Are we having fun yet?

[KPM]

Have you really thought about why you do Wing Chun or any other martial art?

There was a recent thread about "getting home safely at the end of the day." I think that for most people doing martial arts, getting home safely is likely not an issue. The biggest issue that concerns me as far as getting home safely, is the other crazy drivers on the road. So if this was my true motivation, I should be taking a defensive driving course and then practicing at the local track every weekend rather than doing martial arts. Even if physical attack was a concern, most attackers are going to have a weapon of some sort, and often it will be a gun. So my empty-hand training might not serve me to the best advantage. I would therefore put much more emphasis on my martial knifecraft training than on Wing Chun.

I think most people are like me and train because they enjoy doing it. They have fun! They might have just as much fun training something like Tae Kwon Do. So whether they are learning the "most authentic" the "most original" or the "very best" version of Wing Chun is irrelevant as long as they are having fun training.

So I'd like to see a lot of the "killjoy" attitude go away. We have far too many people that take themselves far too seriously. Some see themselves as some kind of "defender of the faith" that has to protect the quality of their system. I've even had one Sifu tell me that he doesn't post about things openly in public forums because that would be like "casting pearls before swines." Not a very helping attitude! Some will post to put others down and try to make them look like they don't know what they are talking about rather than posting to help explain something and expand knowledge. Some will post with "teasers" to imply they know something that they aren't really willing to tell you explicitly. I call this the "Chinese Master" act. Its really not helpful, and not in the spirit of helping someone have fun with their practice. And then there are those that will post to run others down and tell them their practice is not legitimate if they are not fighting all out with people of other styles, or maybe what they are practicing is not legitimate because they are not doing the ultra secret snake body that descends from Ng Mui, or other such non-sense.

Let's face it. Most of us practice Wing Chun because we enjoy doing it. Most of us come here to post because we enjoy talking about what we enjoy practicing with others of the same motivation. The Wing Chun "secret keys to the kingdom" are irrelevant. Wing Chun is not about life and death for us. Wing Chun is not paying the bills for most of us. In the scheme of things, Wing Chun practice is not that critical! So lighten up! Have fun! Don't take yourself too seriously. And don't let the "killjoys" get you down!

Just my 2 cents.