Good morning.

 

The details about the Montenegro trip in July are now being finalised (for the revised dates see Calendar of Events). I chose the location of Montenegro because, having visited fairly recently, I found it be both beautiful and rather undiscovered. Although it will be busier when we are going (being holiday season) the place where we will be staying sits between mountains and the Mediterranean, setting up a spectacular backdrop. And as I have mentioned before Wing Tsun and nature have a special relationship…

 

The trip is, in essence, an opportunity for 10 students to spend a week with me, immersing themselves in the art and having 6 days of concentrated training. Although it is a small group I effectively view it as an extended private session so, if I do say so myself, those attending are rather fortunate… Indeed, it is only open to advanced students (although I was persuaded by the teachers to allow 2 basic students to also attend).

 

The aim of the trip is also to allow students a chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday ‘London’ life and simply focus on their training without any distractions or worries. Too many of us give too little focus to the more ‘meditative’ side of life; it is important to sometimes get away so that you can clear you head and view your life from a different perspective without the normal pressures.

 

The tuition will take place for 3 hours in the morning and 3-5 hours in the late afternoon, thereby allowing students a chance to rest during the day (and if they wish, to take private lessons or have extra practice with their training partners). On at least one afternoon I aim to go with the students so that they can see some of the local culture and history. However, I should stress the emphasis is on training; it is not some kind of ‘party holiday’ that seems to be the fashion within the martial arts world at the moment (although I am surprised that people can’t see what a contradiction that is...). I will not accept this attitude for one moment so students should be aware of that now. Enjoying what you do and only doing things for enjoyment are two quite different things…

 

It is not possible for me to say exactly what I will be teaching as this depends on how hard the respective students train before they go and how hard they train when they are out there. However, I can say this: each day there will be intensive training of basics and Chi-Sau. One day will be dedicated to recapping knife defence and one day focused solely on Chinese Wing Tsun sparring. Those students aiming to achieve Technician this year will also learn the material that is required and start the preparations for the exams. For assistants and teachers there will additional teacher training. As many of those going are already personal student of mine, I will probably be spending quite of lot of my ‘free’ time teaching privates as I have had quite a few requests already. In short, there will be a lot of material, much of it exclusive, taught in a short amount of time.

 

Finally, my personal aspiration is for those students who attend to come back as respected role models. I expect them to be able to lead the way both morally and in terms of ability. In fact, it is for this reason that the whole trip including flights and accommodation is priced at less than I charge for my tuition for bodyguards. Contrary to what some people would have you believe, not everything is about money or ‘good business practice’…

 

Sifu

 

Ps If this is something that interests you, I suggest you contact the schools straight away. One place had come available, although you will need to speak to the teachers involved to see if this is still the case.