A few years ago someone posted the following question on one of the videos on my YouTube channel:
Q: "...In your opinion, even though Wing Chun is an external art, would it be a good complimentary art for someone who has no access to a Tai Chi school? Thank you!"
This is a very common question and I have received several questions along these lines from people who are stuck without their ideal martial arts school in their local area. I have copied my reply to this question below and I hope it helps some of you who may be stuck in a similar situation.
A: "That is a great question. The external vs. internal aspects of Wing Chun really depend on from whom you are learning the art. In my experience Wing Chun and Tai Chi actually complement each other very well depending on how Wing Chun is practiced. I learned Wing Chun from a master who also taught Tai Chi, which is probably why I have this perspective.
I found that training Wing Chun deepened my understanding of Tai Chi and Training in Tai Chi deepened my understanding of Wing Chun, but I had a master who could help me build the bridges between the two arts. Ip Man was a proponent of training the Siu Lim Tao form in a slow, relaxed manner, similar to the way Tai Chi forms are practiced, to develop a deeper understand of the structure, the power generation, and the art of Wing Chun. That seems to suggest the presence of an important internal component to Wing Chun.
I do not think most Wing Chun schools focus on that internal component, though. There are schools that do a good job of teaching the appropriate mix of hardness and softness in Wing Chun so a person can move fluidly and adapt to an opponent. Those are the schools that will most likely aid in your Tai Chi training.
There are also schools that get very hard and rigid with their Wing Chun and that rigidity can come at the expense of sensitivity to what the opponent is doing. That type of training would be the opposite to what you would do in Tai Chi training. However, that harder training would give you a perspective that you may not encounter otherwise.
When I was first starting in martial arts, I really wanted to learn Shaolin and be the next Jet Li (such are the dreams of adolescent boys), but the only martial art school near me was an Aikido dojo. The difference between Shaolin and Aikido is huge, but I trained there because my grandma got me a gift certificate for Christmas one year and that was all I had available to me. The Sensei was very skilled with a background in other martial arts. He had great fighting skill from previous experience in addition to his understanding of Aikido.
Training with him and the other instructors/students at that dojo gave me an excellent foundation upon which to build the rest of my training in other arts. I can honestly say I would not want to change anything about my first venture into the martial arts beginning at that dojo. It was at that dojo where I got my first introduction to practicing Tai Chi. In other words, if you are wanting to study a particular martial art, but it is not available, do what is available.
You will gain experience and perspective that you probably will not encounter otherwise and those experiences will deepen your understanding when you finally get to practice the art you really want to practice. Even if the experiences you have are not necessarily what might be considered "positive" experiences, they are still experiences and they are still a source of growth and deeper understanding for future practice. That was a very long winded way of saying, "yes". I think training at the Wing Chun school near you will be beneficial for your future Tai Chi training even if that benefit is not directly linked to Tai Chi theory or movement principles. I hope that was helpful and I wish you all the best in your training! Keep me posted on your training experience."
