There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self - Ernest Hemingway

That's a lovely title...and while being an intense statement, it lends itself to the classroom really well.

I remember when I was trying to adapt to the WSL system, or even learning the LMK system before that...my frustrations at failing at seemingly simple concepts would have me apologising and holding too high an expectation of what I could achieve.
Understandably, I'd spent my entire life being the centre of my attention. All of my endeavors have ultimately been selfish, such as beginning my journey through Wing Chun. And so when my profuse apologies were negligently brushed off by the people I was learning from...well, I was offended.
These days I understand that its purely an issue of my ego asserting itself, but back then I merely found it an irritation. Why couldn't I just do <insert technique> like everyone else? There must be something wrong with me!

Well, it turns out there actually Was something wrong with me, but the process of learning WC was helping me fix what was wrong. I administer myself every day while trying to avoid the pitfalls of depression. I try to avoid saying that I suffer from it as a) I don't have it as powerfully as others I know, or have known; and b) to my ear it sounds weak. It sounds like I'm associating myself with a victim mentality. This may have been true of me once upon of time, but WC has been an effective tool in the healing process...which is a life-long commitment.

Firstly, WC gave me a look at something fantastic that I'd never seen before.
I'd attended Tae Kwon Do classes when I was 6 or so, then later in life I briefly tried Karate, Aikido, Capoeria, Yang Tai Chi Chuan, Kickboxing and since WC I've even tried my hand at boxing.
What WC showed me is a system unlike the movies.
It talked to me with a voice assuring me of how physics worked, and how WC was so powerful because of it.
These days I understand that the person teaching me at the time didn't have any understanding of Physics, and misunderstood many important concepts. But that doesn't matter. What I lost in misunderstanding, I gained back from physical strength.
The result is something I'd been yearning after for so long. Confidence.

When I walked into a room I owned it. (You see how the ego continued to be present?)
I'd compare myself to this guy, or that, and congratulate myself for learning WC. I'd enter into arguments (in person) about which was better...WC, or BJJ.
What...a...clown-shoe I was.

Comparing two martial arts is like comparing Ice with Glass. Sure they look similar, you can see through them both to some degree...you can make them both shatter if dropped on the ground...and both are a liquid at higher temperatures. But their purposes, their application, and their contexts are different.
The same can be said for the different arts, and for the people who learn them.
As such, one shouldn't place their peers on a pedestal to worship. It's fine to emulate them if you see them doing something particularly well, and its fine to think that, "I'd like to be as good as her/him one day." As humans we've spent a lifetime learning from other people, however I've heard individuals say that they'd like to be better than so-and-so. Why? What's the point?
While Ernest Hemingway was talking about individual nobility (not being a titled person), he also had a vast pool of language to sample from...so for folk less verbose, I believe it's telling us that we are the only ones who can truly drive our own development. We're not babes in swaddling. We are Homo sapien and we've evolved as a group, but been driven individually. It is when you compare yourself to your former self that you get a clearer idea of your place in this cosmos. Have you changed? NO. Then you are fated to make the same decisions, and mistakes, as you always have. Have you changed? YES. Then every day will be, for you, exciting and new.

Evolution is about change. Ving Tsun has evolved, just as we have evolved, and thus both will continue to evolve.

Anyways, this post could just waffle on and on...

I've got you...you bastard!

You know when you're training and you're having issues with a particular concept, technique, or manoeuvre? You've been told what to do, how to do it and WHY to do it. You've been practicing for ages...and it doesn't work right. It's frustrating. Its downright despicable and you start to fret that you'll never get it, or that there's something physical/psychological wrong with you which is inhibiting you from doing this thing correct?
Bong Sao is my bane. Its had me questioning my ability, my sanity, and more importantly...my ability to understand instructions. Its been difficult and its been a roller-coaster.

To paraphrase Hillary, "I've knocked the bastard off it!!"
Only, in this case, the "bastard" is the veneer of mystery in understanding how to do Bong Sao effectively. And I've knocked the bastard off of Bong Sao.
The mystery is gone. All that remains difficulty, maintenance, practice and perseverance. There are probably other things to list there but I've just arrived at work and I'm nesting through my morning Moccachino (I can't deal with full strength coffee, so back up coffee snobs...I'm a kung fu mang!).

Last night at training there were only 4 of us, what I'd call the more senior of the bunch...merely meaning that we'd all been training together longer than others.And considering its winter, it was a pretty good turnout.
Senior-student-teacher guy and I are heading to Melbourne for a WSL meet'n'greet. Lots of WSL folk, including Chan Kim Man, will be attending. Because of this, Senior-student-teacher guy is motivating us all to spend more time rolling.
Sure I still don't have many entries into Chi Sao. However, my rolling was good, I disrupted my partners structure, and I was always able to shut them down and maintain control of My centre.

Most importantly is that I was able to roll for MINUTES without my rotator-cuffs screaming. If I put aside the WC specific improvements, merely experiencing chi sao without shoulder pain is phenomenally good. It's annoyance factor was huge. Think...you're wearing tight shoes, and there's a sharp stone in your shoe...its digging into the softest, most sensitive part of your foot. Now make that stone half an inch tall. THAT is what my shoulders feel like normally.

To be honest I'm feeling a little euphoric, and almost religious, about the whole thing.

So the point of this entry is simple.

Stick at it.
Sure, it may seem unachievable, if not merely difficult. But its not. You're body is awaiting an alignment of purpose and understanding. A congruent connection between mind and muscle without any attempts to micro-manage each manoeuvre. 
Additionally, I believe, we have to be thinking about WC every day. Not all the time of course, that's a little obsessive and creepy.
Consider what it is that you could be doing to improve your <insert concept/technique/manoeuvre> in the context of what you're trying to achieve.

- For me vs Bong Sao, my issue is pain in my shoulder caused by an increased load in a non-linear fashion.
- To fix this I've been told to work on my elbow moving in a linear motion perpendicular to my body, from down to up, rather than arcing out away from the body and then back in. (I think I'd been doing it this way from fear I'd miss a punch that went wide, not realising that I have other tools in my arsenal to deal with this strkies).
- My thoughts have been of using this motion. Repeating this motion. Aligning this idea with the 'rules-of-engagement' for Bong Sao. My intention is always aimed at my opponents centre. Keeping a strong structure, not having my weight too much in any particular direction (ie. no leaning in, no weighing down on my partner). Keeping the lines of force-transferal from my Bong connected to either my heel, my hip, or both (this means I'm no longer using my shoulder to lift weight, or as a lever). Disrupt my opponents structure by up-rooting them (by having my 'force' coming up from the ground, and thus from under my partners limbs, I'm able to keep a forward intention without being too heavy-handed and i undermine their structure. The force coming up on an angle redirects the resultant forces back into my feet, thus the ground. Keeping my bong motion perpendicular to my body allows me to bring my elbow into the centre at the end of the motion without creating a force that moves across the body. As I understand it, though I'm open to correction, Kwan Sao is the only one that moves across the body, thus this motion is to be avoided otherwise.
So this bong motion allows control of the centre and convinces (or at least it did last night) the partner otherwise, and they over commit.

Funny though, when I thought too much about my Bong Sao mid-Chi sao, either it would fall apart or my Jaam Sao would. Good times. And so much to work on!

Happy training everyone, about time I got back to work!

Long time, no blog!

Sooooo I'm back. I'd like to say that i've been on a Wing Chun sabbatical, travelling far and wide to experience different cultures and the other WC's...but nope. I've just been working, finding housemates, you know...life.

Regardless of this I've still been Winging-my-Chun as often as possible and had a couple break-throughs.
I've been having a lot more success with the dreaded Bong Sao, (may it fall into a crevice for all its difficulty to execute). I realise the short-coming is mine, but i need to project...it lets me feel superior and comfortable.

In 'that-former-class' I'd learnt Bong Sao as a manoeuvre of leverage, often swinging out away from the body and fighting against any forces encountered, such as against lop sao's. These days I'll borrow the momentum from the lop sao, rush in, and punchy-punchy. Back then it was more like a yanking motion. Unpleasant and rotator-cuff-unfriendly.

And strangely enough the 'thing' that improved my Bong was just moving my elbow from low, to high*, in a straight line toward my opponent so that my force was angling up and away from me and perpendicular to my body. Not only did it feel better on my shoulder, it up-rooted my opponent. Choice!
(*Obviously this is high by comparison to low. To my best knowledge the bong sao isn't really used for high defences as there are more efficient concepts to reply.)

Another success has been with my stance.
I've spent a few years trying to unlearn a distribution of weight of 70% on my back foot and 30% on the front...or thereabouts. This might work for some people, but i'm a big lad. Every time I moved I had to move most of my weight, wasting energy, before i could bridge. Having a balanced stance now, gives me greater manoeuvrability, and better stamina.
An additional bonus to this has been more power in my punches without having to put too much effort in. It's happened of its own accord...so my emphasis now will be on punching speed. Or cookies. Cookies are nice.

I've previously mentioned that I'm a fairly big lad, and I've previously been told I don't look as heavy as I am. And luckily I've built a good relationship with the ground...unless I'm falling over, in which case the ground and I aren't mates.
Because of this I've always had a stronger structure than those smaller folk around me. This is nice, but it can be misleading as it leads to less finesse than i'd like.
With my size, my weight, and my relationship with a strong stance I find that I can resist a lot more force and defuse a potentially more vicious attack. But I also find that I'm less prepared to move and I'm not so light on my feet. What I need to find is a happy medium between a strong structure, and efficient maneuverability.
I've been thinking about taking up boxing. They're light on their feet and they've fast punching.
And the more i've been looking, the more i realise their foot work is similar to ours in WSL...or at least it looks like that to mine adolescent (within the WC world) eyes.
It also helps that Boxing is the most style I'm most intimidated by.
Historically I've not been that concerned with other Kung Fu's. They, like WC, have some quality systems aaaaaand they've also got plenty of that pile-o-shit/taught-to-make-money systems that couldn't defend themselves against a hungry kitten. (note: you shouldn't be fighting hungry kittens you heartless animal!)
I've seen some great boxing schools, and I've seen some POS schools. From those I've seen, even the POS schools have plenty positives and leave you more prepared for a fight. I guess it's the nature of a 'simple' system that even the rubbish provides reasonable skills. I don't know. Perhaps my mouth is running away with me.

Anyways...training tonight.
Good training everyone!

I’ve always assumed it to be easy…but it isn’t, is it?

The importance  of personal preparation and personal protection.

What I’m going on about here will be heavily influenced by an article about personal protection by Andrew Williams, Rolf Clausnitzer and David Peterson, and can be viewed here…

http://www.wslwingchun.com/1999/personal-protection

It’s a great article and I urge you all to check it out. Regardless of whether you know a karate-chop! from a judo-kick!, a personal system for recognising danger and preparing for trouble can only be a good thing. I’m not talking about paranoia here, just general personal safety through limited spatial awareness, preparation and recognition.

I’ve been aware of my immediate surrounds for longer than I can remember, and I’m willing to assume it started in my tween/teen years. At some point it was probably an unhealthy paranoia driven by frequent associations with bullies, however i think it grew into something a lot healthier…eventually.

By high school it had turned into an expectation that everyone was too scared of me (i’d filled out and with my Native features in a predominantly european high school in east Auckland where it was still rare enough to notice. My ego was fairly out of proportion and I had the potential to become a bully too.

In spite of this, as I grew older and started frequenting social events involving alcohol, I’d turned to a healthier form of perception. Less ‘be bully’ and more ‘be aware’.

Walking into a room I’d take note of the exits, potential weapons that could be used against me, and who was most likely to kick off first. There would seem to be an anticipatory air about them that registered with my level of preparation like a note in the margin. I wasn’t often wrong, but then I’m looking through the eyes of time and memory…so take that with a grain of salt.

It wasn’t a difficult exercise, merely the noticing of details and silently filing them away…believe me when I say that retention fails the more one drinks. Its certainly safer to control how much you drink if you’re in a potentially dangerous situation, but how are you to know? Any location can house the potential for danger and injury.

I was never attacked and only involved myself in the occasional defending-of-a-friend. I’m no saint, but who wants to hang out with a dick that was always violent? So I tried to not be the aggressor. From time to time I’d see some of my friends get their drunk on and either become aggressive, or encounter aggression. More often than not it was a misunderstanding, but their minds had slowed down too much for them to do anything other than escalate. 

Without preparation it was difficult for them to realise where they were heading until it was too late…and violence ensues.

Even though I seemed, to myself, to be prepared…I really wasn’t. If I had time to think I’d end up over-thinking the situation and making mistakes, the biggest being inaction…allowing fear to control me, rather than allowing this mechanism to super-charge me.

Having a “Traffic Light of awareness” in place can save you time, pain and embarrassment. If you don’t have this, I recommend you look into it or something similar. In the article I’ve borrowed from you will find a great definition of this in a much deeper detail than you will in the opinions I’m providing here.

Using this grading system has allowed me to understand that I’m constantly in a “Yellow” state of awareness, with the grades being:

• White - blissfully unaware. You’re unaware of potential threats and aggressors around you.
• For this i would assume how I would be if i were at home, in bed just having woken up relaxedly. Or perhaps wonderfully drunk, and thus not in control of all of my faculties.
• Yellow - Constructively aware. You are aware of your surrounds, you are ready to evaluate the situation should one arise. You’re more than ready to follow the path of avoidance. 
• This is my starting point. This is where I am from the time my head clears in the morning, until I got to sleep. It isn’t tiring, it isn’t stressful, and it isn’t a task. It’s just taking notice of things around me.
• Orange - Time for action. You’ve registered a threat and it’s time to decide about your response.
• In my mind I would consider this to be scenario such as a party where someone is about to kick-off and I have to concern myself with potentially being drawn into it against my will. At least that was my position in my 20’s…these days I’m much more adept at keeping clear.
• Another scenario could be my being out on a main city street at night, in a state of revelry and being bumped into someone who gets instantly aggressive. There’s no guarantee a fight will ensue, but even apologies don’t seem to be working. So my guard is up.
• Red - This is where training meets emergency, where preparation can define the outcome. 
• This is a true fight or flight moment and you realise you’re in danger. Not just in danger of getting punched. Not a danger of talk and bravado. This is where you realise it is on and all stops will have to be pulled. 
• Either you get out, or you fight for your life. This is an extreme level where the only option is to attack first, get the upper hand and get out as soon as you can. 

Despite training in martial arts, the RED category is where I never want to be. Some of us will often consider how cool it would be to have our lives on the line and win the struggle. The older I get, the less interested I am in that sort of need.

The RED situation is that moment where one needs to commit themselves to the struggle and disregard the potential outcome…in a worst case scenario this may mean your life is on the line. Take a moment and think about this…don’t romanticise it. You’re not Yip Man, Bruce Lee, or Chuck Norris. Without preparation there is a reasonable argument that death could result. 

Understand this. Its a position I don’t think anyone would want to be in.

To be honest, the idea of reaching this level of urgency and requirement gives me the shits. 

It means that every defence mechanism I’ve ever created to avoid violence hasn’t worked. All outcomes point towards The Fight with no obvious way out. Its where I will be seeking to maim, disfigure and control. 

Better to realise the fear now rather than later.

Being prepared could be the difference between harsh words, or grievous bodily harm. 

We train to be safer than we otherwise would be, so why wouldn’t we extend our preparation to our minds? Isn’t it a natural extension of our arts to be mentally prepared?

An added benefit to this process is that, by extension, you can begin to take control of the mechanisms we recognise as the onset of fear.

Fear is a biochemical response to a perceived threat and is stimulated by our thinking. As such, through use of our agile minds we can create a formula of management. By understanding the physiology of the fight or flight mechanism we can hopefully minimise the likelihood of our own untimely deaths. 

And that’s what its all about isn’t it? Making sure that we continue to exist. Making sure that our families are safe. Its a worthwhile outcome isn’t it?

Yay! Let us rant!!

We’ve all been that vitriolic child at some point. Perhaps we were bad and mom took away our toy? Perhaps grandpa did something for our protection…perhaps we merely disagreed with someone else’s point of view? It happens, and it can set on quite suddenly…

I was recently on the receiving end of an extremely spirited dissident expressing his on-line disagreement about the nature of implication vs assumption where I was called things such as Git, smug, and a smug git. The funny thing is that I’ve been this guy…a long time ago.

Unable to control my fury at other people’s opinions and unable to recognise my foolishness, I would lash out and aggressively ‘correct’ other people’s opinions. 

It took a long time, a goodly many friends, and a great teacher to help me realise just how much of my energy I was wasting on details that didn’t matter.

They didn’t go out of their way to do this though. It was more of a subconscious dissertation…or perhaps just their calming influence. They have families, some have children, all of them jobs that pull in an income to keep the wolves away, and a few who count students who value his time. They're not superheroes, but they’ve got things working just enough on the side of right that it makes you wonder what they’re up too and how to emulate them. 

I guess you could say there’s enough experience to escape idol worship and borrow positive behaviours…and slowly build on them.

It was after my aforementioned “git-smuggery” that It hit me. I’d transitioned from one to the other. Now I was the one looking at an online “tanty” with toys flying through the air, and a saliva encrusted pacifier hitting me in my figurative nose with a sense of the desperate angst focussed on me. As i tried to calm the situation everything I shared was taken out of context. I certainly wasn’t the only person involved, and surprisingly there was quite a supportive, and reasonable, crowd involved. The more reasonable the statement was, the less reasonable was the response. It was one of those episodes.

It wasn’t that I was smug, I don’t believe I was. It wasn’t that I was a git, I’m certainly not a git. I’ve been an ass, a dick, and I’m certainly a great big hulking Cunt. But I’m no smug-git. I’ve been fighting my now battles and demons too long for smuggery. 

And it made me think further.

This online chap stated he was “defending” a school, sifu, or some other dogmatic aspect of Wingchunnery, without doing so well. No one was attacking, just pointing out their opinions.

In my head it became less a battle of who’s right or wrong, and more a catalyst for my asking two questions. Namely, a) why would anyone give another’s opinion so much credence? and b) is it our place to defend Sifu or Kwoon?

When dealing with opinions, be it online or off, one has to take into account the source of that particular opinion and what may have gone into the creation of said opinion. 

We know that it is categorically impossible to know another persons thoughts, though we can make a few assumptions thanks to experience and familiarity. However when you’re faced off against an avatar and a versatile keyboard…its a less tangible experience. If that makes sense.

The only thing we can be confident of is the meaning of words within the context of the subject. In an online forum you can’t be 100% sure about the emotion behind any opinion, regardless of the endless sea of emoji’s you can use. 

This being the case, how can you argue detail x and get upset about it? You have no emotional connection to the discussion except that which you bring with you. Any Joe Bloogheimsmithberg can form an opinion, but only You can allow this opinion weight and substance. Right? Why should we give this opinion so much power over our emotional state. Why allow ourselves to throw that switch from calm to exotically irate? Its something to think about isn’t it?

when we face our opponent we’re fully focused on them and our immediate surrounds. We keep everything in check and allow our minds into that relaxed-control, minimising our anticipation of specifics and merely being ready. Can’t we take this control out of our art and into our lives?

This makes me think further about our rights and expectations as a student. Have you ever defending your WC lineage against opinions of another? 

I know I have. I can only call my old kwoon a cult. It involved believing our teacher without proof or justification, our teacher discouraging us from training outside our kwoon and testing our skills. And if that wasn’t enough, we were encouraged to argue online and to defend Sifu while being told that the entire world knew that we were the best fighters, and that we were taught by the worlds best WC exponent. Sadly its a drink a little too tall to stomach. Oh yeah…and there was the exorbitant tithing. Er, I mean fees.

It’s great being out of there and being able to freely discuss any aspect I think I might understand. 

Should not a schools reputation prove for itself that opinions and arguments against it are flawed or otherwise?

I should not have to defend my Sifu. But I still get an urge to…don’t you?

Our teachers have experience to call on, and we have a healthy source of knowledge in them. Our experiences in class and training is wonderful, otherwise we wouldn’t be back right?

Then why do we get an urge to get all, “my dad can beat your dad!”, about it?

More than likely we’ll make ourselves sound foolish, and potentially add a distasteful sheen to our teachers name. In this scenario our enthusiasm to protect our teachers reputation creates the need for defence. Utter foolish. 

Besides, if they really have an issue with my (our) teacher(s)…they obviously haven’t met them.

Of course that’s assuming our teacher is a good, well-balanced person.

If not then you have my pity. I’ve been there and kept myself there by will alone. “The way I’m treated is worth it because of what I’m learning…”, I was all about that mumbo-jumbo at one time.

We need to encourage each other to train outside our kwoon, to test our training with real world applications, and to keep physics in the fore of my mind when trying to improve my understanding of our system. Or at least as best we can.

I refuse to be the WC’er that “Swat’s at flies”…I want to be (to borrow a Dr Who term, and show my inner-nerd) the On-Coming Storm, unstoppable and cataclysmically destructive. It can only be my choice to become so. Its my obligation to myself to ensure everything is on the level and to do something about it if it isn’t.

Isn’t this right? 

Mine is the calm centre. Its the centre I chase. Each of your movements is another opportunity. I’m going to meet you and escort you out. You’re welcome, please come again.

Suffice to say, I refuse to give weight to an individual’s opinion when they don’t have all components of the equation. I refuse because just I don’t care. It’s just too much effort waging your war for you. I’ll keep an open mind and weigh each statement against what I know about you, then I’ll test it, and if it’s found wanting…I’ll discard it. If it’s great, I’ll ask to borrow it.

Don’t feel bad, I expect you to do the same for the things that I say. What do you know about me? Who else agrees with me?

Who cares? 

My opinions are built upon a foundation of familial love, teenage angst, adult depression, and a fascination with Ving Tsun. Everything I share has legitimacy for me. I suggest you take it all with a grain of salt.

Debating on the internet is awesome…arguing is not.

What's our responsibility in the classroom?

Last night I was privileged enough to experience a fellow students getting-it-right moment.
And you know what it was with? Bong Sao. Bloody Bong Sao.
I have a dislike/hate/have-to-appreciate-it relationship with Bong Sao. I find the current incarnation that I'm learning, to be very difficult to get right.
I also love that moment when I get it right. Or when i get something else right, like maintaining control of the centre, having only enough forward intention to register when my opponent moves...but not enough to telegraph my intentions.
What I love more is watching a brother/sister struggling with something and then having that aha! moment. Sure its not perfectly executed, but their ability to execute the manoeuvre increases and they learn faster. You see this light break through the frustration and my heart does a little jump. I'm sure dopamine is flowing through me now. Its a little wonder that I get to experience.

And this reminds me...I know my responsibilities to myself, but what's my responsibility to my brothers and sisters in class?
Truth be told...I'm more responsible for them, than myself.

It's my place to help them become as good as possible.
It's my place to encourage them.
It's my place to support them.

And my reasons are all selfish.

I love seeing my friends and kung fu whanau (maori word for family) improve. The moment they get better, the more they can push me. The more of my 'tells' i can share with them, the more they'll help me disguise them and close the openings i provide. One such is that an injury has left me finding it difficult to get my left elbow close to my body. In chi sao this can allow folk to get through my defence. I've been covering this but utilising my footwork to compensate. It's no ideal situation but what are you gonna do? So i point it out, I ask them to keep it in mind so that they press me. The make it hard. I'll share any trick i know...because its the unknown that tests us all.

We're a fairly lax group. We don't bow as we enter the kwoon, we don't bow to each other, and we don't supplicate to our class leader. However we look each other in the eye, we shake hands, and we're honest with each other.
In class I had a misunderstanding with another student. It almost turned into a passive-aggressive argument about how we don't care so we can move on. Instead, i pulled us back and we addressed the issue. It was purely a misunderstanding about something we'd misheard, with us both being at fault. And because we addressed this, talked it through, and continued with the drill....we moved forward. We improved what we were doing while improving our relationship.

We're obligated to be honest with each other for our own advancement. How can you respect someone who won't engage with the difficult. WE ARE WING CHUN!!! We don't go back. Adversity is where we burn away the flowery bullshit and are left with the bones of a dangerous set of concepts.
The moment we're too caught up with politics, egos and kowtowing to learn is the moment that your WC has reverted to the cult mentality so prevalent amongst teachers and classes. Are we here to learn, or here to kiss ass? Everyone has a right to an opinion...but no one has a right to tell me I'm wrong without showing me why.

Despite not knowing many, I still feel kinship with anyone learning WC and I want the best for them. Sadly I'm not sure they want the best for themselves.

<Edit: I've been kindly pointed towards some resources for improving my blog. I'm no writer, and I actually like rambling, but I'll take it on board and work on improving. Keep the advice coming!!>

It's supposed to be an interactive adventure right?

Not too long ago our school hosted a weekend long seminar with our esteemed Teacher. He's our Sifu and our teacher's Sifu...I forget the traditional term, but we respect him. He's shown us so much that its literally been information overload. This is probably the same for each of you and your teacher respectively. Our teacher is, of course, better because he's ours. <Note the sarcasm, and the allusion to prevalent belief systems within the greater Wing Chun world. eg. "My dad can smash your dad!!", as you run away crying.>

Seriously though, he does invite questions and testing. He encourages us to test ourselves, what he teaches us, and to take nothing for granted. We're all human, and thus...probably very flawed.
This, and the effectiveness of his demonstrations, are attributes which have won my respect.

This isn't about the Seminar however.
This is about an aspect of the learning process withing the greater WC schools, which I've been a part of, and which I still see from others.
In a sense its pointless programming with no expectation for right, or wrong.

Let me set the scene...our weekend adventure had 20 odd students from two different schools. Ours...and 2 of theirs. I respect their teacher for letting them attend, and I respect them for giving it a go. One of them was even from my old LMK school, we didn't know each other but I recognised the footwork and such. He was in for a big surprise, and potentially turned his WC world on its ear, lol.
One of ours in particular came from a Chu Shong Tin lineage and had been learning down country, and we two had an interesting experience which astounded and surprised me at the same time.

We were going through a variation of the pak sao drill, (i'm assuming that all systems have some sort of repeatable pattern used for teaching pak sao. the technique isn't important here), and to be honest...I was a bit perplexed, which was in turn perplexing for my partner, lets call him Grant.
The main intention was to let us see where our pak's should be, why it should be there, and to have some thought towards real life application...within reason of course.
Grant had this...small-dog-being-held-over-water thing going on.
Such as:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSiC7KLiBZI

So we try to train for realistic application as much as possible considering the class environment, and we're none of us masters. As such we stagger our applications/attacks. We try to avoid establishing a rhythm. I guess the idea is that we are actively engaged in each encounter, and not falling into a pre-programmed routine by assuming the same sort of punch comes at me at the same speed, in the same fashion the whole time.

As soon as I threw a single punch, he would start throwing out his pak's even if I didn't have a punch, like that lil dawg above the water automatically doing his lil dawgy-paddle...nawwww, so cute.
But not in class. Yes, the chain punch can be effective, but it isn't some magic talisman that ensures success. If Grant was to try throwing these things at a boxer...well, I'm confident the boxer would have the upper hand.
My perception of WC is that...we meet what comes in. If it's not coming in, it should be retreating. So I'll follow it in.If these things aren't happening, then I'm not fighting. Worst case scenario is that I misjudge and need to defend against my opponents attack with one of my own. I can't do this if I restrict myself into programming a technique, rather than a concept.
By my definition a technique is a move you practice, the concept is the reason why the technique will work. Remove the concept from the technique...and....well, you're just swotting flies. Right?

What I'm trying to get at is that when I pointed out the staggered timing application to Grant, his face took on this, "wtf? why isn't this working? i used to OWN with this technique", sort of face.
It was a little sad. Not pathetic sad...more, a heart-breaking sort of sad.
I changed one aspect of training, and he wasn't used to it, and so he couldn't function. It would've ruined his day if I'd kept on like that, so I didn't...he's a nice guy, what can I say? Rather than point out this brain-fart/dis-functionality thing he had going...I just went along with his speed and he relaxed. He was happy, and that was fine.
But.
How can you have faith in a system that becomes next-to-useless if you change a single element?
The physics should never change. The physical laws of nature are immutable!

I don't know. I may have it wrong, but again...we must apply ourselves. This stuff isn't hard.
When you get down to it...Wing Chun, in all of its spelling variation, is simple and easy.
The hard part is allowing ourselves to put away old programming and expectation. Our bodies would move naturally through the 3 forms if we weren't locked up in our heads, in our bodies that spend 6 hours a day sitting.

It's funny...I've always been told to not over-think WC. And yet we can't understand it until we've used our analytical aspects. Perhaps I could change the over-thinking comment to something like, "try to think of this in a different context than you're used to." Or something even better. You tell me!