Is It Really Possible To Learn Wing Chun Quickly?
Yes, it is, and not just by way of a short cut.
To start with let’s remind ourselves that Wing Chun is designed to work in harmony with your natural body reactions and a phrase I use to teach my students is:
“If it’s not comfortable, it’s not right”
In fact I would go as far as to say, when taught properly, “It takes effort to get Wing Chun wrong!”
Now I’m not saying that what I am about to suggest is the only way to learn but think of this, if there was a way of assisting you, both to learn at your own pace AND gain a deeper understanding, through cross checking details both online AND at class, why would you not take it?
It’s a very noble pursuit to want to study Wing Chun to the finest detail and really try to master the art, but it may also be noble to want to follow your dream of being in a rock band, perform stand up comedy or wanting to learn to fly, but what if you want to do all of these AND MORE.
Is that even possible?
Yes, why not?
Oh and I am not taking the p*ss here, I am being serious, life is too short to waste time, so again I say, why not take extra help to get where you want to be?
If you want to do something, do it, and if there is a way of learning what you want faster, then why not take it?
There was a time when the so called ‘master’ would take years to teach you and therefore take you years to learn, explaining that the finest detail needs to be understood before you can move on to the next step.
Now of course there is some truth in this, BUT, a lot of this I believe is complete bull-sh*t and the students development was only delayed because of the teacher trying to earn more money, OR because the instructor didn’t actually have the knowledge, skill or capacity to take them further if they wanted to.
As Ip Man said:
“There are no secrets in Wing Chun, just hard work and practice”
The bottom line is this, if you are good enough to move on, then you should be allowed to move on.
To rush people through willy-nilly is dangerous, BUT to hold someone back, especially because of your lack of knowledge as a teacher, or fear of their progression, is just a crime.
As a teacher, if you manage to get a student to improve to such a height that they surpass even you, do not be scared of such an achievement but be proud, because this is the sign of a good teacher, provided the teacher is still training themselves of course, and has not just thrown in the towel!
There are three types of teacher:
Those who are still progressing and pushing the boundaries
Those who are still trying to improve
Those who have just given up
I’ll let you decide which one you are.
Oh and for those of you who may think I am wrong and that there are no short cuts in the pursuit of understanding, ask yourself this,
Are you the kind of person to Google information rather than go to a library and read a stack of books.
So some short cuts are ok in the search of knowledge but not others?
Remember I am not saying that online tuition should be the only way, I am just saying, why deny yourself additional help?
Classes are great, but if you only attend one, two-hour class each week, that would mean that you have six days and twenty-two hours available to forget what you were initially taught!
And who knows, throughout the rest of that week you may be drilling incorrectly!
So take knowledge where you can find it,
As Bruce Lee said:
“Take onboard what is useful and discard that which is not”