Flashy Wing Chun

This post is going to get a little personal.  I'll be using 'I' a lot, I hope that doesn't bother you, if it does please write me about it or comment.

These days I see a lot of Wing Chun videos online, many show the techniques being performed very quickly.  Immediately one thinks, "Wow, they are so good, look at how fast they are."  But in my experience as I watch guys go through the dummy or go through a form, I'm not impressed by their speed in the same way I'm not impressed by videos of a quick handed "Master" dominating a willing / obedient actor or student with a flurry of blows. 

While I respect those quick-handed Masters I find that many of them subconsciously perform the techniques very quickly in order to hide their imperfection, to prevent observers to see how sloppy their technique really is.  It is the guy who is going through very slowly with synchronization, focus, control and precision that I want to learn from.  This is the guy who is getting down to the nitty gritty, the real stuff.  He is practicing the micro to a 'T' to develop the macro into perfection.  He's really getting down to into it and not just trying to look cool, besides, its the precision and definition that makes it look cool anyways.

Those videos of Wing Chun guys throwing chain punches and everything is very flashy and fun.  Very appealing to the eye.  But, when we get down to it Wing Chun is about finishing quickly, as quickly as possible in fact.  That's part of what makes the Art so dangerous, it is SHARP and DIRECT.  I think this guy hits it on the head in this short explanation especially emphasizing that every fight is different and that being versitile and situationally aware is better than knowing 1000 techniques.  (thanks Charlie Wildish, GREAT Vid.)  Here at Calasanz our videos are not so well liked or understood.  We want to show everything.  So we make sure to take our time because as teachers who want to teach it right we want you to take your time watching it to capture and understand completely.  If you are watching our videos and getting bored, its okay, you are out for entertainment, our purpose is education so we do our best to make sure you can learn something from watching any of our videos. 

The simplicity of Wing Chun means that it doesn't have to be made complicated.  Regardless of velocity the motion should in essence come out and develop identically when practiced slow or fast, and logically, naturally, it is easier to capture a necessary correction or focus on precision when performing the techniques slowly with purpose, focus and conscious awareness of the entirety of the motion.  When performed fast you obviously have a smaller time window to feel or see a flaw to be corrected not to mention those watching cannot capture the technique properly.  And as we said, we understand that and we acknowledge OTHER'S understanding of that and APPLAUD those who also strive to teach it well and teach it right.  We can agree that it's hard to get beginners to understand this concept, often they want to run before they can even stand.  Remember to take it slow and get it right, then pursue rythm and speed.

Inspired by Calasanz
Written by Alan Wedell