On Saturday 23rd April 2016, I ran another small-group Wing Chun workshop in New Malden, Surrey, this time solely for those very senior students who have completed an apprenticeship in Kung-Fu, and who are now studying the Journeyman Level of their art.
At this point I must admit to a scheduling error: Firstly, I didn’t check with everyone before putting this date in the events diary, and secondly it was St. Georges Day. So, big thanks to Joe, Ben, Sasha and Scott (pictured above with me) for managing to make it along, and big apologies to Matt, Shao, Ryan, Marcus, Gary, Andrew, Steve, and Dan for running the event when you simply couldn’t attend – my bad. It turned out to be a smaller group than expected – five instead of thirteen – but we had a great session anyway. I’ll schedule an extra one very soon, so we can all get together properly! 🙂
The focus of this session was all-things Biu-Tze, the third ‘Toolkit’ of the Federation Wing Tsun System. We started with the form, then explored attacking options using these specialised tools, then explored several options to overcome such attacks. Top entertainment.
Biu-Tze techniques require a great deal more body movement and overall control than those of the other forms. It became very clear why the system is structured the way it is, and why our warm-ups are the way they are. Without the ability to precisely control your entire body, you are better off NOT using Biu-Tze tools – just change the range and keep using the tools from the Siu-Nim-Tao and the Chum-Kiu that you’re already skilled with.
A common mistake with Biu-Tze is the thinking that it is somehow better than the other forms. Nope. It just provides another range of options. Just like the classic game of rock-paper-scissors, there is never one ‘best’ option – something is only the best in context, at one particular time. It can be a humbling experience to discover that in many situations, your best option may be something far simpler than the Biu-Tze tools.
That said, the Biu-Tze tools do have an incredibly valid place and a great many wonderful uses. But unless you’re training with someone capable of creating the situations in which they are required, it can be very hard to practice their applications. Thanks to everyone who made it down to provide a few hours of high-level work. It was a great workshop, and i’ll schedule another very soon.
LPH