The Best Style In The World(?)
“I think Wing Chun is the best style out there…”
“Wing Chun would beat *X* because…”
I have heard comments like these many times over the years, from students & training partners of past and present, colleagues on film sets, friends in the security industry, casual observers of martial arts, and even from teachers of other styles. However, my usual response is ”Not necessarily…”, why? Here are some of my thoughts.
Generally, when someone calls a particular style of martial art the ‘best’ they are referring to its effectiveness in combat, but I have seen many people become completely disillusioned towards their chosen style/system/lineage/teacher, all because their self-defense failed them in a real confrontation. But maybe they just weren’t advanced enough to apply their skills yet, depending on the person, some styles just take a long time for one to become good at them, others much sooner, and the time in which you expect to become good at something is a huge factor. Maybe they spent too much time thinking about other martial ideas than training what they were taught, and in this case it is a very long road. They may have just been caught unprepared, after all we are only human and can’t be at 100% all the time. Or, they could just have had the wrong teacher for them - I’ve seen many students stay with teachers who I would regard as bad representatives of great styles, fully aware they’re not happy about where they’re training, yet don’t act on it because it’s become convenient yet bad habit for them, but that’s just the world we live in today I guess. But do any of these factors mean the style is no good? Not necessarily. Here’s the thing, with all the variables that go into a violent confrontation, such as fight or flight response, situation awareness, human error, timing, positioning, speed, power, numbers, weapons, exit points etc., there are no guarantees in a real fight - people with no martial arts training can fight, and it’s generally people like this that start them. Training martial arts will certainly make you better prepared, but in the real world it’s not the name of your style or teacher that will save you. Who cares how traditional your Kung Fu is if you’re the one that loses!
Beyond Fighting; Life Skills
Of course, the depth of martial arts stretches beyond just self-defense and fighting, referring back to the points I mentioned in my previous article ”Getting Your Children Into Martial Arts”; self-confidence – self-discipline – physical fitness – balance & flexibility – focus, concentration, awareness – social skills & meeting new people – overcoming adversity & problem solving - dealing with stress & conflict resolution, meditation & breathing etc. Whilst these characteristics do play a huge part in making your fighting skills better, many people value these assets more than the actual self-defense, and are fundamentally more important in everyday life. So certain styles are better for certain things, i.e. not all styles are equal or designed for the same purposes, and people will generally choose a teacher/style based on who/what they feel best suits their martial wants & needs. Ultimately, if the student fulfills everything they set out to accomplish through training martial arts, that’s all that really matters, but to be a complete martial artist is about the journey not the destination. You could also argue that the best style is defined by the one(s) who used their martial arts to improve the lives for themselves and those around them the best. After all, it is the teaching of Grandmaster Yip Man; “Use your martial skill for the good of humanity”.
I feel this is the healthiest way for any student of martial arts (and any art) to think; there really is no best style, there are simply way too many variables to account for. I like to think that all styles of martial arts are good at what they were designed for, otherwise they would not exist, this is why styles that are done well, regardless of their roots, will tend to have more similarities than differences. I read somewhere that the best style could be defined by how well it could develop any average person to become a great martial artist, which is also a fair argument to make, and many people around the world have found that with Wing Chun, hence its reputation. But if you want to prove that it is the best style, you’d better be able to prove it in every martial aspect! The better all your martial skill sets are all round, the better candidate you are in championing your style as being the best.
Keep an eye out for my next article, coming next month!
Sifu Jason Ludwig (WCKUK Organisation, 5th Practician Grade)
“Longevity In Training” - “Finding A Good Teacher” - “How Much Should You Practice?” - “Debunking Theories Of Wing Chun” - “Martial Etiquette” - “The Syllabus”, and more…
