u/Cigue_Yorhan

I trained Practical Wing Chun for about 7 years. I wanted to see if it would work in fighting, so I joined an MMA gym and tried it out in sparring.

I’ve also been doing kickboxing for about 3 years now, and training in another art has shown me Wing Chun’s strengths and weaknesses. No martial art is perfect, so I think trying different things is worth it.

Most of the Wing Chun I actually used in MMA sparring was biu jee. People always ask if that’s even possible with gloves on. Of course you have to adapt it. The structure and sensitivity also helped a lot in grappling exchanges.

Now that I’m older and MMA has left me with a bunch of injuries, Wing Chun is what I’ll keep training for the long haul. I train on my own and visit my teacher once or twice a year.

I used it mostly in the clinch. How have you all used Wing Chun in sparring or fighting? I’d love to hear what worked for you.

I've only ever played OSE (Old-School Essentials) as a player, but I became a GM because of my son. I'm also DMing dnd 5e (2024) for him. I assumed a rules-light, imagination-driven game would be the easier fit for kids. In practice, I found the opposite. With 5e, the structure (DCs, clear class abilities, defined actions) gives me something to lean on. With OSE, I felt like I had to invent and adjudicate nearly everything on the fly, and my kid wasn't always sure what he could try.

But I really love what OSE offers: real stakes, clever problem-solving, exploration, and the feeling that a good idea matters more than a good character sheet. I'd love to make it work for my kids instead of dropping it.

Here's where I'm stuck:

1. Too many open choices. My son sometimes freezes when I ask "What do you do?" in an open-ended situation. How do you give kids enough direction without turning the game into a railroad?

2. OSE characters are fragile, and I'm worried about how a young player will handle a sudden character death. I'm considering using the Scarlet Heroes rules (the Fray Die, tougher heroes, etc.) to make a one-player-plus-GM game more forgiving, while keeping the old-school feel. Has anyone used Scarlet Heroes, or borrowed parts of it, for a game with a single kid? Did it keep the tension and sense of risk, or did it make things too easy?

3. Playing a GMPC in OSE. My son wants me to play a character alongside him, but I'm new to running OSE, and I don't like GMPCs in general. How do you run one in a game this deadly and this open-ended? Should the GMPC be a full party member, or something closer to a hireling or retainer? How do you keep it supportive, without solving every problem or stealing the spotlight, while still being useful enough that the party doesn't fall apart?

4. Module choices. Are there OSE-compatible adventures or starter dungeons that work especially well for kids? I'd love short, colorful, low-prep ones. I tried one-page dungeons, but my kid wants more tools to work with (maps, handouts, clear things to interact with).

If you've run OSE (or any OSR game) for children, I'd really appreciate hearing what worked and what didn't, including house rules, handouts, or small tricks.

Thanks in advance!