Interviewer: Good afternoon Sifu. Knowing you are such a busy man makes these interviews all the more precious. As you said once before, even though one may have found that rare Master who not only possesses the complete art from an authentic lineage, and who is adept and willing to pass it on, the problematic issue of access can stand in the way. So we are very appreciative that we have access to you.
Sifu: Thank you. I’m very grateful to have receptive and respectful students. I’m known to usually be a good judge of character but I must, shame-facedly admit I recently (a few years ago) accepted some students and thought they were good characters with the serious intent to master the art only to find them quite lacking in the longer term. Maybe they changed or maybe I got it wrong. I note, though, that Sifu Sum Num also erred in his character judgment sometimes - so I don’t feel as bad when I remind myself of that. It’s great to provide access to an extraordinarily difficult art to my current students. Most probably don’t realise - though the seniors do - that even simply accessing the Wing Chun of Guangdong is not sufficient. You also have to access high quality.
Interviewer: I know you are blessed with a natural ability and aptitude for martial arts, but I was hoping that in your own experience of learning the arts of Tibetan Crane gung fu, several styles of Karate, the Hong Kong and later Yuen Kay San Wing Chun systems, that you found certain techniques or aspects of those systems harder to learn than others. Specifically, what might be helpful to our readers is to know how you overcame these difficulties when stagnation in your progress was evident?
Sifu: Yes. There will always be things that are easier or harder for us. Yet the reverse may apply to a training friend. I think in the case of something proving difficult you should question your sifu, watch those who do it well and perhaps also ask them about it. Then practice slowly. If necessary, break the difficulty into components and link them to each other one by one. Lots of practice is really the answer. And, of course as I’ve said so often - just keeping going!
Interviewer: In one interview you mentioned that of all the training tools in Wing Chun, the mirror ranks number one. Could you please explain why, and how to make appropriate use of mirrors to aid one's practice?
Sifu: Sure. First ensure you know the points you must check and what they should look like. Train in front of a mirror - or a window reflection. Critically evaluate your performance. Watch things from the front and side. Approximate more and more your ideal. Always aim to be better - and, better than your sifu!
Interviewer: Are there any other training aids, hints and tips you can share with our readers?
Sifu: Yuen Kay San was known to respect tradition but use the most effective and efficient means to train. I think that preserving old ways of auxiliary training might run the risk of not using better, modern methods. I’ve used traditional methods and modern methods and usually found modern methods more efficient. Sometimes there is no modern replacement. So then you have to stick with the traditional way. We can benefit from dummy training. We can benefit from punching out a candle flame. So, too, we benefit from using a wall bag. I think there are better ways to train the grip than using chop stick bundles, though, for example. I like focus mitts. I think they help with a lot of attributes. We didn’t have them when I was young. I think they’re very useful and practical. The main tip I can offer is train smart, train as regularly as you can with an eye to intensity and quality. You needn’t - and oughtn’t - train long but you must train intensely.
Interviewer: Looking back on your road to mastery, could you highlight the stages of this progression, and the landmarks in your own personal experience, and perhaps seen in that of others? In class you mention frequently that one first obeys whatever the Sifu teaches using one's eyes, ears and judgement as additional "sifus", then enters a phase where one can express one's own style and flavour to the art without adulterating it, and then finally one transcends the art when it has become fully integrated within one's being. Perhaps you could expand on this?
Sifu: I’m still on the path to, or into, mastery. It’s not a destination point but a zone one enters. In terms of stages there was learning basics, getting fit, developing attributes like speed, balance, relaxation et cetera. There was a lot of thinking - a lot. I think that’s important. Stages - yes, as you say - well, the stages of obedience, divergence and separation apply to anyone who has become good enough at anything to be acknowledged as such. For a long time I did exactly as I was taught. Later I found my personality and personal expression coming through. Now I run my own gwoon. Sifu has passed into his next life and that marks divergence. Although this word has to be properly understood - I haven’t diverged from sifu’s system, from his teaching, from the principles. What I think I’m trying to do is make all that more explicit. In some parts, more systematized. And, of course, with no change to the art I’ve melded my knowledge of internal powering into the Wing Chun. I think the main thing is to commit - to the art, to the lineage, to the gwoon, to the sifu and to oneself! Keep training - always! Be diligent!
Interviewer: When learning from grandmaster Sum Num, you mentioned you relied a lot on your ability to physically copy the movements. You were obviously also benefiting from oral instruction on the finer points and details. However, could you comment on whether there were any other means on learning specifically the deeper, more profound, internal perhaps, aspects of the art? I'm thinking of whether Sum Num skillfully induced the "Aha!" effect in you.
Sifu: “The art teaches the art”. “Wing Chun is a thinking person’s art”. Both these sayings apply. Yes, I have had a number of “Aha!” experiences based on my foundation and my further analysis since. And, I think intuition can often play a part. I think once you enter the zone of mastery and move into it further you become your own sifu. The art becomes sort of “obvious”. We all have that experience sometimes when we think on being told or shown something that “I knew that!”. But we hadn’t verbalized it or formulated it explicity in our thinking. Having the “Aha!” experience is akin to that realisation of the “obvious” which until it was unpacked and exposed and described wasn’t that obvious at all. My learning of deeper aspects is, in some respects my further thinking, my further experimentation, my further insights. You must think like the founders, not like a mindless, brain-washed follower of a cult like so many young martial artists do today. You have to be logical enough not to fall for nonsense - no matter who says it!
Interviewer: Our time is up, Sifu. Thank you very much for being so generous with your time and knowledge.
Sifu: My pleasure. I hope not to only give my answers to questions but to provoke further thought.