Hello,
On this forum/board we have an opportunity that many of our forerunners would die for. The chance to transcend boundaries and engage in a productive dialogue to better our understanding of the art. Think of the stories of masters wandering the land, in our case China, and seeking out others to compare and broaden their skills. Today, we can accomplish a small part of this via the internet, although there is still not substitute for personal interaction. How many of us would be ignorant that there was more than a couple of different ways to do Wing Chun without a medium such as this? Or without the books and videos put out with the effort of a few who love their art? I know that prior to reading “Complete Wing Chun” I was ignorant of many of the lineages outside of Yip Man and his legacy.
On this board we have representatives of a vast and varied sampling of the Wing Chun family. We have some who have trained for many years and others taking their first steps. However, with a few exceptions, we all share one thing; A love of our art and desire to make it better. I would like to remind everyone that our art is a familial one meaning that we are all of the same family. Despite our differences we all eventually, if you go far enough back, spring from the same root. It seems to me that it would make sense for us to come together rather than continue the petty bickering which has hurt us over the many years. When I look at some of the other arts out there I see people of different lineages/schools interacting and helping one another. I am saddened that we can not learn to do this within our own family.
Each and every one of us brings something to the table. Be it a great deal or a small dish we all have something to share. While something someone says here may not have an impact on you I can assure you that there is someone out there reading who obtains value from it. Those who are “senior” sometimes need to go back and re-explore the basics. Sometimes a “newbie” holds the answer to a long held question. Just a new perspective was needed to bring it to light.
On this board we seem to have two main types of people.
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Those willing to share their knowledge and work together to build the art up. While there may at times be some heated arguments between members, in the end they will put aside the majority of their differences and work to build up the art.
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On the other hand there are those who insist on posting yet sharing little of value. Sometimes pearls can be gleaned if you look hard enough. Whether or not that was the case you can be sure they will claim it was if someone does decipher the somewhat cryptic messages and come up with something of value. Now some do this with no intent to degrade others, it is simply their way. There is nothing inherently wrong with that approach in this case. However, one must consider the audience and whether this method is appropriate to those being addressed. I would not teach a college class in the same manner as a junior high or elementary class. While the knowledge would still be there the delivery would need to be modified to suite the audience.
What I am getting at with this long winded post is that there is no benefit from bickering among ourselves. We do nothihng to better either us personally or our art in general. Even if we “win” the victory is a hollow one for it will ultimately change nothing in how the other sees or does things. If someone chooses to post in a manner which the majority of others can not derive value then it is best to ignore them. Eventually they will either change their method or go away. Our art comes from China, I think we can all agree on that 
. The people of China have always shown a vast amount of patience. Perhaps we can learn something from this and await the day when we can all interact without resorting to name calling and posturing. Until then, I would suggest that each of us do what we can to benefit ourselves and those we interact with which will hopefully lead to a stronger and more unified art in the future.
Forgive my rambling.
Peace,
Dave
I enjoy the general civility of this site, as compared to others that we are all familiar with, and will continue to post here as long as the discussions remain as interesting and enjoyable as they have been in my experience of visiting here. I hope that you will all forgive my ramblings, and that I will remain welcome to join in with your discussions and occasionally offer my “10 cents worth”.