| Basics: Providing a Foundation for Success We all know that a house can only withstand a tornado if it has a strong foundation. The same is true in martial arts; if we are grounded with a thorough knowledge and ability to apply the basics of our individual art, then we can withstand a bigger, stronger, and faster opponent and succeed. Wing Chun’s basics provide the proper foundation for achieving the ultimate goal of survival through its proper use of techniques. The 10 concepts of Wing Chun provide the basis for building a strong foundation in the art. These concepts, in no chronological order, include: the triangle concept, centerline concept, economy of motion concept, simultaneous attack and defense concept, straight line concept, four corners concept, face to face concept, immovable elbow concept, trapping hands concept, and bridging hands concept. A proper understanding of these concepts starts with the first day of a student’s training. The teacher plants the seeds, and through cultivation, and some proper trimming of non-essentials, eventually a beautiful plant blooms. The instructor lays the groundwork for the student, who in turn through hard work and dedication implements the concepts to fit his/her body structure which eventually leads to the student’s own expression of the art. For the beginner student to be successful, he/she must never forget the basics. Once the basics are forgotten and thrown away, the house topples. When one starts to learn a martial art, he/she is always enthralled by what is to come; for example, the next form, the next weapon, the wooden dummy, sparring, etc. This is human nature, but we must not loose sight that building a house starts from the ground up. If we don’t have a thorough understanding of the basics, even if one part is missing in the beginning it will spread like cancer infecting our entire system, and infecting anyone we teach. For example, if we learn the immovable elbow concept but throw it out later on, when we teach younger students, they will in turn not use the immovable elbow concept in their arsenal. When the younger student gets in to a life and death situation that immovable elbow concept which might have provided the necessary structure to save his/her life, has failed because when the older student learnt it he/she threw it away, thinking it was in-essential. Justice was not served when that student turned his/her back on the system, forgetting its prime reason for its effectiveness: the basics. People practice martial arts for a variety of reasons, but one must not forget its ultimate purpose: survival. As an advanced student it is important to always refine the basics. It is easy to forget your basics, in essence, "to forget where you came from". Once you forget all of those strenuous hours spent training to perfect your basics and you focus only on the advanced techniques, you are wasting your time. What you will come to realize if you do that is that the advanced techniques don’t work correctly without a strong foundation in the basics; essentially you are beaten because your advanced techniques did not work. You begin to think "Why is this technique not working?", and eventually you realize that your basics provide the stepping stones to the more advanced techniques. Therefore, it is essential that the advanced student continually refine his/her basics. This leads to the beauty of teaching younger students, when teaching the younger students you work on your basics and are able to see them in a new light. You learn to break down the concepts and techniques in a variety of different ways to help spread the art to the next generation and fortify your own basics at the same time. The basics of an individual martial art provide the foundation for its survival through its effectiveness. Wing Chun’s basics are found in its 10 concepts which lay the foundation for its battle tested effectiveness. These 10 concepts should never be forgotten throughout one’s training, and must stay with the practitioner through his/her practice, from beginner to master. As long as these 10 concepts are implemented in the practitioner’s techniques, the art will never die, never be diluted, and instead it will flourish through individual expression. Through this expression it will live on and thrive in the generations of Wing Chun practitioners to come. Wing Chun will surely go through many more metamorphoses, but it will survive, and its effectiveness will increase. By remaining steadfast to the basics, Wing Chun’s core will always remain the same: pure. Train hard but more importantly train smart, Isaiah Antonek Author: Isaiah Antonek Instructor - Wing Chun Kung Fu Alan Goldberg Family Isaiah Antonek is a Jr. Instructor in Wing Chun Kung Fu. He has been studying this martial art system for approximately ten years. Although Isaiah has trained under two different primary instructors he has been studying in the Jiu Wan, Jason Lau family line. Isaiah spent the bulk of his training under Jerry Gonzalez, who heads the Jason Lau satellite branch in Tampa, Florida. Currently Isaiah is completing the remainder of the formal system in Master Alan Goldberg's family, being directly trained by Sifu Brian Spiegel in Clearwater Florida. Isaiah currently works in the medical field and has come to understand how the martial arts expands into one's everyday life - by understanding the fundamentals he was taught when he began his training was a prerequisite in the martial arts, his career and in life. Isaiah is expected to receive his full Sifu ranking certified by Alan Goldberg in the near future. Copyright 2009 (c) All rights reserved Kung Fu Exchange, Clearwater, Florida |
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