Wing chun training around the GTA?

[crysissniper]

I've been wanting to learn wing chun for the longest time now but finding a good gym I don't know where to start.

I heard that sunny tang in Scarborough isn't as great as it should be. Any recommendations from any Wing chun trainees here?

[Ottomaddox]

http://www.gocontinental.com/photos2/wangchung2a.jpg

C'mon, I can't be the only one that misread the title...

[Takami]

I've been wanting to learn wing chun for the longest time now but finding a good gym I don't know where to start.

I heard that sunny tang in Scarborough isn't as great as it should be. Any recommendations from any Wing chun trainees here?

You are correct. A lot of these big martial arts schools/clubs/dojos are only big because they accept students liberally and they don't give their students a hard time. Most of these schools teach the moves but not the discipline. Although I am not going to criticize any of these schools, the schools which I saw lacking discipline, their senior members are jokes.

I'm going to say that the best way to find a martial arts place is from friends who you share the attitude with. Highly disciplined schools might not fit well with everyone either. The sifu can discipline you verbally if you don't perform, to a point that can make a grown men cry. They are good at this and they have been through the same torture.

[gamer123]

check out christian wushu fellowship, a friend has been learning wingchun there for a while. they also have wushu and taichi

http://www.christian.wushu.com/

[eshchan]

I've been wanting to learn wing chun for the longest time now but finding a good gym I don't know where to start.

I heard that sunny tang in Scarborough isn't as great as it should be. Any recommendations from any Wing chun trainees here?

Here's first lesson: spelling is important as it defines which branch you are in: Wing Tsun is from Leung Ting branch and Wing Chun is from Yiu Kai branch (Ving Tsu is another branch which I am not familar)

In general, they are different from and philosophy so I can't say which one is better. Just make sure you stick to the spelling of branch you choose are you are going to get it.

[danfromwaterloo]

Jiu Jitsu FTW!

[obernewtyn]

check out christian wushu fellowship, a friend has been learning wingchun there for a while. they also have wushu and taichi

http://www.christian.wushu.com/

This is the place to learn Wing Chun. Nelson Chan is the Sifu. My friend trains there as well.

[topspd]

Sorry this is a little late, I just happened to run across this thread..

First, romanized spelling of the two chinese characters that mean 'eternal springtime' does not necessarily define the type of teaching or branch of instructor. Wing Chun is most commonly used for most branches, while Ving Tsun is used by several and Wing Tsun less so, but lots of other variations exist.

Fortunately for someone interested in wing chun (I'll use this common spelling to refer to this martial art generally), there are several lineages of instructors available.

You'll have to take a look at the different clubs and see which one you think fits with your schedule, your interests (some offer other martial arts as well as wing chun may not be for you), your perception of the instructors skill and the instructors teaching style.

On the topic of discipline, my personal belief is that an instructor should never belittle a student. Wing chun as a principle based system, probably more than most other styles, is about personal growth and introspection. If you cannot generate your own discipline, then you will not advance, or you will advance at a much slower rate. A wing chun instructor is more of a guide that shows you the path, but you are the one who must walk it to gain understanding. This is why most wing chun instructors prefer taking students who are older than their teens.

Some of the schools I've found are below, anyone please add more if you know of them (you can easily find the links with a little google search, though some may not have websites you should still find a yellow pages link);

Ip Man lineage;

Sunny Tang (Sunny Tang martial arts centre); early Moy Yat lineage (though part of the Ip Man era in HK)
Roy D. Anthony (Centreline martial arts academy); Sunny Tang lineage (but he has now incorporated many other lineages)
Nelson Chan (Canadian Ving Tsun fellowship), Moy Yat lineage
Lawrence Leung (Lawrence Leung academy of wing chun); Wong Shun Leung lineage
Trent Haggard (Danforth wing chun); Dr. Khoe < Wang Kiu lineage
Carson Lau (IWTA - toronto); Leung Ting lineage
Ryan Kennedy (Toronto wing chun academy); Phillip Redmond < William Cheung lineage

[crysissniper]

^good info thanks!^

[nobs]

add on to the list:

Yuen Kay Shan / Sum Nung / Guangzhou Wing Chun lineage;

Joseph Chow (Guangzhou Wing Chun Academy of Canada)
www.canadawingchun.com


There's also a Sifu Law in Markham area teaching HK style Wing Chun in his basement for many years. Let me try to find out more and post up details later.

[Vingtsun]

1630 O'Connor Drive Toronto, ON M4B 3P4
Phone: 416-285-7457 / 416-726-2624
Sifu: Jerome Caballero

WINGCHUN-GTA.com

This is a good wing chun school.
You'll also learn other styles such as jujitsu, and thai boxing. Feels like MMA training.

[ippon]

i do not have personal experience, but i'm told over and over that wing chun is the most useless striking art there is.

there are so many threads in bullshido.net and other sites about the style on how much of a waste of time it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7KxuDYfpSQ

[sauber]

I think people should stop arguing about Wing Chun's effectiveness or any other Martial Art.

Anyone can go and learn all the BJJ, Judo, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, etc. but at the end of the day, it will come down to the individual. There is no style superior than another. We take what is useful and discard what is not.

Case closed.

[ippon]

I think people should stop arguing about Wing Chun's effectiveness or any other Martial Art.

Anyone can go and learn all the BJJ, Judo, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, etc. but at the end of the day, it will come down to the individual. There is no style superior than another. We take what is useful and discard what is not.

Case closed.

case reopened, because the above post is ignorant.
if we took 10 pairs of twins, one doing muay thai, and the other doing wing chun for a decade, at very worst, muay thai will prevail 9 out 10.

[sauber]

case reopened, because the above post is ignorant.
if we took 10 pairs of twins, one doing muay thai, and the other doing wing chun for a decade, at very worst, muay thai will prevail 9 out 10.

How was my post ignorant? I didn't put any Martial Art above another.

MT will prevail depending on how hard the guy trained. A WC guy can train like crazy and fight and win against a MT guy who doesn't care about his training. This can be vice versa as well.

[gatts01]

I think it really depends on what you want to learn. Fighting with rules and fighting without rules are 2 different things. Im sorry UFC fanboys but UFC is a sport and is not real fighting. It is a ring sport. It is "as real as it gets" but its quite far from real. Can you imagine all broken fingers, wrists, testicles and eyeballs that would occur when youre crawling around someones guard. I love BJJ but seriously in a real fight if you hold them down in your guard to avoid strikes theyll just rip your arm pit hairs and your eyes and bite your nipples etc. If you push them away with your guard to avoid strikes theyll hammer down your balls like theres no tomorrow. OR EVEN BETTER...FULL MOUNT...is there even a MORE clear shot of the balls or what. Not really as great in street fighting as they want you to think.

Ive done quite a few martial arts including wing chun. *PUKE* Honestly I think wing chun is so incredibly boring BUT in real life or death fighting where you can gouge eyes and do all sorts of terrible things I could see it being useful. Im not going to lie...I immediately forced all the wing chun out of my brain when I started doign ring sports. Its just so much more fun and interesting.

If you do wing chun and you do full contact sport fighting of any kind you will die very quickly. It us utterly useless once you put gloves on and instill rules. OH and your physical health will deteriorate into nothingness because they believe you should minimize energy, movement, and time when fighting so theres no need to build up your body. Seriously wtf is wrong with them????? I guess it makes sense...if you do wing chun and cant finish the fight in 3 seconds youre going to be in a world of hurt anyways.

[ippon]

I think it really depends on what you want to learn. Fighting with rules and fighting without rules are 2 different things. Im sorry UFC fanboys but UFC is a sport and is not real fighting. It is a ring sport. It is "as real as it gets" but its quite far from real. Can you imagine all broken fingers, wrists, testicles and eyeballs that would occur when youre crawling around someones guard. I love BJJ but seriously in a real fight if you hold them down in your guard to avoid strikes theyll just rip your arm pit hairs and your eyes and bite your nipples etc. If you push them away with your guard to avoid strikes theyll hammer down your balls like theres no tomorrow. OR EVEN BETTER...FULL MOUNT...is there even a MORE clear shot of the balls or what. Not really as great in street fighting as they want you to think.

Ive done quite a few martial arts including wing chun. *PUKE* Honestly I think wing chun is so incredibly boring BUT in real life or death fighting where you can gouge eyes and do all sorts of terrible things I could see it being useful. Im not going to lie...I immediately forced all the wing chun out of my brain when I started doign ring sports. Its just so much more fun and interesting.

If you do wing chun and you do full contact sport fighting of any kind you will die very quickly. It us utterly useless once you put gloves on and instill rules. OH and your physical health will deteriorate into nothingness because they believe you should minimize energy, movement, and time when fighting so theres no need to build up your body. Seriously wtf is wrong with them????? I guess it makes sense...if you do wing chun and cant finish the fight in 3 seconds youre going to be in a world of hurt anyways.

thanks for your input.
what i have seen is that, if a 'chunner' cross trains a different style, especially in one of the no bs styles, boxing, KB, MT, Judo, sambo BJJ, sanda, wrestling, etc, they rarely go back to wing chun again, as they are exposed to what actually works and does not work.

anyone who says TKD, wing chun, aikido, krav maga, ninjitsu and other crap like it, is effective, they need to experience what else is out there and open their eyes. what good styles focus on is training with a reactive, resistant partner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL05Es8LVAQ

and i totally agree with MMA not being 'real' fighting. even during it's early days, even with its 'no rules' marketing, it still had rules. (well, there once was a time pre-UFC when eye-gauging was permitted... but that was quite some time ago when MMA was in its infancy and people didn't really know what to expect.) but it is not to say that there are no rules in 'real' street fighting. unless someone was out to kill my family and it was truly necessary to do so to prevent a tragedy, i'd never gauge anyone's eyes out. i have my own rules. of course there'll be psychopaths, unbalanced folks and those who experience a severe lapse in judgment, but most of us won't go out of our way to 'kill' someone. we all have our own moral codes, even if it differs between the involved parties.

[wamrage]

I think people should stop arguing about Wing Chun's effectiveness or any other Martial Art.

Anyone can go and learn all the BJJ, Judo, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, etc. but at the end of the day, it will come down to the individual. There is no style superior than another. We take what is useful and discard what is not.

Case closed.

****ing epic fail.

See UFC 1 for proof.

First reply to you made perfect sense as well.

[wamrage]

FYI, there were also several tournaments in Brazil way back that were REAL Vale Tudo - NO RULES....nutshots allowed, fingers in eyes allowed, etc.

You would never see a Traditional Martial Arts guy make it far, EVER.

[flying triangle]

I think it really depends on what you want to learn. Fighting with rules and fighting without rules are 2 different things. Im sorry UFC fanboys but UFC is a sport and is not real fighting. It is a ring sport. It is "as real as it gets" but its quite far from real. Can you imagine all broken fingers, wrists, testicles and eyeballs that would occur when youre crawling around someones guard. I love BJJ but seriously in a real fight if you hold them down in your guard to avoid strikes theyll just rip your arm pit hairs and your eyes and bite your nipples etc. If you push them away with your guard to avoid strikes theyll hammer down your balls like theres no tomorrow. OR EVEN BETTER...FULL MOUNT...is there even a MORE clear shot of the balls or what. Not really as great in street fighting as they want you to think.

People that say this always kill me. If you are properly trained in MMA you are prepared for all aspects of fighting except the kitchen sink or any other unexpected aspects like being knived, shot or bottled. There is no way to train for those situations but being prepared while standing, in the clinch, grappling or ground fighting. The thing with a good MMA fighter is they will be able to put you into a position in which they can inflict the most harm while not being harmed. Do you for one second think that being mounted, with all the guys weight on your chest is going to be easy to get the power to get a "nutshot" off? One that would actually do anything to get your opponent to stop? Who's to say they won't just shove their thumbs into your eye socket from that position? THEY ARE SITTING ON YOUR CHEST? and they are in a better position to inflict damage.

[gatts01]

I dont konw about you but the groin is a pretty sensitive area it doenst take much to inflict pain. Sometimes just wrestling/rolling the groin gets grazed and its pretty painful. Even some weak hammer fists or elbows would probably be pretty substantial.

I never said it doenst put you in the most dominant position but there is a difference between dominant and invicible. You cant deny that the groin is open in some positions. In MMA, once a person is in full mount the rules make them pretty invincible. I didnt say MMA is useless outside the ring I just wanted to point out that it might not work out the way it does on tv.

I love MMA and train religiously but to discount other all other techniques just becuase its not in your system is pretty ignorant.

[silenthunder]

I came in this thread cuz it said "wing chun training around the GTA"

not sure why it devolved into a bunch of jackasses claiming wing chun isn't useful for street defense and therefore shouldn't be learned.

I don't care if anyone claims wing chun isn't 'real' or whatever. I just wanna know people's opinions of various training centres and sifu so that I can take a look around and find a place to train.

I think some of y'all could benefit from a nap and maybe a big hug. (and a chocolate chip cookie nomnomnom)

Cheers,

Silenthunder

[hyung]

this thread is now about how wing chun sucks. sorry op.

that video was funny though lol.

[silenthunder]

the original thread just asked for a recommendation on a place to train for wing chun.

I'm not sure how this was interpreted as an invitation to discuss whether it is an effective form of self defence. maybe some people should ENGRISH more. :)

If I asked for a place to learn tai chi I'm sure 'some people' would start ranting that its not an effective form of self defence as well.

and my reply would be : that wasn't my question.

I'm gonna have a nap and maybe a cookie now.

Cheers,

Silenthunder

[ippon]

the original thread just asked for a recommendation on a place to train for wing chun.

I'm not sure how this was interpreted as an invitation to discuss whether it is an effective form of self defence. maybe some people should ENGRISH more. :)

If I asked for a place to learn tai chi I'm sure 'some people' would start ranting that its not an effective form of self defence as well.

and my reply would be : that wasn't my question.

I'm gonna have a nap and maybe a cookie now.

Cheers,

Silenthunder

i simply do not want people to waste their time and money.
i remember taebo commercial from way back, this woman said on the informercial that she feels so confident now walking in the dark. WTF! seriously, WTF. if WC billed itself as a physical activity much like dancing, i'd have no problem.

[flying triangle]

I came in this thread cuz it said "wing chun training around the GTA"

not sure why it devolved into a bunch of jackasses claiming wing chun isn't useful for street defense and therefore shouldn't be learned.

I don't care if anyone claims wing chun isn't 'real' or whatever. I just wanna know people's opinions of various training centres and sifu so that I can take a look around and find a place to train.

I think some of y'all could benefit from a nap and maybe a big hug. (and a chocolate chip cookie nomnomnom)

Cheers,

Silenthunder

Sorry, Silenthunder I didn't want to threadcrap but if you do find a few clubs that teach Wing Chun make sure you try a free class to get a good idea of the vibe the school has and how the students treat each other etc. Best of luck in finding a decent school and instructor. Are you doing this to get in shape? To learn self defense or just for kicks(pun intended)?

[silenthunder]

Sorry, Silenthunder I didn't want to threadcrap but if you do find a few clubs that teach Wing Chun make sure you try a free class to get a good idea of the vibe the school has and how the students treat each other etc. Best of luck in finding a decent school and instructor. Are you doing this to get in shape? To learn self defense or just for kicks(pun intended)?

mostly just for kicks. I am hoping it helps with getting into shape, but am doing most of that through diet and other exercise.

I used to take martial arts FOR FUN years ago (mostly striking: karate, TKD, hapkido). I'm not so enthusiastic about grappling right now, and I've always wanted to take a look at wing chun due to the technical forms they have (I really like forms).

would be interested in knowing about clubs in york region (markham, thornhill, richmond hill vaughan, aurora, newmarket etc.) as i live in richmond hill

Cheers,

Silenthunder

[ippon]

mostly just for kicks. I am hoping it helps with getting into shape, but am doing most of that through diet and other exercise.

I used to take martial arts FOR FUN years ago (mostly striking: karate, TKD, hapkido). I'm not so enthusiastic about grappling right now, and I've always wanted to take a look at wing chun due to the technical forms they have (I really like forms).

would be interested in knowing about clubs in york region (markham, thornhill, richmond hill vaughan, aurora, newmarket etc.) as i live in richmond hill

Cheers,

Silenthunder

interesting. what is your attraction to forms?
i personally dislike forms and drills with a passion. i am not convinced on their benefits, when it comes to fighting.
and did you do forms in hapkido? most hapkido orgs don't do forms.
if striking is your thing, i strongly urge you to try boxing, kickboxing, or muay thai. kyokushin is a passable substitute, but i hate that they don't allow punches to the face. it really creates bad habits, because people don't protect their face.

[silenthunder]

I like forms because of the emphasis on proper technique and development of style.

For Hapkido I trained with Sang Kim. He did forms. He's second to none AFAIK.

I think you and I pursue martial arts for different reasons.

[wamrage]

People that say this always kill me. If you are properly trained in MMA you are prepared for all aspects of fighting except the kitchen sink or any other unexpected aspects like being knived, shot or bottled. There is no way to train for those situations but being prepared while standing, in the clinch, grappling or ground fighting. The thing with a good MMA fighter is they will be able to put you into a position in which they can inflict the most harm while not being harmed. Do you for one second think that being mounted, with all the guys weight on your chest is going to be easy to get the power to get a "nutshot" off? One that would actually do anything to get your opponent to stop? Who's to say they won't just shove their thumbs into your eye socket from that position? THEY ARE SITTING ON YOUR CHEST? and they are in a better position to inflict damage.

PPL Fail to realize MMA puts you in the best position and you are better trained at everything and ALSO have the ability to throw cheapshots.

[wamrage]

PS WTC, Aikido and Hapkido suck.

[yeunglorenzo]

I've been wanting to learn wing chun for the longest time now but finding a good gym I don't know where to start.

I heard that sunny tang in Scarborough isn't as great as it should be. Any recommendations from any Wing chun trainees here?

In my opinion it doesn't matter where you train there is no who is the better sifu, they are all gonna tell you the same thing practice your horse stance!!. Sunny tang is a fantastic school I know first hand because I've trained there for a couple of months now, and my brother in law, and his brother and sister are all part of the sunny tang family. My advice to you, is if your seriously want to learn wing chun stay within the Ip Man Lineage learn the basics and then when you become better and you want to train with a different sifu then go ahead. Trust me sunny tang is not my only sifu i've trained in hong kong also with ip chun so I'm quite knowledgeable. My last piece of advice is that don't be discourage if you have to learn the siu lim tao form for like 3 months and nothing else. Theres a reason for it but I'm gonna let you find out yourself lol have fun :)

[dr]

i do not have personal experience, but i'm told over and over that wing chun is the most useless striking art there is.

there are so many threads in bullshido.net and other sites about the style on how much of a waste of time it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7KxuDYfpSQ

Oh my goodness. I DIED after watching that. :cheesygri

[nosidam]

the video seems to be people just doing forms and chi sao drills. check out "applied wing chun" seems to be better videos of it in realistic application more live training.

[VCR]

the video seems to be people just doing forms and chi sao drills. check out "applied wing chun" seems to be better videos of it in realistic application more live training.

I'd like to see videos of wing chun applied in full contact situations. I've never seen it successfully applied in MMA for example. I remember Emin Boztepe called out the Gracies in the 90s and there was a written/verbal feud that never amounted to an actual physical confrontation.

[Uberevilmonkey]

Hmmmmmm
So I watched that video as well and it sucks... actually, I would say it looks a bit embarrassing. So, I trained in Jujistu, Ninjitsu, Tai Chi, Muey Thai, Savate and Jeet Kune Do and all I can say is that you should choose what works best for you.

I agree with the post that it really depends on the person training...also depends on what you are hoping to get out of your training. So i you are looking for a street fight, I wouldn't necessarily recommend Ninjitsu...but if you are looking to have fun training, then that may be an option.

All this being said, I currently train WC/WT/VT now for the last 5 or so years and I think it is a great street art, but it depends on how it is trained. in a ring, as another poster mentioned, severely limited by the gloves and rules.

I recommend just trying a couple of Wing Chun schools and seeing what you like.

Oh, although there is a lot of negative stuff on the net about Leung Ting, none of it appears to be about his skills. i never trained in his school, but I would be curious since a friend of mine, who is a pretty good fighter (not WC) had a go at him Hong Kong and was impressed.

[ippon]

Hmmmmmm
So I watched that video as well and it sucks... actually, I would say it looks a bit embarrassing. So, I trained in Jujistu, Ninjitsu, Tai Chi, Muey Thai, Savate and Jeet Kune Do and all I can say is that you should choose what works best for you.

I agree with the post that it really depends on the person training...also depends on what you are hoping to get out of your training. So i you are looking for a street fight, I wouldn't necessarily recommend Ninjitsu...but if you are looking to have fun training, then that may be an option.

All this being said, I currently train WC/WT/VT now for the last 5 or so years and I think it is a great street art, but it depends on how it is trained. in a ring, as another poster mentioned, severely limited by the gloves and rules.

I recommend just trying a couple of Wing Chun schools and seeing what you like.

Oh, although there is a lot of negative stuff on the net about Leung Ting, none of it appears to be about his skills. i never trained in his school, but I would be curious since a friend of mine, who is a pretty good fighter (not WC) had a go at him Hong Kong and was impressed.

which ryu of jujutsu?
and ninjitsu? ninjitsu is well exposed now as a scam martial art.

[Pho6]

Wing Tsun Kyuun Faa - Scarborough Area - Sifu George Ho and James Leung

Experience with both Leung Ting Lineage and Guangzhou Wing Tsun Lineage.

Contact: Sifu George Ho at 416-731-8534. English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.

[phomp]

So if training MMA (or the arts that make it up) will not prepare you for real fighting, then what martial art or style will? Most people do not train "MMA" they train a mix of striking and grappling and generally train in the most effective arts in each and then throw that together.

If I get into a street fight with no rules, what is better to know? Any of the arts that make up MMA or some martial art that does not do live sparring... Do I take some street defense classes where the sparring again is not live? I have seen these hybrid fighting classes that look alright for street fighting but they do not do live sparring/fighting. It is not like the guy who has trained BJJ/Wrestling/Boxing/Judo/Muay Thai, etc.... can not do the same things that some guy on the street would do (biting, eye gouging, etc..), it just means they can do that plus they know how to actually fight. If I have a guy on the ground and he goes dirty on me, im going dirty right back and I know how to control him on the ground to.

I do not train any striking (I do not train for MMA or street fighting), but I laugh when someone says Boxing/Muay Thai are not going to prepare you for a street fight because there is no rules on the street. If you want to kick someone in the groin or gouge their eyes or bite them you need to approach them and get in the range, what happens when you do? Chances are you are taking a beating on the way in. If they want to kick you in the groin they could land it faster and more effectively.

MMA is pretty much made up of the most effective martial arts and fighting styles and it is put together. The frauds get weeded out because the techniques can not survive in a fight (even if the fight has rules). This is why you rarely see anything outside the general styles.

BRB watching gracie challenges.... watching 14 year old blue belt in BJJ beat up grown man who is a Karate Black Belt (I am not saying Karate is not effective). If the Karate black belt was able to use dirty tatics like biting and whatever else... would it have saved him? absolutely not... and in most cases it looked like there was not much oppertunity to do so.

That all being said, I would still try out various martial arts and styles and see what you enjoy the most and just train that.

[ippon]

So if training MMA (or the arts that make it up) will not prepare you for real fighting, then what martial art or style will? Most people do not train "MMA" they train a mix of striking and grappling and generally train in the most effective arts in each and then throw that together.

If I get into a street fight with no rules, what is better to know? Any of the arts that make up MMA or some martial art that does not do live sparring... Do I take some street defense classes where the sparring again is not live? I have seen these hybrid fighting classes that look alright for street fighting but they do not do live sparring/fighting. It is not like the guy who has trained BJJ/Wrestling/Boxing/Judo/Muay Thai, etc.... can not do the same things that some guy on the street would do (biting, eye gouging, etc..), it just means they can do that plus they know how to actually fight. If I have a guy on the ground and he goes dirty on me, im going dirty right back and I know how to control him on the ground to.

I do not train any striking (I do not train for MMA or street fighting), but I laugh when someone says Boxing/Muay Thai are not going to prepare you for a street fight because there is no rules on the street. If you want to kick someone in the groin or gouge their eyes or bite them you need to approach them and get in the range, what happens when you do? Chances are you are taking a beating on the way in. If they want to kick you in the groin they could land it faster and more effectively.

MMA is pretty much made up of the most effective martial arts and fighting styles and it is put together. The frauds get weeded out because the techniques can not survive in a fight (even if the fight has rules). This is why you rarely see anything outside the general styles.

BRB watching gracie challenges.... watching 14 year old blue belt in BJJ beat up grown man who is a Karate Black Belt (I am not saying Karate is not effective). If the Karate black belt was able to use dirty tatics like biting and whatever else... would it have saved him? absolutely not... and in most cases it looked like there was not much oppertunity to do so.

That all being said, I would still try out various martial arts and styles and see what you enjoy the most and just train that.

the infamous gracie gong sau is bs.
they went in fully prepared, whilst the opponents knew next to nothing about bjj. we know next to nothing about the clubs they went to and what kind of quality of teaching was offered there, etc. i don't want to take anything away from the bjj fighters that went in, and they were good at, and trained for, turning every match into a grappling match, but it was pretty much a set up. if you look at mma, there was a rise of strikers after the reign of grapplers. once the strikers knew what to expect, the game changed. it's evolved quite a bit since, but i don't think we'd see another change of tides like that again.