sihing

vt guy,
From my understanding there are only a few people left from that era that are still active, for whatever reasons, marriages, divorces, job changes, etc..people drop out, myself I have made the conscious decision to make Wing Chun a very important aspect of my life, rather than just a hobby as most people do. Most of my own students from back home are also no longer active, but I do keep in touch with a few of them, as Sifu does to with his older students.

Yes you are correct, Sifu was appointed Head Master of the North American Chapter of the WWCKFA, and the Bio of Master Lewadny is just that, a listing of achievements and points of interest throughout his Martial Arts career.

As for your inquiry regarding definitions of "Hard" and "Soft" and when one is used over another, this is something very hard to explain on a forum such as this. In my mind, when these words are used in the academy, which is a rarity, I'm thinking of the distinction between what Sifu learned from his earlier WC teacher(Hard) and what he learned from GM Cheung(Soft), and these are Sifu's own personal labels. Basically the difference in technique between the two is in the realm of footwork and combat strategy. Since I have personally taken it upon myself to learn more about the differences, this is of course my own personal opinion. Soft style Wing Chun is a system that can definitely be used by all practitioners, and is extremely useful for smaller people. Now if this is true then it is also correct to say that it is useful for larger people, the difference is that larger people have a choice. In contrast, the "hard" style is one that is effective for larger people solely. Because of the footwork limitations and lack of a combat strategy, the only way to make it truly work is to have a physical advantage of your opponent, IMO. Using the example given in the last post, a larger person utilizing the soft style can choose either way to move against a low round punch(using kan sau tech.), either moving to the side or straight in. Whereas a smaller person, with less physical attributes advantage, would be advised strongly to use the side step version, to allow them a positional advantage, and more time to react to the attackers follow up. Again this is something that cannot be easily explained on a MA forum.

As for just developing or exposing techniques to student’s dependant on what is "hip" in the MA world this is not true. Think of it this way, when the UFC came out, there where plenty of people asking the question "What IF". At the same time there where lots of new students in the WC school that I was a part of. Although I could see the techniques and strategies that I would use against a grappler, others couldn't(those that train in WC as a hobby, as compared to those that train in WC for the love of the art), so it was decided to expose these techniques at an earlier time in the progression of a student’s development. You see, it doesn't really matter to us whether someone is throwing a punch, a kick or is trying to shoot for my legs, it’s all universal and is basically dealt with in the same manner. As for "stick fighting and escrima", it is all already in the WC system taught by Master Lewadny. The butterfly swords techniques utilize similar combat theories as those used by the Filipino Martial Arts, and since WC specializes in trapping, it is a simple transition from empty hand to either butterfly sword or sticks.

Quote:vt guy ""As for chi-sao and close range vision, what happens when in a fight and while in trapping range the opponent pulls both arms back"
According to your "water in a dam" analogy wouldn't the force would just rush though your opponent?"

Yes, the forward intention would still kick in, but there is always a very slight delay. People can retreat faster, especially if I'm chain punching them 6 to 9 times in a second, than one could actually keep up with. My philosophy is this, when it is no longer possible to hit them with your fists, due to their retreat, you should IMMEDIATELY front kick, the forward intention is transferred to the legs, and when at all possible this should be the response. I have practiced the blindfold chi-sao, and yes it does work, but I found that after I countered my partners attack while blindfolded, it was difficult to find his head to punch, especially when the partners arms where by his side. One should always use all of their senses to the highest degree when in a confrontation. Sometimes we have to look at things in a realistic way, in this case just because you have contact reflexes and excellent forward intention, you still will need every tool you can access to defend yourself in self defence/combat environment. Chi-sao just helps us do this in a more effective manner..

I do not believe Sifu is "ignoring" techniques or whatever that is available to us in our WC. He may not be teaching us in the exact same manner as his teachers did, of course not, he's not them, and as a matter of fact from what I understand of the situation over there in Australia, I wouldn't want to learn that way either. Through his 40yrs+ experience he has IMO, developed a curriculum that is the most efficient and effective way to relay the information of the WC system to the students, so that they can learn it and understand it for their own needs. Each student in the academy has opportunities to access private instruction in any technique that is "bewildering" to them, and Sifu's door is always open for questions to be answered. I believe your comment, "but I think the way a person learns it though should be the way the instructor learned it" has to do with have we missed something along the way that is crucial to the students development in his WC journey. Well trust me when I say this is not the case in the Canadian Wing Chun Kung Fu Association....


Sihing