| WHATS wrong with Wing Chun |
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In this article, I would like to discuss what's the problem in many different places concerning the art of Wing Chun. To start this off, I must say that there are some great Wing Chun people out there, and this article focused on my personal experiences, and is not meant to offend anyone, so spare me all the angry e-mails, if you disagree with the article, then that's fine, but if you relate to it, maybe it can save you time and money.
1)Let's start with the Grandmaster thing! First off, usually their is one Grandmaster in a lineage, and when he dies, another is appointed. The most familiar Grandmaster in Wing Chun, is Yip Man. Yip Man did not appoint another Grandmaster according to a few of his senior students. So how are their so many Grandmasters today, who studied under Yip Man. The answer is easy, they have all formed their own Wing Chun organizations and appoint themselves as Grandmaster. So who is the real Grandmaster? MY ADVISE IS TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION WITH A BIG"WHO CARES".Focus more on the fact of getting quality instruction, more than any titles. Make sure whoever you studied with is certified from somewhere that you can call and track. So in essence, I prefer to study under guys who have graduated a particular system, and their diploma is their certification. I can call and verify it,and talk to other students, etc. So some paper is important, because martial arts can be taught by anyone who straps a belt on, with or without experience. So my advise, find someones who is certified, but don't get caught up in Master and Grandmaster, etc.
2)Next problem! Too many places teaching Wing Chun, do way too much Chi Sau and trapping! These elements are very important in Wing Chun, however their are much more important things to focus on, like DEFENDING AGAINST COMMON ATTACKS! Many guys who are great at chi sau, can't do anything in sparring against a boxer, or kickboxer. My point is this, emphasis should be put on how to use your skills against non Wing Chun people, as you will very rarely fight another Wing Chun guy in the street, unless your involved with school rivalry, which is a whole different bunch of B.S. So on this subject, get your trapping training in, also do your chi sau, but do not neglect training for realistic common attacks. Remember to chase the center, not the hands!
3) Where is your foundation, your structure? Many Wing Chun schools just zip through Siu Nim Tau level material as if it's useless. This is your whole key to Wing Chun, this is your foundation! It's like building a house, and rushing through the foundation because you want to build a beautiful kitchen, then one day your sitting in your beautiful kitchen and a big storm comes and knocks your house in. This is the same in fighting, you can have fast hands, good chi sau, and some dude comes in a like a storm, knocks you all around, because your structure is weak. It happened to me a long time ago and I am sure it has happened to most people. Why? Because many teachers try to keep enrollment up,and do what the students want, and all the students want to do trapping, act like Bruce Lee, learn the wooden dummy, etc etc. Siu Nim Tau is done without footwork for a reason, TO BUILD YOUR STANCE! To build a strong frame to move your structure! Their are many more things to learn in Siu Nim Tau, however this is the most neglected.This is one reason why we considered doing a distance course, because the foundation work can be done at home, it's mostly solo, and then in class, time can be spent checking it over, and moving on to self defense. Students can learn from the videos and work it at home alone,either way, it mujst be done, in class or at home, do not neglect your foundation.
4)Wing Chun is the only art that blocks and attacks at the same time. This is total nonsense, so if someone tells you this, tell them to get out more, I had that childish idea when I got my clock cleaned by a Kyokoshinkai guy like 15 years ago. I have seen most every art attack and block at same time, from Silat, to Kali, Xingyi, Bagua, etc. Any good practicioner of any art will do simultaneous attack and defense.
5) Politics! Well this is not only popular in Wing Chun, but in most things that involve money and esteem. Stay away from saying bad things about other people based on what you hear. If you witness something bad for yourself, then of course you make your own opinion, but do not get sucked into bashing others based on someone esles opinion. I was once misled by a teacher who always bashed William Cheung, because William Cheungs Wing Chun seemed so different, and because Emin Boztepe beat up Cheung. So I did see the clip with the fight and just blew off watching any of Cheungs stuff on his vids, etc, I had no interest in his style. Years later, one of my own Wing Chun brothers went on to study William Cheungs Branch system, and I have to say, it was very functional. I went on to even learn it. And I take what I like, but i gave it a chance, and was very surprised. Also as a side note, I think at that time Emin Boztepe would have beaten most Wing Chun teachers out there, so I wouldn't bash Cheung for losin that fight. So, if politics seems to be a big part fo the family your training in, RUN, DO NOT WALK. If promotions are all based on money, and you do not get a chance to be promoted based on skill, then I would look for another school.
6)besides training costs, and testing fees(which should be reasonable) if your teacher charges you something that seems insane, for your actual certificate, then also I would re-evaluate whether your in the right place. I have seen teachers charge an additional couple of thousand dollars on top of training costs, just to promote you and get a certificate. I have also seen programs where guys charge a 1000 dollars an up to renew your Instructorship YEARLY! In my book, it's all insane. I know we teachers need to make money to keep doors open, etc, but let's keep it reasonable!
In closing, this article is meant for people who are in a bad place, if your in a great Wing Chun school, then of course,you don't need to read this.
If you have doubts about a school you are in, then re read the article, I wrote it on the spur of the moment when I got a phone call from a student wanting Wing Chun lessons, so I shared with him most of this article and just wrote it down to share with others.
All the Wing Chun branches I have trained with, have had something valuable to offer, so again, do not judge based on hearsay, check them out for yourself. From Moy Yats group, to Leung Ting,Augustine Fong, to Gary Lam, and William Cheung, all had something good to offer. Some schools were loaded with politics, so I never joined a school, just took private lessons, etc. Each branch had some great fighters, and each branch had alot of the non fighting type of people, which is also fine. Just remember that you can't just train fast hands,and chi sau and expect to have a good chin when someone does hit you, do not expect it to be so easy to close the distance to get close to your opponent, and do not think it is so easy to stop a grappler from grabbing your legs. All these things I just mentioned can be easy if THEY ARE TRAINED. Put on the gloves and headgear and have someone try to grapple you, do not have another Wing Chun guy do this, as many classes do. Have a trained grappler do it. Find a friend who was even just a high school wrestler, see how you do.Also do not just join a school based on a teachers fighting skills, as many great fighters are not great teachers, and cannot transfer their knowledge.
Enjoy your training,do not get the clouded ego, anyone can take a gun to your head and end all the machismo real fast, so do not get to big headed about how good you are, theres always better, and theres always someone more crazy than you are.
I hope this helps someone out there, it seemed to help the guy on the phone who had some of the above problems.
Dan Regan
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