Beautiful Springtime - Wing Chun Kung Fu: BLOG

Caution: New Student Training!

Mon, 12 May 2008 17:53:44 -0500

Not in all cases, but often enough to mention here, there will be a new student who must first be taught how to properly learn a martial art before being shown their first actual technique. You can discover these students before someone gets hurt in a beginning class by personally going one on one with them on something such as a basic technique or block. A student prepared to learn will follow your every instruction and imitate your every move as precisely as their present skills allow them, they are ready to learn their chosen art. On the other hand, if the student resists your teaching and physically resists your technique, you've got trouble. This one wants you to prove your art is effective for them before they begin learning from you and they believe they already have skills or techniques sufficient to equal those which you are teaching. Watch with these students because they may try to pull some sort of counter or attack on you to "test" your skill and they won't be kidding. I recently had a guy who was a "former wrestler" try to twist my wrist into oblivion while practicing CHI SAO with him! He succeeded only in scratching my forearm deeply with his sharp nails. These are the things you have to watch out for when trying out a new student. Then there are the relatively harmless ones which simply need to be given extra training on how to control the speed, force and timing of their blocks and attacks. They are easy to spot because once they throw a technique at you, be it a block or strike, they will keep getting more and more forceful with their movement until you either stop them or they knock their training partners head off. Great energy for in a self-defense situation, but dangerous and lacking discipline in the kwoon. So remember, sometimes a new student needs a bit of "training" before they start their training. P.S. If you are a new student of Wing Chun Kung Fu or any other art for that matter, or are thinking of joining a school, keep these thoughts in mind as you begin your journey with the martial arts.

Starting Children Training In Wing Chun

Thu, 01 May 2008 23:29:11 -0500

When a child is bullied at school, some might suggest first going through channels with the school in trying to resolve the situation before teaching them to fight. Certainly that is good advice although I think this hints to their view of a child learning a martial art only as "learning to fight". This is simply not the case. Wing Chun, for instance, is an excellent martial art for children to begin learning as young as 4 or 5 years old. One mother once asked me to "interview" her 5 year old son before she attempted to put him in a class. The boy was very hyper-active and had a short attention span. Because of this she worried he would not be able to learn anything in the Wing Chun class if she enrolled him. I taught him a basic "ready" or guard position(holding his hands out in front of him)while standing in the neutral stance, which for a beginner simply involves feet shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent. I told him I wanted him to stand still and concentrate on holding that position for as long as he could while I walked circles around him. He thought it was a fun game but he stood still and did not move for a solid 30 seconds. Not a long time for some, but for a hyper-active 5 year old, lets just say the mother was stunned. Wing Chun is an excellent art to start young children in, especially if there is a bully problem with them at school. A traditional martial art such as Wing Chun teaches children the confidence, skills and knowledge they need to stand up to a bully and prevent or protect themselves from both verbal and physical harm. Go to the Activities page and watch the video at the top of the page. It will open your eyes to what children are capable of with proper Wing Chun training.

How to find your own techniques.

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 23:15:16 -0500

When training as a student beginning in Wing Chun, you will start out training each technique and perfecting the proper form. Also, you will learn the forms beginning with the Shil Lim Tao, which will train your body to move and react with techniques in combination. With proper and persistent training, your techniques will eventually emerge among the rest as you become more proficient with the art and you will eventually find those which work best for you.

Keeping A Notebook

Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:22:57 -0600

Every martial arts practitioner should keep a detailed notebook of their daily training. Immediately after completing a class, I suggest sitting down for a moment and writing down everything that you worked on that day and any thoughts. This way you can go back and review lessons while you are practicing/training at home. Also,keep good track of your notebooks. I still have mine from over fifteen years ago and I refer to them to this day.

Wing Chun Newsletter

Tue, 02 May 2006 04:58:23 -0500

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