| 2. How
to Learn Ving Tsun Kung Fu
We are of the opinion that Ving Tsun
cannot be taught, although it can be learned…
“Siu Se But Lean Kung, Lo Loy
Yat Cheung Hung” — If you don’t train hard while
you are young, you will have nothing when you are old.
The Moy Yat Ving Tsun name is a legacy left by Grand
Master Moyat, to all of us. It underscores the importance of the pure
transmission of the art, where by one learns the art through one’s
own experience. This couldn’t be farther from Moyat’s version
of Ving Tsun as many wrongly assume it to be. The Martial intelligence
term is simply a concept that reinforces our Sifu’s idea, for it
represents nothing more than the ability to maximize the opportunity,
the possibility, of your every day life situations or experiences through
the learning of the Moy Yat Ving Tsun System.
The study of the Ving Tsun system is a process. The
goal is to be a piece of Kung Fu, as opposed to putting it on like a shirt
and learning techniques. A reporter in a conversation with the late Bruce
Lee asked, “How does one learn Kung Fu?” Bruce, at this time,
threw the reporter his wallet. The reporter instantly caught the wallet.
Bruce commented by saying, “See, you were successful. You reacted
instinctively without thinking! If you wanted to teach someone to do that,
how would you teach them? Would you teach them a single hand catch? A
double hand catch? Behind the back catch? Make them wear special clothing?”
This is a distinction between result and method.
To learn a martial art without a method is rare. Like a father and son—the
son may learn a lot from his father—but how? When? Where? What?
He almost can’t tell you. This seems to be no method, but actually
this is a method. With any other method, one may not only acquire the
Kung Fu but also the method.
This other method could be the ball and chain on
one’s ankle. At least, to comprehend this distinction is somewhat
liberating in itself. Therefore, other questions may be asked in the process
of studying the Ving Tsun System:
- Why do you train the way you train?
- What attributes are you training for? (Remember
that fighting techniques and fighting attributes are two different subjects!)
- Where in your system does it train you for those
attributes?
- How do you know there is not a way to train you
in half the time, and, how would you know it if you saw it?
This is another way one may enjoy discussing Ving
Tsun Kung Fu, on the road to Mastery.
It is martial attributes that support one in having
the ability to use their Kung Fu, therefore, avoid using techniques as
ends unto themselves or simply a way of striking an opponent. Rather,
use those movements as a vehicle to develop the martial attributes important
to Ving Tsun Kung Fu—balance, timing coordination, sensitivity,
and relaxation.
Work to transcend these techniques and whatever method
used to learn them in order to allow free expression of your Kung Fu.
The Sifu helps you discover the Kung Fu without giving you his personal
style. Your Sifu’s personal style and abilities would otherwise
become a limiting factor. The Sifu guides you along the path, but the
burden of effort falls upon you. YOU control your own destiny. The trailblazers
of Ving Tsun are self-motivated, serious and detail oriented. They dive
into the system and immerse themselves in Kung Fu Life, the key to learning.
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