| Over the holidays, I had the chance to relax and | | | | weeks. This was a man who used to train every |
| watch one of those great Chinese martial art | | | | morning. Finally I called and asked him why he had |
| movies. You know the ones with the subtitles and | | | | not been in. He said that he felt as though he |
| great sound effects. The film caught my interest | | | | wasn't getting better and that I was just making |
| because it was about Wing Chun, my absolute | | | | fun of him. Contrary to what he thought, I was |
| favorite martial art. The actors displayed some of | | | | very fond of him. |
| the most beautiful techniques I have seen that | | | | I reminded him of an incident we had where I |
| rivaled those of the late Bruce Lee. | | | | was very rough on him during a group class. I |
| In one scene, the master is working with a | | | | partnered him with one of best students in the |
| student who apparently is one of his favorites. | | | | class. Within 30 seconds, he fought so well that his |
| The master however doesn't coddle him and | | | | adversary was in pain. You wanted me to teach |
| make life easy. Instead, he demands perfection. | | | | you how to fight, right? I said. He smiled because |
| He yells at the student for his mistakes and tells | | | | he had reached his goal. I laughed and told him his |
| him he is the dumbest and the most foolish of | | | | kata was still sloppy and clumsy! |
| any student he has ever taught. If you have ever | | | | I learned over the years that this method of |
| seen any of these movies, you will notice that the | | | | teaching doesn't work in this country. American |
| masters are extremely demanding and verbally | | | | students who have had no exposure to traditional |
| abusive. | | | | teaching methods often feel insulted when a |
| The film illustrates the reality of traditional martial | | | | teacher admonishes them, when in fact the truth |
| arts instruction. I was trained this way and so | | | | is that he wants them to shine. Also, many |
| were my instructors. This was also the way my | | | | students look at their relationship with their martial |
| father raised me. Today we call it tough love. | | | | arts instructor as that of a consumer and a |
| My father is a strong, powerful man. When he | | | | service provider. This is contrary to the tradition |
| lectured me, I could barely make out what he | | | | of respecting the master regardless of what he |
| was saying because he was so intimidating and I | | | | dishes out. |
| was so nervous. I knew however, that my father | | | | Unfortunately, I have lost some students because |
| loved me and wanted me to be the best I could | | | | of my traditional approach. I truly cared and |
| be. This was his way of showing it. So it was no | | | | wanted them to reach their highest potential. It |
| big deal when my martial art instructors were | | | | was out of love as their teacher that I may at |
| critical, demanding, and sometimes abusive. I | | | | times have verbally mistreated them. For that I |
| knew that they too wanted me to be the very | | | | apologize. I have changed the way I interact with |
| best. | | | | my students over the years. I try not to be as |
| I adopted this teaching philosophy when I started | | | | critical. |
| instructing in the United States. I became as | | | | This doesn't mean that I throw out useless and |
| demanding as my father and teachers. I had one | | | | insincere compliments just to make students feel |
| student who used to train in the early morning. He | | | | good. Students who come from other systems |
| came to me because he wanted to learn how to | | | | sometimes tell me that they were complimented |
| fight. A big part of the curriculum for those who | | | | so much by their instructors even when they |
| want to learn how to fight is building strength and | | | | knew themselves that they weren't performing |
| endurance. It is not enough to learn a bunch of | | | | correctly. This I refuse to do. This is still a martial |
| fancy techniques if you wince at the point of | | | | art school. Too much coddling is counterproductive |
| contact because you've never hit a solid surface. | | | | and creates an illusion in the mind of the student. |
| Anyway, part of this man's training program | | | | So while I've changed my ways for mainstream |
| included an endurance building exercise called kata, | | | | America, I haven't stopped demanding that they |
| a simulated fight with an imaginary opponent. | | | | give it all they got. I've just changed my |
| After watching his kata, I told him he looked | | | | approach. |
| sloppy and clumsy. I didn't hear from him for two | | | | |