First grading

[couch]

Remember your first grading for Level 1??

Were you nervous?

I've sinced switched styles from Kenpo Karate to Wing Chun. I can't even remember whether I was nervous or not at my first belt grading for Karate!!

It got easier over time...plus I was practically paying for my belts.

I know that other people who aren't as skilled as me have passed, but ya know!! ...I'm still nervous.

This is real Kung-Fu!

Peace.

Couch

[Atleastimnotyou]

sounds like it sucks.... im glad we don't have any testing or levels or anything

[Mr. Bao]

Couch:

Good luck with your grading. Not to be disrepectful or anything to you or your school. I understand that some wing chun have created a rank system due to various reasons which I can understand but disagree with.

However, I must inform you that traditionally wing chun had no ranking/ grading systems. In the Yip Man's line the rank you had all depended on who started before you or after you. It was based on a status of a family tree. With this mentioned, please keep in mind that rank in itself doesn't always represent skill and your older brother doesn't always have all the answers. However, it safe to say that it is good to listen and respect your elders.


Bao

[Atleastimnotyou]

Originally posted by Mr. Bao
Couch:
In the Yip Man's line the rank you had all depended on who started before you or after you.
Bao

Mr. Bao,

That is not true, here is what Yip Man has been quoted as saying: "Yip Man, always said: "Haak mo sien hao, dat jea wai si" - In case you or your teacher can’t speak Cantonese, it means "Regardless of who starts first; ability decides seniourity in Wing Chun. " "

Just thought you'd fined that interesting

Corey

[anerlich]

However, I must inform you that traditionally wing chun had no ranking/ grading systems.

If you subscribe to some of the legends of its history and you want to be REALLY ULTRA traditional, traditionally Wing Chun had no 6.5 point pole and was only taught to women (Ng Mui teaching Yim Wing Chun). Change isn't always a bad thing, is it?

Gradings should be challenging, and some apprehension is a natural reaction. Good luck.

As Royce Gracie said "A belt covers two inches of your a$$. You need to cover the rest."

[anerlich]

"Regardless of who starts first; ability decides seniourity in Wing Chun. "


In the Yip Man's line the rank you had all depended on who started before you or after you.

Looks like opinions vary, which may explain why so many claim to be Yip Man's rightful successor!

As a succession planner, Yip Man made a great Wing Chun fighter.


In case you or your teacher can’t speak Cantonese

BZZZZT! I detect a snide put down attempt here. I'd suggest that, as far as WC ability is concerned, the ability to speak Cantonese as well as English does little other than to allow one to mouth-box multilingually. My instructor is a gwailo, I'm glad he spent more time training than he did learning a second language.

[Mr. Bao]

Corey

Greetings and good health, my teaher is does speak cantonese and he was born in Canton, China. lol

Corey, you are right in saying what you say but it is out of context. What Yip Man was trying to convey the idea that rank of anything sorts was meaningless, but skill is what people should focus on. Please remember what Sibak Bruce Lee's said, "a belt is only good to hold up a pant." I guess Bruce lee remember what the old man taught him.

Now if You read my post more closely you have got that the same
idea. Regardless, if my junior was better than me he or she still has to acknowledge that I started before he or she and respect me and likwise for me. It is part of the martial virtue of kung fu.

Bao

[kieofwoo]

Good luck Couch, just relax and remember to breath ;)

[anerlich]

Yeah, Couch, what kieofwoo said.

Tell us how you go. Who do you train with?

[Atleastimnotyou]

anerlich:
A snide put down atempt?? did you even bother to read the quotation marks? It means that i didn't say that, someone else did. I was taking a quote from an article! sheesh.

Mr Bao:
I know what Yip Man was trying to convey... that is why i posted it. you were the one talking about rank, not me. I know rank is unimportant. you were the one talking about rank being in wing chun, not me.
....Glad that is straightened out.

"Regardless, if my junior was better than me he or she still has to acknowledge that I started before he or she and respect me..." ok, you started before "him," why does when you started matter if "he" is better?

[anerlich]

The quotation marks were NOT around :

in case you or your teacher can't speak Cantonese

you said THAT, boyo.

Mr Bao seemed to want to refute it, so maybe you need to consider your prose more carefully lest people take you the wrong way ... assuming that they in fact did.

I don't mind being corrected, but it works better when I actually got something wrong.

[Atleastimnotyou]

Originally posted by Atleastimnotyou


Mr. Bao,

That is not true, here is what Yip Man has been quoted as saying: "Yip Man, always said: "Haak mo sien hao, dat jea wai si" - In case you or your teacher can’t speak Cantonese, it means "Regardless of who starts first; ability decides seniourity in Wing Chun. " "

Just thought you'd fined that interesting

Corey

Anerlich,
See the quotes right before "Yip Man"? and the ones at the end?
just checking.. cuz that means i didn't say any of that. it means that i am quoting a guy who is quoting Yip Man.

Thanks

[couch]

Thanks for all the support!!

I train under William Cheung's lineage.

My teacher was William's student.

So nobody else here has levels?? I've seen lots of schools on the net with a Level 1-10 structure.

You see, my teacher wants me to move on to the next levels, but I don't feel I'm ready yet. I really believe that I should perfect what I know before moving on.

His reasoning is: Why do Level 1, 2, and 3 knowledge at a Level (say) 10 Level? Let that come with time and when you reach that level...

He doesn't want me to stagnate either...

This is a good discussion!!

[S.Teebas]

..if my junior was better than me he or she still has to acknowledge that I started before he or she..

Can you explain this a bit further please. I dont understand what you mean. How do you expect your junior to acknowledge that you started before he/she? Is there a ritual?

I mean seriously, you should respect everyone in your school (unless they disprect you), but the main factor must be skill. I know my Sifu hasn't been practicing as long as some of her students and she get the most repect becasue of hard work.

Do you feel you are owed respect for paying class fees for 20 years?

[S.Teebas]

You sound like you have a good attitude towards training!

Train till YOU are happy with your skill, not till some says 'thats good enough'. But i must say, alot of MA schools give you your first grading as long as your not totally wrong.

[anerlich]

OK, my mistake.

So the person you were quoting is the put-down artiste, not you. Is he anyone of note, or just another nameless poster on the internet?

I apologize. If I was a smarta$$, I'd tell you that single quotes should be nested inside double, but I'm not that pedantic a typist myself.

Peace.

[anerlich]

Couch,

I am from TWC lineage as well, my teacher is Rick Spain.

FWIW, NOBODY leapfrogs gradings in our school. WE've had a fair few people that had years in another MA(s) before they joined. I did myself. I'm gald I started at the bottom and had to work for everything as hard as everybody else.

I've done my 10th level and one beyond that as well ... but I tell ya, I still got the butterflies when I went for my first BJJ stripe on the white belt.

[Frank Exchange]

>> So the person you were quoting is the put-down artiste, not you. Is he anyone of note, or just another nameless poster on the internet? <<

To be honest, there is nothing in the quotation that indicates it is a put down attempt. It could very well be a quote from a teacher, who happens to understand cantonese, and knows that the majority of his audience does not.

The quotation itself is identical to something Wong Shun Leung used to say, namely, it is not how senior you are that is important, it is how good you are.

Dave Petersen, a WSL lineage teacher who sometimes posts here, and who speaks fluent Cantonese and Mandarin, might very well do the same. It would not be a put down, simply a courtesy.

[anerlich]

A lot of people might do a lot of things for a lot of reasons.

WSL was speaking for himself, not quoting Yip Man, assuming you are paraphrasing what he said correctly. I think WSL was right, not that my opinion matters a lot.

You quoted WSL, and the other guy with the long name quoted *somebody* quoting Yip Man. I'm so excited (that quote I attribute to red5angel).

Couch, good luck once again.

[Mr. Bao]

STee

Everyone should respect each other this obvious and good, but no matter how good or great our skills get we shouldn't mistreat or disrespect those ahead or below you. That is what I meant.

E.g., If I became wealthier than my father or even my older brothers, I should never forget where i came from and what my older brothers and father gave me. It all comes down family values and knowing your source.

Bao

[jesper]

Dont all lineages have some kind of grading?
Some has formal grades while others dont.

Or are you telling me that you can pick and choose what to learn next.

The problem is not in the grading itself, the problem is in the way many people (beginners especially) views the grades. Well thats my oppinion anyway.

[Atleastimnotyou]

there is no grading in our class. when our teacher thinks a stundent is good enough to learn something else, he will teach it to him.

[John Weiland]

Originally posted by Atleastimnotyou
there is no grading in our class. when our teacher thinks a stundent is good enough to learn something else, he will teach it to him.
Hi Corey,

There is no need for a grading system, because the hands tell the tale. Seniority is based on skill, not subjective judgements. As soon as you've touched their hands, you can tell if they have good wing chun.

Regards,

[Rolling_Hand]

Quote:
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There is no need for a grading system, because the hands tell the tale. Seniority is based on skill, not subjective judgements. As soon as you've touched their hands, you can tell if they have good wing chun. -John Weiland
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<no need for a grading system>

John Wayne was only a cowboy!

I didn't know he was the original Yoda Yoda!

[Hendrik]

John,

Rolling Hand = Rice bow Hand :(
the truth will cause his rice bow.
So, let's stop posting now.

Amitaba Buddha
The sea of suffering never ended.
Amitaba Buddha.

[Martial Joe]

To S. Teebas...its never good enough.

[Matrix]

Originally posted by John Weiland
There is no need for a grading system, because the hands tell the tale. Seniority is based on skill, not subjective judgements. Gradings are not "subjective judgements". They are very objective, and touching hands is part of the process. Of course seniority is based on skill, unless you are going through some sort of belt factory. Conversely, just because a school does not have a grading system do not assume that it has more skilled practitioners.

Matrix

[anerlich]

Matrix is correct.

Arguably what happens when you "touch hands" can be just as subjective if not more. Just look at the different stories regarding the Cologne incident.

Gradings are not essential, but neither their presence or absence from a syllabus guarantees quality, good or poor.