A bit of tribalism in both aspects is understandable. In both, a lot of time, effort, and study is involved making them very much a part of who you are and how you see the world. As such, disagreements seem greater, as they often not only feel like disagreements but a challenge to your personal identity. Setting ego aside during discussions of both can be very helpful. I'm curious in your Wing Chun studies, do you guys ever apply Buddhist, Daoist, or other eastern philosophies in your training? I don't have much experience with Chinese Martial arts, but talking with boxing and wrestling coaches and taking and observing their classes, I see a lot of the blue collar American work ethic in their approach to training. As for Kung Fu films, if you enjoy those, I'd highly recommend you dabble in Westerns and Samurai films. You'll see very similar stories and similar character types in both of those. All three can be very entertaining, even the more campy ones. P.S. John Wick was the tits.
Somewhat. This concept of a "center line" is a huge aspect of Ving Tsun. When you start, it's just an imaginary vertical line down the center of your body, and your priority is to control it. But the more you learn and study, the more it takes on a much broader idea of balance. You can't be too hard, or too relaxed. You can't train one thing to the exclusion of all others. You can't train to the exclusion of life. When I expressed some frustration to my sifu (teacher) about how dull my job can be, he mentioned the possibility of too much yang. Not in the sense of some weird metaphorical energy, just the idea that I was pushing life too hard, and that sometimes you need to just be still and go with it, even if you don't want to. But it's something we don't generally talk about until you've been there a lot longer. I wouldn't say it's overt, though. My teacher isn't a Daoist, but his advice on things usually ends up having that flavor, such as the example above. By way of another example, our emphasis on physical relaxation means this verse from the Dao De Jing (chapter 43) applies as much to our physical actions as anything more metaphorical: Override the hardest things of the world That which has no substance Enters into that which has no openings I've certainly seen that in my training; a relaxed hand will fit into spaces that it seems far too big for. But honestly it's tough to explain without context, i.e. the listener having some experience with the art. My impression is that these eastern religions don't really separate things into distinct spheres the way we tend to in the West. *My family spells it Ving Tsun (rather than Wing Chun) because of some internecine politics that I'm only dimly familiar with. Perhaps. I've seen some samurai movies that I like, but westerns usually don't do it for me. My enjoyment of kung fu movies is almost exclusively the spectacle of combat, not really the story (or what passes for one) that holds it all together.I'm curious in your Wing Chun studies, do you guys ever apply Buddhist, Daoist, or other eastern philosophies in your training?
The softest things of the world
Westerns, etc.
You might think this is a dumb question, but have you seen any of Tony Jaa's films? They have their flaws (sometimes a lot of flaws), but there's no denying the choreography and action in them are downright amazing. Similarly, under the #martialarts tag, I've posted a few technique breakdowns. You might want to check them out, as they're pretty nifty. Since you're a fan of martial arts films, there is one western I would highly recommend to you, The Good, The Bad, The Weird. It's a Korean western that takes place in China and it's just absolutely fantastic. You can find it on Netflix.Perhaps. I've seen some samurai movies that I like, but westerns usually don't do it for me. My enjoyment of kung fu movies is almost exclusively the spectacle of combat, not really the story (or what passes for one) that holds it all together.
I've seen the first two Ong Bak movies, but haven't gotten around to the third. I like his quite a bit. I have to say, South Korea is doing some of the best movies of just about any genre these days. Oldboy (the original) remains one of my favorite flicks of all time, and The Man From Nowhere is up there in terms of good action movies that actually have some semblance of story. I'd seen the listing for The Good, The Bad, The Weird on Netflix, but hadn't checked it out yet. I'll be sure to do so, especially now that I'm caught up on Game of Thrones.
Watch The Protector. Do not try to follow the plot. It's awful and jumps around. The fight scenes though? Especially the staircase? They're magical. The Man From Nowhere was pretty good. It's a bit intense at parts, but all around the choreography was amazing. South Korea and China both have a lot of great films out there right now, from romances to heist films to comedies. I'm glad Netflix and Hulu both have picked some of them up. Japan really needs to step up their game.