Good morning.
Today is the first day of the Biu Jee seminar…
On separate point, I am aware that my last few posts have used quite a number of superlatives, but the last few weeks have genuinely been quite remarkable. And on Wednesday last week something truly exceptional happened.
Following my recent trip abroad my days were ever busier than normal. It was in the midst of rushing between various errands, which I had to complete before teaching, that I came across a rather expensive car slanted across the road. There is nothing unusual about this as accidents frequently occur, but something about this particular situation seemed a little odd. Having turned around to see if I could be of assistance (although by no means an expert in cars) it turned out the person had managed to blow out a front and rear tyre and that the engine would not start. (Please do note that you do need to be very careful if you do go to help in situations like this as there have been a number of muggings and thefts that have occurred from faked breakdowns). It then further turned out that not only did that person not have any breakdown cover, but his mobile phone was not working. Certainly not a good start to the day!! After a few minutes of fruitlessly trying to move the seized car out of the road, I then spent the next 15 minutes trying to arrange a (affordable) local breakdown service to take him and his damaged car home. After this was finally settled, and a truck on the way, I said goodbye and go in my car to leave. It was then that this extraordinary event occurred; as I went to drive off the person then bowed to me. What makes this so unexpected is that not once had we talked about martial arts. He did not have my card and I was not wearing my master’s uniform- just a pair of old teaching trousers, a non-martial arts top and a zip of top from my school. As he came from quite far away it is also highly unlikely he had heard of me. It could have been anyone helping – not only a master - but somehow he knew. It was as my Sifu first told me when I started training with him ‘a master is far more than simply wearing a different coloured uniform.’
Never in all my time in the martial arts as both a student and master have I ever even heard of, let alone personally experienced, something like this happening in Western Europe (and even with my existing students it is quite often a struggle to get them to understand the etiquette of Wing Tsun). In China - yes (and I have seen this many times happen to my Sifu in Hungary) - but in this rather competitive, consumer European society… never. This was not punching a person, this was not kicking a person, this was not breaking bones – but what happened here was the soul of martial arts.
I have to say it also touched me personally; it is a clear illustration of how the Wing Tsun philosophies can make a difference to people’s live. What is the point of being highly educated, successful or even just charming if you cannot spend a little bit of time helping another human being even though it is not convenient to you? It seems that sometimes people need a gentle reminder that it’s a lot easier to be a good fighter or successful businessman than to be a good human being.
The last few weeks just show that if you really believe in what you do, and actually stick with your principles good things do come back to you. I think that it’s also important to understand as a practitioner that the nobility of Wing Tsun, and indeed the whole system comes from inside; not from any grade or piece of paper that you hold.
Sifu