A friend* recently commented he'd never seen a really good Wing Chun demonstration. I agreed with the reservation that I'd seen a few. Most I've seen ranged from appalling" to "quite poor" through "boring" to "anything but Wing Chun" and "tough guys but lousy Wing Chun". (I'd hazard a guess that most Wing Chun videos would be rated similarly - though I have seen more good videos than demonstrations!) I must note, however, I've been fortunate enough to have seen Sum Num demonstrate, so all else has to fall into place behind that! When you've seen the best Wing Chun practitioner by far in the world then the rest simply can't compare. It's all about what you have in your experience base to form a comparison. This is my concept of "reference" - what you are able to utilise as your yardstick of the best you've seen - which I have to mention whenever I hear that ludicrous statement that : "All Wing Chun is the same!" It isn't - not by a long shot!
Anyway, I happened to be writing this piece to record my thoughts for my students who will one day become sifus so decided to post it off for public use. (Of course, this is as well as endlessly and repetitively verbally hammering the poor guys and girls so they'll never forget!)
Most established and reputable Wing Chun gwoons will be approached with requests for demonstrations from time to time. As such, my gwoon has been asked occasionally by an embassy or local multicultural group, Chinese cultural or business group to mount a Wing Chun demonstration. I guess I'd mount up to five demonstrations per year in some years. Some slow years might only see one. That's OK - it's all good! Mostly the possibilities would be: Chinese New Year, August Moon, Multicultural Festival, and maybe Embassy Open Day.
I generally take about three months before the scheduled date to drill the students or, at least two months, then in the last six weeks, three, times per week for at least an hour or two. There are several important factors I consider in preparing for and mounting such a demonstration. These are: recognition by association; checking the venue; presentation; crowd appeal; individual techniques; san sau; combinations; forms; technical sequence; timing; transitions; explanation and follow-up. Let's look at these one by one.
Recognition by association
Requests fo demonstrations have to be considered carefully by a responsible sifu as they can potentially promote the art in an inappropriate way or associate it with disreputable practitioners, gwoons or arts. When I receive a request to demonstrate, I always thank the person making the request and enquire the rationale of the group they are representing, where and when the demonstration is to be held, who might comprise the audience, and who else might be presenting demonstrations of martial arts. I make it a strict rule to refuse to be associated with groups I consider either fraudulent; promoting thuggish attitudes and potential misuse of martial arts; those displaying ridiculous activities like breaking bricks and tiles, huge blocks of ice, or slicing up watermelons on students' bodies etc (such things are not true gung fu and send a false message to the public). I also avoid those of a poor standard. In my local area there are fortunately a few sifus and senseis I'm happy to be associated with. I'm very selective but I sincerely believe it is for the good of preserving a quality image for the art, my gwoon, and myself and my students. I'd by far rather forego participating in a demonstration than have the public assume I recognise a practitioner I don't choose to endorse. I'd recommend the same notion to readers. We have to draw the line of our integrity somewhere! Simply taking every and any opportunity to demonstrate, no matter what, is not a proper attitude, in my opinion.
Checking the Venue
I always make it a habit to check out the proposed venue at a time comparable to when the demonstration is proposed. I check out parking; access; space; change and toilet facilities; safety factors for my students and spectators; floor area and surface; lighting; public liability provisions; first aid; crowd control systems; climate control, or if outdoors, likely weather conditions; public address/sound systems and who it is expected will be announcing. Potential problems and embarrassment can be offset by a careful pre-demonstration analysis. I've learnt this the hard way! I no longer wish to arrive for a demonstration with twenty students to be shown a six foot square space allocated for the demonstration!
Presentation
Presentation involves how the gwoon presents itself to the spectators. Students must all wear full uniform, be well groomed and appear as fit as they are. No wierd and bizarre hairstyles! We are not 4th century Huns, 19th century coolies or Sil Lum monks - so my students don't look like them! They'll look like credible martial artists! The club banner will be unfurled at our demonstrations. The demonstration will be performed to selected gung fu music. I like "The General's Mandate" made famous from "Once Upon a Time in China" - it's a standing joke that my students can all hum it and when it strikes up they say: "Honey! They're playing our tune!" Poor folk have heard it hundreds of times! If any commentary is required, a comprehensive, simple to understand commentary will accompany the demonstration. These days I usually simply let the demonstration speak for itself. I am not a commercial school so I don't try to recruit new students via demonstrations. My students will also have been taught how to answer questions from members of the crowd briefly and in a non-confronting manner. We now and then get know-it-alls in our crowds! I guess it's inevitable you'll invariably get some 50 kilo guy with spectacles who trains with Great GrandMaster Poo Bah ("you know him?") coming up and telling you where you "went wrong"! I've learnt to accept this with a smile and perhaps, if I can be bothered, an invitation to our next training session to "show us"! Smile! Smile! Smile! We did the demonstration, not him or his sifu!
Crowd Appeal
Wing Chun is notoriously hard to demonstrate compared to arts which involve big, flashy moves. This is likely one of the the reasons Bruce Lee performed his "cinematic gung fu" rather than his basic Wing Chun in his movies. However, there is no need to import non Wing Chun techniques into Wing Chun to demonstrate exciting gung fu. A demonstration which is both effective in faithfully presenting Wing Chun and entertaining the spectators can be mounted if adequate attention is given to a basic number of factors. These follow:
Individual techniques: I select a comprehensive range of basic techniques, which my students will have practised ad nauseum in their normal training, for my demonstrations. I include representative group techniques in air; partner drills; one-on-one everyday type attacks and counters; group forms; and weapons. The Wing Chun dummy is too cryptic so I never demonstrate it nowadays - too static - and too hard to transport and set up, too. Obviously, the technical factor is a major consideration. I only select students to participate in demonstrations who have been drilled, or can be drilled in a short time to have, impeccable technique and who present as credible martial artists. I then drill them extensively for several months prior to the demonstration. For the sake of crowd appeal it seems the most effective way to present Wing Chun is to utilise correct technique but to present at less than top speed and to present combinations as well as single moves like tan da, gan da, pak da etc.
San sau
San sau is the heart and soul of developing fighting ability so we show exactly how we would demolish an aggressive kicker and puncher in our san sau drills. San sau shows the applications without which the average person in the street will not have a clue about what we are doing. We utilise the standard gate deflections - gan, tan, lan, pak, bong etc in yee jee kin yeung ma and moving. We demonstrate combinations as it is often the case in the real world that we need to follow up an initial counter. We also incorporate all the Yuen Kay San sup yee sik into our san sau.
Combinations
Combinations in demonstrations will be well received by crowds who don't expect or, under the influence of Hollywood and Hong Kong cinema, believe you can disperse an attack and knock an opponent down in one counter. Sometimes we can, sometimes we can't. So we give the crowd a taste of Hollywood - we perform some of our counters with combinations. We might perform a basic deflection and simultaneous counter but follow up seamlessly with a kum na move or throw and finishing strike. We will present defences not against Wing Chun techniques (who fights other Wing Chun guys on the street anyway?) but against the most common forms of everyday attacks on the street - lapel grabs; pokes and pushes; single and double handed front and rear chokes; arm grabs and lock attempts; tackle attempts; hooking punches, jabs, one-two's, and kicks.
Forms
Martial artists see forms as incredibly important. To crowds they are often simply cryptic and boring. To enliven form demonstrations I have students perform the form as another group demonstrate applications. This way the crowd can see the relevance of forms practice. And, every technique in Wing Chun forms has a spectacular application which can be showcased in a demonstration - if the sifu has properly unpacked the form! I always speed up the saam bai fut section of Siu Lien Tau as *nothing* is more deadly boring than expecting spectators to stand and watch demonstrators do a slo-mo Siu Lien Tau! I'm fortunate in doing Yuen Kay San Wing Chun as the forms are performed fast at fighting speed and are thus really dynamic and make for a great demonstration!
Technical
Technical aspects need to be well taught and exhaustively drilled. I rest confident, because of the nature of my gwoon's training that anyone I put into a demonstration will exhibit top Wing Chun technique. And, as any of my students will attest, I drill this as the first component in our demonstration team training. There's nothing worse than seeing any martial arts demonstrations where the presenters haven't drilled their technique so they can present their art flawlessly. If your martial art or Wing Chun isn't really good you really ought not be demonstrating, in my humble opinion!
Sequence
Sequence is the order of techniques within a segment of a demonstration and the sequence of segments themselves. From the lining up prior to entry to the demonstration area through the opening, demonstration, closing and exit, the whole performance must be choreographed to present an image of the gwoon overall and each member of the team knowing their stuff! Some segments will more logically follow others with the movements of the demonstrators into and out of segments often dictating what can follow what. For example, if the same practitioner or group is to demonstrate knives and pole then exactly how and from where they acquire and transfer their weapons becomes a question that has to be answered to achieve a seamless flow in the demonstration. Never leave an audience waiting with a "dead air time" when nothing is happening except demonstrators wandering around the area into or out of position for, or following, a segment. Keep the demonstration flowing all the time is my motto! Go! Go! Go!
Timing
Timing is crucial ingredient. It refers to entry and exit movement, the demonstrators keeping in synchronisation, the pace of delivery of the demonstration, overlapping of segments and the overall time span of the demonstration. In our case this seldom exceeds a maximum of about 15 minutes for a fairly full presentation of each of the components of the Wing Chun system. Demonstrations can be too long and too detailed. They might fascinate martial arts aficionados but bore the person on the street to tears! We aim to give spectators a comprehensive taste of Wing Chun - not to have them stuffed to overflowing with every detail the art thrust at them!
Transitions
Transitions are the time lags and movements between techniques and between segments. From lining up to enter through turning and stepping during segments to moving across the demonstration area to perform another segment or move off whilst others demonstrate through to exiting. All transitions literally make or break a demonstration. I tell my students they are either a troop of soldiers on parade or a gaggle of geese. If they exemplify the latter we'll "talk" after the demonstration! I drill them until they can perform all their transitions like soldiers on parade though - so there is little chance they'll resemble geese!
Explanation
It might come as an awful shock to the cultists amongst those who my read this article - but the vast majority of folk who see a Wing Chun demonstration don't care a fig and won't recall any detail about misguided efforts to brainwash the spectators with history, lineage, outstanding superiority of the sifu, "grandmaster" etc. I keep my statements in this respect very simple: Southern Chinese art, legend has it a Buddhist nun devised it; characterised by a set of simple principles and I might list them - and that's about it. No trumpet blowing! Who cares? Not the spectators! I already know my lineage and accomplishments as do my students! The spectators want to see an effective, quality martial art demonstration not hear a boring lecture or marketing pitch! The demonstration either will speak for the art or not impress, I reckon. Fine! You can't and won't and wouldn't want to (if you believe in quality!) attract and enrol every spectator anyway! And, if our demonstration didn't impress them - we don't want them as students because they lack the essential element of discernment. I also avoid using technical terms in favor of clarifying with general statements as opposed to boring, "know-all" technical terminology. I talk "defence against several types of attack" then let the action speak for itself versus a verbal catalogue of Cantonese language Wing Chun terms. Put yourself in the shoes of the spectator! Demonstrations aren't about what you want to present as much as they are about what the crowd expects. Successful demonstrations give the crowd what they expect! Of course, we refuse to compromise the art to do this - but it can be done!
Follow-up
Follow-up involves helping clear up the demonstration venue, thanking the organiser, offering to consider a repeat demonstration in the future if this is appropriate, ensuring no fliers are left littering the area, and possibly presenting minimal information to prospective students who may be hanging around to talk. My advice in this respect is not to give them the "Wing Chun lecture" or "our gwoon is beaut" talk but simply answer questions briefly and simply and invite them to a free trial lesson where you get to assess whether you want to teach them as well as they get to decide whether they want to learn from you. The last thing is for me to thank and congratulate my students and take them for a Chinese meal to celebrate - we did it! We also watch the video and I ask their impressions of how they thought things went and if they have any suggestions for improvement - then, I do that all the way through the preparation stage, too! And you thought a demonstration was simply any few volunteer students strolling down to the venue "next week" and doing "a form or two and some chi sau" (which I never, ever demonstrate, by the way - boring as heck and really hard for a crowd to understand!)! Well, that's what produces poor demonstrations! There's an art to presenting good demonstrations! Above are the component factors. * Thanks to Simon! :)