Bringing Together

 

Sometimes, through the strangest of ways.

 

Last night, after our evening meal, I was washing the dishes when my mind once again, started thinking towards Wing Chun, and if you are wondering what washing dishes has to do with Wing Chun, well, I have often thought along these lines…

Many state that Wing Chun is Chi Sau and Chi Sau is Wing Chun, and at the same time there are many people who see their Wing Chun as a way of life, therefore,,, if Wing Chun is life & life is Wing Chun, and if Wing Chun is Chi Sau, then by that same token, Chi Sau, must be a way of life.

And with that thinking, everything can be connected to Wing Chun.

 

I usually see this in the most obvious of examples, the straight line approach being the most obvious.

 

For instance, when asking a student:

“How did you get here today, which road did you take?”

 

I will always be given the same answer:

‘The most direct route of course’

 

We would not usually and/or deliberately decide to take a 15 mile diversion to where we are going, so why would we do that with our punches?

 

Anyway, back to the dishes connection…

When I started washing up, I was more than aware that the water was much hotter than it needed to be, but rather than simply add some cold water, I decided to wait and allow the the incoming dishes meet that balance for me.

What I mean by this is that, every glass, plate or piece of cutlery that went in, it went in cold, and therefore each item, slowly but surely, assisted in reducing the temperature from a complete extreme, to one of balance.

Scolding hot alone, may have broken the glasses, freezing cold would not shift the food marks from the plates, but when they worked together, they worked well.

 

A conversation can be such a pleasant thing, when the tone and volume is balanced that is, shouting is uncomfortable and whispering cannot be heard, so what do we do if these two extremes should meet?

We would hope that the shouter would turn it down a little and that the whisperer would speak up a touch, again therefore, restoring balance.

 

This should be the same for Wing Chun.

 

If someones’ Wing Chun is a little different to yours, do not just try to shut it down, learn from it, understand it and embrace it, and get from it what you can, because this thinking will only go to expand your overall understanding of the system.

 

I think it was Confucius who said:

 

“The man who claims to know everything is a fool, for his learning has ceased”

 

 

Let me leave this short post with this thought;

Red wine is red

White wine is white

But over time, red wine often gets lighter and white wine gets darker.

 

I say this is because what initially seems to some people, to be completely different, i.e.:

 

“My style is red and your style is white”

 

Is often two people arguing over the same thing, it’s just neither of you have aged long enough yet to fully understand this.

 

Cheers!