Well, another training year is coming to an end and Id like to thank all the students that have continued to put in the hard work and regular attendance in the Sudbury and Bury St Edmunds Wing Chun sessions in 2017as well as the private students who put that extra time into their learning.
We have had some regular longer term students cease training this year and also some new faces eager to learn start to join us with also some that had left, return again to the fold in both locations.
With my extra work commitments that I have taken on since September the pressure is off to chase people constantly to attend on a regular enough basis to enable me to get some true momentum and progression in the classes.
Although this has in turn allowed me to focus on the dedicated students who turn up week in week out and put the time in to make the club stronger and provide solid training partners for others coming in to learn and develop their own Wing Chun.
This year we have also taken our first real tentative steps into sparring and will continue to explore this in the new year in a variety of ways from empty hand Chi Sau based drills to pad fed and partner live sparring work using small and large gloves with also the option of additional protective gear to pressure test and explore the concepts in training as this develops past the basics.
The Sudbury training shed also now has a wall mounted Wooden Dummy that has been utilised in many of the midweek sessions and I will also be offering "Small group or Individual Intensive Training" opportunities on this area of Wing Chun (as well as others) in the spring of 2018.
These will be 2 or 4 hour sessions depending on the subject matter and a great way to get a comprehensive insight into some of the key training areas that dont always get the time allocation required in class.
In April there will be a small monthly Tuition Fee increase as this hasn't happened for over a decade and in fact prices have gone down in that time period which doesn't provide me with financial security to pay hall fees/travel expenses should people not bother to turn up or pay on time/set the compulsory standing order payment up etc. I admit I have been laid back about this in the past and will also change come April. More details to come next year but I teach more out of passion for the art than financial gain as you all know so the increase wont break the bank and we will still be well under what many other Wing Chun club charges to learn the system .
On a final note our last Bury St Edmunds session is this afternoon (December 17th) and Sudbury still has Monday 18th and Wednesday 20th as their final sessions.
Private tuition will be available up until and including Saturday 23rd December in Sudbury by contacting me directly to arrange.
I wish you all a very happy Christmas and lets try and hit the ground with the right training mindset from the start of the new year to improve our standard and practice in our personal Wing Chun journey. January will be a big focus on old school type drilling of the core basics, forms, footwork, functionality and coordination exercises alongside the usual Chi Sau and Sparring that have been present in the last few months.
Merry Christmas to all!!!
Sifu Paul
