and what is a qualified Sifu? I've seen WT 'technicians' be horrible teachers just as there are graduate assistants who teach better than professors do. I already see hints of bad kung fu just by listening to what's being said. Not saying your kung fu is bad, but of all the things I've heard that is my impression.
A. Someone who has been teaching/training for a number of years.
B. Someone who is not affraid to let people know they do martial arts, their name and reputation.
C. Someone who continuously studies and doesn't believe they have reached the pinicle of their art.
D. Someone who doesn't believe they've learned all there is to learn in their system.
E. Someone who doesn't brag on themselves. Most truely skilled MAist are humble and don't toot their own horn.
F. You'll know it when you see it. They let their hands speak for themselves. Their skill level just oozes from their every movement. People who are fakes reveal themselves very quickly. You don't need to know what Wing Chun looks like to see and know true mastered skill and knowledge.
Flying Crane said it, you might have to search far and wide, and money doen't mean the sifu is qualified. But there are a number of sifus out there who actually are good. You just have to wade throught the many, many, bad examples to find them. Remember, something worth finding and doing is worth the time and effort. That is one of the main problems today, people are too impatient and want it now. So when they find the first example of what they are looking for, they run with it.
I ain't gonna lie, my WC sucks but at least I put myself out there, go balls out and apply what I know. That is what Kung Fu is, earning skill through hard work and practice. I bet those guys have never sparred a second in their life. Also those guys did not have what we have today. I admit that seminar videos only go so far, but things are advancing in this area where people are able to put together a more complete curriculum giving us exactly what we need to train.
You're right, those guys (whomever you are talking about) did not have what we have today, they had more. Yeah, we have all this modern equipment like bags, sparring gloves, hand wraps, tournaments, UFC, etc. But they had more in training twice as long, twice as hard, not sparring but actual fighting or combat, challenges to masters of various schools just by walking in a kwoon and challenge the sifu (try to do that today and they call the police on you). But one thing videos can't give you is feel, and reading an opponent's energy, sensitivity, and how proper structure from your opponent feels, making sure proper position is followed while executing hand positions, the human touch factor. You will never learn
THAT from a book or video, something you really need to learn and develop the proper Wing Chun skills correctly.
Training the hard way (meaning going full speed/power, applying technique under pressure) is the only option I have at the moment until my move to Mesa is finalized and might be able to attend a few WC classes in that area once I get some income..
People think doing things like tounaments, controlled sparring events (like the UFC and stuff) is testing under pressure. It ain't. Testing under pressure is getting into altercations or fights with some bully, defending yourself from true aggressors, the odd altercation between you and people trying rob or hurt you, defending yourself agains members of street gangs and stuff, that is true testing under pressure. So, it's not about going all out and using full power while training. Actually always doing that is not good for Wing Chun at all. What's missing from that is sensitivity. Sensitivity built through slow, constant repetition, building up by contact, to a skill level, testing it through drills, then sparring, then the various altercations you encounter through life.
Times are changing. You either move along with it or resist it and keep rejecting it every chance you have. Find what is wrong with online training and find a solution. Not be a part of the problem.
What's wrong with online training is the human touch factor. Wing Chun is an art requiring sensitivity through touch, responding through contact, feeling you training partner's intent and energy flow. You will never get that online.
That is the problem. The answer is to find a qualified sifu and train, each and every day or as much as possible.
edit: another thing I wanted to mention is that similar to what some university professors go through, 'Sifu' are even worse at. Professors are supposed to continuously produce research and development but not all Sifu will do this. Once they attain the rank of teacher, all progress stops and they just teach what they know. They don't even continue putting into practice what they know because their students will go into competitions such as Man Up Stand Up and get destroyed by people who has gone under rigorous training..
All the sifus I know are continueously training, researching, growing, still progressing, never letting themselves (in their art) stand still. They are still putting into practice what they preach, which is continueing to learn. As part of the association I'm in (WCAUSA), our instructors are required to perform 25 hours a year in continued learning, training, progressing, and advancing skills to remain certified to teach. If not, then we lose our certification. Not everyone teaches under the
'professor syndrome'.
It's obviously not the system. Bruce Lee, Wong Shun Leung, Duncan Leung, William Cheung, Leung Sheung, Lok Yiu, all obviously made it work so why is it that modern fighters we commonly see, can't? The student is being shaped by the teacher, it's the teacher's fault if a student can't use the tools being given to them. What's my money going to buy me anyways? If I'm paying, I better be able to be proficient in a real situation.
Because Bruce Lee, Duncan Leung, Hawkins Cheung, etc. had the heart and soul and drive to do it. They are the exception, not today's rule. Today's students are imparient and want everything right this minute, they don't have patience. True masters of their art realize it takes time to gain the skill and knowledge of a particular system, especially in Wing Chun. The teacher helps to shape the student, but it's not always the sifu's fault if the student can't use the tools. Sifu can only guide you,
YOU as the student has to learn to apply what is given to you. As a sifu, I can't make you do it or learn it, you have to do your part, like attend class as much as possible, question what you don't understand, apply what is taught you. If you pay me the money, you will be given the tools. You just have to learn to use them.
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