1. Chi sau in honor of our ving tsun family and friends in Hong Kong
2. Why keeping a notebook is important to your ving tsun practice
3. Why these two students use notebooks for their Ving Tsun training and you should too
4. Why learning the Cantonese terms for Ving Tsun is essential for passing the art on correctly
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One of Matt teaching the second form to a student.
And…
Matt doing chi sau with a student.
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Lots pf great training at the school last week. Here are a few snap shots of what folks were up to. Notice, the notebook! Taking notes is a really good idea.
Also note the long pole, which is very advanced practice.
“It all comes down to having good, solid fundamentals.”
Sifu Matt Johnson
Robert training Siu Lim Tau
Robert, a student at the VTSDA manages a rigorous work and school schedule but always makes time to train his ving tsun. He came in the other night on a break from his pre-graduation grind to train the forms including this very nice work on Biu Gee, the third empty handed form of ving tsun.
He’s clearly taken to heart the message delivered by Sifu Matt on a consistent basis…that is, if you want to have good ving tsun you gotta train; busy, tired, whatever, every single day.
Nice work Robert.
Robert came in tonight to train. Tired from school. Worn out from work. He came in and trained.
Nice.
forms training, bong sau/lop sau, chi sau.
What good work.
Sifu Matt teaching chum kiu to a student at the VTSDA
Atul performing Bong Sau from the Chum Kiu form
The empty hand forms of the Ving Tsun (Wing Chun) system are of great importance. Many martial arts practitioners do not practice forms or worse yet, practice them but do not understand them. Some feel they are like “swimming on dry land”. Others practice them over and over yet have little or no understanding of what they are doing or why they are doing it. The forms of the Ving Tsun contain all the knowledge of the system. They are the glue that holds it together. They teach all the major principles of the art, things such as correct position of the movements, correct energy use, the use of “Yiu Ma” ( Hips and Stance) to develop power, how to have fast explosive movements, and how to recover from bad position, among many other things. The forms, Siu Lim Tao, Chum Kiu, and Biu Gee, must be practiced over and over to master them. A student must understand that the forms will directly inform your Chi Sao (Sticking Hands) practice. Without the understanding and without lots of practice of the forms, your Chi Sao will just be a bunch of random, empty movements. If you are studying under someone that says the forms are of no importance and who does not practice them himself regularly, you should find another Sifu. If you are studying under someone who has you doing the forms over and over but can’t tell you what the moves mean and how to apply them in Chi Sao or in Fighting, find another Sifu. If he says something like “do it because I told you” or “Thats the way we’ve always done it,” these are not answers, again, find another Sifu.
For more information on learning the Ving Tsun system, Contact the VTSDA by phone or email.
Sifu Matt Johnson
Matt Johnson Ving Tsun/Chicago 