Teaching is not for everybody and not everybody can be taught. Feel fortunate if you can pass the WC art on to a few good people in your lifetime.

Respectfully yours,
John DiVirgilio
Hawaii Wing Chun Gung-Fu Assoc.
Hi John,

I got involved in Wing Chun (Eddie Chong lineage) back in '94. Since that time I have done some growing up in the art as is expected. Around '99 I looked back and recognized the many frustrations I put my own teacher through and figured I was a moderate or typical student.

I ran across your "Lore of Wing Chun" in those years and it was a great help to me. In fact, I still consider it the best straightforward Wing Chun advice anybody can get (for those of you reading this, you should seriously look into this).

Around 2000 I started teaching out of my garage. I've been through many faces and names that I can't remember anymore and over the last six years I half one (1) good student. He's older than me and so there is no adolescence to wade through to reach him. It is refreshing to interact with him and I leave our sessions feeling invigorated about Wing Chun because I learn as much or more than he does. And he is coming along very well. But this falls in line with your advice about teaching ages.

However, the current thread really hits home with me since I have had maaaaany promising students who just can't get their act together enough to simply handle their own learning (much less pay me) and it became so frustrating that I am now on a half year break.

I immediately turned to your book for advice and it has helped me "keep my fire going" so to speak. And I gotta say, you must be one hellava teacher in this.

Anyways, I just wanted to thank you for putting your advice out there. It has helped me over the years and continues to be the only source I have encountered that offers real advice on being a student as well as a teacher.