I recently had a conversation with an old wing chun acquaintance. At one time, back about twenty years ago, he had some pretty decent skills, but then he drifted away from the art. So I asked him if he ever thought about getting back into WC. He said "no", because now as he was getting older he was far more interested in overall physical fitness than self defense or "the chess-game of chi-sau", as he put it. Then, to prove his point, he commented that there are a lot of "fei-jai sifu" (sifu "fatties") out there. He went on to say that working with a good personal trainer does so much more for you in terms of health, fitness, and appearance than Wing Chun... especially when taught traditionally (as I teach it), that is to say focusing on building good technique and not spending a lot of class time on general conditioning, stretching and so forth. Any thoughts?
BTW, I don't consider myself a "fatty Sifu". When I had this conversation, I had just finished three sets of 20 full length pull-ups, two sets of 35 full dips followed by a set of 90 fast push-ups.... and I'm 55 years old. I just don't think that this kind of workout belongs in a regular WC class. Especially when I know a couple of WC "fatties" who can kick my behind!
BTW, I don't consider myself a "fatty Sifu". When I had this conversation, I had just finished three sets of 20 full length pull-ups, two sets of 35 full dips followed by a set of 90 fast push-ups.... and I'm 55 years old. I just don't think that this kind of workout belongs in a regular WC class. Especially when I know a couple of WC "fatties" who can kick my behind!