This is a brief autobiography of my martial arts studies during the past 20 years, and my opinions and reasons why I am still in the Wing Tsun Kung Fu system, and my personal teaching statement, all in one short essay:

I started training in martial arts during the summer of 1986.  I was eleven at the time.  One of my closest friends had begun Judo classes at the local community center in Toronto – soon after, my mother asked if I wanted to try it too, and I decided to go for it. For three years, I trained with that Judo school.  I had learned a lot about discipline, fitness, martial art traditions & the culture behind Judo. 

Around that same time, I had watched several martial art movies and became very interested – almost obsessed – with the martial arts. So, I looked around in search of more information about the various fighting systems. One of my family’s friends was a book collector & seller, and from him I was able to buy many new & used martial art books.  Over just a few years, I ended up collecting enough books to create a mini-library about the various popular martial art systems, as well as a few obscure styles.

In 1989, I decided to take a break from Judo – I really wanted to learn something new and practice many of the things I learned from my books.  Although I learned a lot from my Judo classes, I wanted to learn more than just throwing and grappling.  I was eager to learn as much as I could about other martial arts from my books – especially the punches and kicks.

In 1991 I had joined a local kung fu club in Chinatown (Toronto, ON) that taught a mix of Choi Lee Fut, Hung Gar, & Do Pi.  It was quite enjoyable and a good experience – we had done a lot of stretching which greatly improved my flexibility, and forms training that improved my coordination and balance.  I also looked forward to the occasional sparring sessions.  Nonetheless, I only stayed with the club for about two years.  Shortly afterwards, I briefly tried some Aikido lessons at the same community centre in which I previously studied Judo.  Unfortunately, at the time I had to focus on school.  After I quit Aikido, I had completely stopped taking martial art classes for nearly two years.

During my undergraduate years at York University in Toronto, I discovered that the York U. recreation facility offered nearly a dozen different martial arts classes, and at affordable prices for students!  In the first term of my first year, I became obsessed with the martial arts again, and I signed up for five different classes: Shotokan Karate, Yoshinkan Aikido, Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido, Kodokan Judo, and Wing Chun Kung fu.  This meant I spent nearly as much time in martial arts classes as I did in my regular classes! By the second term, a realization hit me and I had to cut back and focus on my studies.  As interesting as the Karate and Wing Chun classes were, I stuck with Judo and Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido.  This time around, Aikido made much more sense to me – the first time I had tried it, it seemed to be too complicated.  I also stayed with Judo, since I felt I could really make progress towards much higher levels than before. Near the end of my undergraduate years at York U, I had obtained a brown belt in both Judo and in Shin Shin Toitsu Aikido.

In my final year at York U, out of pure interest, I decided to join the York U Kendo club. After a short time, I realized that I had no future in Kendo – I really wasn’t interested in the sport aspects of the martial arts.  I was with the Kendo Club for one year before I graduated from York University in 2001, and then moved to Vancouver for graduate studies in Genetics at UBC.

When I moved to Vancouver, I actually lived a few blocks away from Victoria Dr. & 49th Avenue – right where the Vancouver Wing Tsun classes are held, led by Sifu Ralph Haenel. For a full year, on my way to and from school, I walked by the club, occasionally looking through the window…my interest in joining the WT club grew.  I wanted to try something different, and I had fond memories from my brief exposure to Wing Chun at York University.  In May of 2002, I dropped in on a Wing Tsun class.  Right away I decided to stay with Wing Tsun.  I signed up the following week and have been with it ever since!

Over the years, my reasons for joining different martial arts have been quite varied.  It was certainly through excitement via the portrayal of martial arts in the movies and TV (e.g. the flashy kicks, the “coolness factor” of a martial artist taking down numerous assailants, etc) that got me started learning in the first place.  Later on, it was more about the health benefits from studying the martial arts – it was about developing stamina, and becoming faster, stronger, and more flexible. On other occasions, it was just on a whim or purely out of interest. 

It was partly through curiosity, and partly by chance, that I joined Wing Tsun Vancouver.  I really didn't actively seek out WT – it found me.  There are several reasons for why this is so, and why I continue to study WT Kung Fu.

Coming from a science background, the simplicity and logical principles of WT was appealing and satisfying at the intellectual level for me.  In addition to this, I realized that the WT “no nonsense” approach to self-defense – making things actually work, instead of just learning new “tricks” – is really the best way to train for real self-defense situations. I now realize with hindsight, it was these features inherent in WT that were missing from all of my previous martial arts studies.

When I was training in the other martial art systems, somehow the other students were either faster or stronger or more aggressive, and I could never defend successfully against their attacks.  I didn’t understand how I could work around them and be able to win a fight against someone that was bigger or stronger than me.  I was always the non-aggressive, short one.  Because of my size, I did find I was often much faster than many of the other students.  Nonetheless, larger size, greater strength and aggression typically won over any attacks or defenses I could offer in our sparring or grappling sessions.  Within the typical training methods in my previous martial arts studies, it was never clear how I could progress beyond my own limitations, except to become physically faster or stronger than the others.  In the more traditional styles I studied, there also seemed to be many things shrouded in mystery. This left me feeling unsatisfied.

The brutality of the real world that we see in the news every day should be a wake up call for anyone studying self-defense…or studying a martial art for the purpose of self-defense.  I used to believe that learning more “techniques”, especially the cool ones that looked good – i.e. new kinds of punching, or flashy kicking – would make me a better martial artist. Funny enough, I continuously meet people who seem to be under the same delusion. It probably has something to do with brainwashing through TV and movies.  But seriously: can anyone sincerely believe that learning dozens upon dozens of techniques would actually help in a real self-defense situation?

In the first kung fu style I studied, there seemed to be an endless number of forms to learn. I vaguely remember that there were over 50 different forms in that particular kung fu style! I later found out that most of the advanced forms were done for competition or for performances.  In both my Judo and Aikido classes, I do remember having to learn upwards of 15 to 20 different types of throws, joint locks, or grappling techniques to pass every test. Considering that the majority of “street-fight” situations are over in a few minutes, if not seconds, who has time to pull out all those moves they ever learned?…and under the stress of being physically harmed?

Certainly, it would be better to know just a few techniques that work.  Efficiency is what WT is about – WT is not about the flashy kicks and acrobatics we see in the movies.  WT is about making the simple things work in reality.

Using the WT principles, it becomes clear how any person can systematically progress towards an ability to defend oneself in a real life-threatening situation. With its forms training and hands-on partner training, WT offers an effective “feed-back” method allowing someone to develop a powerful, yet flexible, defensive/attack structure.  In short, WT is very much a “scientific, art-form” of movement.  WT is self-defense for the intelligent person!  It is this smart way of training that leaves a sense of satisfaction. It’s for these reasons I have stayed in WT.

Currently, I am part of the WT Vancouver Trainer Team.  I am also an independent dance instructor/performer (part-time).  I could elaborate here on the similarities between dance and martial arts (and there are many!), however that topic will have to wait until the next essay.  But I will say this: it wasn’t until I started teaching dance that my own dance ability improved tremendously.  Teaching is simply another way of learning. Teaching almost forces us to learn new material and new methods.  The other side to learning is passion. It is hard to teach “passion”, but at the very least I can be enthusiastic when I teach.  There are always new things to learn in any art form, and new ways of expression, be it in the martial arts or in dance.  I intend to continue along the same path in Wing Tsun, as I have in dance. That is, to never stop learning.