Wing Chun

I would like to give you a little insight about a discipline that I was introduced to 3 years ago by my friends.

During my second year in college, I met a couple of friends who belonged to a group with diverse interests. One main interest though was a passion for martial arts. Being one of the few girls in that group, I thought I’d join in for the sake of learning self-defense. And of course, I wanted to be bad ass :D

I went through the training thinking I would soon learn fighting styles. They assessed my movement, height, strength and other requirements. They told me that the best type of discipline for me was Wing Chun. It is a martial arts discipline that surprisingly started with a girl fighter. It emphasized more on close range body combat.

I was so intent in being bad ass and showing the guys how a girl does Kung Fu. But then the first thing they taught me was a lesson on fear and body alignment. I was impatient and I wanted to spar as soon as possible. My guru, a good friend of mine arranged for a light spar session after I learned basic moves. I was too repetitive in movement. I fell easily, hit too hard too slow and too fast too light. I wasn’t doing anything right.

Through training my movement became a little more graceful and polished but

I was still repetitive and bent on harming my opponent. That, I realized, was exactly what I did wrong.

Win Chun being an eastern discipline also makes use mind power. Mind versus crippling fear. Fear is what hinders us. It makes you more rigid instead of relaxed. You fight to retaliate when you fear. Learning to do away with fear was harder than learning the moves. I needed to train my mind to relax instead if panic. I had to face my opponent and not be afraid of taking hits.

One thing my guru taught me which I never understood was to look at my opponent in the eye. I tried reasoning

out saying how can I see my opponent strike if I lock my eyes with his? All he said was trust yourself, you will see your opponent coming. Eye contact was a way of measuring up your opponents fear. It was also a way of dissolving your own fears by facing your opponent. Sure enough, I saw the hits coming better than when I concentrated on his limbs. Concentrating on his limbs didnt help me to anticipate his movement, therefore slowing me down.

Another principle that I didnt follow was body discipline. I had the skill for really fast chain punches but I was repetitive and I was always open to attack. I had a weak guard and I fell often because my stance wasn’t strong enough.

I didn’t practice body alignment, I focused more on hitting my opponent. I wasn’t fighting smart. In a few minutes, my opponent could cripple me and leave me defenseless or dead. Lesson? Practice doesn’t make perfect. CORRECT PRACTICE makes PERMANENT. Disciplining your body is a part of mind power. Don’t be lazy or do anything half-heartedly, it would result to no good.

Lastly, Wing Chun was meant for combat and yet the principles behind Wing Chun doesn’t advocate hate. In fact it equate

s hate with fear. It is meant to keep the mind and body healthy to be used when needed and practiced correctly.

KattChavez

(c) 2011