Egg And Chips

There is a big difference between having egg and chips in a greasy spoon truck drivers café and having eggs and chips at the Savoy in London (Not that they’d do it of course!).

And this is like trying to use a technique successfully when playing Chi Sau.

By this is I mean that there is never just ‘The technique’.

Someone once asked my Sifu (Grandmaster Ip Chun),

“What is the difference between the student and the Master?”

To which he replied,

“The student makes the simple look difficult and the master makes the difficult look simple”.

Now the reason for this is that the student will often use, let’s say a Pak Sau for instance, by just using a Pak, but the advanced practitioner (or the master) will first create a pressure, gain an awareness of stance and perhaps force an added distraction, all before executing the move, therefore putting all the odds in their favor before even attempting the Pak (should it be on at all that is).

And this is the difference in the egg and chips analogy.

In the cheap café when you ask for egg and chips, you get egg and chips (no surprises there then), but when you ask for the same thing in a high-class restaurant, the flavor will blow you away.

Why?

Because of all the little extras that you are not aware of, the type of eggs and potatoes used, the seasoning and flavoring, the cooking/baking methods used, the blending of herbs and spices, and even down to the presentation.

All these little additions make for a delicious outcome.

So don’t be content with playing Chi Sau like a short order cook when you can be playing like a tip class chef.

Bon appetite my friends