Where To Start?
I get this question so much that i thought i would just answer it here. Where should someone who just joined my tutorial start?
start with the siu nim tau form and make sure to view all three parts of the video. this will give you a very basic idea of not only the movements but some of the core concepts.
you should do the form as slow as humanly possible, this will cause you to focus and control your mind from drifting off and also will begin your investigation of your body, where do you feel tension? how do i relax my shoulders? why do my knees hurt? etc…this will give you a place to start. in other words, you have to know the “question” before you seek the “answer”. yea, i know, i sound like a fortune cookie..lol.
once the movements start to become comfortable, now is when you should take a look at all the “concepts” category of the tutorial. this is the “heart” of what probably makes me different from many other instructors. so take advantage of it and grow.
take one concept video such as “turning off the shoulders” and then go back to the form and apply the concept. keep exploring your body with your mind, see if you can conquer that concept. then go back to the videos and pick another concept then return back to the form. if you keep doing this, you will build the “body structure” that is necessary for the wing chun method that i teach to work. this will also build a strong “foundation”.
this is how i teach my students, at the start of each class, we do the forms together, focusing on “one idea”, one concept. each time something different, this helps to build “quality” in the movements. and forces your learning to become “deep knowledge” and not “wide knowledge”.
the forms hold all the “keys” and it’s up to all of us to not expect our instructors to “spoon feed” them to us, but rather for us to be proactive and seek them out for ourselves.
Jin
10 Responses to “Where To Start?”
Use the Form Below to Leave a Reply
Thanks Sifu!
Mark
[Reply]
Jin Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 12:09 pm
no problemo, Mark!
[Reply]
Thanks Sifu Jin Young
[Reply]
Jin Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
keep practicing and keep growing!
[Reply]
I would like to add the following advice for beginners:
Practice the siu nim tau form in front of a mirror on which you mark the centerline with a vertical string or tape. Your wrist should always move along the centerline…
[Reply]
Jin Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 2:47 pm
yay, glad to see others here helping each other out. and that is great advice. when i practice at Hawkins Cheung’s, i do the forms facing the mirror and use the line between two mirrors to do the same thing. tape is a great idea as well. nice!
[Reply]
I am unspeakably happy to have stumbled upon this site & Sifu Jin. I stopped WC some years ago when moved to a small country town (Wanaka NZ) . Tried hard to teach others so that I’d have training partners, but my own depth of knowledge was/is insufficient to answer the deeper questions once the SLT form was learned and basic drills began.
However, my son is now 14, and keen to learn, this tutorial is awesome in it’s clear explanations that cut to the heart of the system.
Thankyou so much for the work that has been put in.
Pax etc.
Waz
YM>Greg Tsoi>Kevin Earle>little ‘ol me!
[Reply]
Jin Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
welcome to the site!
[Reply]
As someone ‘returning’ to Wing Chun, I have also had the question- where to start.
So I followed what I remembered.
*Sil Lum Tao
*Learn the Saos that are within the Sil Lum Tao
*Apply Fundamentals/Concepts to the Sil Lum Tao
*Practice the Sao/Sau (following with video-advice when possible)
*Learn the Stances
*Learn the drills/Practice the drills
*Practice Chi Sao
*After the Sil Lum Tao is possible without error or hesitation and the sao can be used in Chi Sao then move to another form
*At the next form begin footwork training, also learn how the sao are used in the form and use them outside of the form- don’t forget to apply the concepts to form practice
And so on~~~
This is what works for me as far as a where to start? where to go?
( I have instructed Bāguàzhǎng for 10 years- but I am still an infant to Wing Chun compared to Jin! Trust Jin’s advice over mine, I just thought seeing someone’s structure may help others)
Fú, Drew
[Reply]
Wow I think has pretty much inspired me to try teaching myself wing chun through your videos! Thanks for all of this info that you give out freely. I’m going to start practicing the siu nim tau form for awhile.
[Reply]