DISCIPLINE, THE SUPER WEAPON WE ALL NEED.

From a still position think Fook Sau, perform Fook Sau, stop.

WHERE IS THE DISCIPLINE TRAINING IN EVERYDAY WING CHUN?

If we get in trouble our best chance of getting out of trouble is to stay disciplined, to do what we need to do, where we need to do it, and when we need to do it.

But what does that mean and where is it in our training?

As young kids engaged in Western Boxing, this was drilled into us by a 10-minute sparring exercise where we could not defend ourselves, hold up a guard or counter-attack our sparring partner.

Our sparring partners were free to {lightly} hit us anywhere and any way they wanted to, all we could do was evade, but without retreating, we could step away but not run away.

Without fear of a counter-attack, our sparring partner was relentless, often leaving themselves wide open for a counter we were forbidden to deliver.

This was preparing us to not fall for dummies or feints by trying to get in cheap shots that in a real fight could easily lead to our undoing.

Every few minutes the coach would shout ‘HIT’ this gave us permission to take one shot at our sparring partner and then back to the drill, this taught us how to be disciplined, how to wait until the shot was on, to not try to force the fight, to be patient.

This was an excellent drill that ‘really’ paid out when needed.

Do we have anything in Wing Chun that remotely approaches this kind of training?

That depends.

If we can look beyond what we think we are doing, and look at the fundamental IDEA we are seeking, then the answer is YES, we do.

First up, what is the IDEA we are hoping to find?

A method to develop PATIENCE and DISCIPLINE.

These are, of course, CONCEPTS, or IDEAS.

If we are completely tuned in to our training these IDEAS can be found anywhere, but an ideal, easy, and convenient place to begin is to be found in doing the Forms.

Not the specific movements of the Forms, but rather in the way we approach the Forms, the mindset more than the movement set.

The rhythm we establish, the flow from one thought to another thought more than the transition from one movement to another movement.

Essentially all Forms are a collection of single movements and not a movement set per se, there should be an established start point and an equally established finish point for each and every shape/movement.

When we finish one shape/movement we change our thinking to the next phase before we transition our posture or shape/movement.

For example, if we think of the progression of Fook Sau, Huen Sau, Wu Sau, Tor Sau {if we could endure the boredom we could do this forever and learn everything}. 

From a still position think Fook Sau, perform Fook Sau, stop.

Think Huen Sau, perform Huen Sau, stop.

Think Wu Sau, perform Wu Sau, stop.

Think Tor Sau, perform Tor Sau, stop.

 Rinse and repeat until the ‘End of Days’.

As a two-person training drill, there is nothing better than ‘Single Arm Chi Sau’.

At first, the very IDEA of ‘perform, stop, think, perform, stop, think, perform, stop, think, perform’ may seem very robotic and unnatural, but PATIENCE and DISCIPLINE, and of course awareness, will allow us to control the timing of the pauses between stop, think, perform so that it becomes Human, natural, responsive instead of reactive. 

Obviously, this exercise, this way of utilising the Sing Chi Sau Drill, requires that both players disconnect their EGOs.

 Which in itself is training us to be DISCIPLINED.

Training in any Form should never be easy, it should never be enjoyable, it should always annoy us at some level, it is learning to ignore the thing that we think is not needed and still do it, the thing Sifu says is important but we do not think is in any way important, this teaches the greatest lesson.

DISCIPLINE.