Wing Chun kung-fu or Aikido?

I know these questions get asked all the time, but I am really torn between the two in which I should study.


I'm not very big, I am only 65kg with no fat but a muscley physique.


Both styles look like they don't rely on brute strength, but rather disabling your opponant with agility and precision. I've looked around at schools in my area, and they seem to be okay but what martial arts school isn't there for money these days.





Which art would be best for self-defence? I bartend at night and walk through a somewhat dangerous area nightly. Thanks.

Wing Chun kung-fu or Aikido?
My personal preferance is Wing Chun, it takes quite a while to be proficient at it, but once you wrap your head around it it becomes very effective. In around 6 months you should be abble to apply the punch and get your feet working also you would have pak sao and bil sao (sorry spellings are different at all schools) in the bag which is enough to deal with most attacks.





Wing Chun is also good as it teaches you to fight at close range and also how to fight people bigger than you. Remeber at the end of the day all fighting is close range as in order to hit someone you need to be close unless you're throwing rock at them lol.





A typical strategy for wing chun is to attack the closest point. For instance if they have much longer arms than you then take them out of the equation, as the punch you step out of range and elbowstrike their fist, no more fist, then elbow strike their forearm, this kills, then round fist with a phoenix fist to their bicep that arm is now useless and you are within range of their vital points from here on in on their blindside too... So yeah, that's the sort of thing that Wing Chun teaches, obviously every situation is different that's just a combo that popped into my head while I was writting this answer.





Either way good luck, but remember you will find many of the throws and takedowns of Aikido in Wing Chun as you advance except Wing Chun prefers to keep the opponents close in contact and preferrably off balance.
Reply:brazillian jiu-jitsu
Reply:Kung Fu is the father of all oriental martial arts. I'd go with Kung Fu If you really study it carefully you'll find all your Aikido moves within...
Reply:Aikido is good.


Kenpo Karate is the best.


Tae Kwon Do focuses on kicks which can be easily blocked, plus you always sweep their feet.


Kung Fu is nice if you wanna a satin Gi.


Shoto-kan, too hard. Its only good if ya wanna have close fighting with someone which is a mistake because your there to do the job quick, not get on the ground and rub body's.


Judo, is good, just alot of practice and physics.


Instructors today are not like the instructors of yesterday.


Their just after your money. A good teacher does not advance you in a short, only until you qualified.


Remember , what you put into it you'll get out of it!
Reply:Aikido is pretty much all defense. Kung-Fu would be more frightening toward opponents. I would go with the one which hurts the 1st attacker the most. Better chance of scaring off the rest. Honestly, get some boxing skills. Once you KO or even smash the 1st guys nose, the rest will be VERY reluctant.
Reply:both would be really good. for a bartender, i would suggest wing chun. in wing chun you would be able to block, and strike very fast. also wing chun's philosphy does not rely on biceps and main muscles to punch. they use triceps and the lats.
Reply:this is gonna sound crazy but i would do either boxing or thai boxing for the simple reason that you will be able to defend yourself far more effectively with those much faster than either akido or wing chun lets face it most martial arts take years to be effective in the street but boxing/thai boxing much much less time also they are fun :) you could also try judo as that is a hard core self defence style lets face it on the street 90% of the time they pull u to the ground and grapple with you so why not do a ground graple thing like judo also i would rcomend checking out some figts on youtube the jujitsu ones really suprised me as to how effective that is
Reply:If you need to be able to use what you learn quickly the Wing Chun is more effective as a fighting art.


I know there are some combat effective Aikido systems (yoshinkan for one) but even these require years of practice to be effective. Ki development is required and that doesn't happen overnight.


As someone mentioned earlier, there are no attacking moves, kicks, and very few atemi (strikes) in Aikido.





For quickly learned, effective self defence - go Wing Chun over Aikido.
Reply:It depends on what you want. Do you want to beat the living crap of your opponent or would you rather subdue him? If you want to beat him down quickly learn Wing Chun. Aikido puts more emphasis on controlling an opponent. Both are excellent arts. If you decide to take Wing Chun it certainly couldn't hurt to learn some Aikido techniques and blend them together.
Reply:The 'either-or' option of Aikido or Wing Chun isn't much of a choice is it? Maybe you might want to also consider Irish Bare Knuckle Boxing, and if you want to get into grappling then I would suggest http://www.catchwrestle.com Tony Cecchine is a tough grappler based in Chicago. You might also want to learn to defend against weapons especially a knife, since you mentioned having to walk in a dangerous area nightly, Serrada Escrima is the best for that depending who your teacher is, but you may have to settle for a seminar on blades. Aikido is not for fighting and could prove a bad disappointment, and Wing Chun works if you are willing to injure your attacker, so I wouldn't advise either one for what you need. Some of the Aikido might be good to avoid a law suit. Non Sport Jujitsu or Kung Fu San Soo has much better options. Self- Defense and drunk control are two different things. Drunk control you can take a drunk down by twisting his chin and the back of his head, whereas for self defense, you might do things a little bit differently.
Reply:Have you tried martial art before? The reward of the art is in your lifestyle and at its best in terms of long term commitment and patient practice. You can practice as little as 1 per week or 5 x , you'll find instant beneftits from practice. But if your ego gets in the way it will try and tempt you to become dissatisfied.





For the short term do a self defence course. I understand conflict is unpleasant and you would like to be able to confidently protect yourself. You may google up some handy self defence tips. Aleternative ways of walking home, stay away from empty dark streets, know someone you can call on help in case of an emergency at night etc.


There are many ways to prevent conflict keep this in mind.





Check out this dojo:





Aiki-Centre


1st Floor 672B Glenferrie Rd.,


Hawthorn, Vic





Tel: (03) 9815-3388





They offer practical self defence classes Wednesday's


and ongoing Aikido %26amp; Boxacise training. call them and ask questions relevant to your self defence needs.Instructor is very experienced in all areas of self defence and also a 5th Dan Aikido Sensei.