O Blog do Dido está de volta com o especial entrevistas. Desta vez com um dos mestres de Wing Chun mais técnicos do mundo e um dos primeiros que eu vi e me impressionei - e obviamente virei um fã- com a técnica e habilidade antes mesmo de iniciar nos estudos de Wing Chun: SiFu John ''Jay'' Hitchman. Neste pate papo rápido, pude lhe fazer algumas perguntas que há muito tempo gostaria de ter feito a ele e foi uma grata surpresa quando ao receber uma mensagem dele de felicitações pelo meu aniversário no último dia 06, ele tenha lembrado que eu já o tinha convidado para uma entrevista ao Blog em meados de 2011.
A entrevista foi feita toda em inglês e na próxima postagem, será traduzida para o português. Espero que gostem.
Dido; How was your start in Wing Chun and what were your aspirations when starting your journey?
SiFu Jay Hitchman; - ''I was introduced to Wing Chun in 1981 when I lived in Brooklyn New York. He taught me for one year once a week in his basement. We separated for a time and because I enjoyed Wing Chun so much I continued to look for places in Brooklyn to continue training. While I was traveling in Australia for work in 1992-1993, I joined Sifu Jim Fungs school in Syndey for one month, training 4 times a week. When I returned to the United States I made a commitment to look for a school for formal training. Although I lived in Brooklyn, I seldom faced confrontations in the streets, although I had a couple of fights growing up. My true journey started when I went to the Moy Yat School in Voorhees New Jersey in October 1994. On a Saturday I met my Sihing John Harke and we engaged in a very long conversation. At the end of our talk, I had thought he was the Sifu and was ready to sign up. He told me that he was not Sifu, and that I had to come in during the week, Wednesday, to meet Sifu. When I met Sifu, I knew this is where I needed and wanted to be. Sifu had a very powerful authentic presence across the desk that made me feel he was very serious. I trained Saturdays and one day during the week mostly with my Kung Fu brothers. I replaced John opening up the school on Saturdays. I was always captivated watching my Sifu play his Kung Fu, so smooth and graceful. He became my inpiration to be as good as I could be. He was also very relaxed, which is something that drew me more and more.
Dido; - '' How can you explain to us what is the most important aspect in the SiFu - Student relationship?''
SiFu Jay Hitchman; - '' My brother, Victor Chung, has a term SITO for Sifu/Sidai relationship, which is the name of his Mokwoon. I feel that it is important to realize that Sifu is a special relationship, not a friend or relative. A guiding light, a figure. I consider myself a Sifu that listens patiently to my students. I often present what I feel is my opinion and, as learned from my Sifu, allow the student to make the their own best choice on their own. Being a Sifu is like being a parent in that you realize that you can at best only pass on values and knowledge. You can not get inside anyone else's body and must allow the student to grow, to fail, to be themselves. As a Sifu I have always tried to be there for my students, listening to all kind of personal issues. Many students have been there for me. I currently have three Disciples - Mike Flicker, Dale Steigerwald who has a school in New Brighton Pennslyvania, and Paul Kaufmann is a current dai sihing in our Mokwoon. I have a student, Mike Adams, who may one day be another Disciple, who has a great group of students in Kazahkstan and another nearby city Karaganda. I always try to lead by example and show my students how life is about being happy and positive and, as Grand Master used to say, "don't waste time!". Always seeking more knowledge. We all never realize how little time we have for living is and we are not here to engage in meaningless negative things, but look for meaningful positive things. The Sifu, like a father, knows and must often times show patience and compassion and forgiveness. But to answer your question directly, there must be a relationship based on honesty, humility and understanding. No ego. There should be a level of appreciation from both sides and a relationship of love and loyalty.
Dido; Analyzing combat sports today and the demand for fighters notably strikers, what are the reasons you could tell us that lead Wing Chun to not be as prominent a style as Jiu Jitsu or Muay Thai?
SiFu Jay Hitchman; - ''This is because Wing Chun is a system that provides only a foundation for fighting and it takes a deep understanding and proficiency to use its tools. People are not aware how powerful and lethal Wing Chun can be. They will often time judge the effectiveness of the Martial Art as to some interpretation of the movements in the training. I believe that Wing Chun can be trained for use in combat sports but, as Sifu has said, one doing this must be willing to train like an olympic athlete in order to be successful. Competitive Sports have rules that often would limit use of life saving techniques in Wing Chun. However, with propert understanding of footwork, using the whole body Kung Fu concept, and not executing the literal Wing Chun movements a Wing Chun person could potentially be successful in those competitions. There are very few people who have a next level ability in Wing Chun, and even fewer who are interested in proving it in competition. Thus, we see people who basically are using boxing and karate based applications and calling it Wing Chun. If there was someone like Bruce Lee today, who integrated acting and presentation of muscular body and performance, then this would be a key to more Wing Chun interest. The IP Man movies don't really combine that like Bruce Lee and Arnold did in the 80's and 90's. Possibly one day we will see someone demonstrate Wing Chun on the center stage and show how effective true Wing Chun can be.
Dido; - '' Your Chi Sau is one of the most efficient I've ever seen; What attributes are needed to achieve prominence in this regard?
SiFu Jay Hitchman; - ''Thank you for this complement. I have a great highly skilled Sifu who has provided me with the motivation and access to a strong Kung Fu family to learn deeper and deeper. It has been my commitment to his lineage and Grand Masters teachings that has allowed me to progress. Recently my Sihing Victor Chung has truly answered questions I have had in terms of truely learning high level Chi Sao and having a deeper understanding of it's purpose. I am trying to share this with others as I find that most people are not aware of how to truly attack in Chi Sao. That the Chi Sao training must progress to an understanding of the appropriate conditions on which to apply Techniques. The proper use of Chi Sao techniques meets every situation in Chi Sao, as well as a fight. This progresses from just learning the techniques applied by your hands, to the hands being assisted by your hips and waste, to ultimately being assisted with leg movement, which uses the body structure to support them. The nature of all this is in the forms and Jong. The true learning of this involves a Sihing/Sidai partnership during training to slow things down and stay on purpose. Understanding and exploiting each ones role. This will give your Chi Sao play a purpose and you will not engage in endless rolling, often called Luk Sao Chi Sao. Always keep our principles - centerline, facing, and equal hands - as a foundation of play. A constant adjustment to adhere to those principles and be in complete understanding of what they mean. They are the fundamentals of proper execution. Another aspect of Chi Sao to learn is to become comfortable with touching someone. If you cannot touch, you cannot hit. The hands should extend to apply physical contact to your partner, not in a malicious manner, but in a manner that both allows you to release freely and relaxed and have your partner to accept the physical contact relaxed as well. In addition to our three principles, we learned to understand five major attributes - balance, coordination, timing, sensitivity, and relaxation. It is these attributes in combination with the mentioned principles that support what we call technique. The training is a constant reflection of visiting ideas such as positioning, angling, footwork, distance, energy direction detection, intension and attitude. Yes, attitude is important because Grand Master always referred to "playing" Kung Fu. So we must keep it fun, with serious intention. Train to a level of Mastery by which you get "beyond the sequence". Play the Kung Fu without thinking about what movement is next and application will show itself as a "little idea" you can build upon.
Dido; - '' In your opinion, How should a SiFu lead a school, preserving ancestry and at the same time, having to constantly update itself?
SiFu Jay Hitchman; - ''How to achieve such balance? Anyone can have someone call them "Sifu" and be a Sifu. However, if you are a Sifu that represents a family then the Sifu should understand their family's way. Our Grand Master placed heavy emphasis on training the Kung Fu. On training like a family to be most relaxed and also to care. Many people can get tired of the exercises in the Kung Fu but that is because they are unaware of the various levels of understanding for the exercise beyond what they know, including the forms and the Jong. Grand Master stressed the little details as being critical to understanding the power of the Kung Fu. People can train other things like ground work, throws, and techniques from other styles on their own time - which is fine. However, the purpose of having a school is to provide students with bodies to practice the Kung Fu exercises as the most important thing. Sometimes people feel the traditional training is out dated, but that is okay because it is the Sifu who knows what is correct. I have seen many go on and try to be Sifu and they are no longer a Sifu or have students. I'm Sifu because I can take what most people cannot take. So it is often the test of time that shows the truth, who is left when the dust has settled. Things like integrity and honesty can never be outdated. However, as my Sihing Victor Chung has championed, that there are new and innovative ways to study the old concepts. The old methods should not be a ball and chain to the student learning the Kung Fu but we must derive realistic proven methods that help understand what is behind the Kung Fu. Also, the Sifu must step back and allow Sihings to be Sihings and take their place in leadership in the Mokwoon. At some point, there is no point as Sifu to proving your abilities over any students. Our toughest challenge as Sifu is to do what we can to support the student's development, especially if they demonstrate that they are serious and dedicated. your Sifu is your guide, but experience is your true teacher.
Dido; - '' Thank you in advance for your attention and please leave a last message for our readers and their contacts for anyone who wants to get in touch.''
SiFu Jay Hitchman: - ''Thank you for this interview opportunity and the time hopefully we get to meet up in the future. You are always welcome if you are in the Philadelphia or New Jersey/New York areas. I can be reached at jay@kungfuphilly.com.''
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