Quote Originally Posted by BIG H
Quote Originally Posted by Munky
I've poste before. I am not a fan of Wing Chun. It does have some good centre line punches using good economy of motion but power delivery is bullshit(I've taken Black Sash Punches in a match fight and they felt like pitter patters with the adrenaline pumping...no KO power. When the adrenaline is flowing almost ALL fights end up a wrestling match) it depends what you want to get out of it H.

Check these two Wing Chun GRAND MASTERS having a scrap. More like 2am outside a kebab shop eh?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szdF1nIAfpk

What do you want to get out of your martial art Big fella?
Cheers mate CC

2 reasons for wanting to get started

1.) Fitness/discipline

2.) too many people carrying knives and coming at you with glasses these days - want a bit of reassurance that I can protect myself
Ok mate Wing Chun might not give you what you want.

I suggest (if you can) finding a good Reality Based Self Defence club that focus on not only the physical aspects but also the Mental soft skills of awareness, target hardening, verbal dissuasion, how to loophol, cause an adrenaline dump in your assailant etc etc. There is so much more to self defence than just the ability to smack someone.

Have alook here

www.urbancombatives.com

I am in some of the workshop pics

The guy is an extremely hard individual with lots of real world experience. This is based on ww2 combatives. There is a lot of reading on there but it will get you started on what you want to look for.

Add to that a good pressure tested Martial Art such as ...ahem...judo (try and search some of my Judo posts on here pertaining to self defence...I've made enough). Judo is a F****** tough sport mate that will instill fitness, discipline and mental toughness. I've been in judo for years and it does take a fair bit of technical knowledge to be able to use the throws in a live situation BUT its better than most other martial arts out there as it teahces you lots of physical cues, weight displacement, balance and also how to slam some f***** into the deck with very little space.

At the end of the day mate do your own reading and do what you feel will be best suited to you. Go watch a couple of classes before you commit and watch the instructor with his class.

If i can be any more help mate let me know.