What do you "Need" from Wing Chun?

[kj]

Our discussions and debates naturally have a lot of unexamined assumptions buried in them. It dawned on me that one such assumtion is the notion of "needs." I am very interested in your respective thoughts on this. Here are a few spur questions:


What do you need from Wing Chun?
In contrast to needs, what do you want from Wing Chun?
Which of these needs and wants do you expect Wing Chun will or can fulfill for you?
Is fulfilling some of these needs and wants beyond the scope of Wing Chun?
Is there something else in the martial arts realm which may better meet the stated needs or wants?
Are there things outside the realm of Wing Chun or other martial arts which may meet the needs or wants as sufficiently or perhaps even more effectively?
Is your reason for practicing Wing Chun really out of need or for other reasons?
Considering the cost/benefit tradeoffs and especially the considerable time investment martial arts training requires, are there more pressing needs that Wing Chun or martial arts in general cannot adequately or efficiently fulfill?
What is your real incentive and motivation for investing so much (time, energy, $$$$$, emotions, etc.) in Wing Chun?


Thanks in advance for any of your thoughts, and for entertaining my contemplative questions.

Regards,
- Kathy Jo

[PaulH]

Kathy,

I'm not sure if it is a need to me. WC is like a refreshing spring where you can forget about the world for a moment and immerse in its charming simplicity. It opens you up to things hidden from your repressed anxiety, fear, and blind ignorance. It excites you and hence I keep coming back to it for the sheer joy of enjoyment.

Regards,

[Ernie]

kathy
from wing chun i need nothing . it is but one of the many things i do
from wing chun i want nothing it can not give or recieve it is just a formula for training
but from training i gain everything , not just wing chun but all the training i do in the gym,sparring ,running ,bikeing , hikeing and so on ,
these things teach me about me and others and how i chose to relate to others .
if i never did a tan sau again i wouldn't miss it '' in fact i might finally be free of these curesed structural limitations'' but if i stopped training then i would feel the need for something.

[Ultimatewingchun]

I "need" to know that this art that I do (Wing Chun) will enable me to adequately defend myself, my family, friends - possibly even a stranger - against a violent attack, should such a self defense situation arise...

I COULD have also said that I need the following things from Wing Chun also: physical conditioning, focus, concentration skills, increased internal energy for better health, a better sense of ethics and protocol, etc...

but all of those things can be gained from other endeavors (ie. - weightlifting, jogging, yoga, meditation, Qi gong, Taoist or Buddhist philosophy)...So the point is the one thing that Wing Chun offers that these other things don't is SELF DEFENSE TRAINING...

So for me the self defense aspect of Wing Chun is the primary purpose for doing it...and for me adequate self defense training must indeed be....adequate (REALISTIC)...otherwise I'm defeating the whole purpose for doing it.

[yuanfen]

KJ- What do I need from wing chun? Patience- while I keep on climbing the wing chun mountain!

[TjD]

i need it to give me the ability to give me more hours in the day, so i can practice more :D

[sel]

these days i tend to ask myself "what does wing chun need from me?" rather than what i need from it. i know that through learning wing chun i have reaped benefits that far outweigh my initial motivation of learning self defense. because i now highly value having these things in my life i could say that i need them.
better knowlege of myself and other people
continual challenge and goal acheivements, concentration skills, r patience, posture, relaxation, focus, self confidence..etc etc

what i want is for these things to keep improving as long as i live. there are probably things that i could do which would have the same benefits, but wouldn't be as fun or fascinating to me as wing chun.

as long as i keep feeling satisfied by all these beneficial gains of training in wing chun i will keep at it. ultimately i think my motivation is to be the best i can possibly be and know that i did my best to acheive it.

thanks kj, nice questions.

[burnsypoo]

I need progression.
Stagnation sucks.

[RedSkaNite]

I don't need anything from Wing Tsun. I took it up because it offered everything I was looking for in one simple package. Health, flexibility, knowledge, challenge, focus, stress relief...all in a form that I know will stay interesting to me for years.

To be honest, the last thing on my mind is the self defense aspect. I have realized that EVERY fight I have ever been in in my entire life I could have walked away from.