It’s typically the behavior of martial artists to attend a seminar after which declare the seminar teacher as their trainer, as in the event that they’d studied with them for years. That is positively not the normal technique to be taught martial arts.
Finally, the one who suffers probably the most is the one who attended the seminar and mistakenly believes he has realized sufficient to name himself a scholar of the seminar teacher.
How do you establish a martial artist’s precise trainer?
Right here is one conventional Chinese language methodology. I used to be looking for a Choy Li Fut trainer in Hong Kong within the early Seventies. Throughout the course of my search, after going to a number of Choy Li Fut faculties and talking with high-ranking masters, I discovered Hu Yuen-Chou. I begged him to simply accept me as his disciple. He accepted and we went by an official discipleship ceremony, full with a banquet to permit different tai chi and Choy Li Fut senior masters to witness the occasion. My further bonus, since my curiosity in tai chi was as robust as my need to additional my Choy Li Fut schooling, was that grandmaster Hu was additionally a Yang Tai Chi skilled, who studied with the good Yang Cheng-Fu.
Once I skilled in Hong Kong, since I realized from a trainer at a non-commercial college, there was no set tuition price. Apart from paying for my airplane ticket and working towards exhausting I took my trainer out and paid for all his meals. I purchased him presents and spent cash to maintain him glad as a gesture of my respect and honor to be his scholar.
Financially he was doing nicely, so ultimately I ran out of presents to offer him. I didn’t know find out how to make him really feel glad and once I talked about cash for tuition he was offended. He thought of tuition an excessive amount of like a buying-and-selling deal.
Lastly, after a lot thought, I found out a technique to please him and be certain that I continued to be taught high-level techniques and kinds. I presented him with a pink envelope, containing as a lot cash as I might afford to let him know that my intentions have been honorable. More often than not I gave him the pink envelope on the finish of coaching periods. Historically, the recipient by no means opens a pink envelope in entrance of anyone. He took it house and noticed the big sum of money inside. That approach he knew I valued his coaching and was honest about studying.
Apart from learning with grandmaster Hu, he despatched me to Wong Gong and different senior Choy Li Fut instructors for classes of their specialties. This meant my price range tripled, but it surely was price it for the information. In comparison with immediately when folks stroll right into a martial arts college and cut price for a less expensive tuition value, I at all times added many instances to the common value to ensure I earned the very best information potential.
Once I went to Hong Kong, I stayed at a relative’s home to scale back my bills. The Chinese language custom is to not give a home key to visitors, so many instances after a protracted, exhausting day coaching, as a result of my family have been working I needed to stroll round till 10 p.m. or later earlier than I might go house and sleep. I solely point out this as a result of now we hear complaints that individuals need to journey too far to coach. Are they simply in search of consolation or are they actually critical about their martial arts schooling?
What are lecturers? In any type of martial arts it’s important to have a reliable lineage. You need to strive to stick with one trainer, following him as your guiding grasp in your martial arts coaching. Stick with that individual till he certifies you or offers you permission to show. That’s your foremost trainer. When and if that trainer has nothing extra to supply, then you may transfer on to be taught extra from one other trainer.
In my case, grandmaster Hu despatched me to see his personal colleagues for extra coaching. So, I used to be not trying to be taught totally different kinds. At the moment, I claimed solely Hu Yuen-Chou as my trainer. My first trainer, Lau Bun, died earlier than I sought out Hu. Later, with Hu’s permission, Wong Gong taught me the superior Choy Li Fut hand and weapon kinds—genuine kinds that have been nearly misplaced to Choy Li Fut. Then Wong Gong accepted me as his disciple.
Now, I’ve been doing seminars all over the world with many individuals from totally different martial arts kinds and Choy Li Fut college students who will not be in my Choy Li Fut lineage. I don’t enable these folks to make use of my title as their trainer. Even my college students who traveled to Hong Kong to work with Hu Yuen-Chou didn’t name him their trainer. He was their sigong (trainer’s trainer).
Why do I insist on this conventional technique to regard lecturers? As a result of it’s mirrored within the high quality of the scholars’ schooling and information. If you recognize who your actual trainer is and respect him for his information, you’ll by no means deceive your self about your personal degree of coaching and martial experience. You’ve gotten the potential to know as a lot about your martial artwork as your trainer. And a superb teacher makes positive you might have the chance to achieve that degree.
This text initially appeared within the Might 2000 subject of Inside Kung Fu Journal, “Coaching for Life” by Grandmaster Doc-Fai Wong.
