Photo by Natasha Connell on Unsplash
In his late years, Grandmaster Chu wished that his disciples, based on what he had developed in those preceding years, could further explore training methods that would speed up learners in acquiring the Idea (the mind, the Nim Tau).
I believe this wish has been staying with us and lingering in our minds such that each of us has been working in a way or another to make it come true, at least closer.
I am no exception.
And my recent change in the teaching approach, and then correspondingly the training methods, is an attempt for this purpose. The change is described hereafter.
The Chu-style Wing Chun is characterised by the emphasis on Idea, the mind, the internal. Teaching students to “reach” the mind state sometimes troubles trainers who easily become conservative in bringing it to the fore, lest this will be too remote to the learners and will only result in pressing them too hard, if not scaring them straight away due to frequent disappointments from failures.
The usual path of teaching has become typically like this: Emphasise Siu Nim Tau, stance, spine rising, taigong, relaxing, dropping shoulders and back muscles; practise these patiently and persistently until a learner feels more in a relaxed and aligned (physical) structure, before the trainer “feels” comfortable to guide the learner to start bringing forward the role of the mind in directing movements. In this regard, “relax” (or “sung” in Cantonese) and “drop” are still the key triggers used.
Often this is a long, and very long process. Why is it so long? Of course, by nature, opening up the mind’s latent potential could be itself an immense task that has to take considerable time. As a result, one is prone to be halted by its uncertainty and to oscillate between the two poles of pressing forward and observing with care. This is not only true in learners, but most often in trainers as well, who might have themselves become too skeptical to even doubt the possibility of teaching such a mind state.
(The above is my observation and impression, not concluded from any objective measure like a survey. If it’s not what you perceive, please help share your views here.)
Such an attitude, while as on the pro side a conservative approach merited at its stepwise progression, seemingly reducing the chance of going wrong, is on the con side sometimes a hampering force culminating to become a procrastinating inertia that drags you behind from ever tapping into the essence.
Is it really not possible to bring forward the mind in directing movements right from the outset? Are learners totally not ready to receive such an early inception of operating by the mind?
I have been trying to answer these questions. The experiment is simple and straightforward: In giving training (since about two years ago), I always ask and guide my students, including fresh beginners, to “imagine” to move, by having the mind go into the physical body parts right away. Less hesitation – just use it (the mind)!
So far, the response has been encouraging. Nearly all of them could exhibit the working of the mind, under close guidance though. They could taste what mind-directed movements are, downright from the outset. The mind is being tapped into and “trained” as early as possible in the learner’s training journey, not waiting months or years only after proper form practice.
This is the change in my approach. It has to be operationalised in a corresponding change in training methods to make the effects seen as well. In this regard, the point-linked system I have been delineating so far is the vehicle to serve this role. This will be discussed in the next post.
2022.02.17
IdeasWingChun 