Greetings.
On 16th, 17th and 18th November I will be teaching a seminar on the subject of Chi-Sau. It is one of the most famous parts of Wing Tsun, and it is unique in the martial arts. As this is a topic that requires more training than talking I’m not going to converse at length about it. However, as it is often misunderstood I do wish to say a few words.
The most common misunderstanding in Chi-Sau is its purpose. I have heard so many disparate views that it would be impossible to relate them all here. However, one of the most common ‘criticisms’ is that it is ‘not realistic for fighting.’ While I would have to agree with this statement it completely misses the point – it is a training method not a fighting style. Its aim is to improve your fighting – but not to enable to fight with its actual method. As I keep stating, it is very hard to get a desired result if you do not know the purpose of your actual training methods. In an attempt to rely a simplified purpose of Chi-Sau to the readers I will state its purpose as thus: training to allow the development of automatic reflexes that are able to react to any stimuli without prior conscious thought.
You don’t need Chi-Sau to be a good fighter, and Chi-Sau alone will not make you a good fighter – but without it you can never be an excellent one. Furthermore, you can never be a true master; it is a way of ensuring that your reflexes are honed to the highest possible level.
The Chi-Sau training consists of a number of different sections. This leads to a lot of confusion between Wing Tsun practitioners, as again the purpose of each section is normally not known. Essentially, each section teaches a different reflex reaction and is trying to achieve a different purpose. I have to say that nowadays it is rare to find anyone, masters or students, who actually know the correct number of sections. Knowing why we have this certain number of sections is crucial as it allows you to understand the overall aim of the sections – you can see the bigger picture. In this way, the number of section is directly related to the purpose. You need to remember – in Wing Tsun everything is there for a reason… Of course I will be teaching all this and more at the seminar.
To summarise, I believe that the main problems that students (and masters) face, therefore, when training Chi- Sau:
1. Lack of understanding, knowledge and principles of Chi-Sau. They have a few basic concepts, but the most advanced are simply not known.
2. An extremely high percentage of those that do have reasonable knowledge do not know how to train what they have. You can have the most expensive car, but it is useless unless you know how to drive it…
Both these are crucial, as one without the other renders the training inadequate. But overall you need to understand the Wing Tsun is a personal martial art. It has rules and principles but you must apply them in the way that suits you best. This doesn’t mean changing the system – it means understanding yourself and the art better. Simply copying a teacher is not enough; it has to become part of your body. As always, I am eternally grateful to my Sifu for his kindness and compassion and guidance in this matter – few, if any masters, take such time to give such detailed personal tuition. I only hope that I can be such a master for my to-dai.
Sifu
Ps I will be teaching students according to their levels and abilities in this seminar. This is to ensure that everyone is able to achieve the maximum benefit from their training. There will be a lot of information, hard work and sweat – but not only do I think it will be worthwhile, I believe it will be really enjoyable.