Good afternoon.
The unique atmosphere of seminars has always held a particular attraction for me as both a teacher and a student; the combination of intense learning with intense training is hard to surpass. The Summer Seminar had all this and more; the mixture of outstanding progression by the students, along with dynamic Wing Tsun material was simply compelling. Even the teachers remarked that is hard to remember a seminar that developed the level of the students so fast in only 5 days.
Unless you attended it is hard to accurately describe the seminar’s ambience. Even on a day when England (woefully!) played Germany in the Football World Cup there was a room full eager students, just waiting to learn. Combine this with soaring temperatures outside and there was every reason to be absent, but the students kept on turning up...
The knowledge of the students that attended is certainly way above their level – I find it hard to imagine being a Grade 1 or 2 student yet being permitted to learn selected applications from Biu Jee. Add this to material from the Wooden Dummy (a ‘secret’ I was never permitted to even see, let along learn as a Western Wing Tsun instructor) and the Saam Sing Chong and you have a remarkable syllabus.
Not only is the material taught rare within the Wing Tsun/Ving Tsun/Wing Chun community, but so is the dedication to spend time training and understanding it to make it work. It should be noted that content of the seminar is only one important part – knowledge is only useful if you can apply it. The best teaching programme should always develop both equally as it is the combination of knowledge and application which distinguishes those who ‘talk’ from those who ‘do’. This is a universal teaching in life, not just the martial arts. Indeed, an excellent example of this is the law. Learning legal text books will not make someone a lawyer (and are actually not even enough to pass the professional exams).
The seminar concluded with a 2½ hour recap of the main material taught. The students pushed themselves to the limit, with every person finishing drenched in sweat, literally dripping wet head to foot (and this was the 2nd t-shirt change of the day...). So hot was the room that even the camera of professional photographer gave him a heat warning – the first in his career!
And then the grading began...
Sifu