Hey WIng CHun brothers/sisters!!! Happy new Year, Merry x-mas!!!!!!
I just came to the realization that for me
taking WIng Chun is very helpful but, WIng Chun alone without any spar/street experience is like learning swim stroke techniques on dry land and never testing it out in a pool or ocean/river/lake.
It just won't give you the full experience of what a real fight would be like.
Hell in a real fight anything goes. In a real fight there may be an element of nervousness or worry. In a real fight there may be a lot of verbal intimidation and psychological methods of bullying from the opponent. IN a real fight you may be ambushed/have a weapon pulled on you/or get attacked by a 2nd and 3rd person!!! In a real fight anything goes!!!
Are you truly prepared for such an event to unfold when you are out with your son/daughter or family??? Are you prepared to expect the unexpected??? Or will you simply just freeze cuz you did not cover this aspect of confrontation in class or outside of class???
I know a lot of people might say, avoid fighting as much as possible. They are correct. But i also believe as a Martial artist we need to free spar with other people as much as possible. Full contact.
I feel Bruce Lee had a purpose when he sparred (okay fought!) with people in his Catholic school days and on the streets of Hong Kong. IT was not merely just a show of his manhood or pride but, he was testing to see what would work most of the time in real life and, he was going through the whole experience of a real life situation so he would continue to become desensitized to such violent confrontations in order for him to be truly relaxed in future similar occurances. Sure Bruce Lee was probably known to show a fierce fighters face and demeanor when he fought but, deep down i feel he became more and more relaxed as a fighter through the years.
This gets to my whole point. When you first allow yourself to experience the ocean or the deep end of a pool, you first will probably feel nervous and attempt to apply all the strokes you practised on dry land. YOu will most likely not know how or WHEN to apply your techniques and doom sets in. YOu will feel like a loser and leave the body of water feeling frustrated and possibly hurt somehow... However the first experience is probably the best experience. For you got past the whole "fear" of testing the waters with what you learned and practised on dry land. The second time you enter that pool, you will feel less tension and know what to expect. That fear of the unknown is lessoned. Soon your 3rd and forth time you become more and more relaxed and eventually will learn when to apply which stroke for which moment, and how to keep your legs insync with your arms while you swim. In time and patience you may become a very competant swimmer and enjoy what you do!!!
However can you imagine never setting foot into a pool or lake and having total blind faith towards all the swimming strokes you practiced on dry land??? And one day you somehow end up in a boating accident and drown; due to the sudden panic that kicks in since you never experienced such a traumatic situation before???
I feel when Bruce Lee returned to America later on in his life, he was able to face off challenges and attackers with calmness and confidence thanks in part to the experiences he accepted and faced as a youth growing up. If Bruce Lee never sparred or fought in real life, i wonder if he would have simply been another average martial art instructor full of confidence but empty of experience... Bruce Lee was serious and REALISTIC when it came to his martial arts because he experienced first hand what a real life situation would feel like. Probably why he accepted good street fighters as his friends too...
All in all, i believe we as Wing Chun artist (and martial artist in total) need to approach our arts the way Bruce Lee did, or at least with the similar seriousness, focus, and realism. WE need to do our forms, we need to figure out what works best for ourselves, we need to test our progress either in a spar or even a fight(though we need to pick our battles too!!!), we need to continue to correct and improve/refine what we already know and also learn new things on the way.
To end this, my teacher once told me "there is not only 1 right way, but every way is right. There are no wrong answers, as long as you fit the specific answer in with the correct QUESTION everything is fine; for not every answer will work for every question... fit the pieces of a puzzle where they are to be fitted"
I just came to the realization that for me
taking WIng Chun is very helpful but, WIng Chun alone without any spar/street experience is like learning swim stroke techniques on dry land and never testing it out in a pool or ocean/river/lake.
It just won't give you the full experience of what a real fight would be like.
Hell in a real fight anything goes. In a real fight there may be an element of nervousness or worry. In a real fight there may be a lot of verbal intimidation and psychological methods of bullying from the opponent. IN a real fight you may be ambushed/have a weapon pulled on you/or get attacked by a 2nd and 3rd person!!! In a real fight anything goes!!!
Are you truly prepared for such an event to unfold when you are out with your son/daughter or family??? Are you prepared to expect the unexpected??? Or will you simply just freeze cuz you did not cover this aspect of confrontation in class or outside of class???
I know a lot of people might say, avoid fighting as much as possible. They are correct. But i also believe as a Martial artist we need to free spar with other people as much as possible. Full contact.
I feel Bruce Lee had a purpose when he sparred (okay fought!) with people in his Catholic school days and on the streets of Hong Kong. IT was not merely just a show of his manhood or pride but, he was testing to see what would work most of the time in real life and, he was going through the whole experience of a real life situation so he would continue to become desensitized to such violent confrontations in order for him to be truly relaxed in future similar occurances. Sure Bruce Lee was probably known to show a fierce fighters face and demeanor when he fought but, deep down i feel he became more and more relaxed as a fighter through the years.
This gets to my whole point. When you first allow yourself to experience the ocean or the deep end of a pool, you first will probably feel nervous and attempt to apply all the strokes you practised on dry land. YOu will most likely not know how or WHEN to apply your techniques and doom sets in. YOu will feel like a loser and leave the body of water feeling frustrated and possibly hurt somehow... However the first experience is probably the best experience. For you got past the whole "fear" of testing the waters with what you learned and practised on dry land. The second time you enter that pool, you will feel less tension and know what to expect. That fear of the unknown is lessoned. Soon your 3rd and forth time you become more and more relaxed and eventually will learn when to apply which stroke for which moment, and how to keep your legs insync with your arms while you swim. In time and patience you may become a very competant swimmer and enjoy what you do!!!
However can you imagine never setting foot into a pool or lake and having total blind faith towards all the swimming strokes you practiced on dry land??? And one day you somehow end up in a boating accident and drown; due to the sudden panic that kicks in since you never experienced such a traumatic situation before???
I feel when Bruce Lee returned to America later on in his life, he was able to face off challenges and attackers with calmness and confidence thanks in part to the experiences he accepted and faced as a youth growing up. If Bruce Lee never sparred or fought in real life, i wonder if he would have simply been another average martial art instructor full of confidence but empty of experience... Bruce Lee was serious and REALISTIC when it came to his martial arts because he experienced first hand what a real life situation would feel like. Probably why he accepted good street fighters as his friends too...
All in all, i believe we as Wing Chun artist (and martial artist in total) need to approach our arts the way Bruce Lee did, or at least with the similar seriousness, focus, and realism. WE need to do our forms, we need to figure out what works best for ourselves, we need to test our progress either in a spar or even a fight(though we need to pick our battles too!!!), we need to continue to correct and improve/refine what we already know and also learn new things on the way.
To end this, my teacher once told me "there is not only 1 right way, but every way is right. There are no wrong answers, as long as you fit the specific answer in with the correct QUESTION everything is fine; for not every answer will work for every question... fit the pieces of a puzzle where they are to be fitted"
