Whenever a potential new customer visits my class, one question that I will always ask them is, What was it about Wing Chun that appealed to you as a martial art and more specifically, what made you decide to come to my class? I ask these questions partly to get an insight into the individual, so that I can explain things to them in a way that will meet their needs but also so that I can garner feedback, for my own marketing purposes.
The standard response goes something like this, “I want to get fit.” or “I want to be able to look after myself if I get into trouble.” Frequently I also get martial artists from other styles who have either become disenchanted by what they already do or who are simply curious about how Wing Chun works and why it is different.
Of course, if you think about it for a moment, you will see that neither of the first two responses are valid reasons for taking up a martial art. There are quicker, cheaper ways to get fit, like running, swimming, circuit training or cycling. As for needing to look after yourself, well OK, fair enough, we can do that but how often do you actually need to protect yourself from attack? Fortunately, I haven’t needed to use my martial skills much, for a number of years and I consider my life to be fairly normal. Unless you work in an environment of potential violence, you may occasionally have the need to fight but these occurrences are rare and normally quite simple to avoid. The mainstays of Self Protection are Awareness, Assertiveness and Avoidance; if you apply these tenets with a little wisdom you will rarely need to use the backup of Attack.
So, I think that there must be another, unspoken reason why people wish to study martial arts. Perhaps people are actually looking for something else, possibly searching for a way to unlock something inside themselves. Something they don’t properly understand or are simply unable to adequately express.
Going back to my introductory question, last week someone said, “I want to study a martial art but can’t decide between Aikido and Wing Chun, what do you suggest?” I said that I thought this was an odd question, because the two are completely different. It was like saying, “I’m going shopping for clothes but can’t decide whether to buy a new pair of football boots or a nice stylish hat.” (I must confess that I’m a bit like this sometimes when I go into town, I don’t always know exactly what I’m after but I know what it feels like). Anyway, I continued to explain that I taught Wing Chun in a pragmatic way and that everything we do is functional. In other words, you can interrogate any part of the system and if you understand it, you will find a practical answer that leads back to making you into a better fighter. No fluff.
Other common questions that people like to ask me back are things like how would you fair in a fight against a… Fill in the gap as you think best here, the most recent take of course has been UFC fighters. How would you take on a cage fighter? What’s best Wing Chun or MMA?
Well, who would win in a fight between a bear and a shark? There’s only one way to find out…
Not long ago the question would have been, what would you do against a grappler? Can you fight from the ground? Before that, how would you close against a good kicker? What if they have a weapon? Or what if they attack you from behind?
To which my answer has to be – If I get hit on the head, hard and from behind, I will most likely be knocked unconscious. If you stab me with a knife, I will probably die. If you punch me on the nose I will bleed and if I go to the ground with a good grappler, I’m already likely to be in some trouble. Sadly martial arts do not make you invulnerable, nor do they turn you into Superman. As a coach, I do need to address all of these questions on some level and hopefully as martial arts evolve, I will absorb what is useful and as a result become a better martial artist, coach and person. In order to develop however, I always look for answers in Wong Shun Leung’s Ving Tsun Kuen Hok. I can do this because I am a specialist, I understand how my chosen system works. The last time someone attempted to lock my arm, I punched them in the face and they let go quite quickly, I was OK that time.
I do not have time to go to a boxing coach twice a week, a BJJ lessons twice a week, a Thai class twice a week and strength and conditioning gym three times a week, Wing Chun lessons twice a week and fit this is on top of work, family, friends, relaxation, pay the bills, read a good book and still find time to have a life. Lets face it – nobody has. Bruce Lee tried but he was not a normal person. Wong Shun Leung said that he was an exceptional athlete who would have been accomplished in any field of physical endeavour, he just happened to choose Wing Chun. As an individual, you have to decide what it is that you actually want, why you want it and then think about how you might best attain that ambition. Achievable Goals.
Wing Chun is a distillation – a refinement – an essence. We are concerned with stripping away the unnecessary, not adding levels of unnecessary complication. We must be like a sculptor taking away the parts that are not needed in order to reveal the nature of that which we have chosen to express. I always try to be straightforward and honest about what I do and most of the time I know what I want. Simple Direct and Efficient is our motto and this is what we work towards, in our practice, teaching and hopefully in ourselves and herein lies the key to this little article. Ultimately all martial endeavour should be about self improvement, isn’t this what people mean when they say mind body and… I don’t like the term spirituality but I am able to express myself, both through my art and in other ways whilst maintaining a reasonable level of integrity.
A craftsman does not need a great many tools to do a good job but he does need a hell of a lot of experience under his belt. The real meaning of kungfu or gungfu is a high level of skill acquired through hard work, patience and perseverance. Not necessarily martial skill either, this is the same for writing poetry or working with wood.
Alan Gibson.
The Wing Chun Federation. www.wingchun.org.uk
Kids Kung Fu www.kidskungfu.org.uk
