Interview with Great Grandmaster Leung Ting on the philosophy of his martial art system, Leung Ting WingTsun® Kung Fu. Recorded during his visit to San Antonio WingTsun™ Academy September 2012.
2012 Promotions by Great Grandmaster Leung Ting
Congratulations to these IWTA-NAS WingTsun™ instructors and students promoted by Great Grandmaster Leung Ting during his 2012 North American Seminar Tour:
- Sifu Asad Mir – promoted to 4th Level Technician (Toronto, Ontario, Canada school)
- Sifu Ben Stevens – promoted to 2nd Level Technician and also to Sifu (Bloomington, Illinois school)
- Sifu Claudio Mascarenhas – promoted to 2nd Level Technician and also to Sifu (New York City, New York school)
- Ian Ellis – promoted to Primary Level Technician (Toronto, Canada school)
- Claire Horsnell – promoted to Primary Level Technician (Toronto, Canada school)
- Hunter Watts – promoted to Primary Level Technician (Bloomington, Illinois school)
- Garrett Watts – promoted to Primary Level Technician (Bloomington, Illinois school)
2012 GGM Leung Ting Seminar – San Antonio, TX
Sept 20-28
It was another great week with Grandmaster Leung Ting. Sifu taught two five hour sessions on Saturday and Sunday. The focus this time for the technicians was on lat-sau (free fighting) and applying techniques contained in the Biu-Tze and Wooden Dummy forms. The student grades were taught Siu Nim Tau and Chum Kiu applications. In addition to the regular seminar and private lessons, Sifu taught a special session for technicians on Friday, which exclusively dealt with the concepts and applications of the Biu Sau technique.
All in all, everyone had a great time, and it was an extremely productive week!
Click here for more pictures.
Best wishes to all,
Sifu Will
2012 Chicago Seminar
It was great to be with the Chicago group once again, and we had a very productive weekend. This time the focus on both days was on applying the techniques learned in chi-sau in the lat-sau exercises. I also showed them various drills to develop fluency and timing in broken-rhythm. Many thanks again to the Chicago participants, and best wishes, always.
-Sifu Will
Humility
“He who regards his intellectual knowledge as ignorance has deep insight. He who overrates his intellectual achievement, as a definite truth is deeply sick”. (Lao Tzu)
I cannot recall who said it first, and I paraphrase, “If you really want to learn Leung Ting WingTsun®, it is best to leave your ego at the door,” but truer words were never spoken! This mentality is true for any real accomplishment.
In any worthwhile endeavor, there is always someone who possesses more knowledge, natural ability, and outright moxie, who can easily bring you back down to size. While this was probably not his/her intention, it is still an opportunity, if your desire for knowledge and personal growth prevails over your ego. God bless these people because they show us what is possible, and allows us the opportunity to take a realistic inventory of our own actual abilities. This is ground zero for future development in anything!
People have different levels of curiosity and satisfaction, and we should respect this and encourage our students according to their goals. The goals of the teacher and those of the student are often quite different, and the goals of the student should be priority #1!
If your interests extend beyond the average, I would suggest that a fair measure of humility and perseverance will serve you well. Over the years, I have learned two absolute truths: 1) most people sadly give up on something too quickly or retreat as soon as the first obstacle appears, and 2) in adults, the ego and its fully developed powers of rationalization and denial often sabotage their success. If you think I am being overly general or grandiose, you would be quite wrong, because I consider myself equally vulnerable to these pitfalls.
As a student and teacher of Leung Ting WingTsun® for many years now, I consider myself very fortunate to be able to continue to learn this system and receive correction and refinement directly from GM Leung Ting! I don’t count myself as a “know it all”, and I certainly don’t have the insecure compulsion to criticize others in an effort to build myself up! On the contrary, I can say without reservation, that this system of self-defense will keep me continually challenged both physically and mentally as long as I am involved. While I have learned a lot, I remain very happy to continue to learn and practice! THANK YOU SIFU!!
We all, by nature, instinctively gravitate towards the easy and “paved” road, yet real growth does not come without challenges and sacrifice! I haven’t found any short cuts, and I stopped looking for them many years ago.
Since I began learning Leung Ting WingTsun®, sometime around 1987, I have had the privilege to learn from many instructors under the IWTA umbrella, and I am eternally grateful to all of them. Each of them has given me a valuable perspective on what I needed to improve myself. My respect for all of them will never be forgotten or dismissed!
At a certain point, humility is the deciding factor between growth and development versus stagnation, degeneration and fantasy! For myself, I keep my “doors” open and remain willing to take the next lesson!
Best Wishes to all- Will