It might not be what you want to hear and it may indeed shock you to know the truth, but Ving Tsun really doesnt take that long to learn!
In actual fact the entire system could be demonstrated with applications in one afternoon!
Ok, I admit it can take years to learn the skills and a lifetime to really master it, but learning the system really doesn't take long.

Of course "Sifus" from other lineages like to fill up this simple system up with extra stuff, to stretch it out, make money and keep their students for as long as possible. I on the other hand teach people quickly and efficiently, they get what they initially signed up for. It cant be that simple right! From my experience, it is this "extra stuff" that really takes years to untrain.

The way of the pyramid (guy at the top, who hasn't trained in years, making loads of money from those below) is out of date, old fashioned and obsolete. These days its about constantly moving forward, adapting, seeking and then sharing the knowledge with the people that train with him/her. Its about training with the right people, not just lining the pocket by having loads of uncaring, undeserving, totally irresponsible individuals in the class. Its about ethics, because right will always be right and wrong will always be wrong, which ever way you dress it up.
 
So the next time a righteous, self gratified Wing Chun student from another lineage says to me, you cant be a real "Sifu" you have only been training 20 or so years, I will just smile and walk away. Proof is in the skills of those that I teach and true understanding is in the words that they teach. 

There really is no telling some people....martial art movies are just that, make believe tricks and stunts to entertain, after all circus jugglers are pretty cool.

In the end its all down to who taught you !! If they are the best at what they do, then you learn the skills, quickly and completely. If your taught by a guy who doesn't actually know what they are doing, it will take you years to learn, while they bumble through the broken skill set that they have.

Learning Ving Tsun is like a piece of white paper, simple and complete. If it is flawed it will be full of big holes. So the next time you hear a "sifu" describing it like a snowflake, you will know the truth!

We are proud to announce the opening of a new branch of Somerset Applied Ving Tsun in Yeovil.

"Yeovil is my home town, my family and I shop here weekly. My wife and I pop in for a posh coffee every Friday and we have often talked about giving back to the town in some small way. For me, having the chance to share my knowledge with some of the towns locals, is a dream that has been a long time coming"
 
                                                                    Steve Purcell

Let go of anything that makes you feel down, its not important.
 
Let go of people that constantly drag you down, only keep people that lift you, close to your heart.

Be that which you were always meant to be, believe it, because its
still in there, the real you that is.

Life isnt about grind and fear based patterns, these things just weigh you down.

Learn to love the life you live, live life.

I live a simple yet full life, I give rather than take.
I always put others first and more often than not, go without.
Im proud of my achievements, not for glory or self gratification.
I love my Ving Tsun, its a part of my soul. It makes me come alive when Im training with my friends and coaches.
My constant and relentless drive to perfect my self is driven by love, not ego driven.
Make yourself the best you can be, help others and always stay positive.

So when I mention that I teach and coach Ving Tsun, most people raise an eyebrow and immediately think that im probably a thug with an aura of zen about me.
In reality, they are kind of right, but not really. Im no thug, and I dont have a cloud to float around on either.

Coaching Ving Tsun for me is about empowering people, ordinary people that spend half of their lives living in fear.

Will I or them ever need it? in all honesty, probably not!!
Why bother then? good question, simply put, Ving Tsun is a life choice, a skill set, a road to ones own personal truth. A path to ones true heart and a vehichle to overcome personal fears. In reality, we just dont go around fighting anymore, not really. So life is really all about how we percieve ourselves, at home, at work and on the street. So really, I coach people to help them remember how to be themselves, using the medium of Ving Tsun as a tool. 

Be more assertive, be more positive, be more real.
 

Life is great, really great.....
We didnt come here to fight, shout, get stressed, get angry, walk around all day with anxiety and migraines, so why focus on this stuff all the time? Most of us do, if we are honest.

Why not focus on something more positive, and if we cant think of anything, at least spend some time around positive people. What then tends to happen is that a little positivity then rubs off on us and makes us feel better about our day. This then becomes self motivating as others then want to spend more time with us to increase their outlook and the cycle repeats itself over and over.

This is how we like to approach our coaching within our classes. Its about our experience our growing, how we interact with each other as individuals and as a whole.

We all have the ability to change our lives to make them more positive, sometimes we just forget and get a little buried in the daily grind. Not all Martial Arts classes are the same, yes its great to be learning how to defend yourself, should you ever need it, but more importantly, its about learning how to be a better you, more motivated, assertive and positive.
Learn to love the life you live, anyone can, we just need to be shown how to remember. Once you remember who you are, anything is possible.

Had a fantastic mornings training with one of my students this morning. I didn't do the usual thing, no, today was different. I decided to pass on the insights to the system that my coach Ged Kennerk had passed on to me. Cutting away the slack (ego driven, muscle induced, bullshit) highlighting the concepts (perfect, honest lines, shapes, body mechanics and energy), the why do it this way (to stop ego, muscle induced bullshit) and the why nots (because we are Ving Tsun people, not Boxers, MMA, Shoot fighters, BJJ or any other discipline, as great as they are, its not what we do).

It was a great mornings training, no grey spots, vague puzzled expressions, things that dont make sense. Everything has its place, training is training after all. Some things you must do in order to learn, like you must learn how to
make metal before you can make a gun. But better than all that, is the ability to see bullshit, this is by far the most important skill that you will learn whilst learning within the South West Collective.

I have been training in VT for 21 years and along the way I have picked up some cool stuff, some utter shite and some truly amazing. The best bit by far, is the friendships, not brothers, united and great times crap. Im talking training partners, working through stuff, discovering the what ifs, the what nots, the building of the gun
and by far the best skill, the ability to see that bullshit no matter how it is dressed up.

Coach Steve Purcell
 

What no secret sause!!
Well not as such, just hard work, a bit of sweat and maybe a huge amount of passion.
You know what, when you learn Ving Tsun properly, there comes a time, when as if by magic, it all comes together and it does appear to be truly awesome.
If your chosen school of VT somehow feels a bit flat, maybe, just maybe, you might want to give WSL Ving Tsun a go, you wont regret it.

One of my seniors the other day bumped into an old student of mine that decided some time ago to pursue a career in a different, more commercial version of Wing Chun. Why? maybe it was the eastern promise, the golden dragons, the banners or possibly the frantic drumming. Maybe it was the allure of a Chinese "sifu" surely if they look like they know Kung Fu, then they must by default, right??

This ex student of mine says to my senior student

" I'm Biu Ji, what form and level are you, you must be getting there now. Your skills are pretty good, your way better than me?"

My student looked at him, raised an eyebrow and replied " I've just opened my stance in Siu Nim Tao".

Commercial Wing Chun students, you've got to love em!!