Toronto and Montreal tournaments

[Patrick Gordon]

Howdy folks,

Did anyone here attend the martial arts tournament in Toronto yesterday? I was judging the wing chun stuff going on, it was quite fun. There is another tournament coming up in Montreal, November 20th. Anyone here thinking of attending?

Patrick Gordon.

[EmptyCup]

THERE WAS A MARTIAL ARTS TOURNEY HERE YESTERDAY?!?!?! AWWWW MAN!!!! HOW COME THERE WAS NO INFO GOING AROUND??? NO FLYERS OR ADVERTISMENTS? WHAT TOURNEY??? I ALWAYS TRY TO KEEP MY EYES PEELED FOR STUFF BUT IT NEVER SEEMS LIKE WE GET ANY IN TO...NOW THERE'S ONE AND I MISSED IT! LIFE SUCKS :(

would you happen to know when the next one is? so did you judge forms or chi sau? chi sau rules are pretty messed up from what i remember of the china rules... :D

[whippinghand]

Where was it and who organized it?

[EmptyCup]

that's what i was asking...in a shorter way :D

[whippinghand]

:rolleyes:

[EmptyCup]

now you know how it feels ;)

[whippinghand]

:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Patrick Gordon]

Howdy folks,

The toronto Competition was orginized by "United Wushu Federation of canada" and "Canadian International Kuoshu & Wushu Federation"
I learned of the event through a friend you teaches Wing Chun through the Sunny Tang line. Aside from my guys, it was all Sunny Tang people from different areas who compeated. Being Toronto, I was hoping to see some other families as well, no such luck.
If anyone will be attending the Montreal Competition, let me know, I will be judging.

Patrick Gordon.

[Patrick Gordon]

Hello Rene and everyone,

Since I will be in Montreal, perhaps we could get together for dinner, dim sum, whatever, just for a visit. I would like to chat, its been a while. I am open to have a bunch of people get together, whatever works. BTW, I hope you can make it to the tournament, get out more man!

Patrick Gordon. P.S. I lost your email address, computer crap again!

[EmptyCup]

Ahhh...I see...

it was a Sunny Tang tourney...I thought I missed a big international tournament with various other martial arts. OK I understand now.

Gordon...did you ever put out a wing chun video? Your name rings a bell...

[Patrick Gordon]

Hello empty cup,

No videos as of yet. I've written a few articles, hosted some seminars. What lineage are you from?

Patrick gordon.

[whippinghand]

How did your students do in the tournament?

What divisions within the WC division were there?

[reneritchie]

Thanks, I'll send you my email.

Rgds,

RR

[EmptyCup]

my main sifu learned from Yip Man

[Patrick Gordon]

Your teacher learned from Yip Man? That would have been my first guess. Can't you just say his name?

The two students that entered were at Siu Lim Tao level. The one at 10 months won the gold at chi sau which was great. He had never seen a chi sau match and he hadn't trained for it because he entered at the last minute. He was also the smallest person to enter as well as the lease amount of training...he learns fast! The division was siu Lim Tao to Chum Kiu level. He also got the gold metal at the Siu Lim Tao form, my second student with one year training, got the bronze metal. You could say they were pleased with themselves.

Patrick Gordon.

[whippinghand]

Congratulations.

[EmptyCup]

I can say, I've said it many times in this forum :D I don't act all secretive most of the time! His name's Fung Hon. I'm going to learn under somebody else though...he's my second sifu and I'm almost done with him. Ready for my third in Wing Chun :)

[whippinghand]

Why do you change sifu's so much?

[BoTsun]

I don't understand this.

[whippinghand]

EC, do you think that's an appropriate thing to say regarding your sifu? That's quite disrespectful, don't you think?

Perhaps he's done with you, would be a more appropriate thing to say.

[BoTsun]

Just to clarify: if I were a Sifu, and I knew my student regarded me as a disposible commodity, I would show him the door in advance of his election to leave.

But, I am not a sifu, so there you are.

[MasterPhil]

Knowledge and pedagogy are different. I was blessed with a great teacher who only had limited knowledge but I was also stuck with a master with extensive knowledge who was unwilling to teach... If wanting to advance, one has to know when it is time to move on. Not everybody has the luck of finding the perfect teacher from the start.

A Teacher-Student relationship is just that. It is between them to define it. A highly skilled teacher with weak character is no more deserving of respect than your local thug. Respect the man, not his position. Respect is earned, not given. One has to use his common-sense/judgment when dealing with people. I am sorry, but I have seen too many a**holes calling themselves sifus and demanding unconditional respect from their students to be silent. That being said, I admit that "I'm almost done with him" does sound disrespectful.

My personal experience with SunnyTang's tournaments is that the judging is subjective and political. Maybe it is the same everywhere. I don't know. But one would expect to be judged according to his performance, not his school affiliation. Like this forum, competitions are fun and entertaining. But it is much closer to a fund-raiser than the ultimate test of skill organizers would like us to believe sometimes...

ST

Surrounded by chaos, the true taoist laughs...

[whippinghand]

Point taken.

However, disrespect displayed toward your sifu, in front of him, or not, is not appropriate, on the students part, regardless of how terrible a sifu he might have.

[MasterPhil]

WH - True.
I can only hope that we all misunderstood the meaning of EC's remark. Let's wait for his explanation before we all jump on him.

ST

Surrounded by chaos, the true taoist laughs...

[EmptyCup]

Uh DaTiao and Whippy (sigh. That was rude.), you did misunderstand me. My teacher has a set time in which the curriculum is taught. After that, we are finished the curriculum. That is what I meant by done with him. My time is almost up for completion of the system under him and when that time arrives, he has nothing more to teach me.

Thank You Silent Thunder for allowing me to clarify myself...

[EmptyCup]

as for why I constantly change sifus, whipping hand, I believe that each sifu in our system has his strengths and weaknesses. Each has worthwhile techniques and concepts and understanding of Wing Chun and each has his errors. By learning from different teachers, I get to absorb what fits me and disgard what does not. I also get to appreciate each individuals unique "flavour" for the style. Does that answer your question?

[whippinghand]

However, you still should have reworded it as "My sifu is almost done with me".

Perhaps, your next sifu will be one that can teach you the strengths of WC legs and kicks, since you are so pessimistic about them.

[MasterPhil]

"My teacher has a set time in which the curriculum is taught. After that, we are finished the curriculum." - My first sifu was like that. I believe it shows a lot of honesty and true humility. He wasn't a very good businessman obviously...

ST

Surrounded by chaos, the true taoist laughs...

[EmptyCup]

Actually ST, if one was taught based on his skill, he could finish the system faster than the pre-arranged time slot. I had background going in, so I could have finished within a year if I was in a normal school where you gained rank when you were ready. Instead, I had to move with the set time frame and get my 3rd black in 4 years...it takes longer this way for some and faster for others. There are many who will finish the curriculum that would never even get past white level if they were in a school that ran on a student being prepared to learn new things...

Whipping Hand - I was always taught that Wing Chunn kicks were good but I've seen much better from other styles such as coughTKDcough and coughMuayThaicough ;) If they threw in ten wing chun guys in a ring and ten TKD guys and said only kicks were allowed I wouldn't bet on us...

[whippinghand]

better in what sense? What do you think makes TKD kicks so good?

[MasterPhil]

TKD people are not very solid on their feet. If you are not solid on your feet, how can you deliver a solid kick? To break a low-density, dried-up pine board only requires speed and focus. Most kf fighters are hopefully more resilient than a pine board and won't break. A strong kick requires more than speed and focus.

Plus, because of the TKD sparring rules, I find most TKDoer's have a weak overall defense. I did TKD when younger and was very proud of my flexibility and good-looking high kicks. But as I grew older and (hopefully) wiser, I learned (sometimes painfully) that hands beat feet 9 out of 10 times.

ST

Surrounded by chaos, the true taoist laughs...

[whippinghand]

Since you're looking for a sifu, if you ask nicely, I may consider taking you on.

[EmptyCup]

stop teasing me whippy...how could a WING CHUN GOD like you even think about teaching a mere mortal like me?!?! You're sooo above all others and my idol. Yet, I can't but feel that I'm not WORTHY to learn from one such as yourself, with your infinite knowledge, superior skill, and nonverbal communication. Not to mention your hilarious sense of humour... ;)

[Spark]

will you take me on? I have this problem with keeping my feet planted. ;)

[whippinghand]

Forget it....

[EmptyCup]

:cool: