Why Is Wing Chun Not Used In MMA?

Wing Chun seems to offer practical self-defense and offense against all kinds of opponents in the Ip Man movie series.

Why is it not used in MMA at all? Wing Chun practice strikes to eyes, neck, and groin which are not allowed in UFC and MMA; that’s why Wing Chun not used in MMA. MMA is a sport but Wing Chun is not a sport that needs to ensure the safety of the participants in competitions. 

The purposes, goals, and concepts of Wing Chun are specific, and they don’t translate into sports competitions. The purpose of Wing Chun is to surprise opponents because, in self-defense situations, it offers no time to circle and attack.

The primary goal of Wing Chun is to finish the fights as quickly as possible. Wing Chun is suitable for self-defense situations because the outcome is determined within the first few moments. 

Reasons Why Wing Chun Is not Used in MMA

As mentioned earlier, Wing Chun isn’t a sport; that’s why it’s not the part of MMA. In Wing Chun, practicing strikes to eyes, neck, and groin are a staple, and most of these are not allowed in UFC and MMA; that’s why Wing Chun not used in MMA. Wing Chun strikes around the throat and eyes are common. Similarly, Wing Chun kicks are used to break the knee and ankle of the opponent. In short, Wing Chun strikes and kicks are not designed to play gentlemanly. In fact, these moves are designed to disable your opponent. 

Pros and Cons of Wing Chun

Now, you have an idea why Wing Chun wasn’t the part of MMA. Let’s have a look at some pros and cons of Wing Chun. 

Pros

• In Wing Chun, the offense is the best defense. 
• It makes your moves direct, efficient, and simple.
• The art of Wing Chun is all about attacking at every opportunity. 
• It uses the concept of controlling space, direct action, and moving efficiently. 

Cons

• It has no rules, and that’s why it was never designed for competition. 
• It has changed the dimension of street self-defense, and no weapons are required for a random violent attack. 

Principles of Wing Chun

It is the best and most dangerous style of self-defense, and it can immediately shut down the high-powered attacks. The principles of Wing Chun include:

• Centerline Control
• Simultaneous defense and attack
• Constant forward pressure

These techniques can be performed in a relaxed manner. The reflex’s responses are the best choices to turn the attacks of opponents against them and off-balance attackers. Wing Chun is basically designed for close range and high speed. When applying constant forward pressure, attacks are made on sensitive areas like throat and groin. 

Weaknesses of Wing Chun

Although it is slowly but surely making entry to MMA and fighters are using this style to their advantage. Still, it has some weaknesses; that’s why fighters don’t want to use it.

The biggest weakness of Wing Chun is it wasn’t designed for competitions, and it has no rules. Moreover, this art focuses on landing strikes on illegal areas like throat and groin. In MMA, you can’t use any fighting style without rules. In Wing Chun, the primary striking targets are:

• Throat
• Groin
• Fingers
• Back of the head

And interestingly, all these strikes are illegal in MMA. 

Some old-fashioned martial arts look good in theory, but quickly fall apart when it comes to fighting with opponents. You can use this art against a street fighter, but can you imagine using it against a trained athlete. You can’t use this art against a long kickboxer because he will always keep you at his range. In Wing Chun, you won’t learn to tackle with these attacks. 

It is a striking art, and a close-range striking system is pretty effective. In MMA, most of the fights go to the ground, so it becomes a problem. So, when you totally rely on Wing Chun in MMA, the end result will be a quick submission, takedown, or via ground. So, without the grappling technique, you can’t compete with skilled fighters. It is another and major weakness of Wing Chun. 

Is Wing Chun Dangerous For MMA?

As we have discussed some weaknesses of Wing Chun, it is pretty clear that it’s not a practical choice for MMA. Some fighters have requested to ban specific techniques of Wing Chun. This request is from a guy who has over 70 competitions and is known as the MMA’s best striker. 

Wing Chun isn’t a sport, and it doesn’t have rules and scoring systems and the only purpose is to disable the attacker. It is dangerous for MMA because it primarily focuses on damaging the groin and throat, and it is illegal in MMA. It aims at tearing ligaments and tendons of knee and ankle, which is perfectly illegal according to MMA rules. Wing Chun techniques are actually career-ending injuries, so not allowed in MMA. You can use some legal aspects in your fight, and some world’s best MMA fighters are doing this. 

Why Isn’t Wing Chun in UFC?  

There are lots of different reasons why Wing Chun isn’t in UFC. Some of the major reasons are given below:

• It wasn’t designed for ring fighting. 
• Most Wing Chun fighters don’t have strong conditioning. 
• Most UFC fighters have a competitive sports background. 
• Chinese aristocrats practiced this art until the 1950s. 

Conclusion

In this article, we have tried to cover all the aspects of why is Wing Chun not used in MMA? The simple and best answer to this question is MMA is a sport, but Wing Chun is not a sport; that’s why it isn’t used in MMA. Moreover, In Wing Chun, practicing strikes to eyes, neck, and groin are staples, and most of these are not allowed in UFC and MMA; that’s why Wing Chun not used in MMA. All these moves and strikes are illegal in MMA; that’s why this art isn’t mostly used in MMA. On the other hand, UFC is also a sport, and it has some rules and scoring criteria; that’s why Wing Chun isn’t practiced in UFC as well.