On Becoming WingChun

I am pleased to share a guest post by one of my students. Evan has been training for about a year and is currently preparing to test for the 5th Student Grade. I admire him for the consistency, attitude and intelligence he brings to our class. Read about his experience so far integrating the lessons of WingChun to his life in the new year.

— Sifu Paul Wang

 


 

On Becoming WingChun
by Evan Muzzall

As a WingChun practitioner entering intermediate levels of study, I have had moderate time to reflect on the significance of my training. I have started down the long, winding path to personal growth through “becoming” WingChun. There is no end to this road, no material rewards, and no easy answers. What it offers instead is the opportunity to “learn how to learn”, so to speak.

While the hundreds of thousands of arm and leg collisions have improved my capabilities for physical self-defense and altered the constitutions of my bones and muscles, they have also taught me an emotional intelligence that I would not have acquired anywhere else. Continue reading

True Mastery

“I have never yet seen the student who improved by doing nothing.”

— Sifu Alexander Lemuth

I first met Sifu (Master) Alexander Lemuth over a decade ago when he came to visit California with our mutual Sifu. At the time, he was a Sihing (Teacher) and Second Technician Grade. Since then I have been impressed by his undeviating commitment to WingChun. In fact, I look to him as a consummate Artist, exceptional Teacher and adept Leader (of five Academies in and surrounding Stuttgart, Germany).

To date, Sifu Alexander is the only active student in the whole International Academy of WingChun (IAW) and the entire teaching career of Sifu Klaus Brand (IAW Grandmaster) to culminate this unparalleled system from its initial to final movement. Even, and admirably, so he has not diminished his own training. Among the first-generation students of Grandmaster, he is thus an exemplary standard bearer for all WingChun practitioners. In the following article, Sifu Alexander keenly articulates the incessant fortitude and ongoing action you need to succeed.
Continue reading

My Headquarters Visit 2011, Part 4

WingChun Escrima Wooden Dummy

Self-Defense with WingChun and Escrima.

Continued from Part 3.

It’s been a week. And quite the week!

I wrapped it up with five more Private Lessons, an Escrima Class, a Regular Class in Bruchsal and another in Karlsruhe tonight. All just over the last few days after the IAW Event.

Does the training madness ever stop? Gladly, not. This is a good thing. Let’s call it a healthy obsession. An illness of wellness. I have been incurably addicted for a while. Sorry if you caught the bug from me! Continue reading

My Headquarters Visit 2011, Part 3

WingChun Diploma Graduates

Attaining the WingChun Diploma with Sihing Tobias, Sihing Igor, Sije Nina and Sihing Marc.

Continued from Part 2.

I can still feel it from my brain to my bones. The effect of the IAW Event weekend lingers in body and mind. It takes a while to digest everything I ingest. Especially when it’s a daily WingChun buffet and happy hour rolled altogether here.

Saturday was part one of testing for aspirants to the Pre-Primary Level, a Technician Grade or Professional Degree. This continued in part two on Sunday, which was also open to all IAW members new, old and young. But regardless of age and experience, everyone turned up the heat. Literally, the hundred of us were steaming and sweating, almost swimming! A lemonade stand would have made a lot of euros. Continue reading

Student Spotlight on Megan Hemmerle

Training is the only way I improve.

Megan is my senior female student. Her amiable attitude and pleasant presence over the years has impressed me. She’s always smiling or about to smile! Because of her grasp of WingChun technique, I like to demonstrate Lat Sao (Casting Arms) patterns and Puen Sao (Coiling Arms) flows with her.

I look forward to supporting Megan’s consistent progress as she prepares for her First Technician Grade. She sets a positive and practical example for us all to admire. You get a good sense of her experience from the straightforward perspectives she expresses below: Continue reading