Great to get back to the training! I miss it a lot whenever a week’s training gets missed out. Today’s session was focussed on sparring and ground mobility in the first half, and then I took the second half with some more advanced Wing Chun for the higher grades, and a consolidation of the basic Wing Chun drills for the lower grades. After that, some padwork to finish and a little bit of Shàolín Xíng Shì (少林形式) at the end.
There’s going to be a few changes to PHDefence from now on, so here are a few announcements from me and Sifu Paul:
– A little more traditionality will be observed – we’ll be stepping up the Chinese terminology a little bit (only a little bit) which you’ll notice over the next few weeks.
– In line with this, the martial arts side of things will be emphasised a little more, in terms of discipline and internal training, not just the combative side. No more leaning on the chairs!
– The syllabus has had a major revision, with the spelling of the Chinese being sorted out more stringently and some rebalancing/addition of things around the higher grades.
– Sparring is going to feature more in the sessions, so bring your gear if you’ve got it! If you haven’t, get some! You NEED a gumshield!
Extra information, questions answered and discussion (this will help with your gradings):
Recently, I’ve created a dedicated board for PHDefence, which has inside it a private, password-protected exclusive section for PHDefence members only. Aside from that, there’s loads of useful information, videos, ideas, etc on the forum, and it’s the best place to ask your questions. You can login with your Twitter or Facebook account, but it’s best to keep things separate online if you can, so I don’t recommend it. Once you register, send an admin a message (just chuck it at me, that’s easiest) and I’ll verify that you’re a PHDefence student before giving you the secret, epic password.
I do recommend that all PHDefence students register (free obviously) on the CSPS forum – it’s by no means just for CSPS students; there’s a lot of stuff that’s invaluable for PHDefence students. Here’s a few particularly useful links for PHDefence members:
http://cspsonline.proboards.com
That’s just the forum homepage. It can also be accessed from the buttons at the top of this site. Here’s the PHDefence board:
http://cspsonline.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=phdefence
Here’s the password protected exclusive board inside that:
http://cspsonline.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=phdefencemembersonly
Here’s the Wing Chun I mentioned from Master Wong online – be warned though kids, check with your parents that it’s not going to offend you, them or anyone around because after the first 20 sections or so he does start swearing a bit sometimes. It’s hilarious, but just check your parents are cool with that, eh?
http://cspsonline.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tradma&action=display&thread=23
It’s fantastic information though, and well-presented too. A good overview of the basics of Wing Chun. I’ve put Level 2 of his Wing Chun system up there too in another thread in the Martial Arts section for your enjoyment. I’ll be doing Level 3 sometime soon, and he’s got other ones for Tai Chi, self-defence, etc that I’ll probably add.
The most important reason that I suggest you (or your parents, or both of you) is help with individual questions, problems and stuff for your gradings. Students who actively discuss things in between gradings generally progress a lot quicker and easier as they’re essentially still getting tuition even though they’re not in a class throughout the week. I always answer questions when I can, and as always if there’s something I don’t know I’ll find someone who does and get back to you once I’ve researched it. For example, one higher-grade student today asked about exercises for her arms, and again the forum would be the best place to ask because other students and instructors can all offer their advice, share YouTube videos which demonstrate exercises, etc. This way you learn from a much larger pool of information than just what one or two instructors and students think.
Particularly you higher grades – it’s getting complicated now that you’re looking at your Brown Sash – you’ll end up with a lot of complicated questions which will need complicated answers! Don’t miss out and limit yourself!
A note to parents: the forum has strict rules on bullying and any kind of abuse, with a zero-tolerance approach. If I post any videos that are violent or have swearing in or anything like that, I always put a warning on.
Grading Prices:
One more note – grading prices have unfortunately had to go up by a couple of quid, as the costs of sashes and certificates have both gone up, and so Paul was making next to no profit at all. These are detailed in the new version of the syllabus, which I’ll be printing today and taking down to class next week so anyone can check anything, any time.
All the best, and see you next week,
FCIns. Josh Nixon
Evolutionary Self-Protection 