Official Blog of City WingTsun Kung Fu & Sifu Alex

It's a normal question we get asked quite regularly - "can I watch a class?"

The answer we give is "actually, we have an even better way for you to find out about WingTsun - you can do one of our free intro classes!" You see, we know that the best way to give people a feel for what WingTsun is all about is to have them do it for themselves. That is why we always let people know "WingTsun is not a spectator sport - you have to try it to feel it!"

For most people this is perfectly acceptable. They sign up for our intro classes and have a great time getting a good small group lesson while at the same time getting any of their questions answered. However, there is always a small minority that refuses to take an intro class (wait, you want to learn WingTsun but you don't want to DO WingTsun??) to which we usually take some time to explain what WingTsun is all about and let them know that they won't get beat up in an intro lesson. Sometimes people are worried about that, but we assure them that our intro lesson is safe. They will certainly sweat buckets, but won't be leaving with a fat lip or busted nose.

Perhaps the main reason we don't let people watch our classes is to protect our own students. People come to our martial arts school for a host of different reasons - some for fitness, some for self-defense, some just for WingTsun itself, but many come to build up their confidence. Beginning students can feel awkward trying to learn new movements while complete strangers are staring at them. Because we want all of our enrolled students to have a quality learning environment we don't want them to feel strange when people come in off the street judging our school based on their movements. It can be stressful for a beginner to feel like he or she is putting on a show! Many of our students have thanked us after joining for having this "no spectator" policy because it means that the instructor can concentrate completely on the class and not be distracted by spectators.

The final reason we don't allow spectators is because we also don't accept all students who apply to our school. We want all students to try out the intro lesson so that they get a feel for the style and we get a feel for them. We accept anybody who has a willingness to learn and reject anyone who may have bad intentions for learning WingTsun Kung Fu. We can only find this out if all prospective students do an intro lesson first.

So are you interested in trying WingTsun firsthand? Sign up and get your very own instructor to teach you an intro lesson! It beats watching anyday of the week. Voyeurs can go to YouTube, serious prospectives can do the intro lesson!

-Si-fu

This topic comes to mind because we had so-called "kung fu brothers" show up to our school last week without an appointment who demanded to watch one of our classes. When they were told that they could participate in an intro lesson (even without having brought any training attire) they refused. Which is quite odd considering the fact they told us they just want to watch our class admittedly with having no interest in actually learning our kung fu. I hope their Si-fu can teach them some manners about Chinese tradition - when "kung fu brothers" visit someone's school they should let it be known that their intention is a friendly visit and set up an appointment first. We assume people coming to our school are interested in learning.

To better keep everyone up-to-date, my assistant Tony has set up a Twitter and a Facebook page just for City WingTsun. The Twitter page will keep all followers up on what we are doing at City WingTsun on a daily basis - classes, events, funny situations - all for those who need to be absolutely up on all the latest. The Facebook page will keep members up to date on the upcoming events and parties planned for our school. Just click on the links below to check those individual pages out:

 Once again City WingTsun will hosting Sifu Carson Lau for a one-day seminar. Sifu Lau is a 7th Level Practician (master level) from Hong Kong who now runs his school in Toronto. We are very honored and privileged to have Sifu Lau come and teach WingTsun firsthand to our students. Don’t miss this chance to learn from the most senior WT instructor in North America! Saturday, Feb. 28th 11:00am - 4:00pm (one hour break for lunch), all levels welcome $100.

This year I have decided to teach a series of tutorials on special topics almost every month.  Each tutorial is a two hour intensive class meant to polish and intensify the training in certain areas.  This year I have already scheduled tutorials on such topics as rolling and falling (falling leaf roll in WingTsun), WT fighting with boxing gloves, chum kiu form, WT mottoes and core theory and many more.  The first tutorial I taught this year was on the topic of the Siu Nim Tau form (SNT), which is the most basic and fundamental form of WingTsun. 

In addition to correcting the form in detail I also covered the most important mottoes or theories of the SNT as well as body mechanic drills.  These special body mechanic drills help the students understand the movements in a more organic sense.

I'm very happy to teach these tutorials to a small group of my students every month.  All City WingTsun and IWTA students are invited to attend.  The next tutorial will be fun - WingTsun with boxing gloves!

The WingTsun/Wing Chun wars of the past are officially over - a "Leung Ting" guy had dinner with a "William Cheung" guy!  What is the world coming to?

It was a great pleasure for me to hang out with Sifu Eric Oram of the William Cheung lineage last night. My student Mike Yahn just wrapped on the new Sherlock Holmes film where Sifu Eric was working as the fight consultant and we figured we would go out and celebrate.  So we all went down to Chinatown and ate the vegetarian versions of classic Chinese meat dishes while chatting about our favorite topic (martial arts, of course).  It was great swapping stories and hearing of Sifu Eric's adventures in Hollywood and in China.

Sifu Eric is a great guy and an exceptional martial artist.  We are all very thankful for all of his help with Mike on the set of the film.  Keep up the great work!

-Si-fu