| A microcosm of life... | | Si-Fu's Blog
| By Si- Fu onMonday, June 28, 2010 | |
| Late into the night the Summer Seminar drew to a close. Reluctantly those contented kung fu brothers and sister dispersed for the night. Unable to linger any longer, they bid a short farewell to the place that had become their home for the last five days, to begin their journey to the ‘other life’ that awaited them. As the echoes of the last footsteps slowly died away, silence descended on the kwoon, punctuated only by the continual ticking of the clock on the wall. However, if you paused and listened ever so carefully you could almost still hear the distinctive sounds; shuffling of feet, regulated breathing and persistent beating of fists continued to pervade the atmosphere, refusing to leave with the participants... This seminar was more than just an event practising martial art techniques; in many ways it was a small intense journey in another lifetime. For five days, the world look ... |  | |
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| Summer Seminar | | Si-Fu's Blog
| By Si- Fu onWednesday, June 23, 2010 | |
| Good morning. Later today the popular Summer Seminar commences. Within the classes you can sense the ‘buzz’ leading up to this; indeed, for quite a number of years now this has been the highest attended training event of the year. Last year’s occasion will be a particularly hard one to follow, being the very first tuition to take place in the new Bromley Kwoon. However, I have a feeling that this one will also be cherished…  The Summer Seminar tends to be well-liked for a number of reasons. Firstly it is a 5 day seminar, which not only offers extensive training opportunities but a chance to intensely ‘push up’ ... | | |
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| 7 days in the life of a Wing Tsun school... | | Si-Fu's Blog
| By Si- Fu onMonday, June 21, 2010 | |
| Good afternoon. This last seven days have been interesting for the schools. In addition to the normal hustle and bustle of our rather rigorous teaching schedule, this week saw training for the forthcoming student exams taking place on this Sunday at the end of the Summer Seminar. Exams period always requires extra preparation as every single student needs to be personally checked to review their current level, ability and knowledge. While giving all students an excellent insight, this is not an insignificant task for the teachers and assistants. Although we are strict in limiting the number of students permitted to join the school, there are still a substantial number of students attending on a weekly basis. Indeed, we recently opened more classes in Dulwich as ... | | |
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| Deep into the nervous system… | | Si-Fu's Blog
| By Si- Fu onWednesday, June 02, 2010 | |
| Good morning. It has now been 5 weeks since the world record attempt took place and the students are gradually beginning to recuperate fully from the training. Whilst this may seem surprisingly long time, it is not all together unexpected. This kind of serious, concentrated training goes deep into the nervous system and affects the whole body. The recovery time is, of course, smaller when a complete rest is taken, but that would defeat the whole object of training so hard… The balance between rest and maximum training is a hard one, and for professional athletes it is a fine line that takes many years to find. Despite, inevitability, having a numbness in muscles, training is in many ways the best thing for the body after such an event, but only if you can ensure ... | | |
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| Something worth dying for... | | Si-Fu's Blog
| By Si- Fu onThursday, May 06, 2010 | |
| Good morning. I have a number of quite interesting points that I would like to discuss regarding recent events. However, these will take place in following posts as today is an important day, being Election Day. I am not interested in discussing politics or even an analysis of the policies of the various parties. It is the prerogative and responsibility of each individual to find out and make a decision according to what each person believes is right. Indeed, it has long been the tradition of a martial arts master to be neutral; people of all beliefs, backgrounds and religions should be able to train together united by the art, but free to hold their own private opinions without subject to undue influence. While I certainly hold my own opinions, this is not the ... | | |
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| A different kind of marathon... | | Si-Fu's Blog
| By Si- Fu onSunday, May 02, 2010 | |
| Bruised, battered and quietly shattered… but nevertheless elated. It was a dignified, jubilant atmosphere that swept across the room after the students completed the record breaking 29 hours of continuous training last Sunday afternoon. It was certainly a poignant moment; the participants had seen the sun set, the sun rise and the following afternoon gradually disappear. This has an unusual effect on anyone but particularly when you have been standing on your feet for so long, let alone physically training non-stop. What made the occasion so exceptional however, was not so much the record itself, but the events that lead up to it. In particular, none of the participants had had anything in the way of preparation training for the event. This would normally be ill ... | | |
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| Record Attempt | | Si-Fu's Blog
| By Si- Fu onThursday, April 22, 2010 | |
| Good morning. This week sees the highly anticipated commencement of two special events. The first, starting tonight, is the Chi-Dan-Sau seminar. The second, starting Saturday (and also encompasses part of the first) is the world record attempt to raise money for charity. Regular readers will know I have written a brief précis about the Chi-Dan-Sau seminar already, but I will elaborate a little more. While seeming a rather innocuous subject, it is of significant importance for disciples of the art of Wing Tsun. Not leas ... | | |
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