sifu matt johnson

Why to Start Your Kung Fu Training Now

A Few Questions for you.

Did you make New Years resolutions that included fitness this year?

Would you like to be in better physical condition than you are right now?

Do you think that it would be good to be able to defend yourself or your loved ones, just in case, you ever had to?

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Benefits of Ving Tsun Kung Fu Training

  1. Improves cardio vascular fitness and over all health
  2. Improves whole body physical condition
  3. Teaches you to effectively use Ving Tsun for self defense purposes
  4. Helps calm your heart and mind to reduce stress

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Getting started is just as easy as getting started. If you can just begin, you are already on your way to a healthier, more fit and confident you.

Which means you are already on your way to making big changes, step by step, because in a gradual healthy way, when you attend your first class, you are making those resolutions real.

It’s that simple!

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Call Sifu Matt and schedule your trial class. Start feeling great right now.

Because you have strength and beauty inside you.

Call 773-301-6257.

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Chi Sau Seminar Success and Events!

We really want to thank all of you who came from near and far for our January Chi Sau Seminar. It was a great way to kick off 2016. A lot of Aaron Heath’s students came from our Champaign school which was super cool.

We had a lot of fun and everyone learned a lot. So stay tuned because there’s much more to come!

We’re thinking the next seminar may be a combination of Wooden Dummy material, Mo Duk (proper code of conduct for martial arts practitioners) and kung fu culture.

And as always, we appreciate you sharing our news, events, Intro classes and so on. Don’t forget to tell your friends that they can come in and visit us anytime. Just call Sifu Matt Johnson at  773-301-6257 and we’ll get you set up.

You can follow us on Facebook too! This is a great way to hear about our monthly events like pot luck suppers, movie outings, (we went to see Ip Man 3)

or this Saturday’s celebration of Chinese New Year. (Year of the monkey!)

Or our Jan. 29th Haiku Writing Workshop led by William Seiyo Sheehan and reading by Gerry Stribling author of Buddhism for Dudes. (and please note, you don’t actually have to be a dude to totally love this book.)

The school is located in the heart of the Chicago Arts District at:
1839 S Halsted St. Chicago, IL 60608
Phone us at: 773/301-6257
Please note the CTA bus Route 8 stops right in front of the building.
There’s also plenty of free street parking all within short walking distance.

 

Matt Johnson Ving Tsun Kung Fu is Growing!

Just had to share how psyched we are to welcome two more brand new folks to our Intro class on Saturdays and two new sign ups for our regular open classes!

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We love to see new people coming through the door and see the look on the faces when they get started learning and getting to know their fellow students and feeling how different this place really is.

So thank you for joining us and please help spread the word! Don’t forget our Intro classes on Saturday! There’s still plenty of time to sign up for a whole month of kung fu for just $50!

The school is located in the heart of the Chicago Arts District at:
1839 S Halsted St. Chicago, IL 60608
Phone us at: 773/301-6257
Please note the CTA bus Route 8 stops right in front of the building.
There’s also plenty of free street parking all within short walking distance.

 

Find Matt Johnson Kung Fu

Hi there kung fu folks! Since we recently moved, we are still awaiting the completion of the update to Google maps which had led to a teeny but of confusion for all you new students trying to come see us!

So, if you are looking for Matt Johnson Ving Tsun and the Ving Tsun Self Defense Academy, this is where we are:

The school is located in the heart of the Chicago Arts District at:
1839 S Halsted St. Chicago, IL 60608
Phone us at: 773/301-6257
Please note the CTA bus Route 8 stops right in front of the building.
There’s also plenty of free street parking all within short walking distance.

Thanks so much, and sorry for any inconvenience this might cause. See you round the school soon. And bring friends!

Overcoming Obstacles in Kung Fu Training Through Teaching

 

Almost inevitably, as time passes and kung fu training continues, day after day, hour after hour, after endless sweating and working of sore muscles, a practitioner may feel they’ve run into a brick wall or a plateau in terms of building and improving their skills. This is likely to manifest differently for each of us. We might experience a feeling of staleness, of boredom, or sense of lack of excitement which we associate with progress.

These plateaus are crucial times. When we don’t progress, we may have a tendency to worry. Many a kung fu player simply throws in the towel and quits. I’ve seen it time and again. During the last 27 years I’ve spent immersing myself in the art of Ving Tsun, I’ve definitely experienced some of those moments myself.

So what did I do? Well, in the years before opening up my academy and teaching students, it was sheer determination that kept me going. But in the years I’ve been teaching when it’s happened I find that just teaching to the best of my ability, breaks me through any barrier. Partly, it’s a matter of inspiration. Teaching inspires me because it always sends me and the student back to the basics. Revisiting them makes our kung fu better. Every. Time.

The Chinese have a saying, “to teach is to learn twice.” By going back and teaching beginners a practitioner teaches themselves as well. This is one of the keys to constant forward progress. Help teach. I know it works. I’ve seen it in myself and I’ve seen it in many students. So my advice to mid-level and advanced practitioners when they come to me with this problem is this: come into the class and help teach the junior students. Sometimes when I offer this advice the students don’t understand. They may wonder how teaching a student more junior to themselves will help them get better. But I tell them to just trust me, to trust the process.

Helping beginners helps us find where our own understanding of a technique or form may fall short. That leads us to ask our Sifus questions that gives us the missing concept or understanding and fills in that gap. And this can start a whole new growth spurt for you. So if you are an advanced student don’t be selfish with your knowledge. Help teach the junior students and watch your own kung fu take off again!

 

Contacting Us Via Email

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Good morning kung fu brothers and sisters,

It has come to our attention that there’s been some kind of issue with the capacity of the WordPress site when you all use a contact form to let us know you’re interested in coming for a visit. That’s a real bummer and we’re sorry.

Please know we are working on getting it fixed. We think that all the forms now include a mandatory email entry box. But please, do us and yourself a favor. When you use the form add your email inside the text box at the end where you can tell us about yourself a little, your interest in ving tsun kung fu or martial arts generally. That way, no mater what, we will be able to respond to your kind inquiry.

Thanks so much and train on!

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Stuff Sifu Says

“You must practice more!”

(Truth be told, Sifu Matt first heard this in Hong Kong from his good friend and older Ving Tsun brother, his “Sihing,” Sifu Albert Chan.)

And it’s true. The solution to nearly any problem in kung fu is more practice. When you come visit the school, you’re sure to hear that a lot!

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Women’s Kung Fu Self Defense Classes

The Ving Tsun Self Defense Academy is excited to announce a new ving tsun (wing chun) kung fu self defense class just for women! Learning kung fu not only builds self defense skills but also develops fitness, strength, patience, determination. (It’s also a great stress reliever!)
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We know it can be intimidating to walk into a martial arts school. That’s why we’re now offering a class just for ladies. You’ll get the same excellent instruction as in our open classes but being in an all female self defense class makes getting started fun and easy.

The VSTDA is dedicated to helping anyone who wants to learn ving tsun (wing chun) kung fu self defense, to be able to  learn it. It’s important to get access to classes where you can feel comfortable and really able to learn. That’s our goal at the Ving Tsun Self Defense Academy.

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Whether you’re brand new to kung fu or have trained in a martial art before, you’re welcome here. This class will emphasize solid fundamental wing chun kung fu skills and practical self defense applications. Questions are highly encouraged. Our school atmosphere is friendly, non-competitive and familial. We want you to understand exactly what you’re learning and how to apply it. As you learn the basics in this simple, highly effective self defense system, you’ll gain confidence and skills that will prepare you to step out more safely.

Classes meet Saturdays, 11am – noon starting in December so you can get a jump start on your 2015 resolutions! Tuition is just $80/month. You can also try out a drop in class for $25.
Drop Sifu Matt an email or call the school to learn more and sign up. And bring a buddy! It’s always more fun to train with a friend.
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Ving Tsun Meets Shakespeare

Sifu Matt and some of the guys went to see Rok Teasley, a student at the academy, perform in MacSith. After the show, Sifu and the students did a little demo for the cast.

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It was a great night. The play was wonderful and sharing martial arts info with true enthusiasts was a lot of fun.

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We talked about the origins of ving tsun – myths and likely realities.

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Red Boat Opera and how ving tsun if applied to MacSith would have made the play way too short by making the fight scenes happen too darn quick!

We also shot a little video, 8 short clips, which you can catch on YouTube.

Thanks so much to Orion Couling, director of MacSith and Rok Teasley for inviting us in. Break a leg you guys!

 

A Few More Training Pictures

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