SG11 December 2011
I won’t lie, I was happy about this. One more grade to go, then my Wing Chun training really starts!
Hi, just in case anyone out there is wondering why there isn’t anything on this site about Chum Kiu, and Biu Tze, there will be soon. I am getting some new pages ready and will publish them when they are ready. All the best. Joe
There comes a time in every martialartist’s training when they get to a point where they feel as though they are not learning anything, and they are not moving forward at all. This is not that they are not being taught anything, but the strong feeling like it simply isn’t going in!
It is a horrible feeling, and it comes and goes from time to time. I call it THE WALL, and yep, you guessed it… I’ve hit one!
Not for the first time I might add, but it is one of the most challenging things to go though as you train. I have found that invariably, when you reach a wall, all kinds of doubts will crop up in your mind about your training specifically, and other things too.
Am I good enough?
Do I really deserve my grade?
Why is this so difficult for me to get?
Why am I getting worse?
The list goes on…
DON’T LISTEN LISTEN TO THIS VOICE IN YOUR HEAD!
Having gone through this before I know for a fact that what ever I am feeling about it right now, I am learning. Even though my mind may be elsewhere, my muscles are gaining memory, and once they know what to do I won’t need to think about it anyway!
I know I just have to stick at it, I just have to persevere, and soon I will break through this wall I have put up in my own mind.
It is these times that test me. I have read about this at great length in the many books and websites I peruse, and each time I do, it reminds me that at times of difficulty, people can so often give up, or even worse “take a break”. The reason I say this is worse, is that I have done just this. I’ve hit the wall in the past, and thought I’ll just take a break from training for a few weeks. Then weeks turn into months, months turn into years, and by the time you find the motivation to get back to training, you find yourself having to join a new school, starting from grade one all over again.
And frankly so you should!! As I have several times!
The reason I am writing this entry is that I have been struggling with this WALL for several weeks now, it has not been easy, but for the first time at class this week, I saw through it.
I still have some way to go to truly break through it, but realising that whatever my mind might be telling me, my body is moving forward, and frankly right now that’s fine with me!
The less my mind has to do (when practicing Wing Chun), the better.
“Unconscious competence” HERE I COME!
Well done to Derek and Jean. Grade three, keep it up!
1) Train for yourself, fight for those you love
2) Love yourself
3) Everything will fit once enough space has been made
N.B. These are my thoughts and Mottoes
Even after all the years I have been training, at times there are some things that just make everything slide into place.
Ok, so I thought I knew Chi Sau, and it’s more than fair to say that I did to an extent, but it wasn’t until last week where my current Sifu, who is working through a number of Chi Sau sections with me, which have really broken down what I thought I knew, and shown that really, really there is a great deal more for me to learn.
It’s the glue that will stick all of the bits I know together.And I’m only on Chi Sau section two.
Awesome!
Something that I have been thinking about for some time, is where does Wing Chun fit in today’s society?
I know there are many schools of thought on the subject. I have learned from teachers on both sides of the fence. I have both learned, experienced and read a lot about the benefits of merging elements of Brazilian Ju Jitsu (BJJ) with Wing Chun, as the two fighting styles can and do combine into a very effective and well rounded fighting system.
But this makes me think, is “traditional” Wing Chun enough? Now the word “traditional”… whilst what I am about to say is in no way intended to be a criticism of any teacher I have had, but those of you who have trained with more than one teacher will know, each one will have claimed to teach the most definitive Wing Chun. It will be the most direct connection to Grand Master Ip Man and so on and so forth…
It’s known that Ip Man changed the way he taught Wing Chun throughout the course of his life, and I think it’s fair to say that those students will have changed Ip Man’s Wing Chun, into their own Wing Chun, which they teach onto students who have made it their own (ever played Chinese whispers?) If we are lucky we will be being taught by one of this generation, if not the next.
But also, while Ip Man did fantastic work in raising the profile of Wing Chun in the west, with the un-disputable help of Bruce Lee, Ip Man is not the only branch of Wing Chun out there.
I digress, “Traditional” means to me Wing Chun that is not too diluted by other styles and influences.
I know that these day’s if one is unlucky enough to get into a situation out there in the street, we are now more and more likely to come across someone who knows something, if it’s not boxing, then it will be MMA, or something like that.
Styles of Wing Chun, that have acknowledged this and changed accordingly, be it by adopting new techniques, or by teaching other styles as part of the system, be it BJJ or otherwise most definitely have a place in today’s martial arts world. After all change is good isn’t it?
But if something isn’t broken, why fix it?
But as a student, who am I to say what works?
I would say as a student it is my job to find out what works for me. My teacher will teach me what works for them, and I need to practice and practice until that gets to a stage where I understand it, realise that it does or doesn’t work for me and if required know how to adapt it so it does work for me. Then practice it more so I can make use of it.
Then it’s become my Wing Chun.
So is Wing Chun enough? My answer is, unfortunately a question.
What do you want from Wing Chun?
I have really enjoyed developing an understanding of other styles and how they can be integrated into Wing Chun, but for me, partly because of the limitations placed on me by my knee, and partly because of the limitation placed on my Wing Chun by other styles, I think that given enough practice traditional Wing Chun is far from dead.
Keeping my focus on Wing Chun has shown me where the gaps are, and how to fill them, not by looking to other styles, but by looking to myself and my Wing Chun.
The answers to all my questions are hidden somewhere in the system. All the gaps can be filled.
I have not yet found all of them by any means, but I’m looking, and I am learning where to look.
So it’s my first post, and my first question. Why not start with the first form.
I have trained in five schools over a period of ten years, and each school I have encountered teaches the Siu Nim Tao slightly differently.
I now know three different variations of the form fluently, and although I’ve been fortunate in that the different styles have been relatively consistent, I can’t help but wonder what I’m missing.
In my first school, my form included several extra techniques and motions, which have been stripped out or adapted by other schools, including a double punch after the double jut sau motion in the second section preceding the double haan sau, and ding sau motions, as well as a very handy little technique I still practice when I’m up close and personal, the Kau Sau (I felt obligated to correct myself here) high Pak Sau.
In my original form, this was taught as the first motion of the third section and was followed by what was called an out side Jut Sau, another technique I still use today (but is not often taught), and finally a strike forward, huen sau, pull back.
The high Pak Sau was used to both pull an opponents arm slightly to disrupt their centre, and defend the head at close range. This is now taught to me as a Pak Sau, return to the centre line and strike forward, heun sau pull back.
Although this Pak Sau motion is often taught to be slightly longer bridge than the Pak Sau in the first section of the form, I can’t help but wonder if it is a little redundant to repeat it here, especially as it doesn’t seem to add anything to the form, whereas I personally feel the Kau Sau taught to me in my first school has proven to be a very useful short range defensive techniques that I think added extra value to the Siu Nim Tau.
It has got me wondering what other motions have been removed and changed over time and if the form I practice today is missing a key part of the puzzle.
Am I over thinking this little idea or is there something missing?