Good afternoon.

 

The teaching of the Biu Jee seminar last week was, without doubt, one of the most enjoyable seminars I have ever taught (and certainly the most tiring!!). Im sure that it will be remembered for a long time by those that attended.

 

However, it’s quite interesting that quite a few people do not really understand the purpose of having seminars at all, so I though that I would say a little about it. Im afraid I can only talk here about the schools under me here (and my Sifu’s) as the reasons differ quite radically from master to master, but I believe seminars have a key part to play in both the development of an individual and mastering the art of Wing Tsun.

 

The way that my seminars are conducted is that they are taught  by specific themes or specialised area of the Wing Tsun system. Although with regular, hard training of the art it is possible to achieve a good level of self defence within even one year (which has been proved not only by my students, but other masters around the world) – the depth of the art is such that it takes many years to both master and learn. Due to this, it is simply not possible to teach everything in regular classes.

 

The seminars, therefore, generally either look at new areas of the Wing Tsun system that the students won’t have covered before (such as the Biu Jee form) or look in more depth and understanding at existing parts of the student (or instructor) syllabus. This can be seen by the seminars that I have already taught this year on: defence against weapons (not taught specifically on the Wing Tsun syllabus), defence against multiple assailants (not taught until the master levels) and the Biu Jee form. The seminars allow a large amount of information to be covered – from the philosophy to understanding of how the techniques work and how to apply them. In this last seminar one of my instructors even took 25 pages of notes (despite having attended my first seminar on the Biu Jee!)

 

Crucially what the seminars allow is for students to have an intensive training period over a relatively short time. For a person to effectively develop their reflexes, muscular endurance, strength and speed they must be able to use (and understand) the correct body mechanics. If a person only trains a few hours a week this can take a long time to develop; but in a seminar the person is physically pushed to find the appropriate method. Normally a person will stop when their muscles hurt (often because they are using completely the wrong muscles) but this sort of training means that the body naturally finds the easiest way for the muscles to apply the techniques – which 90% of the times is the right way. This kind of intensive training is particularly important when most people need to break bad habits they have developed over the years. The seminars are also structured to allow the maximum benefit without meaning that you are unable to do anything else (held in the evening on weekdays and finishing at 3.30pm on Saturdays).

 

In the Biu Jee seminar the students trained for 15 hours. This was in periods of non-stop training of either 2 or 2 ½ hours - and by the end everyone looked like they had been swimming! (the photos will be in the gallery soon). Although this may not sound the most pleasant method of training, it is the most effective. It was absolutely amazing for me to see how much the people had developed over the four days. Although I have taught many seminars, this was actually the first four day seminar in this format that I had personally conducted. Even the students who had only been training Wing Tsun for one week had changed completely in their understanding, movements and outlook. It was one of the nicest things you can see as a teacher, and makes you feel that despite all the hard work (and lack of sleep!) you wouldn’t change it for anything.

 

It should also be noted that the seminars are a challenge, both mentally and physically – particularly when a grading is conducted after all the training. Almost all the students also went on to grade – which took a further 2 ½ hours (we did not finish until after 6pm on Sunday having started the day at 10am). Each student was tested non-stop during this time with no break; to pass in these conditions is not at all easy. All of them should feel proud of their achievements, as they truly earned the new level. 

 

 Sifu