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2006 Annual Wing Chun/ Ving Tsun/ Wing Tsun Gathering The annual Gathering was held this year on April 22nd at Arcadia Park in Phoenix, Arizona. In attendance were a variety of lineages from the Arizona and California areas, and it was one an excellent event. Participants representing their respective organizations included:
The day started with Dai-Sifu Don welcoming everyone, followed by a presentation of Adam Williss (of Red Rebel Martial Arts in Orange County, California) telling us about some really great non-profit promotion activities that you will soon start hearing about. The purpose is to promote the art - regardless of lineage - and to get more people involved with exploring what WC/ VT/ WT is all about. Each family then demonstrated how they deal with various punches such as straightline and hook punches. For the AWCA, I illustrated that while some feel that side-stepping is their preferred approach (so as to expose the side of the opponent and open up the holes in the opponent's defense), we train to drive straight in and force the opponent to the side vs. us side-stepping. Because my personal preference is "up close and personal," I prefer elbow and knee range. We do, however, also focus on quite a bit of entering and dealing with various angles besides these (and naturally their counter-actions). While we train for Wing Chun vs. Wing Chun (which is the worst-case scenario in real fighting), we also train quite a bit with Wing Chun vs. other arts. Since our opponent will more than likely be a non-Wing Chun practitioner, I presented how we approach getting through some of the more prevalent attacks and driving in, using soft "blasting" force to get into range, etc. After a short lunch break, we all jumped right into Chi-sau. Admittedly, I was a bit hesitant because I sustained a rotator cuff injury a few months ago and only went to the doctor 2 weeks ago. I was put on a therapy program and told not to train for a few months. Yeah, right. Like that's gonna happen. But, I have tried to nurse it as much as possible in anticipation for today's Gathering. I was feeling pretty good for the first 20 minutes or so, but it finally started taking its toll. And since we all experienced Chi-sau with different families for about an hour and a half, needless to say, my shoulder is now the size of a football. That's ok, though; it was definitely worth it and I loved the experience gleaned from my fellow WC/ VT/ WT colleagues. Unfortunately, I did not get to work with some of the folks I met, and I really wanted to. I finally had to stop because I simply could not roll or respond anymore. I lasted longer than I thought I would, and I made some new friends along the way. That is what all of this about: to bridge the gap between family rivalries and recognize that no matter where we come from, we are all one family, privileged with learning such a fascinating and effective method. I misplaced the battery to my camcorder, but my digital camera does take QuickTime videos. I only took two because I wanted to save the memory card for photos, so here is the "jist" of what today was about. By no means does it do justice to the great time we had.
With the culmination of the event, all walked away with a better understanding of what we do and "why" we do it. It is always an honor to attend events like this, and I hope to see you all again next year. |
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Arizona Wing Chun Association
