Thoughts on this Wing Chun grading video?

[DanielW341221]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkjGXQGAnW0

[Eric_H]

Contrary to the music, it did not bring the muthaf*ckin ruckus.

[Wayfaring]

Lol. That guy Brian Lewadny I think was the poster on this forum "sihing" 's teacher for many years, before he left him and moved to Gary Lam WSL teachings with Ernie Barrios. He probably talked about this move on the forum somewhere if someone wanted to look for it....

[KPM]

Lol. That guy Brian Lewadny I think was the poster on this forum "sihing" 's teacher for many years, before he left him and moved to Gary Lam WSL teachings with Ernie Barrios. He probably talked about this move on the forum somewhere if someone wanted to look for it....

Yes. James Rollins (sihing) broke away from Lewadny for many reasons several years ago, from what I remember.

[sihing]

Yes, Brian was my 1st Sifu.. He's a good guy with a good heart, and is really a great Martial Artist for sure. He learned a few styles of Kung Fu, and then went over the the TWC method fulltime, and made a few of his own modifications, and then got caught in the trap of teaching full time and that was that. His place is definitely a Mckwoon, but for some that maybe what they are looking for, not all are hard core into it, as I've only met a few of these types, most are just hobbyist and are looking to learn something for a bit of self defence and social reasons. He offered allot for the membership he sold, cardio/conditioning classes, weapons training, SD and such.

I switched over cause I was a WC nut, and felt the WSLVT system offered more, the TWC curriculum as he taught it, although at a time I thought was the be all end all, to me now is just basic principle and application, something I would teach to kids, as the pure VT is too much for them to learn at a young age.

James

[DanielW341221]

Yes, Brian was my 1st Sifu.. He's a good guy with a good heart, and is really a great Martial Artist for sure. He learned a few styles of Kung Fu, and then went over the the TWC method fulltime, and made a few of his own modifications, and then got caught in the trap of teaching full time and that was that. His place is definitely a Mckwoon, but for some that maybe what they are looking for, not all are hard core into it, as I've only met a few of these types, most are just hobbyist and are looking to learn something for a bit of self defence and social reasons. He offered allot for the membership he sold, cardio/conditioning classes, weapons training, SD and such.

I switched over cause I was a WC nut, and felt the WSLVT system offered more, the TWC curriculum as he taught it, although at a time I thought was the be all end all, to me now is just basic principle and application, something I would teach to kids, as the pure VT is too much for them to learn at a young age.

James

May I ask then, was the system or way of teaching particularly bad, or just not a complete curriculum?

[sihing]

May I ask then, was the system or way of teaching particularly bad, or just not a complete curriculum?

Neither, just different from the WSLVT method, different things taught, how to use body frame and structure to put power into your punch, things like this are not taught at that school, at least not in the same manner or depth. Like two different systems, what they teach is a style, the method I do now is more of a development system, the application is up to us...

J

[Paddington]

Neither, just different from the WSLVT method, different things taught, how to use body frame and structure to put power into your punch, things like this are not taught at that school, at least not in the same manner or depth. [...]

I would like to add that this is perhaps true of many wing chun schools. Indeed, I have actually seen a sifu encourage movements and positions that take power away, whilst he himself would assume positions counter to what he taught to keep an advantage over his students.

For example, one time when chi sauing with the sifu at this class I put myself into a weak position, stance wise, in response to his attack. Despite my knowing that I had made an error the sifu tried to tell me that what I had done was 'good'. I could cite so many more instances such as assuming a 50/50 stance in certain instances for his own practice, whilst teaching his students to sit way on over on the back leg.

My point is that I sometimes feel it is not the case of one interpretation Vs another but sometimes the personality of the sifu and their ego, which can engender errors in their students and sometimes this is done on purpose. Yes, this is quite a controversial claim given that some of you know who I am referring to but it is my experience none-the-less.

At 'middle school' (some of you must be old enough to remember that system in the UK) my science teacher had on his door a poster and its message has stuck with me for the past 25 years, "Don't take anyone's word for it, find and try it out for yourself".

[KPM]

At 'middle school' (some of you must be old enough to remember that system in the UK) my science teacher had on his door a poster and its message has stuck with me for the past 25 years, "Don't take anyone's word for it, find and try it out for yourself".

Yip Man said the same thing.

[sihing]

Somebody else's experience may lead you in a certain direction or inspire you but personal experience is always the best teacher. Someone further down the road than you on a particular path may help you get there faster, but the journey is always ours to take

It's been said that all the greats, even Bruce Lee, didn't teach everything they knew within the personal arsenal or experience, most held back something for whatever reason..


James