Reading Room | THE WING CHUN BOXING ACADEMY™Training Not Nonsense“The ultimate aim of training Gung fu is to ‘learn’ to be open minded. Try to assume the student role rather than the teacher. Even if you consider yourself better than the one ‘in charge’ of class, let him enjoy his ego trip as teacher. ![]()
You’ll benefit more from just training than from challenging for position.”- Duncan Leung circa 1. When you open your mind, you realize that Wing Chun doesn’t need Chinese garb or any other superfluous trapping (such as reading Chinese books on philosophy, using Chinese characters, drinking tea, using chopsticks or generally adopting a culture not your own) that are currently being used to market to those seeking Mr. Miyagi or some rendition of Kung Fu Theatre’s “hidden master”. NetLingo has thousands of definitions that explain the online world of business, technology, and communication, plus the largest list of text and chat acronyms;-). Don’t be gullible like I have been or guilty of all of these things as I have. When the reality of it sinks in, you realize that it was marketing and imitation not tradition and the skill only requires training or practice, nothing more. Think about it, it’s like expecting someone wanting to train in Western Boxing to have to wear clothing from the 1. Elizabethan English and read western philosophy books to be any good at it. Ridiculous! I know. If you actually look at it, you will recognize that it is the same thing only using Chinese Boxing and antiquated Chinese cultural norms, Asian philosophy books, dragons,tigers, drinking tea and generally acting like the Asian Gung Fu movies the westerners have come to believe is “authentic”. This is what I fell victim to though, as do others seeking instruction and training in Gung Fu. Use common sense and never become a slave to anyone or anything. Keep it simple and honest. Train/ practice hard and avoid distractions that don’t really benefit your training. I must admit that it took me opening my mind and listening to my current mentors and dear friends both in Wing Chun and in life to come to this realization. It was all right there in front of me. I know that some will revolt against this information because they do not want their wallets effected, dreams or fantasies to be called into question or to actually have to admit they too have fallen victim to this illusion. But from this point further you won’t find these trappings at my school anymore. All you will find here is hard work, training, (probably) friendships and fun. Anything beyond that is simply not needed. Note the practical training attire of the author and his students in a book from 1. Wing Chun and what he was against in the foreword.)Why have modern Wing Chun schools become more like Sil Lum?____________________________________________________ What and Who, NOT Where! An Article from: Hammerhead Hapkido that touches on some old school truths.“Garage martial arts – are they any good? I have a friend coming from out of town this morning to work on knife defense and tactics. We will practice in my garage. Some people look down on garage training. They think a “real” martial arts school should have a well- equipped dojo with heavy bags hanging from the ceiling, weapons on the walls, and thick mats on the floor. That’s all good. But no one should ever look down on garage training, and no student should be embarrassed to study in someone’s garage or home. Some instructors are traditional, and prefer to teach only family or individuals they know and trust. They do not promote their arts. A student should consider it an honor to be allowed to train in an instructor’s home. Many instructors teach out of their garages, or at the park, because their primary pursuit is the art itself. These types of teachers are obsessed with learning and honing their abilities. They don’t want to invest their time in running a studio, doing paperwork, marketing and sales. They would rather focus on training and even traveling great distances to learn from other masters. Instructors like this can be the most gifted martial artists around, even if no one knows their name outside of a small circle. Bobbe Edmonds comes to mind, or the legendary Professor Wally Jay (who taught in his basement, and was scorned by other masters for years because of his innovations to Japanese Jujitsu). I once tried a Wing Chun class in a garage with a young man who had advertised online. He didn’t want to be paid. He just wanted a loyal student. I didn’t continue because I found that Wing Chun did not suit me personally; but it was obvious that the young man was extremely skilled. He seemed to live, breathe and eat nothing but Wing Chun and heavy metal music. One of the pioneers of Hapkido, master Ji- Han- Jae, studied with various teachers in his youth. These included of course Hapkido founder Choi Young Sul, a monk he called Taoist Lee Dosa, and a woman he called Grandma. Grandma taught him for three years from a hospice for the terminally ill. Somehow I doubt they had heavy bags hanging from the ceiling. The training environment is not the measure of the martial artist. Nor does his/her value as a teacher and fighter correspond to the cost of his uniform or the square footage of the training space. The measure of an instructor lies in his/her sincerity, character and skill, and the sincerity, character and skill of his students. I am sure that there are amazing martial artists teaching in garages, living rooms, basements and backyards all over the world. These men and women are hidden masters. The important thing is that they continue teaching, so that their skills may survive and perhaps one day be shared with the world. Wael Abdelgawad, Founder. Hammerhead Hapkido”I would like to add that many of the greats trained and offered training in this manner. The list would include Ip Man, Bruce Lee, James Lee, Miguel Quijano, Gary Lam, and multiple students of these individuals. I have students that moved across country to train in this environment with their teachers. In essence you can’t find anything more “Traditional ” than training in this manner. __________________________Inside issue 2. What is the Focus of Wing Chun? Based on my experience and training, what makes Wing Chun “Wing Chun” is the fact that Wing Chun is an art with one goal, SURVIVAL. As seen in the art’s common imagery, confrontation between crane and snake, both the metaphorical and primordial interpretations apply. Wing Chun fighting concepts are found in both animals’ strengths, weaknesses, and their conflict. But first and foremost they are animals. They do not fight for honor, ego, or bragging rights. It is a life or death struggle; thus defining our art’s essence. With all the differences in how Wing Chun is practiced and taught, what makes the Wing Chun that we teach different from other lineages? We at the Wing Chun Boxing Academy understand Wing Chun as a weapons based art. We train everything with a knife or a weapon, and usually the student instantly understands why they should execute certain movements instead of others. We place great emphasis on Wing Chun as a knife- fighting art. What are some of the ideas or concepts that we train and teach our students? The creators of the art used the Crane and Snake, two knives crossed, the plum tree blossoms hiding vicious thorns from sight to impart the true spirit of our art as a weapons based art to future generations. We drill with training knives in the hands of both the Wing Chun practitioner and the “bad guys” so students immediately understand what they are trying to accomplish and why they are training the drill a certain way. This may come off as odd but I don’t think the knives are just hung on the wall to look pretty and add to the decor. They are there to motivate us to be realistic in our methods and training and to constantly remind us that if the technique doesn’t work in a knife fight, you may want to rethink it. I have read articles about many arts that say we should always assume your attacker has a weapon. I agree. So we train accordingly. Firearms are also explored in that we believe that Wing Chun Practitioners of old would be training in firearms, both offensively and defensively, if they lived in our modern time frame.____________________________________________Things to Remember about Wing Chun and Your Training…1. Wing Chun incorporates lots of “tricks”and movements which many might consider “dirty”, “low- blows”, “unfair”, or “illegal”. You should use these movements to your advantage at all times. You must attack and destroy your opponent until they are not physically capable of defending themselves any longer.
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