How Long Do I Need On Basics? (A Reminder)
“How Long Do I Need On Basics?”
Quick answer, “You tell me!”
There seem to be two kinds of student mindsets, those who want to stay with the basics and those who want to press on and learn everything,
yesterday.
Well in many ways both of these are wrong.
You CAN stay on basics for too long, and, if you learn all the forms and a few basics moves (by learning super fast) and then just STOP, this is useless.
Don’t stay on the basics forever, there’s no need, of course stay until you truly feel you understand them, then move on by trying to apply them.
Wing Chun should be learned in cycles, learn the forms, learn their applications and what they bring to the table, and when we get to the end (and by ‘end’ I mean when you’ve learned all of the form patterns) what do we do?
We start all over again.
Training your Siu Lim Tau, your Dan Chi Sau, your rolling and changes, and with each revolution through the system you create a deeper layer of understanding.
Each and every time you start again you will learn a deeper understanding as you now look at these ‘basics’ with a different view.
But to what extreme do we take this?
Basics are important, no doubt, but do we stay on 1st section of Siu Lim Tau for twenty years with the aim of having the best 1st section in the world (with the trade off being you cannot fight for toffee) or do we use the layer method?
By not using the layer method, how would you gain the understanding of what is being taught in Siu Lim Tau?
Everything in Wing Chun is in Siu Lim Tau (if you know where to find it that is).
Let’s take the Tok Sau’s from the 1st section of Chum Kiu for instance, where is this in Siu Lim Tau?
Section one.
If you open the left hand and move out to the Tan but then stop and hold.
Now open the right hand and move out as Tan, back as Wu, change to Fook, and hey presto there you have it, Chum Kiu’s Tok Sau.
Of course there’s the Tok Sau in third section after the Bong and Tan but I was looking for the exact shape.
And while we’re here why not look at the Bong to Tan, what is this?
Only the most important shapes of your Chi Sau!
Just because sections 1 and 3 are single hand there is no reason why they cannot used together, just as there is no reason why section 2 cannot be done single handedly.
Do not take what you see at face value, look deeper, this is what layering will allow.
Siu Lim Tau contains everything, but it’s like being given a book on ‘How to read Chinese’, but it’s written in Chinese.
It is not until we study the other forms that we begin to understand how to translate the Siu Lim Tau.
Years ago the main reason for many teachers delaying a students progress (and that what this is) was simply because they did not know the advanced forms themselves!
Techniques such as the elusive Wooden Dummy and the secret Biu Gee.
Biu Gee? – B.S. more like!
As Ip Man himself said,
“There are no secrets in Wing Chun, just time and practice”
There are still many charlatans out there pretending to teach, but it is not my place to name and shame, this is why we recommend using WingChun.Online alongside your class training.
The most important thing when it comes to YOUR training, is that you understand what you are doing.
The more you understand how something works, the more you will make that technique work for you.
So ask questions, ALWAYS.
Do not just DO because your where asked to do, or told to do.
Training online AND in class would only help you to see things from both angles to get a better understanding overall.
What you get from us you could question in class, and vice versa.
You don’t have to take just one persons word for it.
As Bruce Lee said, learn from everyone,
‘Take on board what is useful and discard that which is not’.
Don’t rush, but don’t hold yourself back either.
Everything in Wing Chun is about balance
