I understand that Akido is getting put in the same category these days.
One thing for sure. The internet, mma, teh UFC and just exposure itself stripped away and 'mysticism' or magic from a LOT of martial arts and fighting styles
There is no 'Ancient Chinese secret' or Systema or any stone left unturned anymore that hasn't been exposed as mostly bs and not applicable in a street or cage fight.
John Joe has apparently ignored the wicked Bill Jee darting fingers of Jon Jones. 
The Tiger Man - Like many tma's it's not trained "live" so it's hard to tell.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't SBG start out with a wing chun base and add BJJ/Boxing/Thai and wrestling.
That crazy monkey defense that Rampage and Tito came from the SBG, not the same as a high chamber guard.
dentalninja - The hand-trapping techniques and short strikes can be useful in very close quarters (i.e., in a bar or other small area where there is limited room to move).
However, they take a lot of practice as opposed to some other based more on gross motor movements.
Anything can be effective (Wing Chun, Aikido, etc.) but the more the relies on fine movement patterns, the longer it takes to learn.
a waste of time really. the time spent training could be used for proven skill
Donoghue88 - a waste of time really. the time spent training could be used for proven skill
I took Budokukai Karate, Muay Thai, BJJ, Submission wrestling, mma training (lots of drills) and boxed a bit. My favorite was MT, but it also hurt the most. Sparring in MT can escalate in a hurry = hurt
Two people agreeing to fight takes a different skill set than defending yourself from a real attack. With all the bar fight footage we can see these days how many guys square off before they fight, in spur of the moment fights Wing Chun will thrive. Lots of TMA's don't work in the ring or cage but work quite well on the street. Wing Chun uses lots of eye and throat attacks and we have seen how well eye pokes work in the Cage.
I'm starting to see more trapping range stuff being done lately. The Hendricks/Lawler and Weidman/Machida fights come to mind. Both of which were title fights. The aggressive fighter creates the trapping distance for extended periods of time. If a Wing Chun fighter were well rounded enough in MMA to compliment his core art and close to trapping ranged a lot, it could prove interesting.
WrestleFook - Those who haven't trained in Wing Chun have no right to, just as those that train in Wing Chun do not have any right to say the system is the best.
Every system is a style and styles suit different people. An example would be that a tall person wouldn't find Wing Chun as useful as that person would find Muay Thai. At the same time if a short statured person used Wing Chun against a taller person it would be quite effective.
I think the UFC catching on in other countries may open up a lot of doors for other styles to find a base in the octagon. Countries like China are just getting started in MMA where many TMAs have a long tradition.
5th round of Weidman X Machida looked like a trapping range chess match.
I did it for a couple of years when I was younger (some 25 years ago). The funny thing is that the head honcho in the last place I trained at was really into grappling - I don't remember his grappling credentials - so we did 1 hour of wing chun and 1 hour of pure no-gi grappling. The official version (that I think he believed himself even) was that we did grappling just for the exercise, and that the wing chun was the real stuff.
Let's just say that those with the slickest chi sau etc weren't always the ones comming out on top in grappling.
cdueck -I disagree. A sport fight is still closer to a "real fight" than a limited set of traditional drills. The first few times you get hit for real, choked etc it's hard to get back in the game mentally. On the other hand you can see seasoned boxers take insane punishment and win fights when they barely know where they are.
Two people agreeing to fight takes a different skill set than defending yourself from a real attack. With all the bar fight footage we can see these days how many guys square off before they fight, in spur of the moment fights Wing Chun will thrive. Lots of TMA's don't work in the ring or cage but work quite well on the street. Wing Chun uses lots of eye and throat attacks and we have seen how well eye pokes work in the Cage.
I would guess that the wing chung/trapping range would get overwhelmed into the clinch where muay thai/greco dominates.
A close friend does Kung Fu. Literally all the cool moves are not allowed in MMA - throat punches, small joint manipulation, eye gouging and so on.
cdueck -
Two people agreeing to fight takes a different skill set than defending yourself from a real attack. With all the bar fight footage we can see these days how many guys square off before they fight, in spur of the moment fights Wing Chun will thrive. Lots of TMA's don't work in the ring or cage but work quite well on the street. Wing Chun uses lots of eye and throat attacks and we have seen how well eye pokes work in the Cage.
Can someone answer my question about Wing Chun being the base of the Straight Blast Gym. Is it the base, and then they added all the usual elements of MMA? They produce good pro fighters and grappling comptetors.
I remember a few years ago, SBG guys using the Crazy Monkey defense to get used to sparring or closing the distance to clinch.
Bobby Lupo -
Can someone answer my question about Wing Chun being the base of the Straight Blast Gym. Is it the base, and then they added all the usual elements of MMA? They produce good pro fighters and grappling comptetors.
I remember a few years ago, SBG guys using the Crazy Monkey defense to get used to sparring or closing the distance to clinch.
According to this interview/FAQ they mean that anything that works will resemble NHB or some aspect of NHB.
http://www.straightblastgym.com/interview08.htm
And, handtrapping isn't seen in NHB and thus doesn't work in their view.
I can accept that argument, but imo a lot of close in fighting and gnp in MMA looks similar to some techniques that are used in wing chun. Not that they originated there, but it would be an example were something that works is seen in different places, indepedently of eachother or not.
Everytime someone control an arm and make it into an elbow attack - standing or from the top - I think of wing chun. (Due to the gloves it looks more like WC than MT sometimes.)
Jon Jones does this a lot.
One of my coaches is a lifelong Wing student and instructor. He is well known in the circles and his linage is authentic. He also has train western style boxing for many years and over the past 3 has taken Bjj up. His hand techniques translate well to both. He is fast, great defense and a middle aged killer.
Even he says that you need all aspects. Wing is like a few others... A base for becoming a well rounded artist.
cdueck -
Two people agreeing to fight takes a different skill set than defending yourself from a real attack. With all the bar fight footage we can see these days how many guys square off before they fight, in spur of the moment fights Wing Chun will thrive. Lots of TMA's don't work in the ring or cage but work quite well on the street. Wing Chun uses lots of eye and throat attacks and we have seen how well eye pokes work in the Cage.