I’m happy to announce the following promotions:

• Thomas Mayberry to 2nd Level Technician.
• Derrick Pizarro to 2nd Level Technician.
• Ruben Alaniz to Primary Technician.
• CJ Esquivel to Primary Technician.

Congratulations to all on your hard work and efforts!

Interview on protecting the name of Leung Ting WingTsun® Kung Fu while visiting San Antonio WingTsun™ Academy September 2012.

Interview on the philosophy of Leung Ting WingTsun® Kung Fu while visiting San Antonio WingTsun™ Academy September 2012.

Sept 20-28

It was another great week with Grandmaster Leung Ting. Sifu taught two five hour sessions on Saturday and Sunday. The focus this time for the technicians was on lat-sau (free fighting) and applying techniques contained in the Biu-Tze and Wooden Dummy forms. The student grades were taught Siu Nim Tau and Chum Kiu applications. In addition to the regular seminar and private lessons, Sifu taught a special session for technicians on Friday, which exclusively dealt with the concepts and applications of the Biu Sau technique.

All in all, everyone had a great time, and it was an extremely productive week!

Best wishes to all,

Sifu

If we keep things super simple, there are basically two areas which we need to be concerned with: A) the tactile portion; i.e. contact, bridging, use of force, etc., and B) the visual portion where contact has yet to occur but “things” are in motion! In both cases, there are usually cues, which can help us respond effectively, if we can accurately read them in advance and reduce our reaction time. In WingTsun, these considerations are of primary concern, and its concepts and techniques offer us logical solutions to these questions.

For the tactile aspect, where contact has already occurred, WingTsun’s chi- sau training is our unique method for interpreting contact and dealing with it in the fastest and least labor intensive way. By “contact”, I mean either, A) the aggressor has already launched an attack and at best, we can only defend or bridge, i.e. the Chum Kiu, before we get our “turn”, or B) we had the time to directly counter, yet our aggressor has defenses as well, and we consequently have an “obstacle course” to get thru while not getting hurt in our efforts. Muscle memory is the common term we hear as it applies here, and the only way our muscles can develop “memory” and consequently send our bodies the correct signal in how to respond is thru repetition. Speed of recall and response time depends in great part to “familiarity” with the situation.

The same is true of the visual aspect where contact has yet to occur. The more you can have un-rehearsed practice whereby your partner can attack you in any way, i.e. kick, punch, take down, etc., the more pictures your brain can take and consequently accelerate your response time. Again, familiarity, for the brain and body is the key!

Obviously, there are an infinite number of variables which can change any given self-defense scenario, and I make no attempt to even address these endless hypotheticals here. The main point is that regardless of style or system, we all have to contend with the same problems. Think of the number of punches a boxer has thrown or how many punches have been thrown at him. Countless reps and “picture taking”! The result is that after a while, various movements and their intentions are correctly perceived and processed in a much shorter time frame. The same can be said for hitting a baseball or any other hand-eye coordination exercise. In layman terms it works like this: eyes see motion and send the picture to the brain, and the brain then processes or recalls the motion and finally sends the signal to the body to respond.

In short, repetition in both tactile and visual training is the key to “familiarity” and reduced reaction time. The more familiar you are in different situations, the faster and more effectively you can respond! Repetition is also the key element to power generation and speed, and without these, even the most perfectly executed technique can be foiled! Knowledge of techniques alone won’t get the job done either, and without the willingness to train and repeat under increasing levels of resistance, the results might not be what you imagine. Less trained more is better than more trained less, and more trained more is the ideal! Do your reps!

As always, if you’re having fun, the time passes fast!

Best Wishes to all-Will

It was great to be with the Chicago group once again, and we had a very productive weekend. This time the focus on both days was on applying the techniques learned in chi-sau in the lat-sau exercises. I also showed them various drills to develop fluency and timing in broken-rhythm. Many thanks again to the Chicago participants, and best wishes, always.

-Sifu Will

“He who regards his intellectual knowledge as ignorance has deep insight. He who overrates his intellectual achievement, as a definite truth is deeply sick”. (Lao Tzu)

I cannot recall who said it first, and I paraphrase, “If you really want to learn Leung Ting WingTsun®, it is best to leave your ego at the door”, but truer words were never spoken! This mentality is true for any real accomplishment.

In any worthwhile endeavor, there is always someone who possesses more knowledge, natural ability, and outright moxie, who can easily bring you back down to size. While this was probably not his/her intention, it is still an opportunity, if your desire for knowledge and personal growth prevails over your ego. God bless these people because they show us what is possible, and allows us the opportunity to take a realistic inventory of our own actual abilities. This is ground zero for future development in anything!

People have different levels of curiosity and satisfaction, and we should respect this and encourage our students according to their goals. The goals of the teacher and those of the student are often quite different, and the goals of the student should be priority #1!

If your interests extend beyond the average, I would suggest that a fair measure of humility and perseverance will serve you well. Over the years, I have learned two absolute truths: 1) most people sadly give up on something too quickly or retreat as soon as the first obstacle appears, and 2) in adults, the ego and its fully developed powers of rationalization and denial often sabotage their success. If you think I am being overly general or grandiose, you would be quite wrong, because I consider myself equally vulnerable to these pitfalls.

As a student and teacher of Leung Ting WingTsun® for many years now, I consider myself very fortunate to be able to continue to learn this system and receive correction and refinement directly from GM Leung Ting! I don’t count myself as a “know it all”, and I certainly don’t have the insecure compulsion to criticize others in an effort to build myself up! On the contrary, I can say without reservation, that this system of self-defense will keep me continually challenged both physically and mentally as long as I am involved. While I have learned a lot, I remain very happy to continue to learn and practice! THANK YOU SIFU!!

We all, by nature, instinctively gravitate towards the easy and “paved” road, yet real growth does not come without challenges and sacrifice! I haven’t found any short cuts, and I stopped looking for them many years ago.

Since I began learning Leung Ting WingTsun®, sometime around 1987, I have had the privilege to learn from many instructors under the IWTA umbrella, and I am eternally grateful to all of them. Each of them has given me a valuable perspective on what I needed to improve myself. My respect for all of them will never be forgotten or dismissed!

At a certain point, humility is the deciding factor between growth and development versus stagnation, degeneration and fantasy! For myself, I keep my “doors” open and remain willing to take the next lesson!

Best Wishes to all- Will

We’re working on a new promotional video for 2012.

Here’s a sample of some of the outtakes:

KSAT 12 television approached the San Antonio WingTsun^TM Academy last Thursday, 4/19 to do a piece on WingTsun^TM and why it works so well for the average person. They interviewed several of our students and filmed of us teaching a regular class.W

The segment aired Saturday, 4/28. Click here for the story.

It was great to be with my student, Sifu Jason Bolanz and the Dallas WingTsun branch this past weekend.

I was very impressed with the progress JB and his group are making, and I offer a special congratulations to both Hawky Nguyen and Simon Azan for passing their 10th and 9th student grade tests!

The seminar focused on Chum Kiu applications particular to the knee and elbow range.

Jason Is a hardworking student and Sifu, who visits me monthly to take private lessons and to participate in my regular classes. It’s always a privilege to support and work with classy people like Jason. Best Wishes to all!