Interviewer:
Sifu, you don’t teach children? In fact, as far as I know, our youngest students are a few very nice young fellows about 15 or 16, right? I’m interested in asking you why, like many martial arts clubs we don’t teach children?
Sifu Zopa:
OK. Yes it’s correct - I don’t teach children. Simple. I thought very hard and long about this. I like kids - I have three and a dog (laughs) - and as you know kids - and animals apparently - seem to like me. In my life, amongst other things, I’ve been a school teacher and am also a psychologist. Specialist child and adolescent psychologist, as well as an organisational psychologist. I must tell you a funny story about this! (Laughs and begins one of his famous digressions). There is apparently one funny fellow who trains in martial arts who had some sort of ego problem with me a few years ago and in a petty and spiteful fashion tried to cause me some trouble. Keep in mind he has never laid eyes on me and never seen my Wing Chun - one of his former instructors has met me briefly once or twice but never seen me do Wing Chun nor any of my students do it as far as I know - I guess that’s not unusual for someone who arbitrarily wants to be negative and criticise anyone they dislike. In brief, he was an unethical character and comes across as a very unsavoury, aggressive know-all type of person on the internet - and tried to use an email post of mine - or his interpretations of it - in reality it was quite innocent - to stir up trouble with another fellow. I have the post in my archives which he sent a friend of his and it’s funny that in it he even makes a negative comment about the person he eventually sent it to! (Laughs) One of the people he took into his confidence - they both did the same gung fu style - another ignoble character - eventually spilt the beans. And, I might add, lost himself a lot of potential friends in the process. Well, both these guys were apparently envious I guess and seemed to think that I told lies, and stated I’d have to be two hundred and seven years old or something to do what I said I’d done! (Laughs) The funny thing is - and you and my other students know - is: I simply have. You’ve seen the proof. That I have five degrees is one fact of life. I think these guys thought I wasn’t telling the truth about that amongst the other facts of my unusual life. There the degrees are (points to the wall where the degrees and numerous other qualifications hang) hanging there along with my martial arts certificates from legitimate top-rate instructors! As I say there are some very disordered personalities involved in martial arts! What a foolish set of fellows, eh? I tell this story to make a point about how envious and petty some martial artists can actually be. And how wrong! (Smiles and shakes his head).
Anyway, the point is that amongst my qualifications and the jobs I’ve done in my two hundred plus years of life (smiles) are those devoted to helping kids. Actually it was really funny as one of my disciples recently said he felt like he was talking to a two hundred year old man with all my experiences when he talked to me and I laughed because it reminded me of this incident! Maybe I’m actually four hundred! Two “two hundred year old” accolades - one meant to destroy (it actually won me a very strong set of overseas friends and supporters when it was spitefully posted on a chat group), one meant to praise - it’s a funny world isn’t it? So, yes - I was a teacher - taught kids school for ten years in my youth - and yes, I have done a lot of work as a child and adolescent psychologist.
I don’t teach children martial arts for simple reasons. First, most Western martial arts these days are commercial and, in my view, immorally chase the child market. The kids see Jet or Jackie and naturally want to be martial art superheroes. Jet and Jackie are both great characters, and - by the way - very nice men. So they pester Mum and Dad whom some foolish person has told that martial arts will make them better kids - and solve all their problems. Damn modern commercial martial arts marketing - it’s so wrong! Well, I’d venture any organised and structured group activity with a strong leader figure would likely make a difference for those kids who need that sort of thing. Joining the Scouts would help them! Martial arts add the esoteric to give them status with their mates though, you see? If you play a sport you have to be good at it or popular on the team to get status - but martial art - you just have to do it. So the first reason I don’t teach children is that I won’t commercially or in any other way exploit the age group. Imagine, with my qualifications, my ability to teach and communicate with children, my extensive contacts in the school world if I taught children! If I exploited my attributes (which morally and ethically would be wrong), I’d easily have the biggest following in the state! I imagine I’d make a lot of money! But it would be morally wrong! Very wrong! I couldn’t live with myself. Anyway, I don't need to make money from martial arts!
I don’t run a commercial school or public school. I’m a traditional instructor. (Laughs) In fact because of my privacy and respecting the traditions I even had one young fellow ask me why I hid! I had to answer him that I don't "hide" but my lack of "in your face" public presence was because I’m a private person and don’t follow the commercial, show-off model, that I have no interest in false ego-boosts from other martial artists. I pointed out the fact that we were in charge of the Chinese New Year martial arts demonstrations and that Yun Hoi has demonstrated at this event for several years and that hardly constituted "hiding"!. In China many schools teach kids - yes, that’s true. But they used to have to be family in the old days and times were very different. Today, we can look at Chinese society and see it isn’t weak and decadent with respect to punishing crime and the sort of respect children ought to show each other and adults - it’s a very different society. So there, the teaching of children is different. We have a lousy society as far as the manifest empathy between most people goes, respect for adults from children and adolescents overall, and as far as the control of crime and just punishment of criminals goes - so things are different.
Secondly, it’s stating the obvious, but I teach Wing Chun. Now genuine, legitimate Wing Chun is a very dangerous and vicious martial art. It can be watered down - it has been, I guess in some places - to make it a “sport” or for those silly tournaments or so the less gifted can grasp it. But, as you know, this prostitutes and destroys the very essence of the art. So I don’t teach Wing Chun to children - or the wrong type of character - because they will misuse it. Look, I was once working at an office of a department of education - as a psychologist overviewing children and adolescents with problems and advising and upskilling the school counsellors - and at the neighbouring school a small boy - one of these ten year old black belts in a Korean art - kicked a little girl and the result was she had to have her spleen removed! What a totally unnecessary trauma for that poor child! He wasn’t a big kid, he wasn’t very strong. A poor social skills interactional skill base, a wrong decision, and a loss of temper, momentum, and a lack of physical control did the damage. I couldn’t help thinking just what would’ve been the outcome if it’d been a bit different - if he’d kicked a bit higher and hit her in the throat, swelling the throat. She probably would’ve actually died of respiratory or sanguinary suffocation! These are the two most effective ways martial artists can actually guarantee killing their attackers! I was appalled that some unthinking instructor had taught this apparently violent little boy. I know of several very emotionally and psychologically disturbed children whose foolish parents have them taught martial arts. I think it’s incredibly mindless. The martial arts instructor is to blame - he ought to check things out very thoroughly - including obtaining permission to check the child’s character and behavioural history with his teachers. Teaching children to indoctrinate them into allegiance to your school, your martial art as adults is behind this movement to mass teach kids too. I totally eschew that on moral grounds - it’s cult-like!
I guess there are foolish instructors who are not looking into the child’s background and character, just “‘signing up” every parent they can. Greed and ignorance, you see - two of the three poisons! (Sifu Zopa is referring to his Tibetan Buddhist beliefs that there are three poisons that drive evil: anger, greed and ignorance). Yet, some of these children are very violent to begin with! Even psychologically distressed or unbalanced. They’re future psychiatric patients in some cases. You can predict it fairly reliably. I simply cannot understand the shallow, unthinking mindset of such parents! One little boy I currently know is learning karate, I heard the other day. That’s like giving the proverbial madman a gun in my view! He’s a little kid brim full of venomously expressed hatred, can be very violent and I believe has a syndrome that will make it impossible for him to empathise with those he will absolutely inevitably hurt with his martial art skills once he acquires them. So his parents have him taught karate! For heaven’s sake! I’m just waiting for him to attack the first person whom he imagines has upset him.
The third reason I don’t teach children is that the vast majority simply cannot grasp the conceptual complexity and subtlety involved in Wing Chun. There is a developmentally programmed qualitative as well as quantitative difference in the minds of children such that it would be difficult with brighter children and foolish with the less bright to try to fully convey to them the sorts of concepts I teach my students. It’d be inefficient, at best - simply wait until they are older. Of course, you could just teach them the physical - but as I say above - too potentially dangerous. Many adults with inappropriate characters learn martial arts and use them to bully or injure others. We don’t need to add to this by having child bullies given increased power through martial arts.
So, yes, I’m good with kids - very good - if I may honestly and sincerely humbly say - that’s simply an observable fact - everyone says so. Not surprising for a person qualified as a teacher and child psychologist, I’d guess! I’ve worked successfully with delinquents and disturbed children and youth for a long period in fact. But, to teach children martial arts? No, I think that’s both morally wrong and foolish. We teach some selected adolescents as you know. Very nice people - I’m very fond of them. They’re fine people and fine young martial artists from nice families. They’re good people who won’t misuse the art. But I won’t consider teaching anyone under about 15 or so - their character and maturity - both physical and psychological - would come into it, of course.
I must say I have a lot of parents, who have seen me and our Yun Hoi academy demonstrate, who want me to teach their children. They see the discipline and fine type of students we have and want their children to acquire the discipline and have the role models. I even have some who say they are keen to wait until their kids are old enough. They’ll probably do some other martial art though, I guess! (Laughs). Overall, if it was a different society, maybe things would be different. But it is as it is. For what it’s worth I guess you’ve asked the opinion on this question of someone who is both an experienced martial artist and child and adolescent psychologist. I’d guess the opinion is at least informed. Certainly I’ve thought a long time on it and am educated enough to really know about this issue. So, I guess that answers that question. Others can disagree, but that’s their right. Responsible parents don’t want their children hurting others or acquiring either false confidence or a bullying attitude. I’m on that side.