What line of Wing Chun does your school teach? It sounds a lot like Armando Sainz of Neptune Beach, Florida's curriculum (I trained under him for nearly two years). All our basic weapons work integrates Kali which makes me wonder if your school's Wing Chun Line is similar to mine.
Remember Tora? (the cat you named for me). She gave birth to eight kittens. We adopted her from the Humane Society and she was supposed to be fixed, oops.
I'll send you a pm when I can spend more time writing. And, thanks for the words...