Your Training

[wingchunner]

1.) How long are your classes that you train Wing Chun at?
2.) What percentage of that class is spent on forms training?
3.) What percentage of that class is spent on sensitivity training?
4.) What percentage of that class is spent on training with the instructor or with senior students?
5.) How much time do you spend practicing outside of class?

Just curious.


1.) Our classes are 3 - 4 hours long up to 4X a week
2.) Only about 8% of the class is spent on forms training, maybe more for beginners.
3.) 80% of the class is spent on sensitivity training
4.) Varies from class to class, approximately 30% or more
5.) Varies, but at least 45 min. a day, but I make it high quality training.

Have a great day,
Marty

[Gandolf269]

My normal class meets 2 times a week for 1hour each session.
1. About 25% of time is spent on forms training.
2. About 25% of time is spent on chi sau (I am only at the Dan Chi Sau level right now).
3. By working with my Sifu or Sihings, are you talking about the drills where we actually touch hands with our instructor? If so, I would guess 5% of the time with Sifu and 15-20% with Sihings. But my Sifu runs every class, so his interaction with the class is 100%. He walks around from group to group making corrections and giving input the whole time.
4. I also take a class at the community college that is taught by my senior Sihing. This class meets once a week for 1 hr. 45 mins.
Outside of that I would guess about 30 minutes a day (averaged out over the 4 remaining days). Some days I don't work out, other days I'll work out about an hour.

WingChunner,
Do you take individual/private type lessons out of someones house? The reason I ask is that your class time(s) seem pretty open ended and open, and it seems that most classes if taken at a Kwoon are more rigid in the scheduling.

[gnugear]

We meet twice a week for 2-3 hours (depending on who stays late).

15 min of warmup
15 min of Sil Lum Tao
15 - 30 min doing turning and stepping drills

Rest of the time is single hand, chi sao, sparring.

I try to fit in 30 min a day of my own training.

[IronFist]

Only about 8% of the class is spent on forms training, maybe more for beginners.
3.) 80% of the class is spent on sensitivity training
4.) Varies from class to class, approximately 30% or more


Awesome! Your guys' classes are 118% long! :D

IronFist

[OdderMensch]

thats the kind of crap tht crops up if you don't have an instructor! ;) (reread question 4)

[wingchunner]

>Only about 8% of the class is spent on forms training, maybe more for beginners.
>3.) 80% of the class is spent on sensitivity training
>4.) Varies from class to class, approximately 30% or more

>Awesome! Your guys' classes are 118% long!

I can see how you got 118%, but there is some overlap (that you missed)...
80% of the time is spent on sensitivity training AND with senior students/instructor. It is important to work with senior students AND the instructor on a regular basis so you can be challenged to increase your skill to a higher level. For me, I am a senior student and our school is relatively new to the immediate area (though in a larger region we have been around for over a decade) so many of the students that are there are beginners, or intermediate level students. So, for me my percentage is lower with working with students with a high skill level.
So, for a beginner just coming in, working with more senior students with sensitivity training would be at 100% of that 80% of the time that we spend on sensitivity training.

I think it is important for senior students to work with beginning students because you revisit the material/techniques that you begin with which reinforces your basics and may give you a stronger understanding of the basics, which, with that stronger foundation, makes your advanced skills better.

For the person that had questions as to my training ->
I do attend some private sessions with my instructor, but currently that is limited. A student, if they're willing to travel does have the ability to take 3 classes at one location, and up to 4 classes if they are willing to attend at the other location. Also, I am limited to the classes that I am able to take because of several reasons: 1) proximity -> it's about 50 miles away and it takes about an hour to get there (one way), 2) my wife is due with our first child here shortly and my wife needs me to be home for support (and in case we need to go straight to the hospital, 3) my job (and my wife's job) doesn't allow me (us) an over abuntance of time to attend class and grow in my relationship (with my wife/family). It is important for me to cultivate my relationship with my wife and make that stronger so she supports my study of martial arts. I have found that without that support, my martial arts suffers somewhat because of an internal 'battle' with myself; knowing that I don't have the blessing of my wife to be at class. Without that battle, my mind is free to focus on my training. And, with a clearer mind and conscience I can absorb more of what my instructor has to show me. It's easier for things to flow (i.e.- information) when there's not something clogging it up.:) It's more readily absorbed and released.

This is important also because it (good personal/family relationships) allows for relationships within the class to develop and grow. So, we students are very supportive of each other. We want our beginners to grow because it helps us grow. It's mutually beneficial. I studied other martial arts where the students were in competition with each other, beginners had to prove themselves by trying to best the advanced students while advanced students had to beat the beginning students down to 'keep their status' of being an advanced student and not lose face. It's a clash of egos. Contrast that with the class that I am now where we support and help each other from beginning student to instructor. It's a beautiful system, and I love it. Instead of training with an opponent/adversary who is always trying to best you or beat you down, you're trying to help each other out. It feels like a functional family while you're there working your butt off. And if you get your lip cut, nose bleed, bruise, etc. there isn't a flair of temper, because you realize that the person that you're working with is trying their best to train and help you train and an accident/mistake on either party's part may have occured and there's no hard feelings, at all. Accidents/mistakes happen. Rather, the attitude is more of, "thank you for showing that weakness in my training." Or, "I'm really sorry about that, I'll try to control myself better." It's something that if you haven't experienced in your class/training, then you really have to, in order to experience and understand it. It's refreshing and beautiful, and the way I believe it's meant to be.

Marty:)