First Timer

[Gyakuto]

I went to my first proper Wing Chun lesson last night. An excellent teacher with whom I got on very well (despite him revealing that he’s a flat earther ) A nice albeit crumbling and cold gym in a converted chapel with lots of equipment/weapons. However, it’s quite expensive to join (from what I’m used to) and has limited training sessions that will potentially interfere with my other training I have some thinking to do…

 

[gyoja]

I went to my first proper Wing Chun lesson last night. An excellent teacher with whom I got on very well (despite him revealing that he’s a flat earther ) A nice albeit crumbling and cold gym in a converted chapel with lots of equipment/weapons. However, it’s quite expensive to join (from what I’m used to) and has limited training sessions that will potentially interfere with my other training I have some thinking to do…

Let us know what you decide!

 

[geezer]

I went to my first proper Wing Chun lesson last night. An excellent teacher with whom I got on very well (despite him revealing that he’s a flat earther )

I used to just chuckle and ignore it when people professed such outlandish beliefs. Nowadays not so much. Belief in outlandish conspiracy theories can cause great harm, especially when large numbers of people collectively turn their back on legitimate, proven knowledge and the scientific method of inquiry.

I've even come up against this in the martial arts. One of my previous instructors firmly subscribed to a number of conspiracy theories in areas ranging from religion and politics, to the martial arts he taught, particularly Wing Chun.

I'm of a mind where I like to investigate and experiment with what I have been taught. And, I often find myself questioning orthodoxy, experimenting, testing, and coming to my own conclusions based on evidence and experience.

Even though I try to "keep my mouth shut and just train", I've found that people that believe in martial arts cults and conspiracy theories (as well as religious and political "cults") can sense when you are not fully on-board and they hold it against you. Ultimately it leads to an unpleasant and unproductive training environment. So in my case I'm reluctantly distancing myself from one such individual after knowing him as a "kung-fu brother" since the late 80s and training with him since late 2007.

 

[Xue Sheng]

I used to just chuckle and ignore it when people professed such outlandish beliefs. Nowadays not so much. Belief in outlandish conspiracy theories can cause great harm, especially when large numbers of people collectively turn their back on legitimate, proven knowledge and the scientific method of inquiry.

I've even come up against this in the martial arts. One of my previous instructors firmly subscribed to a number of conspiracy theories in areas ranging from religion and politics, to the martial arts he taught, particularly Wing Chun.

I'm of a mind where I like to investigate and experiment with what I have been taught. And, I often find myself questioning orthodoxy, experimenting, testing, and coming to my own conclusions based on evidence and experience.

Even though I try to "keep my mouth shut and just train", I've found that people that believe in martial arts cults and conspiracy theories (as well as religious and political "cults") can sense when you are not fully on-board and they hold it against you. Ultimately it leads to an unpleasant and unproductive training environment. So in my case I'm reluctantly distancing myself from one such individual after knowing him as a "kung-fu brother" since the late 80s and training with him since late 2007.

I completely avoided a Wing Chun school after talking to the sifu and finding out he was an ULTRA-evangelistic conspiracy theorist that was considering starting his own militia... and security training academy....

 

[Gyakuto]

I used to just chuckle and ignore it when people professed such outlandish beliefs. Nowadays not so much. Belief in outlandish conspiracy theories can cause great harm, especially when large numbers of people collectively turn their back on legitimate, proven knowledge and the scientific method of inquiry.

I've even come up against this in the martial arts. One of my previous instructors firmly subscribed to a number of conspiracy theories in areas ranging from religion and politics, to the martial arts he taught, particularly Wing Chun.

I'm of a mind where I like to investigate and experiment with what I have been taught. And, I often find myself questioning orthodoxy, experimenting, testing, and coming to my own conclusions based on evidence and experience.

Even though I try to "keep my mouth shut and just train", I've found that people that believe in martial arts cults and conspiracy theories (as well as religious and political "cults") can sense when you are not fully on-board and they hold it against you. Ultimately it leads to an unpleasant and unproductive training environment. So in my case I'm reluctantly distancing myself from one such individual after knowing him as a "kung-fu brother" since the late 80s and training with him since late 2007.

I feel for you Geezer.

When he said he was open minded about a flat earth I explained the proof of a spherical earth with the simple experiment conducted by Eratosthenes around 240BCE. At the end of my explanation he went quiet and said, “Well, I don’t understand that because I skipped a lot of school.” With a laugh, I suggested he looked up ‘Dunning-Kruger‘ when he got home and wrote it on a piece of paper for him!

I do believe it is one’s responsibility to challenge such woolly thinking, especially if they are parents!

 

[Fungus]

When he said he was open minded about a flat earth I explained the proof of a spherical earth with the simple experiment conducted by Eratosthenes around 240BCE. At the end of my explanation he went quiet and said, “Well, I don’t understand that because I skipped a lot of school.”

I admit I thought you meant flat earther in the first post as a metaphor. An actual flat earther in 2024 must be more rare than bigfoot

I am attracted my some some elements from wing chun, I find many of the intercepting hand techniques elegant and I am inspired by it and but it's hard to apply in sparring as most intercepting strikes are diectly to the face and we don't hit there. I tried to modify the techniques and apply to sparring and aim instead for upper chest when intercepting a strike, but the fist slipped upwards, so it's risky But I still try to use the similar method to just control the opponents hands in closerange withou necessarily striking.

We do have a local wing chun club here too, and i know some former kyokushin karatekas from my club joined it out of curiousity. Have been thinking about visiting them but never got around do it yet. Most school here have free test-trainings, where you can join one or two classes to see if you like it.

Let us konw if you join and if you get any new insights!

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I used to just chuckle and ignore it when people professed such outlandish beliefs.

One WC instructor told his students, "If someone beats you up, you come back with knife. If he beats you up again, you come back with gun."

I don't like that kind of attitude. I assume an instructor should tell his students, "If someone beats you up, you should train harder."

 

[gyoja]

One WC instructor told his students, "If someone beats you up, you come back with knife. If he beats you up again, you come back with gun."

I don't like that kind of attitude. I assume an instructor should tell his students, "If someone beats you up, you should train harder."

Sounds like he watched “The Untouchables” one too many times.

 

[Gyakuto]

I admit I thought you meant flat earther in the first post as a metaphor. An actual flat earther in 2024 must be more rare than bigfoot

I think you’d be surprised at the number of people that hold this or similar absurdities and they walk amongst us and enjoy universal suffrage. The county in which in which I live attracted lots of people with alternative ideas in the 60s and they’ve passed those ideas on to their progeny despite the best efforts of an educational system.

I joined my other half’s art club for lunch last week. They’re all quite elderly, retired and nice people. A few of us were chatting about the wonders of air fryers and their marvellous ability to produce crispiness (the new fifth state of matter) …just light conversation. I mentioned that microwave ovens (which incidentally, in the Welsh language are known as a ‘popty ping’! ) can be used to cook in equally great ways, but most of under use them to reheat foodstuffs. Then one of the old timers said, “But microwaves destroy the ‘auric field’ of the food rendering them innutritious and possibly even poisonous!” I asked what he meant by an ‘auric field’ as I’d never heard the term. “You know,” he started, “all living things have an ‘aura’ and that produces a living field.” I was very surprised and without thinking and with some subsequent regret said, “Do you believe such things?” He did believe such things

I am attracted my some some elements from wing chun, I find many of the intercepting hand techniques elegant and I am inspired by it and but it's hard to apply in sparring as most intercepting strikes are diectly to the face and we don't hit there.

I think the very close range of the techniques make them very difficult to apply; human reflexes just aren’t quick enough to apply them ‘cleanly‘ in free sparring (not that they really have free sparring from what the teacher told me) and very often there’s a lot of ‘smothering’…which works in their context.

I tried to modify the techniques and apply to sparring and aim instead for upper chest when intercepting a strike, but the fist slipped upwards, so it's risky But I still try to use the similar method to just control the opponents hands in closerange withou necessarily striking.

Smothering!

We do have a local wing chun club here too, and i know some former kyokushin karatekas from my club joined it out of curiousity. Have been thinking about visiting them but never got around do it yet. Most school here have free test-trainings, where you can join one or two classes to see if you like it.

Let us konw if you join and if you get any new insights!

I’m still wondering if I’ll join mainly because of the added expense and having to move my weight training schedule around to a less optimal recovery pattern; weight training is my absolute priority! The venue was cold, crumbling and damp despite vast amounts of equipment and we warriors can’t put up with such hardships Regrettably, the teachers constant reference to various silly conspiracy theories also put me off as it made me question his understandings and applications of Wing Chun.

 

[Taiji Rebel]

Wing Chun has gained much popularity over the years. Back in the early 2000s I moved to a new area and ended up training Wing Chun for a while. It was okay for a while and there were some FMA guys there too, but it was quite expensive. The trapping and sensitivity drills were fun and we spent a fair amount of time hitting the pads. There were the usual quota of Walter Mitty's in attendance but it didn't take too long to discover the local boxing club and on doing so, I trained there instead as it was more realistic, gave a higher quality workout and was a hell of a lot cheaper to attend

 

[Fungus]

I think you’d be surprised at the number of people that hold this or similar absurdities and they walk amongst us and enjoy universal suffrage. The county in which in which I live attracted lots of people with alternative ideas in the 60s and they’ve passed those ideas on to their progeny despite the best efforts of an educational system.
...
I asked what he meant by an ‘auric field’ as I’d never heard the term. “You know,” he started, “all living things have an ‘aura’ and that produces a living field.” I was very surprised and without thinking and with some subsequent regret said, “Do you believe such things?” He did believe such things

Interesting. Had I guessed of a country with holds lots of absurd ideas UK wouldnt be my first guess.

Regrettably, the teachers constant reference to various silly conspiracy theories also put me off as it made me question his understandings and applications of Wing Chun.

Totally understandable, I would probably react the same.

I am not so much for traditional explanations, but like some of the guiding principles such as economy of motion and simplicity which tend be more associated to kung fu than to karate. The older you get my body prefers simplicity and energy conservation over flashy acrobatics based on only speed. But I think it can still be powerful.

 

[Badhabits]

There's quite a a few flat earthers where I live. You want to really get em going explain to them that the earth can't be flat because its really hollow (neither is my belief)
Microwaves- when they first came out my grandmother worked for a power company and used to travel around "educating" people on how to use them and sold microwave cookbooks. I have a whole series of them in storage. I actually love scrambled eggs cooked in a microwave.

 

[Gyakuto]

Interesting. Had I guessed of a country with holds lots of absurd ideas UK wouldnt be my first guess.

Oh we have people with some very strange ideas in the U.K. I love going to Glastonbury once a month for lunch and to watch the nutters!

I am not so much for traditional explanations, but like some of the guiding principles such as economy of motion and simplicity

Yes, I agree. I understand that ‘way back when’ teachers might not have known about physics, physiology and anatomy and so used esoteric language to explain principles, but there is so much knowledge just a mouse click away that there’s no excuse for ‘woo, woo’!

which tend be more associated to kung fu than to karate. The older you get my body prefers simplicity and energy conservation over flashy acrobatics based on only speed. But I think it can still be powerful.

Flashy acrobatics is the only way to go, Fungus

 

[Gyakuto]

There's quite a a few flat earthers where I live. You want to really get em going explain to them that the earth can't be flat because its really hollow (neither is my belief)

I’ll try that next time

Microwaves- when they first came out my grandmother worked for a power company and used to travel around "educating" people on how to use them and sold microwave cookbooks. I have a whole series of them in storage. I actually love scrambled eggs cooked in a microwave.

Oh yes, I only do scrambled eggs in my microwave

 

[gyoja]

You want to really get em going explain to them that the earth can't be flat because its really hollow

It must be true, they made a whole movie series about it!

 

[Gyakuto]

It must be true, they made a whole movie series about it!

‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’? There was a Star Trek OS called ‘For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky’. It was faeces

 

[gyoja]

‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’? There was a Star Trek OS called ‘For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky’. It was faeces

I was referring to the new King Kong/Godzilla movies. My kids loved them!

 

[Gyakuto]

I was referring to the new King Kong/Godzilla movies. My kids loved them!

Oh. Awful films!

 

[geezer]

I completely avoided a Wing Chun school after talking to the sifu and finding out he was an ULTRA-evangelistic conspiracy theorist that was considering starting his own militia... and security training academy....

Hmmm. Was that, by any chance, in Texas?

 

[Gyakuto]

Hmmm. Was that, by any chance, in Texas?

He should run for public office. He’d do really well!