To get good results, you need to train a lot. Even when you don’t feel so great. These photos and video were taken right after Sifu Matt’s encounter with a wicked intestinal virus.
Make your training something you just do. Every day.
Then your ving tsun will be strong and ready if you need it.
David works with a new student, Srik, on pak sau training. This is Srik’s third day in the school. Good work guys!
Great wide-view photo of the school.
Suddenly I realize as I was downloading the photos you guys took today, I couldn’t help but hear that corny old Carl Douglas song, “Everybody was kung fu fighting….”
Kung fu brothers having a go
Perla working on Siu Lim Tau in a private lesson with Sifu Matt
(Photos courtesy of Chris and Perla Kellner)
It was so great to spend the day teaching meditation and tai chi and then have lunch with the Ving Tsun family, including some of the Iowa branch. (even if you guys were a little bit sweaty after all your wing chun!)
Check out the new video of training this week.
Joe gets Atul of him and then follows through nicely with chain punching. The big idea? Take immediate, decisive action, then follow through so you can get away safely.
Check out this short video of Sifu Matt teaching bong sau/lop sau with the essential aspect of turning the waist, (Yu Ma). (Thanks to student, Joseph)
If you want to defend yourself effectively, it’s pretty important to get out of the way of the attack but still be in position to come on with your own attack (counter attack) and then hopefully get out of there with no one hurt too badly.
Robert and Aaron Working of Self Defense Applications
Here’s some great videos of training for an attack from behind.
In the course of training tonight, one of the students asked a good question:
“Sifu, what happens when someone grabs you from behind like this?”
And so, the class went in a new direction…
Many thanks to the students who trained so hard and asked all the right questions… Enjoy the photos. Video on the way.
Here’s a short video of Sifu Matt working with a new student on his first night in class.
Got to relax that shoulder to get the punch out there and working!
See you all in class!
Sifu Matt
Students Relaxing After Class at the Ving Tsun Self Defense Academy
New student, 1st Night: Pak and Punch
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 