The 4th Level
January 24, 2010
A couple months ago, I wrote about what I felt were the progressive steps that a Wing Chun student needs to go through. You can read my original post here. Just a basic recap:
- Relaxation
- Technique Mastery
- Movement and Energy flow
I am still working on mastering the third step and at the time I didn’t know what might be beyond. I think today Sifu Steve helped me realize what Level 4 is.
I think that Level 4 will be using “ging”. Sifu Samuel Kwok, an internationally known Wing Chun master, wrote a piece explaining what ging is and how it is different to strength. Today Steve focussed on some of these techniques with me and helped me understand the use and effectiveness.
I find it incredible that while I have trained with Sifu Steve for over two years now, he can still “point” something out to me even though he’s been using it all this time. It’s like… someone pointing out that someone has always been wearing a purple polka dotted tie and just realizing, “Oh yeah! You ARE wearing a purple polka dotted tie!”
I know I must attain this skill to continue my progression as a martial artist. Steve was able to once again wipe out everything I knew about Wing Chun and make me feel like I’m taking baby steps again. It couldn’t come at a better time because I’ve been growing a bit stagnant and frustrated with my own training recently. Not anymore!
When I feel more confident with my understanding of “ging”, I’ll write more about it. Until then, train hard.
My Trip to the Philippines
January 21, 2010
Leave it to good ol’ Jerry to be nine months late in posting a blog entry about his trip to the Philippines in April 2009. I’ve been really meaning to make the switch from Flickr to a self-hosted photo gallery and that has really made me reluctant to post any pictures. Since I didn’t want to post pictures, blogging about my trips was more difficult because now you would have to rely on my mediocre writing ability instead of viewing my mediocre photographs. I have photographs on my Facebook profile so please check them out there for now.
I don’t foresee any change to my photo gallery in the upcoming while with all that’s going on so I’ll just go ahead and put this really really long write-up about my trip. One warning though – I haven’t really proofread this so there are most likely dozens and dozens of errors. Here we go:
April 7-14, 2009
My latest trip lasted for just seven days and six nights but it proved to be one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. I don’t remember who said it but I absolutely agree that it’s the people and the company that make the trip, not the places, the food, the weather, or anything cultural that you can see. Luckily for me, I experienced wonderful company and excellent places, food, weather, and culture. I am hoping that I’ll be back soon and continue exploring the Philippines.
Manila
The only blotch on my trip was visiting the city of Manila. It was unavoidable since we had to land there. Manila is a big giant city filled with the usual nuisances of noise, traffic, and pollution. The people here were similar to other big cities: a bit standoffish, somewhat rude, and very skilled at blatantly staring at the foreigners walking by. This is something my more visually foreign friends face all the time in Japan but as an Asian person (and you know how all Asians look alike), I fit right in Japan and forget about that feeling of “looking different”. I totally forgot about that feeling until we landed in Manila.
My general impression of Manila is that it’s like Bangkok without the cool temples. I think most people aren’t fans of Bangkok to begin with. I am not looking forward to landing in Manila again next time.
Here are a couple of places we visited in Manila:
Chinatown
We didn’t spend much time in Manila thankfully, except for the second day when we toured Chinatown and then Fort Santiago. Chinatown is scary. I’ve been to my share of Chinatowns (thanks to my very Chinese parents – I personally don’t care about Chinatowns), and I can say without exaggeration this was the most dangerous-feeling Chinatown I’ve ever been to. People just seemed shady. Sifus Bennie and Steve also fueled the fear by telling us to hold on to our bags and keep our heads up. I got the feeling we were being sized up constantly. We stood out in many different ways: we were clearly foreign, we were wearing Kung Fu shirts, we were a lot taller than the locals, and towards the end, we were carrying rattan poles about 6 feet long through the streets.
The one thing I will give credit for is the food. We stopped and had lunch at some random restaurant and the food reminded me very much of fine Chinese restaurants in Vancouver and Mom’s cooking. I was pleasantly surprised to find that a lot of Chinese cooking styles that I love can be found in Filipino cuisines. I would be having some good eating this trip.
As one can expect in Chinatowns around the world, most stores sold the same cheap crap that only tourists buy. I saw mahjong tiles with English written on them, Buddhist statues alongside Catholic statues, all sorts of kitchenware that will probably break in a week or get you sick first. I’ve always wondered how so many stores in Chinatowns over the world compete over the same cheap slippers that sell for what, twenty pairs for a dollar?
Fort Santiago
I have to admit that I didn’t pay much attention to any of the history lessons given by Sifu Bennie’s intelligent wife. My thinking is, if I were truly interested in the history, I would pick up a good history book before or after the trip. I won’t ache my limited cognitive abilities by stuffing random historical facts while I’m already overloading the senses with the sights and sounds of a new environment. Half the time I’m not even that interested in local history but as far as I can tell, this fort was built hundreds of years ago by foreigners and then taken over by other foreigners. This was also a place where Japanese soldiers used to torture and kill Filipinos during WW2. It was quite disturbing to see the many bullet holes along the walls – a shadow of the executions, and the dungeons that flooded when the tide came in, drowning prisoners inside.
The thing that brought the cheerfulness back was the cardboard figures with the faces cut out. We all took turns sticking our faces in and taking silly pictures. That helped me put a smile back after walking through the very negative mood in the area.
Nagcarlan and Liliw, Laguna
Once we left Manila, we spent most of our time in the area around Nagarlan and Liliw, two small areas in the province of Laguna. I’m not really sure if these areas can be classified as towns or cities because they don’t seem very large and there is no clear divide between them. They’re both in the mountains and as such, much cooler than the humid and stinky Manila. Our accommodations were in Nagcarlan and Sifu Bennie resides in Liliw. We made our way to Liliw through the use of jeepnies and “tricycles” every morning at the cost of about 9 peso ~ less than 20 cents one-way.
People in the area are much friendlier and just more laid back than the city folk. I could easily see myself spending extended amounts of time working on my garden or backyard in this area. There were no malls, no McDonalds, no fancy restaurants but instead, there were many small stalls, shops, and family-run businesses instead. It’s definitely not for those who like shopping.
What you get in return for the lack of “amenities” is the lovely weather. While it does get pretty hot during the day, it cools down a lot in the evening and the mountain breeze is a blessing. The fresh air and the starlit sky at night was sorely missed in Osaka. Waking up to the call of many roosters can be annoying at first but I got really used to it by the third day or so. In general, everyone got up pretty early to start their days.
Accommodations
When I think of the word, “hotel”, I immediately get images of nice places like the Hilton, or the Marriot, the Sheraton, and to a lesser extent Holiday Inns and other places. I see breakfast buffets, nicely made beds, a snazzy bar and maybe even a casino or shopping mall. These are the shortcomings of a western traveler I suppose.
We stayed at a place called the Hotel Villa Gregoria and all things considered, it was a very nice place. It cannot compare to the aforementioned establishments in terms of sheer comfort and facilities. It was very cheap though – each of us paid about 5000 yen ($50) for the whole week!
Given what we paid, we got a great deal. The three students: Hamish, Ian, and I shared a room while Sifu Steve got his own private room. It’s good to be the sifu. Our room could easily be a summer camp cabin with a cheap bunk bed, a couple of chairs, and a bathroom. It was painted a lovely lime green color for some reason and it really matched Ian’s shirt on the day we arrived.
The resort itself has several swimming pools. They spared no expense in making a half-sized Olympic pool and a few kiddy pools complete with water slides. The resort was protected by a 12 foot tall tyrannosaur as well. Also, guards stood next to a fake Hummer and the gates were always manned by someone. There was a very small convenience store that provided us with nightly cold drinks and chocolates and chips. I always got the impression that the lady who ran the store didn’t really want our money… she seemed grouchy whenever we came knocking.
Lastly, the “videoke” machines were used once or twice during our stay. “Videoke” is your typical karaoke except they were built into video arcade game boxes and much like the arcades, you put in a couple of coins before you choose your song. During our stay, we heard a lot of videoke and a lot of very off-key singers too. From the very small sample of Filipino singers I heard at various places with these videoke machines, I’ve concluded that very few Filipinos can sing in tune. I heard some pretty awful singing. I’ll give kudos to the people who had to sit through the singing and smile and clap after the songs.
Marketplace
Visiting the marketplace in Nagcarlan was great fun. It reminded me in a way of a very gritty Granville Island Market in Vancouver. The marketplace itself was poorly lit but the morning sun helped a lot. There were just mountains of fruit for sale at incredibly low prices. I remember picking up about 3Kg of mangos for I think less than $5. Compare this with the roughly $4 per mango that I sometimes see in cheap fruit stands in Osaka. There were a few people working with coconuts that I found interesting. The coconut plant is such a useful and versatile plant and the people working with them all did different things. One man was just taking off the husk to be used for other purposes. Another only sold young coconut.
The meat section was just as interesting. Compared to Canada and Japan, the meat here was very fresh – the pork was probably slaughtered that very morning. You can imagine the amount of blood and the smell that was in the air. I’m used to that “butcher shop” smell and honestly, I rather like it. We didn’t pick up any meat so I’m not sure how the prices were.
Aside from meat and produce, there were many different stands and stores that sold daily items. We met and took pictures with a young fellow who worked at a tools stand. He was quite well-built and showed us different blades and swords used for farming but could very well be used in combat. The people here were very friendly and several asked for their picture to be taken!
We had breakfast here a couple of times at a small café on a corner of the market. The coffee was nothing more than instant coffee but the food… forgot the name, but it was basically congee was great. Just like mom used to make. If I had more time I would have visited more cafes and restaurants in the area to sample more of the local specialties.
The School
I was glad to finally see the kung fu school at last and I was very jealous too! The Philippines school is at least twice as big as the Japan school and better equipped with a workout machine, a very solid wooden dummy, and shelves! We would love shelves in our school but probably lack the room for them. Soon enough we’ll be moving across the hall to the big room I hope.
The school was painted black with yellow strategically placed. I have to give credit to the sifus for making the school look great. Even the Chinese characters painted on the walls were done well. The full length mirrors on one of the walls made the school look even bigger.
The school is situated above a grocery store and a small internet café is also in the same building. I think I paid… 20 peso an hour, or maybe 10, whichever the case, it equaled to 40 or 20 cents an hour to use internet there. Ridiculous! It costs me that much to visit a webpage on my stupid Docomo mobile I’m sure.
Training
This was the main purpose of coming here with Sifu Steve. Of the seven days we stayed in the Philippines, we trained for about 5 days. I helped teach Sensei Fidel, a Tae Kwan Do teacher with a fantastic attitude and impressive physical performance to boot. I also got a chance to train with Hamish and Ian on a more detailed level – while we have trained together for a very long time; we have never really focused on the minute aspects. Because of this week of continuous training, I felt the three of us improved vastly. I was able to identify a lot of my own weak areas during my stay in the P.I. It’s amazing what you can pick up by watching others and then taking a look at yourself.
The three of us made a solemn vow to continue our training and when the time comes when we’ll all meet up again, we will be a lot stronger and faster. I know we’ve already made a few solid steps there.
What did suck was I injured my pinky finger around the last day or so of the trip. It’s been well over a month now and it still hurts. I keep spraining it over and over again. I haven’t punched with my right hand in over six weeks. I have though, focused on the left and further refining my techniques.
The Casas Family
I usually avoid speaking about specific people because most of the time, people don’t really interest me and maybe also because I like to keep things private. I will break my own rule this time because I must talk about our host family to the Philippines, the Casas family.
I don’t envy very much in my life but I do envy this family. The Casas family is the model family. Two parents with strong morals, infinite wisdom and patience, and a love for life that shines, and four kids, each by their own right is an amazing story on their own – this family makes every other family I know look dysfunctional.
I’ve never met kids who do chores so routinely and without complaint before but these kids go beyond this and volunteer to do things. As guests, we got to eat first while everyone else talked or watched TV and waited for us to finish. I felt pretty bad eating before the kids. They vehemently refused when I offered them first dibs too.
We were treated like family from day one. All our meals were prepared for us – literally: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We had some fantastic food too – we were shown a great sample of Filipino cuisine. My personal favorite was a barbecued pork – it was tender and had just the right amount of seasoning so that the pork flavor still remained strong. I was really surprised by how similar the soups were to Chinese soups that Mom made back home.
I would love nothing more than to repay the Casas for their hospitality and friendship. Having met them and just knowing that there are people as kind as they are in the world makes up for all the crappy people I have met. All it takes is just one person and I had the honor of meeting a whole family of such wonderful people.
Food
Most of the Filipino food I sampled had a striking resemblance to Chinese food! The tastes and textures were very similar as was most of the seasoning used. Meals mostly included rice, a meat dish, a vegetable dish, and soup, all served on a dinner plate with a fork and spoon. Most meals were fairly simple but very nutritious and tasty.
I had the opportunity to sample some homemade desserts – I don’t remember the Tagalog name for it but the Japanese equivalent would be “pudding”. It’s a rich, creamy pudding with a caramel sauce. The difference was that duck eggs are used instead of chicken eggs. This gave it a slightly different smell but a much thicker, creamier consistency. It was great.
We also had some very nice buko pie – coconut pie. Surprisingly, it was very much like apple pie. It was not too sweet but hits the spot perfectly. Even McDonald’s had something different to offer. Instead of apple pies, they have pineapple pies! I tried some and it is much better than the apple pie. I wish they sold these in Japan.
The food adventure for us (the students Hamish, Ian, and I) was attempting to eat balut – duck eggs. I think many people have seen balut – once you crack the egg open you see a tiny little duck fetus. We were all wary of trying this – my friends of the white persuasion more so than me. I have eaten my share of strange food so I figured balut wouldn’t be that bad. It certainly wasn’t! We all managed to eat the balut without hurling.
Sifus Steve and Bennie made it easy on us though, they got us 3-day old balut. It only contains a very undeveloped fetus. For me, I tasted three separate textures: a hardboiled egg yolk, a small piece of duck meat, and something that reminded me of snail. There’s also a piece of very hard, stone-like thing left over as well. The ultimate challenge would be a 15-day old balut. This would contain a very well-developed fetus, with feathers, tiny duck head, eyes and all. We would “chicken” out of this challenge this time around.
It is my duty to mention how good the produce was. I already had a good inkling that most produce would be very fresh since we were smack in the middle of some farms. The selection at the marketplace in Nagcarlan was great and the prices were just jaw-dropping compared to what I would pay in Osaka. A kilo of mangos (roughly 6 mangos) cost about 200 yen. I would be hard pressed to find a single mango for sale at 200 yen in Japan. The bananas were a lot smaller than the ones sold in Japan and the weird thing was the bananas were sweet. I mean, literally, they were tangy and sweet. I’d never eaten a banana with so much taste before! I swallowed probably a half dozen and could eat a few dozen more. There were also many fruits and things that were practically free because they grew everywhere.
In Liliw, there weren’t many restaurants and they certainly won’t be winning any prestigious awards for their culinary art either. The one “fine” restaurant was called Arabela’s and it was probably the nicest looking restaurant in town. It was built in an old Spanish building and the ceiling was about 5 or 6 inches too short for me. Ian, the resident giant, and even I, at a modest 5’10”, had to stoop inside or have our heads and shoulders go crashing through to the second floor. I had a steak there and it wasn’t the best steak ever but it was good to have something more meaty and substantial.
I forgot which day it was but we had lunch at the Filipino answer to McDonalds: Jollibee. I would say it was as good as McDonalds. We all had “Champ” burgers: a 1/3lb patty similar to a quarter pounder. They were something like 120 peso, about 1/5th of the price of a quarter pounder combo.
Children’s Feeding Program
We were invited to a children’s feeding program run by the church on Easter Weekend. I’ve seen pictures of this event in Osaka but I didn’t really have much idea on what happens here. I’m really glad I went and I was quite touched by the love people shared with these children.
As far as I could tell and from the information I was told, most of the children live around the mountain and belong to very poor families. It seemed there were quite a number of single mothers too. Some kids looked quite malnourished. Children are children however and each one had that bright gleam in his or her eye and several had huge smiles! One group in particular was not shy at all and posed for our cameras at every chance.
The morning started with some warm-up exercise – the exact routine that we do in Wing Chun class. I think we have Steve to thank for that. Then the volunteers run Sunday School (hold Sunday School? I don’t know the proper verb to go with Sunday School). The kids listened to a bible story and did some quick activities coloring things in, answering questions, etc.
Sifu Bennie and several other people prepared food and watching these kids eat was definitely my highlight of this program. It doesn’t cost very much to feed these kids but you can imagine that funding is limited. We did the best we could and donated some money and I was surprised that what little I did donate would help extend the program way more than I could imagine. I will definitely be giving more to help these wee ones in the future.
Trial by Water and The Baptism
We were also invited to attend a baptism in a mountain resort by the same church. I can’t say I’m a religious person so this wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. We all went anyway and while the baptism itself was interesting, we had an unexpected side trek that proved this day’s worth.
First, we got to the mountain on jeepnies, only this time, we climbed onto the roof and hung on for our lives! It was quite exciting. There were no straps or seats, just the metal bars on the top to hang on to. Trees and power lines became deadly obstacles for us to duck and weave around. At times the jeepney must have been going pretty fast but the notion of speed was a bit lost to me since I was too busy not letting go and falling to my death. In a word: FUN!
On the way to Lucban, we were pelted with water balloons by groups of people waiting on the side of the road. Many people were waiting… this was no coincidence. In fact, we were in the midst of some kind of water festival that this town holds. We snuck out of the baptism event and walked around the town.
Waiting for us were crowds of people with buckets and pools of water (literally). They dowsed us, cheered, laughed, clapped, and then offered shots of lambanut (coconut wine). I turned down the drinks but Ian had one. We all got drenched pretty good but in the heat, we dried up quickly. It was, buckets, of fun!
Annoyances
It was at first interesting but after the second or third time, it just became plain annoying. When entering most larger stores, you have to submit your backpack to a ridiculous search for bombs or other terrorist materials. The worst part is that no one really takes the search seriously anyway so it was just a big hassle to take off my heavy backpack, open it up and hope that the contents don’t spill out, and have the person just wave their fingers around and tell me to go through.
You also don’t have to drive around very long near the bigger towns before you spot army “crime watch” teams. How can I describe this? Take half a dozen to a dozen soldiers in full camo outfits, have half of them sitting on plastic lawn chairs looking half asleep, and have the other half walking around toting automatic rifles pretending to be protecting the peace
At some check points, you have to stop your car and let the “inspector” open the driver’s door and have a quick look around the driver’s feet for bombs. Steve, sitting in the back, joked, “The bomb’s in the back.” Once again, another inspection based on appearances. Supposedly this is just some stupid ploy by the government to make the people think they’re protecting the country.
Wing Chun Progression
December 03, 2009
I’ve recently thought about my wing chun progression over the past couple of years and I’ve come up with my own personal progression path. I came up with this by myself based on my own experience with the art so don’t take this for more than what it is.
- Relaxation
- Technique Mastery
- Movement and Energy flow
- ???
1. Relaxation
For most newcomers to wing chun, the most difficult thing seems to be relaxing yourself during training. The “secret” of wing chun is the sensitivity built and used during chi sao. When your body is tense and when you use brute muscular strength, the sensitivity cannot be developed. Without this sensitivity, your wing chun is non-existent. Therefore, the first step is learning how to use the soft to defend against the strong, using the opponent’s force against him, and learning to relax yourself to a level to be able to take in all the information about your opponent’s movements through physical contact – the download, if you will.
2. Technique Mastery
I feel that once the student learns how to truly relax and use the download automatically, the next step is to be able to use the wing chun techniques confidently and with focus and intention. This requires a lot of nitpicking and trying to perfect every single technique from the tan sau, pak sau, and bong sau, and every other block, parry, and attack. This is where an experienced teacher and fellow kung fu brothers and sisters need to give you feedback. Also, you must also monitor your movements yourself. For me, I remember just looking at my tan sau every single time and actually stopping whatever I was doing to examine if my angle was correct, my distance and range were adequate, whether or not the motion was both forward and angled slightly, etc. to a point where I felt my tan sau was near perfect. I did this for every technique. I don’t claim that my movements are perfect, but I do trust my techniques to do what they’re meant to, each and every time.
3. Movement and Energy flow
This is something that I’m just getting the hang of. This is learning how to move with attacks to minimize your energy use and maximize your attack and defense. This is not resisting through strength but flowing with different movements naturally and smoothly. This really makes your opponent work twice as hard as it’s like you’re warping around – your opponent is forced to recalculate and redirect the attack if he wants to hit you. This also helps you set yourself up at better angles to attack. I still catch myself standing ground and resisting, instead of stepping to the side. I’m getting better at it but I haven’t quite mastered this yet.
4. ???
Not sure what to expect next. Once I feel I’ve mastered step 3, maybe I’ll discover what step 4 is. I hope to be able to fill this in soon.
My Kung Fu Level
November 27, 2009
I have reached the next level of kung fu awareness: sleep kung fu.
On two separate occasions, I have reflexively defended myself from imminent attack while I was asleep, from my own wife!
The first time, she was rolling over in her sleep and her right arm was coming right towards my face. I don’t know how I sensed it but I knew an elbow or a hand was going to hit me in the face. I shot out my right arm in a biu tze and deflected her attack.
The second time was very similar. She was rolling over in her sleep and her right leg was about to come crashing down onto me. I don’t know how I sensed it but I knew that her knee or maybe just her whole leg would hit me in the gut or worse, in the crotch. I extended my leg out and caught her and gently put her leg back down.
Both times I was completely asleep but I somehow felt her movements and automatically moved. Still, as I was doing this, I was consciously aware of doing it. It was like a log entry was made, “Oh by the way, your wife almost attacked you while you were away, we had to use one of the kung fu moves to safely defend you. Just thought you should know.”
I am very proud of my subconscious defense. It is much stronger than my conscious defense.
Master and Student
November 15, 2009
What just popped into my head was that Jet Li plays Huo Yuan Jia in Fearless. He then plays Chen Zhen in Fist of Legend. Chen Zhen’s master is none other than Huo Yuan Jia. He plays both the master and student!
Huo Yuan Jia was a real person. Chen Zhen is fictional.
Just thought I’d share that little tidbit.
BBQ and Training
October 22, 2009
Zach has posted pictures from our bbq and training last month at Sifu Steve’s house. There’s a fantastic picture of Sanjay staring at me in a very intimidating way. I’m going to be careful of him from now on.
The Brute
August 16, 2009
Recently I encountered yet another person who thought they knew it all about martial arts. He’s one of my students from a corporate class that just ended and they all took me out for dinner that night. While drunk, he started talking about how he is (was?) able to do something like 200 pushups. I told him that that was fantastic! He then told me he did some sort of Japanese kenpo system. To be honest I have no idea what style it was because 1. I had never heard of it and 2. he was slurring from the alcohol he had imbibed.
Well anyway, he then told me that he could beat me in a fight. He knows that my “hobby” is kung fu. He has never seen my kung fu before nor have I really talked about it beyond the extent of “I’m going to my kung fu class this weekend.” I thought it was rather rude that he would hold such an opinion without even seeing what I do, or more importantly, what I can do.
I wasn’t angry because this was not the first time I’ve heard comments like this and also because there’s no point being angry at a guy who’s generally very nice but unfortunately drunk at the moment. I asked him calmly, why he thought he could beat me. He said because he’s stronger than me (because he can do 200 pushups). I actually agreed with him – he is stronger than me. I can’t do 200 pushups. I told him, if we were ever to fight using pushups, he would definitely win.
I then started explaining that in my style, I wouldn’t fight brute strength with more brute strength because, for the reason I had just explained, I would lose. I’m not a very strong person. He still insisted that he would beat me.
One lesson Steve has imparted on me is that sometimes some people take better to a physical lesson rather than a verbal lesson. Obviously I wasn’t going to start beating him up or anything but a simple demonstration would suffice.
I asked him to grab my arm with both hands and push. I deliberately pushed back and let him “win”. I didn’t use my full muscular power because he was drunk and he couldn’t use his full power but I resisted just enough to let him push me backwards. I then reassured him that “Wow you are strong. You are definitely stronger than me.”
Then I told him, “OK this time, push me again but I’m not going to use strength to defeat you.” He obediently grabbed onto my arm again and started pushing. As soon as I felt the “break point” of resistance, I just took a sidestep and watched as he stumbled forward – it’s hard to push against something when it’s no longer there. My point of this was to show that there is more than one way to fight a fight – brute strength being one of them, and using the opponent’s strength against him being another. I didn’t make any judgements on either one because that wasn’t the point.
He got back up and said, “I could still beat you”.
Indeed.
25 Things about my Kung Fu
July 27, 2009
I’m being a bit lazy with posts recently so I’ll just steal this from my Facebook page and slap it here for now. I enjoyed writing it and thinking about my art.
1. I first started studying Wing Chun kung fu when I was 15.
2. I’ve never once been in a fight.
3. If I can do this, anyone can.
4. I wish I could say I practiced diligently since then but I stopped practicing for probably 6 or 7 years.
5. My first teacher taught me all the basics and the principles. My current teacher is teaching me application and advanced principles. I can’t imagine where I’d be without either one of them.
6. I have dabbled in tae kwan do, savate, hung gar kung fu, yi chuan, boxing, and tai chi chuan. None of them appealed to me very much so I promptly quit. WC is the only one that’s stuck.
7. While I’m in training, I want to do the most difficult, painful, skill-testing drills possible. I greet them with a smile and an evil laugh.
8. When I’m not in training, I dread the aforementioned drills. I whine and dawdle and try to avoid them.
9. The more I learn and practice, the weaker I realize I am. I think this was what Bruce Lee meant when he talked about “emptying your cup”
10. My dad made me start kung fu because I was sitting around the house on weekends too much.
11. I am very reprehensive about training in public. I don’t like drawing attention. I’m going to dread performing on stage.
12. The person I would like to fight most would be my senior in my first teacher’s school. We started out around the same level but he just advanced faster. Everything I did, he was just a bit better. It was not depressing, it was VERY motivating. I ran into him several years later but unfortunately he had stopped training just like I did.
13. I hate wearing uniforms, belts, bowing to dojos, competitions, trophies and anything else remotely ritualistic about martial arts. When it comes down to it, it’s all about fighting and not getting hurt – all the other stuff was tacked on after by schools.
14. I split things down to being fast, strong, or smart. I’m not smart. I’m not strong. So, I focus on pure raw speed.
15. The greatest thing I’ve received from my training is confidence. I doubt I can really fight at all but I’ll be damned if I step down.
16. I used to read and collect a whole bunch of martial arts books until I realized reading about it did nothing. It was only practice that ever really made me improve. I also try to not waste a lot of time watching martial arts on Youtube.
17. You can learn something from every person, from the wisest teacher to the newest student, from the best fighter to someone who can’t beat an egg, there’s something to learn.
18. I’m currently working on beautiful kicks even though we don’t use any in real combat.
19. A distant relative of mine is a famous WC practitioner. I met him once when I was about 13, before I even knew what Wing Chun was.
20. My hero is Bruce Lee not because of his fighting ability, but because of his accomplishments in introducing the art to the western world. I couldn’t care less if he was a crappy fighter.
21. One of my former kung fu teachers was one of Bruce Lee’s childhood friends. When I asked him what was Bruce like, he answered, “The one thing I remember clearly was that he could run very fast.”
22. My website is derived from a Bruce Lee quote.
23. My email tagline is a Bruce Lee quote.
24. Back in Vancouver, I had a big poster of Bruce Lee from Enter The Dragon. There were drawn bloody cuts on the poster and all my loser friends always asked if I drew them on myself. No I didn’t.
25. I hate people who talk about martial arts or Bruce Lee too much. Writing this was an exercise in self-loathing. Thanks for reading!
Masters
June 17, 2009
It’s very easy to write on my blog when so much happens in a matter of a few days.
Last week, I received a message from a couple of my kung fu brothers that an Australian tai chi/wing chun teacher visited the school and helped demonstrate some tai chi techniques and training methods to the class. On Saturday, he came again and this time I was there to meet him.
I am so glad I got to meet Sifu Mark Rasmus. He is a very polite and friendly martial arts teacher who was very respectful to all of us and our modest little school. He was also kind enough to be the guest teacher that day and he helped show us a lot of what the inner arts has to offer.
I’ve met a few inner arts teacher including my first teacher, Sifu Lee. With the inner arts training comes this power that’s almost mystical. Once you connect with a great teacher, you will immediately notice the inner power – they are like an immovable wall. Sifu Mark has incredible power – I’ve never experienced that kind of inner strength before. He could easily find my center of gravity with a mere touch and send me flying back if he so wanted to. I was floored – in the metaphorical sense, and luckily not in the literal sense.
I only wish Sifu Steve was in town to meet Sifu Mark – I think these two great masters would get along and there would be some very interesting conversation or debates about martial arts. We the students would benefit greatly from this.
Plateau
February 23, 2009
I think in anything we learn, we hit plateaus in improvement and struggle to get past it. For me, kung fu holds more plateaus than anything I’ve ever done. You can’t fake martial arts – you either can or can’t do it. With each plateau I’m hitting, I’m finding it harder and harder to get out of it. It’s taking more input each time to improve. It’s like the law of diminishing returns rearing its ugly head even in martial arts.
Recently I’ve had the privilege of meeting a few new people and train with them. Training with new people for me is always a very exciting thing. Training with my regular friends is still one of the things I look forward to all week but after awhile, you all settle into a certain training style and it becomes almost predictable. For me, that’s when I feel my improvement lags.
So, with new people coming in, they bring in much needed stimulus to my training and keeps me on my toes. My favorite part is just learning and adapting to their styles and idiosyncracies. It’s certainly not a matter of who’s better than whom, but more of how do I overcome this, or that, or this again.
Using this, I think I’m overcoming my latest improvement plateau, one which I’ve been stuck on for a few months now. I’m also trying to push myself a bit more than before. I’m also training a lot more frequently, thanks in part to another motivated class mate. I’m just hoping I can keep up this momentum.
This journey seems to be becoming more difficult but at the same time, it’s getting exciting.
More kung fu pictures
January 18, 2009
I got The Woman to join!
Grandmaster Yip Man
January 08, 2009
What a fantastic movie. Donnie Yen kick ass. For a guy who never studied Wing Chun before, he did a fantastic job emulating it. This is by far the best Wing Chun movie I’ve ever seen. Makes me proud to be a WC student.
Even though the movie does a wild job throwing Yip Man on a great pedestal, much like how Wong Fei Hung’s achievements were hugely exaggerated by the hundreds of movies, I couldn’t help feel a great sense of pride in “Uncle Man” while watching the movie. It makes me feel great to be Yip Man’s student’s student’s student (from my first WC teacher). I’m not exactly sure how the lineage works with Sifu Steve because he’s not too sure who his teacher’s teacher was. Don’t worry, none of it ever matters.
Boy, am I ever energized to do more training! Go watch this movie my fellow WCers!
My teachers
November 14, 2008
Before
July 25, 2008
Coming very soon… Golden Harvest Wing Chun’s own school.
In the thick of it
May 22, 2008
Honesty
May 04, 2008
This is one of the best pictures of yours truly. We were practicing Arnis along Kamogawa river when one of the student’s friends snapped this.
I can totally see into myself in this picture.
Lost and Found
April 15, 2008
It hasn’t been a secret that I have gotten back into martial arts with the one that started it all for me: Wing Chun. I was thinking that I’m glad that I found WC again because I’m beginning to see some progress and benefits in just five months’ of training.
I’m beginning to lose some fat and getting into better shape. I’m probably in the best shape I’ve ever been in Japan actually. More importantly I’m beginning to get back into the mental condition needed. I’m a bit calmer, a bit more confident, and I’m beginning to regain some persistance.
On thinking that I’ve found WC again, I also know that I never quite lost it. I remember starting the path when i was 14 with Sifu Lee Man Kit in Vancouver. It was two 1.5 hour classes back to back every Saturday at Chinatown. I stuck at it for about two years. I remember I was one of the first students in the class and I welcomed and bid farewell to many other students during that time. That training and the self-training then changed me forever.
In addition to WC I began to look at other things but none of the other arts ever appealed to me. I took a bit of Hung Gar kung fu, Tae Kwan Do, Kickboxing. They all had a different take on many things. Moreover the one thing that really drove me away from them was the commercialization of the art. The thought of the rainbow belts and prices for just about everything really disgusted me. I understand that these are businesses in addition to the teaching of the art but it got a bit out of hand. The only other art that I stuck with was Yi Chuan, also taught by Sifu Lee. It complemented WC so well plus it taught me relaxation (and brought me many weird experiences actually).
Although I didn’t continue the class around the age of 16 or 17, I did continue to keep training some things by myself. Unfortunately I forgot the WC forms, save, Sil Nim Tau which I still practiced. I forgot the entire wooden dummy movement and am relearning it under Sifu Steve. I am beginning to start some of the Yi Chuan training again at home along with the other supplementary training.
What drives me is not to best the other students but to beat myself – I am seeing the progress I’m making little by little and in many ways it’s a huge addiction. I am finding my limits with Sifu Steve, especially when I’m the only one sometimes, and I feel the burning drive to push those limits each time. I’ve been putting in about an hour of training each day at home and I will definitely keep it up.
It’ll all pay out in the future with interest.
Modest Beginnings
April 08, 2008
There’s only three of us and Sifu Steve but soon enough I’ll miss these days of small classes. The website is beginning to generate some hits. Ian, on the left there, found us through this page. I’m hoping that the Golden Harvest Wing Chun page will begin to pay off as well.
Wing Chun Kung Fu in Osaka
February 28, 2008
I’ve been googling everything Wing Chun lately and found the lack of information quite appalling. Anyway, I just wanted to let the world know that there is at least our Wing Chun class going on in Osaka and Kyoto that is English-friendly. (日本語ã?§ã‚‚ã?„ã?„ã?‘ã?©)
The class currently takes place once a week on Saturday from 3pm very close to Kitakagaya Station. The class has only been running for a few months so space is still available. You can contact me directly and I’ll refer you to Sifu Steve. I’m handling the web requests. I’m more than happy to answer any questions that you might have.
To answer some of the possible questions that might come up:
- the class is very relaxed
- monthly fees are very reasonable
- Sifu Steve is very welcoming of anyone and will wholeheartedly teach everything he knows
- Sifu Steve allows you to refer to him as “Steve”
- dress code is very relaxed: no strict uniform requirements
- the venue where we practice is not the biggest place but it’s enough (it’s a dance studio). It does not have any equipment (like a wooden dummy) but Sifu Steve brings a lot of gear to class each week
- In my humble opinion, WC is a very effective martial art. With the right training and application, anyone, regardless of size, age, or experience, can become effective in combat.
We’re waiting for you!
Comparing Apples To Oranges
January 29, 2008
Incidentally, it has almost been four years since I’ve used the word “apples” in a blog entry.
Yesterday a clip from the National Geographic’s Fight Science, one of the cooler martial arts documentaries done in a long time, came on a Japanese show. The clip showed the “science” behind comparing different punches, kicks, and attacks of various martial art styles.
The kung fu guy punched a meager 250 (I forgot what the measurements were… maybe lbs/sq inch?) while the karate guy a lot higher, and the boxer a 400. Sadly the kung fu guy’s punch was pathetic – it was delivered with only the upper body while the boxer really leaned in and used the whole body’s weight on that punch. Oh yes, the kung fu guy looked tiny compared to the boxer as well. During the segment, I don’t think the measured force to weight ratios.
Upon watching this I couldn’t help but notice that the show’s intent was to then draw conclusions on the data. The boxer hit the hardest, therefore it is the best. The Kung Fu guy threw a baby kitten punch, therefore it is the worst. I’m sure The Woman had this thought. If anything, it only proves that that kung fu guy threw a meager punch and that boxing guy hit harder.
Then, the pure measurement of these punches mean nothing unless they actually neutralize their target. I would gladly take a 400 punch to my arm than a 250 punch to the nose or solar plexis.
Anyway, the point of all this is that the art, is after all, an art. An art is an expression of the self and thus there is no right or wrong, no good or bad. So many times do I hear practitioners say that their art is superior to the rest. That, this and that art are crap and that this art can beat that art anytime anyday. That’s ridiculous. The art in itself does not fight, does not complete. We do! The human does. The human can win and lose, regardless of the art. The best student of art A fighting the worst student of art B does not demonstrate which is better.
The only judge of anything is yourself. The only thing you can always compare is your present results with your past. Work towards punching a little faster, a little harder. Working towards this goal is the true art,
so says I.
Don’t think; feel…
October 14, 2007
After something like a five year absence, I have begun some martial art training again.
I kind of mentioned Gerard in a previous update – he posted a punching bag for sale at work and that time being the worst week in history at Nova for me, I just had to buy it. He hauled the bag and stand over and we had a good chat about martial arts.
We’ve since did some sparring and technique training twice and we’re setting a mixed martial arts club. The first meeting will be on Friday the 26 at Celio’s Soho gallery. In the long run, I’d like to have a more martial arts-oriented venue but for now it will do. (I’ve been hangin out at Celio’s more and the place is awesome).
One thing I’ve noticed is that I am completely out of shape and my coordination is shot. My reflexes seem fairly good still and I can still pick out the glaring weaknesses quickly. The best part is that Gerard and I are trading ideas to help the other improve. So far he’s been pointing out my weaknesses way more often.
This is great though – it lets me kill some time and vent some stress out. The punching bag is saving lives.
