Especial entrevistas; Larry Saccoia

Neste mês de fevereiro, o blog do Dido volta com o especial entrevistas e pra começar 2013 com chave de ouro, o Blog do dido teve a honra inenarrável de entrevistar um dos maiores nomes do wing chun mundial, o vice-presidente da international applied wing chun federation (iawcf), mestre larry Saccoia.

Esta é sem dúvida uma das mais relevantes e importantes entrevistas já feitas na história do blog, pois além de se tratar de meu sibaakgung (tio- avô na hierarquia marcial), Larry Saccoia é um dos mestres que mais tenho admiração pessoal, não somente pelo auto grau de apuro técnico - que chega a ser incrivelmente extremo, sendo uma grande referência não só para mim, mas para nossa escola em salvador - mas também por suas história de vida.

A tradução para o português teve a assessoria de sifu,que me auxiliou com meu péssimo inglês e nesta postagem, trazemos a conversa, via e-mail na íntegra, sem cortes (a versão em português,com tradução de Sifu estará no ar á partir da semana que vem).

Então, esperamos sinceramente que os leitores possam aproveitar ao máximo, pois sibaakgung Larry tem muito á ensinar com seu relato.

the Dido's Blog returns with special interviews and to start 2013 with a flourish, the Dido's Blog had the honor of interviewing one of unspeakable biggest names in world wing chun,the vice president of international applied wing chun federation (iawcf), master Larry Saccoia.
This is undoubtedly one of the most relevant and important interviews ever made in the history of the blog, because it is beyond my sibaakgung (granduncle martial in the hierarchy), Larry Saccoia is one of the teachers who have more personal admiration, not only for self degree of technical perfection - it becomes incredibly extreme, being a great reference - but also by his life story.


The translation into Portuguese took the advice of sifu, who helped me with my bad english and in this post, we bring the conversation by e-mail in full if cuts in both languages​​.
So we sincerely hope that readers can enjoy the most because sibaakgung Larry will have much to teach with his testimony.

1)Blog do Dido;  How will you began practicing 'wing chun' how was your first contact with this martial art?

Larry Saccoia: I started learning Tae Kwon Do when I first joined the U. S. Navy in 1976, and a friend of mine asked me to come and check out this King Fu school he found to get my opinion. It was the Wing Chun Kung Fu school in Va. Beach. I went with my friend on a Saturday afternoon when Sifu Leung was not there, his assistant Dave Meadows was running the class. I watched them do Chi Sao and I saw the value of it's training, but asked how it would be applied. Dave's answer was the only way to find out is to try by sparring with one of the guys. I agreed to try, but I wanted to first meet Sifu Leung. So we made an appointment to spar on the following Saturday when Sifu Leung would be there. That Saturday I came and met Sifu, he asked me why I wanted to spar and I told him it was to try and learn and understand about his art. He said...be my guest!! I sparred a student named Brad Butterfield, he dumped me on my butt and when I got up off the floor I went to Sifu and asked if I could be his student. That was 35 years ago!! 

 2)Blog do Dido: How is the coexistence and how could you assess how training under the supervision of Duncan Leung? What could you tell us about that?

Larry Saccoia: Training under Sifu Leung back in those days was more like submitting to torture. He would push us beyond what we thought we were capable of doing. I remember when we trained in the London Bridge School, there was no windows, no air conditioning, it was over 100 degrees in the summer time. We would work on the chase punch with the horse until we puked and Sifu would yell at us to get up and work some more. During that time a saw 100's of people come and go, only the most dedicated students would stay and train. 

 3)Blog do Dido: In your particular vision, how do you see the position of wing chun currently in a general context in the martial arts world, in view of the increasing public interest in contact sports and combat?

Larry Saccoia: In answering this question, one must understand that everyone's understanding of Wing Chun is not equal. I have had an opportunity to travel extensively and visit many of the so called Wing Chun Masters. In all my travels, I have never met anyone that had the deep level of understanding or skill level in Wing Chun as Sifu Duncan Leung. This of course is my own opinion, and there may be others who would disagree. To me, the main thing that set Sifu Leung's Wing Chun apart from others is the emphasis on it's application in real fighting situations. So what I have seen in the past was Wing Chun fighters who were not well versed in their art participate in full contact tournaments and end up looking bad. This always frustrated me because it was not good quality Wing Chun, but the impression that was left to the public was that Wing Chun was not an effective martial art. When in actuality Wing Chun when trained properly is very effective for combat and in full contact fighting.

 4)Blog do Dido; Do you think the wing chun would have difficulty adapting to controlled environments and competition? Would be easy to adapt the strategy of wing chun for an environment like a 'ufc'?

(photo; Larry and his  training Partner and friend Allan Lee)

Larry Saccoia: Wing Chun is very effective for actual combat and real fighting, and it could be adapted for competition in the UFC. But the reality is this....the most effective techniques produce permanent damage to a person. These techniques should not be used in competition, and thus would hinder the Wing Chun fighter. It's like showing up to a gun fight with an empty gun. So it would be hard to compare true Wing Chun to BJJ in the sporting ring, but a seasoned Wing Chun fighter could still hold his own, while holding back certain techniques.

 5)Blog do Dido;  In all these years of practice, experience and teaching, which aspects would you highlight as the most important in the applied wing chun in your opinion?

Larry Saccoia: The most important aspect of applied Wing Chun is proper timing....good timing is the combination of skill in balance, structural speed, reflex reaction, and judgment of distance. Good timing is the ultimate skill in Wing Chun!!! 

 6) Blog do Dido;  You traveled through several countries near the sifu Duncan and his team for various events, seminars and other related work. Could you tell us a remarkable passage for you?

Larry Saccoia: I was in Foshun China with my friend Allan, there in a field under a tree we saw a young man practicing a kung Fu style that did not look familiar to us. We approached him and he stopped his practice and became guarded. Allan inquired of him and asked him if would want to fight me. At first the guy didn't know what to make of us, but after talking we told him we were only interested in fighting for exchange of knowledge and experience....he agreed. He gave me the hardest fight of anyone I could remember...I would say we walked away even and walked away as friends. 

7)Blog do Dido;  I want to thank you for your attention and ask you to leave a message to our Brazilian readers, as well as your contacts, who may be interested in learning and getting deeper in the art of wing chun.

Larry Sacooia: My advice is to train hard and train seriously....mastery of Wing Chun will only come after many years of hard work!! Most people I have met do not have that type of dedication, but the rewards are well worth your effort. The disciple that it takes to master Wing Chun will spill over into all aspects of your life, making you a much better person for it....You guys have my best wishes for Success!!!