The Source Of Wing Chun
Either in Class or at WingChun.Online
I remember once being in Asda (Walmart), picking up a few groceries when I noticed how much food was ‘Convenience’.
Everything seemed to be available and most of it in a tin.
Sausages, Ham and Fish
Beans, Pasta and Vegetables (although I wouldn’t count on any goodness there)
Chilli con carne, Curries and even a Full English breakfast
And to finish… Fruits, Custards and Puddings
Basically, an entire meal in a tin!
But not just that, other ‘Overly prepared‘ items too, things from crushed nuts, pre grated cheese, and shredded lettuce to…
Orange segments in a bag!
YES!
Orange segments in a bag.
‘If only nature had thought of a way of somehow
keeping these segments together and enclosed?’
Several years ago, there was a story in the news of an elderly couple that had found a whole chicken IN A TIN, which they’d had for fifty years!
I’m not sure where you would put a WHOLE CHICKEN in a tin, in order to mislay it, only to rediscover the thing, and fifty years later at that!
And no, they did not have a big kitchen.
The couple in question were in the newspapers, on television and on social media, oh and if you’re wondering what they did with the chicken after finding it?
THEY ATE IT!
My point is that we live in a world of fast food & fast living, same day deliveries and fast fix solutions, all at the press of a button.
Just like WingChun.Online you may be thinking?
‘Where the school comes to you’
Convenient yes, but…
Do not get me wrong, I think it is good to save time and to have a helping hand, should you want or more importantly, need it, but we must not lose the understanding between convenience and laziness.
I have never made my own soup (although my wife has) and I must say it was wonderful, not just the taste but also the fact that we knew what went in it, and what did not, and this brings me to the point.
One New Year, my wife and I, and our children of course, were staying in Wales, a lovely country with some breath-taking scenery, especially where we were in Snowdonia National Park.
One morning we jumped in the car and went to visit Mount Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales, while there I was enjoying watching the waterfalls running through the rocks when my daughter asked me if you could drink that water.
‘Yes of course’ was my answer, explaining that the water would be very fresh, having been cleaned by the rocks and moss as it ran down, this instantly (and for obvious reasons) reminded me of the quote by Ip Man;
“You must know the source of the water that you drink”
His use of this phrase was in reference to knowledge and in knowing that a teacher has lineage, experience and most of all, credible skills.
Now this is not to say that if someone does not have the best or most direct lineage that their style is lacking quality, but you may like to look at it this way.
Putting a few drops of arsenic into a glass of water, and therefore diluting it, may still be enough to kill a person, but it may also not be as direct or effective as the arsenic bottle itself.
So when drinking water from a stream, just like with Wing Chun, know the source from which it comes, after all, would you drink something without knowing what it was, just because it’s wet?
So by all means do take advantage of certain elements, I mean you do not have to grow your own fruits and vegetables, but at least make the effort to peel and chop the things yourself.
When you are learning Wing Chun with us at WingChun.Online there is obviously the convenience of having tuition whenever you want it, but it is still you that has to do the work.
Make the effort in whatever you do, and (if you are able), you will feel the benefit afterwards and feel proud of what you have achieved rather than opting for the easy route.
“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one”.
Bruce Lee