In learning Ving Tsun it is important to remember that
increasing your skill level has more to do with refinement than accumulation.
It’s often the case that a junior will see what his seniors are doing and have
a desire to learn what they are learning. The fact of the matter is that if you don’t concentrate
on your current level of training then you will not be able to do what your
seniors are doing. It won’t be because your Sifu refuses to teach it to you, it
will literally be the case that you cannot do it.
For example one of the weapons in the Ving Tsun System is
the Luk Dim Poon Kwan (6 ½ point pole). There is a training process that
gradually gives you the attributes necessary to be able to use the pole. Each
stage in the training process is dependent upon the satisfactory completion of
the previous stage. If you cannot hold a decent Jin Ma, you cannot use the
pole. If you cannot do at least 10 jin choi forward and backward you cannot use
the pole. If your biu kwan is inaccurate you cannot play chi kwan. Are you
starting to see my point? Every skill in Ving Tsun is developed through a
methodical training process that must be followed in order to obtain the
desired results.
You have to be patient, you have to be disciplined, and you
have to be smart. As a student it will not serve you to have the expectation to
learn something new every time you come to the school. Of course your Sifu
could humor you and teach you a new technique every day. The result would be
that you would have the type of Kung Fu that fits in your pocket. When you need
it, it might be there. Then again it might not; it might have fallen out of
your pocket. You may have left it in your other pants. It may be lost in the cushions of your couch, who knows? What you want
is the kind of kung fu that is a natural expression of yourself. If something
happens, you will handle it, because that is what you do. Trying to memorize
one million techniques does not produce that kind of Kung Fu.
So, don’t rush, take your time, absorb as much as possible
at each level of your training. Test your understanding by sharing with your
juniors. Get input from your Sifu and your seniors. The training floor is your
laboratory, make good use of it. Approach your training like a scientist,
identify and refine the elements of pure skill.
