Victor,
Sorry for the delay responding, but I’m in trial and pushing to get it over in time to leave for the weekend, so I can only post in the early am or late pm.
I know that you have strong feelings (of loyalty, etc.) for Cheung and speak from that perspective. But IMO that’s one of the many problems associated with WCK – too much personality, too much lineage, too much sifu, etc.
Put aside your emotional attachment for a moment and look objectively at the Cheung-Boztepe fight; it looks like a fight between two schoolboys, like a fight between two MMAists – in other words, it looks like a fight. That is one of many important lessons we can learn from that fight. Seeing that fight, we can see the performance of its participants. Now you can avoid looking at it, you can try to rationalize it all away by excusing what happened on Cheung’s choice of footwear, you can buy into Cheung’s attempts to explain it away, or you can see it for what it is and learn from it. You sound like the cop on “South Park” – "nothing to see here, move along . . . . " Well, IMO, there is a lot to see there – you can’t hide your performance – and a lot of lessons to be derived from it.
If WCK is to grow, it’s not enough that we change how we train; we also all need to get rid of the stuff that holds us back. And emotional attachments to our sifu, our lineage, etc. need to go – in fact, the whole notion of sifu, lineage, etc. needs to go IMO. I’ve said many good things about Cheung in the past, including that he is among a small group from Yip Man’s school who developed any significant degree of fighting/WCK skill. I’ve said he was known as a fighter. All of that is true. But when he stopped fighting (when he left HK), he stopped growing as a fighter, and began to loose his fighting skills. That happens to all fighters when they stop fighting (how good do you think a BJJ BB that hasn’t rolled in 20 years will be? or a boxer that stopped sparring for 20 years?). Forms, chi sao, demonstrations, etc. won’t maintain fighting skills. And the better skilled you are, the more you need to do to maintain it. He was never a world-class fighter anyway; no WCK practitioner has ever proven themselves to be world-class level.
Certainly Cheung can teach WCK and your training with him may very well have been productive for you. He’s like a ex-golden gloves boxer that teaches boxing – he had some solid skills when he was younger and sparring frequently, and he may still have a residue of those skills; he knows about boxing; can teach it to others; etc. But that’s it. Lou Duba may be the best boxing trainer in the world, and he used to box when he was younger – he may have even been a good boxer. Now, just about anyone could out-fight him. That’s not taking anything away from Lou. He can help anyone develop into a good boxer if they do the training. But Lou isn’t the most dangerous fighter in the world, not even a good fighter. He doesn’t have to be. I’ll bet Boztepe could have taken down a 50 year old Duba too.
You brought up my instructor. Well, I don’t claim anything about Robert other than he was a good teacher for me. He teaches differently than others I’ve encountered, and it helped me, it gave me a perspective that opened some doors for me. I don’t think he would necessarily be a good teacher for many people. And, it doesn’t matter to me in the least what Robert can or cannot do or has or has not done. I only care about what I can or cannot do. My claim that he has been a good teacher for me is based on my development since working with him. But he didn’t give me skill, and Cheung didn’t give you skill. No one gets their skill from their instructor (you get info or guidance from your instructor). You get your skill from your training, from the work you do. Whether you or I have any skill is no reflection on anyone but ourselves. I give Robert all the credit in the world for helping me, and you may give Cheung all the credit for helping you – but let’s not idealize these guys, and put them on pedestals, and talk about how their sh1t doesn’t stink, etc.
We need to forget about lineages, about personalities, about titles, about legends, about reputations, about organizations, about families, about all that BS and nonsense and start focusing on those things that matter. Those things that matter are those things that help us develop better skill. Those other things are marketing, and they are used to sell WCK by using things other than our own proven skills (a famous name, a “history”, role-playing, etc.). Of course, folks with no proven skills need something if they are to sell WCK, so they attach themselves to a lineage, a teacher, a legend, to some external source of validation. When you have your own skill, you don’t need lineage, a teacher, a legend, whatever.
) about being fight ready.