Perhaps you're wondering why the title of this post? Well its just how my mind has been operating since restarting classes again following the Covid 19 situation and an influx of past and new students trying out what we teach.
Just as a wide eyed, 17 year old might sit with his mates one evening and watch one of the many "Fast and Furious" franchise films, feel his heart rate rise, get absorbed in the excitement and special effects and state afterwards... "Man, I must start learning to drive so I can do this myself by next year!!!"...they take the steps needed, pry money (lots of it) off nervous yet supportive parents and book themselves in...very shortly the reality hits...
They are not in a high speed chase in a designer sports vehicle with long legged blonde ladies or fit bronzed men depending on their persuasion....they are sitting in a Vauxhall Corsa with Brenda, 58, stuttering around an industrial estate in second gear and struggling to even take that in
In Wing Chun terms people join classes for a variety of reasons from self defence ideologies to self improvement, to confidence issues or a Bruce Lee fixation or simply a hobby that seems different..all are fine and to be expected as we all started for one or all of these reasons but again the reality soon hits that you have to stay fairly static and learn to release tension and relax into the actions and partner exercises you are learning - it is not "Fight Club", nor is it professional MMA or a 6 week self defence immersion money making scheme - you have entered a lifelong process of self discovery, development, higher state of consciousness, solo practice, tolerance, self discipline and a whole host of frustration along the path - it is not just kicking and punching and nothing ever worthwhile happens overnight (kung fu - a skill of time spent and effort)
Just like a new Shaolin disciple who thinks they will be flipping and twirling over buildings and learning 18 new weapons forms - the reality is they have to sit in a low horse stance for possibly a few years before much else is taught, by then they will have shown they are physically and mentally committed enough to be taught - saying "Nah mate..I just wanna punch and kick stuff" clearly wont flush
In a podcast I listened to the other week the master with over 40 years training stated "If you want to learn a Traditional Japanese system you are looking at 3 hours per day in the Dojo - 5-6 days a week for years, often twice per day...in Traditional Chinese Martial arts being a family type make up they are built around practice forms, dummy, weapon's and solo training that you learn in class or private, take away to work on and then meet up with the club family during the week to practice and keep the family strong (as one of my Chu Shong Tin teachers said for them class is where you have you homework marked and develop the next layer of skill) its not a supermarket where you pick and choose what you like and neglect the other stuff that doesn't appeal.
I'm also fully aware that time is a precious commodity these days, people are busy and stressed and pressured and their hobby takes a back seat so honestly do have empathy for those trying to learn - setting a 10 minute a day training habit is a start - nowhere near enough ideally but better than nothing, attending class as often as possible is also key - out of 168 hours a week if you have such a disorganised life that you cant spare 2 -4 hours something is very wrong or you have to accept that hobbies and martial arts aren't for you - those people certainly wont have Netflix or Facebook as they haven't even got 10 minutes.
So the fantasy and reality title is quite self explanatory - forget the bigger picture and questions of how to deal with the myriad of street attackers which haven't attacked you or anyone you know for the last 15 years or becoming the next Bruce Lee, face the reality with an open mind, work on yourself, strive to be consistent and better than you were last week in your chosen martial practice and many of those questions will be answered by your experience in training - you may even get some Bruce Lee type skills???
Class wise we have a new location on a Wednesday evening at The Stevenson Centre, Sudbury, several new students and returning students as well as some who learn with me privately and the class feel is generally good when we get consistency of attendance - we are working the Siu Nim Tau level of Chu Sau Lei Wing Chun and Chinese Boxing syllabus and I am working through a simple to follow Beginners introduction for new starters to provide a wider look into what's to come and give them at least a spark of that excitement that they probably signed up for.
Learning and training for me has been as consistent as ever (since I started in the 90's actually as that what I was told is needed)- I do some training daily on top of teaching 4 or 5 sessions a week and this might be running, squats/deadlifts, form and standing practice, wooden dummy, heavy bag rounds, shadow boxing, footwork, weapons on top of online learning via Alan Orr Sifu's courses and aim to get my own private lessons in again when I have the funds from teaching to pay for it - learning never stops.
Why not join us?
