giang_hu

No one is "chosen into the Shaolin". If you want to learn, you go out and learn. No one is going to stop you. A sifu will not ask people to learn from him. If someone wants to learn from a sifu, then the sifu will teach. Not everyone is the same, but I believe spiritually, everyone has the same potential.

Brooklyn is in New York. There is better Wing Chun there than in the west coast.

Having a black belt in kung fu is equivalent to passing a special education class.

You make it sound as if it's going to be easy. Sit up straight, don't slouch when you walk, stretch often, hold your head high, relax your shoulders, don't sweat the small stuff and breathe so that your stomach is expanding and contracting (not your chest). If you live your life like this you will probably have more internal energy than any 10 people in the world. I strongly feel you should have a real master to guide you.

The author writes in the introduction, "I already had considerable experience in karate, jujitsu, kung fu, and Zen meditation..." People who write things like this are the same people who have black belts in kung fu!

Chi, at my level of understanding, seems nothing more to me than good body structure. From this good body structure one is able to do amazing feats such as remaining rooted, uprooting an opponent, or push people very far with seemingly little motion and energy at the point of contact. Consider rooting. How does you learn to root yourself? By training the horse dilegently and listening to your sifu. Eventually, with the help of your sifu, something will click and you will understand a certain aspect or detail of your style. Those who have mastered a style understand all its fundamentals and details.

I've seen some interesting-looking ones on eBay (I don't know anything about makiwara except that you hit one). I wanted to get one but the description said that if you punch correctly, you should hear a clapping noise. I'm no master and I don't know what the perfect punch of my style is supposed to be like so I don't know if makiwara is a good way to train my style's punch.

Is the book supposed to be humorous?

One doesen't necessarily have to pay for training with money...

I do not know whether to believe in chi/ki or not. I DO know that I have experienced some crazy sh*t. I've thrown a punch and been pushed backwards by bong sao. I've been pushed backwards when the other guy's arm and hands were fully extended and he didn't move. Maybe we shouldn't care whether or not chi/ki exists but whether or not we have the determination to train to those levels!

There are exceptional sifu out there who can send a person flying back with cheung kuen, pak sao, or even bong sao! How's that for simplicity!? Realistically, I would use tan da or pak da. Muhammad Ali once annihilated a hook by merely moving towards his opponent.

The reason why people find Tai Chi impractical is because, like many people who study a certain style, they do not trust it. If you trust your style, you will use it.

Aikido is a very respectable style. I like Wing Chun better and I trust Wing Chun more than Aikido. However, it cannot hurt to learn more. As Traditional-Fist mentioned, learn one style at a time.

I've said this in a previous post but it also applies here: Whatever you learn, take it and understand why you are training what you are training. Without trust in your style, your time at your kwoon will be useless because your reflexes during a fight will not be what you have learned.

Gorillas are, on average, 30 times as strong as the average human. Can you imagine a gorilla learning kung fu!?

Not only can you develop bad habits by sparring too early, but you probably lost because you do not trust your style as well as you think you do. When I was young I took "karate" lessons. Everyone can take a lesson and copy movements, but how many people actually trust their style to the point where their responses reflect the style they are learning?

Like every style, Wing Chun itself is evolving. Every person who learns a style adds his or her own flavor to it. I know some good Wing Chun practitioners that can throw hooks. That's pretty weird. No one will ever know the original Wing Chun (supposedly) developed by Ng Mui. As long as it works, use it!

If you diligently train in your style, you will be dangerous to your opponent with or without using chi. What is "chi" to you that makes you ask whether or not you need it?

Traditional-Fist is right. Just train what your sifu taught you from the beginning and you will eventually get it. There are no short-cuts except MORE training!

"Level 2"?? Don't you have si hing, si je, si dai, and si mui? What kung fu school have levels? I hope you have been learning wing chun properly...

20 years! Wow. Who is your sifu?

Sifu and sensei are two different words describing the same thing. EDIT: It is one thing to learn a second style after having mastered the first. It is another thing for two different teachers to teach you two different styles at the same time, without having mastered either.

I was taught not to breathe loudly since your opponent will hear it and will know how you are using your energy. I am sure there are advantages to breathing out loud, however.

Hold your hand out as if you were doing tan sao, except make a fist. Where is the "tension" (since the word "energy" doesn't work for you)? At your fist right? Now open your palm and spread your fingers. Where is the tension? At each finger tip and a little on the forearm, right? Now do the tan sao with correct hand position (fingers straight and slightly apart with the thumb bent next to the palm). Where is the tension? It is now at your finger tips and on the forearm. Remember, you aren't TENSING these muscles. Tan sao is supposed to be relaxed. However, by the posture of the hand itself, you can control where the tension/energy/chi (whatever the @#$# you call it) is on your hand/arm. If you don't believe me, you can try fighting with the different tan sao "postures" I described and you will note the difference. In a street fight, will such differences matter (such as the two latter "postures" I described)? Probably not if you are a very good wing chun practitioner. What about against an experienced martial artist or a master? Then such details will be important.

The sifu has a lot of knowledge that he/she is passing on to you. It is disrespectful to go to another sifu, without mastering the first style, to learn other things. Like cheating on a spouse or a girlfriend/boyfriend. Even without the aspect of respect, learning different styles from different sifus without having mastered any particular style first is bad for you because it will most likely confuse you. Nevermind learning the SAME style from different sifu!