Prevention Is Better Than Cure

 

You are not expected to live in the shadows

So many people begin their Wing Chun training in order to be able to defend themselves, and I do not knock those people for that, however I will say that this should not be your only reason for training, not when we see how much Wing Chun has to offer you, its health benefits being one of the main ones.

 

I have always loved the idea which my Sifu, Grandmaster Ip Chun has:

 

“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”

 

Moving slightly away from this for a moment, let’s look at what we do in our training, even if this is only with us at wingchun.online, because contact should be the last resort, having neither walked away or been able to defuse the building situation.

 

In our sessions we look at not only the physical elements of partner training and virtual sparring (giving you something to react to) but also understanding the signs when something is about to happen, THIS is more important than anything.

 

You might have the hardest punch in the world, but if you are laid on the floor, trying to pick up your teeth with broken fingers, then you’ll never get to use it, the point being that anyone is vulnerable to being caught out, therefore, know your surroundings, be aware of what is going on around you, and you are half way there already.

 

I love Mike Tysons’s quote:

 

“Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the mouth”

 

These things usually occur because you were caught out, muggers and bullies are opportunists, these attacks are not planned, these people are usually looking for someone who is an easy target, stop yourself being the easy target and you stop yourself from being attacked, to a degree at least.

 

For those of you training Wing Chun with us already, you may think this virtual partner training is all a waste, without even knowing that it may have already saved you, and possibly on more than one occasion.

 

So many times I hear of situations where one of my online students had been in a particularly scary situation but managed to avoid this by following my guidelines, by not looking away or keeping your hands in your pockets, keeping your head up, showing confidence etc. making that possible attack, land at someone else’s door.

Yes this is very sad for that next person, but your reason for starting training was for self defence, and this is what you have done, taken care of yourself and those you love.

 

I am not trying to make anyone paranoid,

simply to teach you to have a constant state of awareness

 

So be happy with your training and enjoy all the benefits that come with it, and if your understanding of stage one of your training (awareness) is correct, then there is much less likelihood of you needing the stage two (physical defence) anyway.

 

Happy training everyone.