands and feet, with the legs kicking low to the opponent’s knees, thighs, groin or at highest the ribs. No pre-stretching needed or involved you won’t be kicking at the head or running across the room to hit a target in mid-air. Though learning high kicks and stretching is great flexibility, generates great power and is apart of any martial arts training, worrying about executing a jumping crescent kick, 6 foot high roundhouse or flying side kick is not Wing Chun’s focus and at the age of 90, Wing Chun doesn’t think it will be yours either. We train low impact martial arts for the betterment of you and your body, but we also do it because the effectiveness of direct offense and defense is astounding at any age of training and learning.
Low Impact Styles & Mastering Your Well Being
There are an assortment of different Low impact martial arts systems and methods of combat training available today, each style has its own history and reasons for its development. Wing Chun is no different but the history of Wing Chun Kung Fu, the reasons for its development and why practitioners such as Bruce Lee trained it as a staple of there protection and self preservation are discussions for another low impact martial arts article. Many people classify low impact and meditative martial arts styles in only a few categories; Tai Chi, Yoga, Chi Gong and Baguazhang. Sadly many Kung Fu styles like Wing Chun are dismissed even though the culture and centuries old history of the martial arts tells us otherwise. Kung Fu was the combination of soft and hard, of internal harmony with the external body, though used for combative protection and self defense kung fu was known for much more. The breathing techniques, fitness, endurance, spiritual and mental peace, relaxation and increased life expectancy were all attributed to training in Kung Fu. As stated Wing Chun has a large history of elderly practitioners still fully capable of both mind and body, training daily. There is no doubt that the martial arts has a positive impact on the lives it touches. The unfortunate thing about most schools and instructors in various styles of kung fu such as Tai Chi, Internal and External Wing Chun Fist, Chi Gong, Baguazhang is finding a truly knowledgeable Master. There are so few knowledgeable instructors that can teach you all the aspects of both sides of the low impact martial arts that most “instructors” you come across can only teach body movement. The difference between a knowledgeable Master in the style and an instructor who only knows how to make similar looking movements is like comparing a glass of stale water to Nigra Falls . You may drink from the glass of stale water and think it was good, until you see and feel the potential behind Nigra Falls.
low impact martial arts styles openly practice and emphasize internal power and its uses in breathing, fitness, consistent movement, self defense and the discipline of mastering ones own body and mind. For individuals who are looking for the stress relief, internal power, spiritual side and focused discipline Wing Chun has you in mind. Styles of martial arts are made to improve health, increase self defense and retain energy, vitality and vigor. Wing Chun is not a style of fancy movements or point sparring it is an adaptive style of kung fu martial arts that can help increase focus, sensitivity, endurance, reaction and flexibility. Wing Chun is a low impact style of martial arts that puts competitive egos, bullying and prides at the door. Almost all styles of martial arts were originally created for combat self defense, though martial arts today are now seperated into different categories that focus on the practitioner and what they are looking to accomplish to better there lives. low impact martial arts exercise focused on the well-being of the stylist is everyone’s concern.
There are numerous amounts of styles and methods of Low impact martial arts in many different categories in the world today.
Inner Balance and low impact martial arts
From stand up fighting styles of striking, kicking to grappling or ground fighting styles, throwing, chi na locking, takedown styles, weapon based styles of fighting, new age MMA sports styles to meditative styles of martial arts. Striking styles such as Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Kickboxing, Capoeira, Kung Fu, Krav Maga, Wing Chun, Muay Thai, Tang Soo Do and Silat use stand up striking techniques as there primary weapons of offense and defense. The degree to which the aspects of kicks, punches, head butts, knees and elbows are used depends on the style of stand up self defense. Styles of low impact martial arts are so different it is sometimes confusing to think that most people place them into three categories; Karate, Tae Kwon Do or Jiujitsu. Even the difference in grappling or ground fighting styles that focus on submissions, locks and dominant ground positioning differ greatly. Brazilian Jiujitsu made famous by the Gracie Family of Brazil is much different then other style of ground self defense such as catch wrestling, shoot fighting, Russian Sambo and Sumo wrestling. Combat always starts from a standing position, Wing Chun believes in the use of throws, takedowns, chi na and controlling techniques though the primary focus for Wing Chun is striking and controlling techniques. Similar techniques are seen within Hapkido, Japanese Judo, Aikido, Chinese Shuai Jiao. low impact martial arts that are also considered meditative styles of the martial arts have been reduced down to Baguazhang, Tai Chi and Chi Gong, this excludes so many other styles of low impact martial arts that if chosen to could show and teach a low impact and meditative components. Wing Chun’s three empty hand forms are known for there internal Chi Gong aspects and standing meditation technique but are rarely considered because they do not have the name Chi Gong or Tai Chi attached to them. Wing Chun could also be known as the last Chinese Mixed Martial Art to come out of the Shaolin Temple. Though unlike many other styles of mixed martial arts known today it was made by and influenced by five different masters. Wing Chun was also created to be a complete street and war combat martial art, with the inclusion of both offense and defense techniques. Wing Chun’s mixed low impact martial arts includes a complete style with knife, stick, dragon long pole, swords, shaolin muscle and bone conditioning tools such as the Wooden Dummy, leg fighting, sensitivity drills, blind fold training, trapping, chi na, kicking and striking techniques. How often do you hear of a style that can teach and have so much at the fingertips of its practitioner’s, many styles focus on one side or thought of martial combat, Wing Chun is like learning and mastering five arts at once no wonder it was sought out and used in Jeet Kune Do by Bruce Lee, Krav Maga, Vee-Jitsu, and other schools that have taken pieces of it to make there style of MMA (mixed martial arts) better and more powerful. Though most mixed martial arts today are seen as sport styles for tournament and cage training, fighting and practice. Wing Chun is a term of MMA that refers to the complete flow of southern shaolin chinese martial arts, a hybrid in acient and modern times, using striking, trapping and control as its base. Wing Chun is a style of adapt utilized mental conceptual techniques, graphed in scientific body mechanics and trained for direct efficiency and rapid reactionary offense and defense. With so many styles to choose from Wing Chun utilizes and uplifts the low impact call for prolonged fighting, protection and health. It respects the the aforementioned styles while carving out a specialized category of its own, popularized by Ip Man the grandmaster of Wing Chun in Hong Kong and his students Bruce Lee, Ip Ching, Ip Chun, Simon Lau and the Legendary Wong Shun Leung. It uses low impact resistance training with weapons much like the styles of Iaido or Kendo, or the Bokken (wooden sword) of Goju-ryu Karate and the Escrima (short double sticks) of Kali. But unlike these Wing Chun has a unique flavor for the soft and hard, the fast and powerful that gives it a taste unlike any other style of martial arts. Even those who have trained for years in other styles, decades in dedication see the effectiveness, efficiency and love for such a style that blesses its practitioner’s with direct, simple and complete systematic and scientific techniques.
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