Wing Chun Conference VCD

[whippinghand]

It's interesting how NOT 1 demonstrator used "huen ma". I guess that means it is a lost practice.

[Nat from UK]

What did you think to the Demonstrations ??

Without starting a flame war

Nat from UK

[whippinghand]

Doesn't my previous post say it all....?

It was one big joke.

[Martial Joe]

what is a huen ma?

[yuanfen]

huen sao -circling hand

huen ma- circling step, horse, stance--- the mok jong form is full of it.:) :) :)

[whippinghand]

Even the mook jong demonstrator didn't use it.

[John D]

I attended the VTAA conference and saw the "heung bo" used on stage in one/two Jong demonstrations and in (one/two) Biu Jee demonstrations.

I can't say why you missed it...? Perhaps the VCD focused too much on the upper torso of many demontrators???

[yuanfen]

John what were the highlights of the conference- as you saw it.?

[whippinghand]

I heard that much of the demonstrations was left out, in particular the mainland version (interesting....). Perhaps this is the case with the demonstrators you are referring to... Who are they so I can review the VCD?

By the way, by "heung bo", you mean "huen ma"?

[John D]

Friends,

One thing thing that has stuck in my mind about the VTAA Conference and the mainland China trip was the vast differences of personal expression found within the Wing Chun realm. Wing Chun is so beautiful in that it allows for a great range of personal expressions.

I felt about one-third of the demonstrations were from very solid players of Wing Chun Kuen. The middle third were average/moderate at best in their WC play. The last third of the demonstrators were poor.....sad.

With a couple of exceptions, I was not impressed by a great majority of the mainland Chinese demonstrations. Maybe, my mind was too slanted toward WC practices west of Guangzhou.

One the reverse side of things....many non-Wing Chun teachers in China have little or no respect for Wing Chun. IMO, this is because they gauge much of their understading about WC on sets and pre-arranged dances.

If anyone plans to travel to southern China -or- northern China be prepared to do some live intercepting and countering demonstrations everyday. It will be the only way for the other arts to see past their myopic lens and appreciate WC.

Cheers,
John


PS. Whippinghand - I beg to differ....it is "heun Bo" sometime called Biu Jee Ma.

[stuartm]

Ip Chings demonstration of Biu Jee and application in Chi Sau was superb

[whippinghand]

Originally posted by John D

PS. Whippinghand - I beg to differ....it is "heun Bo" sometime called Biu Jee Ma.

What are you "begging" about?

And do you plan on answering my question...?

[vingtsunstudent]

i'm sorry whippy but why would anyone answer your question when you can't seem to answer any you are asked.
vts

[yuanfen]

On stances- like many terms everyday usage can be less stilted
than strict dictionay usage. In English too- footwork and stepping for instance can be used interchangeably. Context is important in any language in varying degrees. Thus we use ma for stance, ma bo for moving stances, huen ma for circling stance particularly in pole usage, and when the circling is combined with the stepping
in the mok jong form we can call it sip ma. Language usage can be subject specific , context specific and among the Cantonese "anarchists" even school or user specific. Even
regarding English Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady sez that in America they haven't spoken it for years!<g>

[black and blue]

My Fair Lady... errr... you like to watch musicals? :(

Heh, Heh!;)

[yuanfen]

If the musical has great songs and singers in them.
Sure. But My Fair Lady was special because I had read
Shaw's Pygmalion a long time ago.... and its theme of equality and the silliness of creating social hierarchies based on accents.
Same thing in wing chun---a good lineage can produce a bad student. And sometimes a seemingly weak lineage may have
a truly inquisitive student who does well.

[rubthebuddha]

poor guy.

[whippinghand]

Has anyone else checked out the VCD??

[S.Teebas]

Yeah i got a copy a few days back. It was interesting to see all the VERY different approaches to WC ... eg that kick boxing approach. Looked like brute strength to me, and not much technique.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

What did anyone else think?

[AndrewP]

I saw the VCD. In my beginner status I thought that much of it looked sloppy. But when I mentioned this to my Sifu he said that it may look that way but when you chi sao with some of these people - I mean the older ones - it's like chi saoing by yourself. You don't feel them and you can hardly touch them.

[Rill]

I managed to watch it last night - after waiting two years, I would have thought the general quality could have been a little better - more professional if you will. Little things like dubbing out the breathing of the interpreter into the microphone, having some sort of noticeable transition between demonstrations rather than just an instant switch. If you don't recognise faces, it's also a little hard to tell who some people are since the titles aren't given for everyone. But I loved the music ;)

Without naming names, I was impressed with some of the demonstrations, and tried to be positive about the ones that looked .. not so good. The problem with the filming is that it's very hard to tell if people are doing what you think they're meant to be doing. On top of that, you're always going to notice the little things that are done wrong rather than the majority of things that are done well.

Two things though - Sifu Tsui Seung Tin looks about as movable as a rock when he goes into his stance, and someone should point out to certain people that a one inch punch should not be drawn back to a foot from the target before striking :)

[Frank Exchange]

Ha! You are so right about the one inch punch. The amount of "respected" teachers I have seen doing just that is beyond belief.

Do they think we arent watching, or something? :rolleyes:

[yuanfen]

Don't believe everything that you see!

[reneritchie]

Hi John,

Much of WCK in general today (be it in Mainland China, HK, or anywhere else) could probably fit into your third catagory. I've seen 3 or 4 versions of the HK and Mainland parts, which I think covered pretty much all of it, and there certainly are a lot of interpretations. Foshan in particular, after the elder generation passed away or moved to HK, Guangzhou, etc. seems to have composited much of what was left but without a guiding direction. Some became very hard, some almost Taiji like. Some have multiple versions of the same section, repeating variations of the same point over and over. Others seem to use far few sections and points.

I was lucky enough to see some really good WCK in both HK and China, so it is there, but its generally not easy to find. If you can get an intro, though, there are some **** good Yip Man, Sum Nung, Gulao, and other practitioners still around.

Rgds,

RR

[David Peterson]

The "powers that be" obviously didn't like what I had to say on stage (even though it seemed to be well received on the day and commented on long afterwards) as my contribution was entirely omitted from the VCD after final editing was put in the hands of certain "elders". Up until that stage, I had been assured that it was all there. Can't wait to see how much editing is done of my written contribution in the long-awaited book commemorating the proceedings...
DMP

[yuanfen]

Great to see you here David. Folks if you have not done so already you should geta copy of David's very good book on Wong Shon Leung's perspectives on Wing Chun.

[txwingchun]

How do we get a copy of that book?

[Troy]

im just dissapointed that they left out the bit when bill cheung got kicked in the head ;)

[stuartm]

I thought Siu Yuk Men gave an excellent demo of Chum Kiu and applications. He also seemed like a bit of a character !!


By the way - anyone know who was doing the kinife form??

Stuart

[David Peterson]

I think that it's a little inappropriate to be "blowing my own trumpet", or turning this forum into a shopping mall, so if anyone is interested in my book, just e-mail me privately and I'll tell you what's involved. Cheers!
DMP

[reneritchie]

Luckily, some folks have already blown David's trumpet for him on the 'net: http://www.wingchunkuen.com/wsl/book.shtml

A *very* good book, on a great subject, by an excellent writer. Go get one. Now. 8)

Rgds,

RR

(BTW- Nice to see you here, David, hope all's well!)