Dear Chris a.k.a. wiz cool c,
Thank you for giving your name. Actually, we already knew who you are but I am glad we can be straight forward with our dialogue.
Since you seem so interested in the dynamics of our school, I shall continue to discuss our philosophy of teaching. Take whatever you want from it but I state clearly on behalf of my school and Sifu why we do things the way we do.
Our school is a traditional one in that we do not train just fighting or more specifically, self-defense which is different. We also train students in chi-gung, Chinese medicine, use of pressure-points for joint locking, traditional weaponry, classical lion dance. While not all students stay long enough to learn every aspect of the curriculum, it is Sifu’s goal to educate and promote as much of Chinese culture as he can.
We strongly believe that the traditional study of martial arts is more than just fighting. The ability to fight is only one of many possible goals and in fact, Sifu has emphasized many times that to develop fighting skills, it does not take a long time. For the average Joe, 5-10 classes can teach someone how to effectively fight. Going further, for someone, as Sifu likes to say, who cannot walk and chew gum at the same time, 10-20 classes would do. But fighting is not the main focus of our curriculum. Our aim is to promote Chinese culture and spread Chinese gung-fu to the American public. Our program is not designed to produce tournament or even street fighters. We do not promote hostility nor any eagerness to fight amongst our students. But we do train them in the practical and effective application of the techniques within the Praying Mantis system for self-defense. We do so with repetitious partner drilling. We do so by training our techniques so that they become reflex. This is where we focus most of our training and where students really learn about our style.
The first two years are spent mostly on movement. Developing body coordination, balance, strength, flexibility, endurance. We do this mostly through forms practice. The Praying Mantis style is not basic and many seasoned martial artists of other styles find it difficult to pick up the body mechanics of our style. Yet my Sifu finds a way to train each student, regardless of background, and regardless of how easy or difficult it is to train them. In fact, the slower the student is, the more he challenges himself to develop a way to teach that student. But even at this stage, students are introduced to partner drilling to begin developing and understanding bridging tactics and self-defense techniques, developing distance, timing, conditioning, sensitivity, and reflex.
As students progress, more time is spent on partner drills with an increasing number of techniques and scenarios to practice. We drill these over and over again but unfortunately, not all students have the discipline nor the patience for this very important stage of training. Those that survive learn discipline, control, respect, and humility in addition to a vast array of techniques practiced over hundreds of times. Now how long a student spends in this stage varies per individual and thus determines whether or not they are ready to do any sparring.
In regards to sparring, it is true that we don’t place a high emphasis on this stage of training. Those that want to and are deemed ready may do so but we do not force anyone to spar. It is a personal decision. However, for our students who wish to graduate from our Advanced level of study, we do impose a minimal number of sparring sessions. And when we do spar, it is highly emphasized that only our actual Praying Mantis techniques, strategies, tactics, and tricks are used so as to learn how to apply them in a less controlled setting. We do not allow students to just exchange blows. And for this reason, it is why we require the students to develop their techniques first through controlled partner drills because without that training, students would tend to fall back on their pre-training and instinctive reactions and they would not have learned anything about Praying Mantis through sparring this way. But we do not believe simply because you have sparred X number of times means you are a better fighter than someone who hasn’t. Sparring is just another level of training that adds another dimension to a situation. But no in-school sparring situation will ever mimic even remotely an altercation with another live unknown opponent. But if you feel sparring is the ultimate training method for fighting and to do so sooner than later is better, than that is your belief and I don’t judge you because of it. To each his own as they say.
I believe in our system of training because it produces people who are confident in their techniques, disciplined in knowing when and when not to use them, having enough control to not inflict more harm than is necessary, respectful of others be they friend or foe, and the humility to know there will always be someone better than themselves so do not show off nor think themselves better than others.
I’m sure you wanted something shorter, probably just some number for when one can start sparring at our school. If you are still looking for that answer, then you need to read this post again. I think I have explained enough about our school’s teaching philosophy and I do so because of my passion for the art and the confidence of what I have been taught.
I have studied under Sifu Tony Chuy for over twenty continuous years. I believe in his teaching method and it is why even after graduating from his curriculum and given permission to teach on my own, I continue to remain here to assist him as an assistant instructor. I know you have spoken to past students of our school but now you have heard it from me. If you have any other questions about our curriculum, feel free to ask.
Thank you and good luck with your own training.
Vance Young
Tony Chuy’s Praying Mantis Martial Arts Institute