I want to learn Wing Chun, the thing is, there are absolutely NO kwoons anywhere around where I live. The closest one is about at least an hour and half’s drive away. All they teach where I live is TKD and Karate, and these are the types where a 7 year old can get a black belt in a month for the right price. I’ve been learning what I can from the internet and books, but I know that I need real life training to get the most out of it. Any advice?
Re: Training Alone
Originally posted by Vicious
I want to learn Wing Chun, the thing is, there are absolutely NO kwoons anywhere around where I live. The closest one is about at least an hour and half’s drive away. All they teach where I live is TKD and Karate, and these are the types where a 7 year old can get a black belt in a month for the right price. I’ve been learning what I can from the internet and books, but I know that I need real life training to get the most out of it. Any advice?
You should move to Hong Kong.
Re: Training Alone
I don’t like to give “advice” - no one takes it anyway. 
But I will offer a few thoughts and suggestions.
- Find the best instructor you can who meets your requirements and expectations, regardless of where they live and teach. If you cannot find someone you feel has the highest levels of competence in what you wish to pursue, or if you cannot travel to find it, my advice would be to consider a different art where you can obtain top quality instruction. I realize others differ with me on this point, but to my mind pursuing a martial art is too much of an investment to settle for second, third or fourth best in learning, even in Wing Chun. Obviously, you will set your own criteria for what you feel is best, just as others do.
- Travel there to train as often as you can, whether once a day, once a week, once a month, or once a year. Make the most of every visit, and soak up information like a sponge.
- In between visits, practice yourself silly. Even without hands to work with, you can still continue to build your foundation and many of the necessary capabilities working alone, especially working the sets, sandbag, stepping, turning, etc. The kung fu is something you have to earn anyway, and not something your teacher can give you.
- After you have some time in and some foundation built (both physically and in understanding), get a wooden dummy. It won't substitute for a live partner, but it will help. Invest in a good [I]woooden[/I] dummy too, don't waste your money on junk.
- Find yourself at least one partner to practice and learn along with you. Finding a partner is not easy; finding one who is a good partner for you and who will stay the course even harder. But aside from the right instructor and diligence in your personal practice, this is a most important piece. Not only will you have someone to practice "on" and with, but your two heads in learning will be better than one. If your new partner can become enthused as you are, encourage them to go to the class/school with you, wherever it is, and be an extra sponge for learning. You will also motivate each other. Until you get a partner, however long that takes, keep practicing on your own and do not make this a [I]constraint[/I] or showstopper. But do your best not to delay on this any longer than you must.
- Once you and your partner have some foundation between you, and are solidly along and confident in your training path, find others to share and grow with. But word to the wise ... don't fancy yourself a master before your time, and don't try to play like one. Just walk the path with the others regardless who is ahead or behind or who leapfrogs; you must all help each other along. Humility is not only admirable, but appropriate for most mere mortals. A truly good teacher even learns from their students.
- Be persistent and patient.
- Don't waste your time trying to learn from books, tapes, or on your own without the best hands-on instruction you can avail yourself of. Reading and researching is okay provided you don't go bankrupt, but you cannot rely on any of that to help build your kung fu; trying to learn from such venues may do more harm than good in the long run. It is better to train under the guidance of an excellent instructor once a year, than a poor instructor every day. Kung fu is something you must build for yourself, it cannot be handed to you at any price. The time and effort is too much of an investment to waste on guesswork, trying to resolve unresolveable inconsistencies, or building bad habits that will take two or three times as long to undo. We get old too fast to waste time that way. Besides, that money is better invested to travel to a good instructor if need be.
- Meet with, engage with, and share with other Wing Chun people and other martial artists whenever you can. Don't rely on this as your primary training though. If you have chosen carefully and wisely, you should follow your teacher's guidance, and not become distracted with everyone else's methods and advice. And I guarantee you will get more of it than you bargain for. However working with others to the degree and level that you are able is an [I]invaluable[/I] way to keep your eyes open, your mind sharp, and your practice honest; it will also challenge you so that you can continue to grow in skill and understanding. It will also present many questions for you to research with your teacher. Working with others will also help you to see when in-path corrections are needed, even if that correction means you should further explore other teachers. Sometimes we don't hit quite the right thing for us first time out of the chute.
- Oh, and did I say be patient and persistent? :D
This is just off top of my head, and I’ll think of a ton more once I hit “send.” Short on time though, so will stop at that.
FWIW, my teacher lives over 3000 miles away from where I am. I did not select him because of overwhelming convenience, yet I found a way to make what I was looking for and hoping to learn into reality. These thoughts are gleaned from real life experience, not some impossible dream. Your priorities, constraints, options, and course will almost certainly be different from mine; so please consider this just some starter ideas for generating more of your own.
Regards & best wishes on your journey.
- Kathy Jo
kj - great post!
I’ll second all of that.
Now that I’m moving to Indiana the nearest Wing Chun school is about an hour and a half away. In the Iowa council that I’m in currently, my instructor has to drive 3 hours every monday to meet with my Jong Gau Lin.
This isn’t in WC exclusively, it’s really practical for anything I’d guess—but if you go out to the kwoon, meet the teacher, meet the students and you feel that it’d be a condusive environment to learn WC, and hour and a half doesn’t seem like too terrible to me…
Thanks for all ya’lls answers!
hour and a half doesn’t seem like too terrible to me…
Yeah, but seeing as I’m still in highschool and being without car, it makes it harder. I could try to go on the weekend though, and that would help me out.
I didn’t read KJ’s thesis on this subject so it’s probably covered but here is my input
I had the same problem when I was living in Osaka. I did manage to find training partners though, via this forum and also by putting up an ad in my apartment building notice board. You could simply put up ads around your neighborhood and you might get lucky. The local gym would be a good start.
Originally posted by Vicious
Yeah, but seeing as I’m still in highschool and being without car, it makes it harder.
That does pose some temporary constraints then. The good news is that you can still think ahead and do some strategizing.
IMHO, it is especially important to focus on doing well in school. The better you do in school, the greater your chances of financial rewards and stability in the long term. The better off you are financially, the more opportunities you can avail yourself of to follow you passions in martial arts or other areas. Not to mention the real value of a good education. 
Starting to save up your money now wouldn’t hurt either (e.g., money that might otherwise be spent on books, tapes, etc.). From your profile, it looks like you already have some MA irons in the fire, so that may help to keep you constructively occupied in the meantime.
I could try to go on the weekend though, and that would help me out.
If the school and teacher are a good match for you technically and personally, that is a very good option to pursue and a far greater luxury than many practitioners have. An hour and a half or three is a pittance to expend for good training in the greater scheme of things.
Good luck to you. Anyone getting a solid start at your age is very fortunate.
Regards,
- Kathy Jo