wingchun100
Senior Master
The subject line of this post comes from a discussion I had with a coworker who wanted to get into wing chun with me. Only thing is, he wanted ME to teach him. I objected for several reasons. 1) I don't even know the whole system so how can I teach him as if I am a Sifu? 2) It's kind of disrespectful to my Sifu. HE is the one who put in all the years to earn that title...so here I come along, knowing only 4 forms and not so great at chi sao as I should be, and I'm going to train someone? 3) This is one reason I didn't tell my friend, but it would kind of be a slap in the face to myself to train him because he expected me to do it free of charge. After all the money I shell out to go, why would I do that?
When I mentioned the first point to him, he said, "Well the people who developed the style didn't have teachers before them who said they couldn't teach because they didn't know the system!"
Just out of curiosity, how would you counter a statement like that? Or would you just say nothing and walk away from the discussion? I know what I lean toward, but I was wondering what others would make of this statement.
When I mentioned the first point to him, he said, "Well the people who developed the style didn't have teachers before them who said they couldn't teach because they didn't know the system!"
Just out of curiosity, how would you counter a statement like that? Or would you just say nothing and walk away from the discussion? I know what I lean toward, but I was wondering what others would make of this statement.