typical wing chun training

[zhà ngzhūrú]

Through the internet i've gotten interested in Wing Chun and i decided i wanted to check out a school in my area. I went to visit a school that teaches Wong Shun Leung. It was different from what i expected. I would like to share this experience and welcome any comment you can give.

The training started with half an hour of warming up/conditional training. Then the teacher took me and two other visitors apart for an interview. He told a story about Ng Mui, some things that differentiate Wing Chun from other arts (technique->speed->strength vs strength->speed->technique) and he explained that the trick to the one-inch-punch lies in the motion of the wrist. I asked him about the progression of the students and the forms. He answered that they only did Siu Nim Tau for the first few years but that students would be 'able to defend themselves' within half a year.

When we came back the students were devided in two groups: beginners and advanced students. The beginners were practising Siu Nim Tau, the advanced students Dan Chi Sau. The teacher called an advanced student and with him we began doing a siple stepping drill. After doing that for a bit we put on some protective gear on our chest and we began punching eachother. My diaphragm still hurts two day later.

The beginners were now also doing punching drills while the advanced students were getting some technique explained. We then went to do a stepping and punching drill where the attacker needed to react to the retreading partner by stepping forward and punching.

After this everyone started sparring with gloves on. First 1-on-1, later 2-on-1. I then got to practise with the teacher himself. He would round-house punch either lef or right and either low or high. I needed to block with one arm and punch with the other and then punch with the blocking arm. Whenever i gave away my centerline he would punch through it. I didn't keep my eyes straight so i couldn't see him coming sometimes.

I realise that different schools probably teach in different manners but i'm curious as to how this compares to other wing chun classes.

Thanks for any comments.

 

[matsu]

sounds like a great first session to me.
lots of variety and some idea of what you will be doing.
if it was me . id stick to that club for a while and see how it goes!!!
if doing just SLT for the first few years sounds like it will be boring and repetitious........... you couldnt be more wrong lol.
there is sooooooooooo much to learn and its fun( read- fustrting and painful) all the way.:whip1:
strangely i love it!!
good luck.

matsu

 

[WC_lun]

Sounds like a lot of learning going on. Did you enjoy the class?

 

[yak sao]

I think I would stick it out

 

[graychuan]

Just based on what you have described it seems to be a very good group. Your explanation shows that either you have a good understanding of that first class experience and/or the first class did exactly what it was supposed to do. As a professional instructor I can also appreciate the way the curriculum for that first class was set up(as you explained it).

 

[KamonGuy2]

At the moment I am very apprehensive of the WSL style. There are some amazing practitioners who were taught by WSL (Gary Lam coems to mind), but it currently seems that people are trading under his name, even though he is deceased!!

It would be like me calling my style 'Ip Man Kung Fu', even though I never met the guy. Its fair enough if you are part of a large group and the head of that group is still around (doing seminars etc), but people use names and lineage too much to draw people in

We are lucky in Kamon to have an excellent Sifu in Kevin Chan, but when I teach a class, it is me teaching, not Master Chan. He taught me what I know, but there is also a lot of my personality and previous martial arts knowledge that I inject into the class

From what you have described, the class seems fairly good (good mix of traditional drills and more modern training). The one inch punch does use the wrist, but it is not the secret of the punch!! The one inch punch is about body movement and utilizing body movement correctly.

Be cautious of groups that talk of secret techniques or special ways of doing things

Where was the group based out of interest?

 

[graychuan]

At the moment I am very apprehensive of the WSL style. There are some amazing practitioners who were taught by WSL (Gary Lam coems to mind), but it currently seems that people are trading under his name, even though he is deceased!!

I've called his number that was available at that time and talked to him. This was a year or so ago. As long as you can travel to California to his spot he is pretty easily assessable and not greatly expensive.

 

[KamonGuy2]

I've called his number that was available at that time and talked to him. This was a year or so ago. As long as you can travel to California to his spot he is pretty easily assessable and not greatly expensive.

It was a shame as I looked him up in Hong Kong but got put through to some girl who was quite abrupt on the phone

Since then, Ive seen a lot of his stuff and a lot of comments he has made, which have gained my interest . He seems to be a very no - nonsense and wise practitioner and I would love to get the opportunity to train with him at some point