Wing Chun Series Question

[KC9IIU]

Hello All, My name is Alex. I've been practicing Wing Chun Since I was 17. At age 19 I abrutly stop going to class and even training due to family and life changing events. I used to practice in Chicago under the Moy Yat Lineage. It was wonderful and I learned alot. for the next couple of years I try to practice my forms atleast once a month but it was to late for me I already had forgot them. now I'm 22 years old with a small family and no Wing Chun Schools anywhere near a 35 mile radius of where I live. One very boring day after work I stumbled upon a website called martialartsmart.com I purchased Master Benny Meng's Siu Nim Tao movie. I learned so much that I went ahead and ordered the rest of the empty hand fomrs on DVD's. I have been practicing my forms now and I suddenly have a recollection of the stuff I thought I had forgot. Now my problem is a Practicing partner. As for the questions... Do you guy's think its wise to learn from instructional videos? Should I keep going throug the Series and just practice on the wodden dummy? What about Chi sao? Has Anyone else had this experience and how did it turn out.

ps. if anyone near Sheboygan WI want to train I'm all for it. or if you guys want to trade some intructional vids I'm good for it to. I love learning.

All questions, commnets and ideas/advise will be greatly appreciated. thank you

[Dave P]

You cannot learn Wing Chun from instructional videos. You only can copy the thing you see. You could infact learn a monkey to do that. You have to attend classes to really learn and understand what's going on. Wing Chun without partnertraining is like a glass without a drink. Chi Sau is the soul of Wing Chun.
What is 35 miles? That's not to far. Every week I have to travel more than 120 miles to have a good training. My house and my school are 20 miles apart from each other. Distance should not be a problem. Especially if your so enthousiastic.

Greetings

Dave

[roomey]

hi Alex
I too had to stop training at a club for a couple of years and even though i still did my forms and footwrk drills,and various other drills etc,it was not until i went back to the club that i realised just how much i'd missed by not training with anybody.
I think instruction videos are good to help you understand concepts and principles(if that is what the video is teaching)but in order to fully understand those concepts and principles you will have to apply them to a real situation where you are faced with an attack.
This is why having a partner to train with is essential in order for you to gain the skills you require to succesfully defeat an oncoming attack.
you cannot learn Sensitivity,Timing,Trapping etc by training on your own.
you can train self structure on your own but how would you apply that structure to a bigger or smaller opponent?
Dont get me wrong its ok to practice on your own while there is no partner available but you Must train with a partner or club as much as possible in order to put what your learning into practice.

[KC9IIU]

dear dave.... sorry I didn't add more detail to my opening post. but its a little hard to travel 35 miles each way when I'm the only one in the Family that works/supports the Family. I'm a second shifter and I work like a horse during summer time. Good news about that is that I just found a job that pays very good money and is only 40 hours vs 50 plus overtime in my current one (with less pay) I also live on my own with my wife and baby about 150 miles away from the nearest family member (babysitting charges are ruthless ~ hehe j/k). Don't get me wrong i'm not using my family or job as an excuse not to train Wing Chun. I am going to have to travel the distance to WC class but the way it looked before last week (before i got my new job) it was nearly impossible. roomey I also truelly appreciate your responce. I thank all that give me advice. I'm going to start traveling to that school tomorrow and I'll tell you guys all about it. I guess it just takes a little kick in the a$$ sometimes ~ hehe. Thank you guys so much. and please anyone else keep the advice and ideas coming.

[Angelo F.]

KC,

I am a sifu in Wing Chun (William Cheung's lineage) and live near the Milwaukee area. If you are interested maybe in the near future we can meet up?

Do you live in Sheboygan? Or do you live toward closer to Port Washington?
I do have a friend that lives in Sheboygan, WI (doesn't practice martial arts) and I go see him every once in a while. Maybe we can meet up then.

Angelo F.

[Lindley]

We have a story in the Moy Yat family about Sifu Leo Imamura from Brasil. He had a high level of Ving Tsun until one day he met Moy Yat in NYC. From that point on, Sifu Leo would come and stay long periods with his Kung Fu brothers and go back to Brasil and train with others. He now has 16 schools in Brasil.

You might want to consider trying to establish a relationship with a qualified Sifu you could visit periodically, but at the same time try to teach a couple of guys so you have partners. You may be able to organize a small group of your own where you are. Maybe you do or don't want to be a Sifu, but exchanging your knowledge to others is a great way to truly understand the Kung Fu.

I, myself, traveled about 40 miles while I was training. My advice to doing this is to have a plan whereby you spend a lot of time with the Sifu and train as much as possible with the senior students.

Good Luck

[KC9IIU]

Hello Sifu Angelo. That is probably the best news i have had in a couple of years. Training with you sounds fantastic. Yes I do live in the City/town of Sheboygan. My personal email address is KC9IIU@yahoo.com. Please drop me an email for further communication. where in the milwaukee area do you reside in north, west, or south?

Lindley, that sounds like a wonderful Idea. My sis in law actually wants to learn and I teach her what i can, but she's about 4'8" and I'm 5'7". and sometimes that's where the problem lies between us, but she says she's learned alot and really respects our martial arts., where her boybfriend trains shotokan karate but i'm not even going to get into that ~ hehe ;)

[Angelo F.]

KC,

I live on the South side of Milwaukee. The school that I train at is on the North side of Milwaukee so it is a far way from me to travel (approximately 35 minutes).
I have traveled to Australia, around the US and Canada to go to seminars taught by William Cheung. It is expensive and time consuming but I feel it is well, well, well worth the time and money. He has taught me so very much as well as other Sifus in the art. I am very grateful.

Now I would like to help others learn this wonderful art.

I think Lindley is correct, you should try and get a small group together so you can practice on a daily basis in Sheboygan. I can try and help you when we find the time to meet.

I'll e-mail you over the weekend at the address you posted.

All the best to you,

Angelo F.

[couch]

KC,

I live on the South side of Milwaukee. The school that I train at is on the North side of Milwaukee so it is a far way from me to travel (approximately 35 minutes).
I have traveled to Australia, around the US and Canada to go to seminars taught by William Cheung. It is expensive and time consuming but I feel it is well, well, well worth the time and money. He has taught me so very much as well as other Sifus in the art. I am very grateful.

Now I would like to help others learn this wonderful art.

I think Lindley is correct, you should try and get a small group together so you can practice on a daily basis in Sheboygan. I can try and help you when we find the time to meet.

I'll e-mail you over the weekend at the address you posted.

All the best to you,

Angelo F.

Just wanted to add that I thought that everyone's effort to hook this guy up was awesome! Good ideas Lindley.

Best,
Kenton

[anerlich]

I have to dissent here - if you have no access to an instructor, I thihk you can go a long way with videos. But you can't get anywhere without training partners. Wing Chun is a tactile art.

My instructor has a student who lives thousands of miles from us, but did nearly all his learning via video and working with other people in his area. He came here and stayed with us for a month. He's better than a lot of students who have been "training" for similar lengths of time who live only a few blocks from the school.

Sometimes the isolation can be good - you can develop a better understanding of the concepts from having to work through them yourself as opposed to be spoon-fed. Those who have it on tap often take it for granted.