Concerned About Training Without A Partner?

Train for yourself

With the current Covid 19 situation, many people are concerned of their ability to train Wing Chun without a partner, and this is appreciated when we are referring to partner training such as Chi Sau and sparring, BUT these are not the only elements to Wing Chun, they are just two of its many benefits.

Wingchun.online is designed to teach you the WHOLE Wing Chun system, from the bow, basic stance and hand positions, right through to the Wooden Dummy, Knives and even Pole Forms, all with applications explained for both Chi Sau and street.

Following our video classes step by step, stage by stage, and in order, this site will take a person from absolute beginner all the way to the most advanced practitioner and even help you to the level of Instructor.

Please note:

Our $1 CURIOUS ABOUT WING CHUN membership, only gives access to Module 1 and is just a taster Module to get you started (and unfortunately does not have the best quality sound and lighting), it is the SERIOUS ABOUT WING CHUN membership where you will find a world of difference.

Now there are two trains of thought when it comes to people wanting to learn Wing Chun:

Internal health and Wellbeing

Self-defence.

Over the last thirty years, as a group we have taught more than 10,000 classes to thousands of students, and as with most of these students, a beginner will usually be drawn to the Martial Arts because of their wish to learn self-defence, to be able to protect themselves and their families against any possible would-be attackers.

This is not necessarily a bad thing, when I started my training back in the 1970’s an element of me had similar reasons for starting, however I will say this, fighting should not be your only reason for wanting to study Wing Chun as what you will soon discover, is another world of benefits, hidden within this beautiful art.

In fact, training with only fighting in mind can be such a waste.

Grandmaster Ip Chun once said to me:

“Do not train your Wing Chun purely to fight, if so, you may train for ten or twenty years for a fight that could last just a few seconds. Or it may be that you practice all of your life for a fight that never happens!

But, you may train for just a matter of months and it could save your life”

Grandmaster Ip Chun training the 3rd Form (solo)

Training for Internal health and Wellbeing:

Obviously, there are benefits to be had from learning to defend yourself.

And

It’s great to be training one of the most dynamic and practical street fighting systems around, certainly when it comes to defending yourself against the bigger, stronger opponent (as this is the idea behind its fighting principles).

But

This fight may never happen, however, what we DO know is that there are things we do need to be prepare for, daily.

We DO need to be aware of our personal wellbeing, to have peacefulness and harmony, strength and mobility, all of which can be found within Wing Chun.

Master Ip Chun himself is 96 years old and still teaches and trains every day.

He says:

“You do not stop Wing Chun because you got old,

You got old because you stopped Wing Chun”

So, putting the possibility of fighting aside for a moment, let’s look at what DO need, and what we need right now, internal health, energy, focused breathing, leg strength, good posture, hand and eye coordination, body mechanics and joint suppleness, and the ability to concentrate and meditate, ALL OF WHICH are to be found in your Form training.

Adding to this, strength and body conditioning coming through practicing the Wooden Dummy technique and use of Knives & Pole Forms, while training hand techniques being used in combinations, used in conjunction with turning stances and stepping etc. will all help to keep the mind active and strong as well as the body.

Training for Self-defence:

If a person can join a school then great, as wingchun.online will help you to better understand what is being taught, but if you have no school, then basically:

Why not create your own school!

By finding like-minded people found through advertising (such as posters at work, in gyms, stores, on campus’s, or even through Facebook, Meetup.com, Gum-tree, Twitter etc.) to see if they may be interested joining you on this campaign, allowing us to be your guide and teacher, with you being the coach, calling for partner changes, arranging the next meeting and deciding on what videos to watch and study before the next session.

Cannot get to a school due to lockdowns

Or simply cannot find anyone to train with?

When solo training in these situations it is still best to try to mimic what is required of the partner, on whichever side you choose to drill, Dan Chi Sau and Lap Sau exercise in particular, as in, pretend you are in the roll etc.

In failing that, keep going back over the previous solo elements of your training such as the blocking positions, strikes, combinations and combinations with turns or stepping etc. (so you see, there are still LOTS to focus on).

On top of that again, you may make better use of this time by seeing how you progress within the Formwork, as long as you mark where you are at now, there is no reason why you cannot move forward and see what else is waiting for you to train while you are on your own, you’ll need to learn it one day anyway, so why not get a head start?

Siu Lim Tau (1st Form) means ‘Little idea’ and is called this because ALL of your thought should be on the building of energy, but how can you fully focus on this if you are still trying to remember the pattern?

This is the kind of thing we need to spend time on now while we can.

Weekly Livestream classes

Within the membership fees we also include weekly livestream classes (also available for catchup too, so they can be viewed ‘as’ live at a time to suit you) where we train virtual sparring, virtual Chi Sau and reaction training through audio and visual stimulus, these are great fun and really work your reflex development.

During these sessions we learn to read body mechanics, to pick up on tell-tale trigger triggers and read ranges so as to avoid you being hit, either directly or through a possible sucker punch.

We use the idea that your blocking positions will move the strike away from YOU, and your footwork will move YOU away from the strike, adding to this, focussed wall bag training and you will develop one hell of a fast, direct and powerful punching technique for either a counter attack or a necessary first strike (without giving away those tell-tale signs away yourself).

ALL of this, is achieved WITHOUT A PARTNER.

In Conclusion:

For those of you who really do want to learn Wing Chun for Self-defence but simply cannot find a partner, do not be disheartened, you can still excel in learning the entire system by way of the Internal health/wellbeing and personal development mentality, then, when you do find yourself in a position to either join classes, find a partner, or choose to build your own training group, the transition from personal health/wellbeing to that of Self-defence, will be an easy one.