Please don't read the the title of this blog as a statement of elite-ism or as my tone being promotional towards a member-only-club mentality. I thought long about what to write about and the glaring topic of Wing Chun being a frustrating martial art, keep popping up in my head.
My second Sifu used to say all the time, "Wing Chun is an educated man's martial art."
As much of a backhanded compliment as that is, there is some truth to it.
Wing Chun, unlike many other martial arts, is not a "monkey see, monkey do" martial art.
I tell my students that there are four stages to learning.
Imitation: This is the monkey see, monkey do part. This is where you mimic, copy, frame, drive your technique to look exactly like your teacher's movement. This is basic learning.
Application: Once you have learned the movement, you must apply it in action.
Adaptation: Once you apply it, you have to ask yourself if the technique works for you. My second teacher was 6'3" and I am 5'7". This lead to many issues where I had to adapt certain techniques to meet my needs and not his.
Evolution: This is the ultimate goal. This is where you keep what works for you and discard the rest. As simple as this last step seems, you must first go through the growth of all the learning before it.
This is where I say that Wing Chun is not for everyone.
I have so many variances of learning capabilities in my students and each one is an amazing challenge. There are some students who understand movements to their perfection, yet cannot grasp their adaptation. A specific example is one of my students who spent hours, days, months learning and understanding his centerline.
He trained to have his Tan Sau (Sky Palm Block) fed directly down his center with his wrist dead on line with his sternum. The day I gave him a concept behind the Tan Sau movement was a very frustrating one for him.
I advised him that Tan Sau does not have to be directly in front of his centerline. Furthermore, I had him align his wrist with his shoulder and asked how it felt. After he advised that he felt less stress, I informed him that he was now aware of his true structure. He argued and debated about Wing Chun being obligated to using the centerline. It became more frustrating when I showed him how my Tan Sau during training was true structure, almost a perfect 45 degree angle, yet in my use of it full speed, my Tan Sau was almost at 90 degrees and had a bend in my wrist.
He and I spent 30 minutes of his lesson talking about the difference between training and application. It was having to "think on his own " which frustrated him. Having once stood in his shoes, I understood.
Wing Chun application is very much like the flow of any grappling art; once you understand the movement or technique, you have to modify it to fit your opponent (within reason...if you apply a true structured technique which is reinforced with concept, IN THEORY, your application should never fail.) Based on the proximity that Wing Chun excels in, one could say that Wing Chun is a stand up-grappling art. But that is for another blog.
The bottom line is that when you train your forms, drills, even chi sau, you must realise that you are in perpetual exploration of YOUR Wing Chun, not your teacher's Wing Chun. Emulate and even copy what you like, but make it fit your needs. Economy of Motion (one of the main concepts of Wing Chun) tells us this. If I threw the exact same strike as my former 6'3" instructor did, I doubt my 5'7" frame would be in the same postion as he was for the next movement. Economy of Motion teaches to use the best tool for the next job. This is where frustration lies.
Most students want to hear you tell them what to do next versus hearing you ask, "what do you feel?"
So, if you are seeking a new martial art to learn, you might want to ask yourself if you are open to the challenge of the mental stimulus that Wing Chun offers.
Personally, I believe that this mental stimulus is a key to an amazingly active and strong mind for the later years in our lives.
Dominick Izzo
Chief Instructor
Izzo Tactical Combat Martial Arts
Wing Chun Kung Fu in Chicago
http://www.izzo-training.com/
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