One-on-One Lessons with Chan Si Fu
When I was studying in the US, I tagged along my aunt to visit her Wing Chun si fu over Thanksgiving. When we sat down at a BBQ, I heard some loud bangs and turned to see some guys practicing on wooden dummies. That was my first introduction to Wing Chun. My aunt sometimes talked to me about “sticky hands” and how she could catch a glimpse of people’s personalities from how they fight. I was intrigued. (I am a psychologist by training.)
Fast forward to Hong Kong, I got a doctor’s order to exercise regularly because of an illness. Knowing how lazy and un-self-disciplined I am, my reiki healer suggested that I get personal training at a gym. I was like, “there isn’t much mental challenge to lifting weight…” I worried I would get bored if my head isn’t somehow involved. Then I thought about what my aunt said.
When I first met Chan si fu, he struck me as straight forward and easy going. He tells me to “lift your arm this way and that.” When I am not doing it right, he will say “watch me,” and then go on to explain the finer nuances of a position or technique—for the nth time, until I get it. His level of patience seems to surpass that of mere mortals. He never gets tired, annoyed, or mad. I was trained as a ballerina for years. In Ballet every movement has a defined coordination and Wing Chun requires me to move in ways that feel out of place. Since my previous training has been stored in my muscle memory, it was a struggle in the beginning to practice Wing Chun, and it continues to require constant vigilance to not slip. He corrects me every time I move wrong, day after day, ad infinitum. If he was ever impatient, I couldn’t tell.
Because I was having private lessons with him teaching me beginner’s routines, I didn’t know how great he actually is until I turned up at a group class with senior students. While there, I saw how techniques turn into an art form. Chan si fu has a knack for “finishing someone” in the blink of an eye, before anyone has time to compute what has just transpired. But then, he would walk his students through his moves in slow motion so students would get it. Being a beginner, I didn’t understand much of what he said or did, but I could see in the eyes of others that something profound had just taken place.