With each lesson of Wing Chun a practitioner will be put to the test to react on an auto-pilot basis; one can liken this to standing on hot sand in the middle of summer where your immediate reaction is to pull back. This autopilot instinct is nurtured through Wing Chun drills. This goes hand in hand with heightened reflexes. Wing Chun also has emphasis on multiple strikes rather than relying on one strike. By incorporating the science of Wing Chun one does not need to rely on size and mass to overcome an opponent; the science of Wing Chun will take care of that.

Immediate effects from training in Wing Chun include Stress relief, whereby stored negative energy can be released through physical motion helping maintain a healthy mind. By having a healthier mind one can think more clearly and make everyday decisions with greater clarity and confidence. This in turn leads to improved self-esteem and self-confidence.

An important part of studying Wing Chun is self-discipline. By training in a disciplined environment you will allow your mind to focus on achieving barriers that were not possible. This can transcend to daily life, where life’s achievements can be met with a greater sense of determination.

By Sifu Alex Istari

At the beginning of each lesson we pay our respects. This is not to any idol but is a way of showing that you understand the rules of the school and that you also are acknowledging the wisdom and experience of the instructor or Sifu that is taking your class. This helps to give the lessons an air of timelessness, with the problems of the day banished for a short time and gives the student a chance to contemplate the coming lesson.

Before you start training you also pay your respects to your training partner, this is to show you mean your training partner no harm, but also acts as an introduction. This type of disciplined start a class is able to progress in a safe and orderly manner. Etiquette would also mean that a student would not question their Master about why they were doing certain exercises and practises.

This stems from the traditional way in which the monks of the Shaolin Monastery lived. If we look back to where Martial Arts began, the Shaolin Monastery, and the way of life that the Monks lived we will see that they lived in a very disciplined way. They would rise at a certain time and eat, pray, work and retire at the same time. They would all work for the good of the community, sharing their skills for the benefit of all and not sell their skills to the most able to pay. The Buddhist Monks believed that by doing good deeds today they would earn credit in their next life, for it is better to give than receive gifts. This is something that is still found, although not to such an extent in Western society.

One of the traditional ways of Kung Fu was to give a small gift to your Master if they shared a new part of the Kung Fu System with you. The student would also look after their Master and cook for them and carry out domestic jobs, looking after the school or studio that you training in. In this way a student would “pay” for their instruction. The student would also take the role of instructor to the lower level students. In this way the student would be able to study their own Martial Arts skill and refine them through this process.

“To defeat an army, you must capture the leader”

“Failure lies not in falling down, but in not getting up”

“An untutored man is like un-carved jade”

“A bridge never crossed is a life never lived”

By Simon Rangecroft, previously a Senior Instructor, eternal friend of the Academy