The reason I started Wing Chun 16 years ago wasn’t for attaining any of the above benefits mentioned in the title! After all I was just a teenager so, not unlike most teenagers, as far as I was concerned I was a perfect specimen full of calmness, confidence, with no worries and stress. Perhaps you were the same when you were a teenager! So why did I start practicing Wing Chun? To become the greatest fighter of all time known to mankind! Ok so I guess I was a bit overambitious in my younger years.
Wing Chun as a self-defense system (along with my first Wing Chun instructors) must have really made a good impression on me to keep up the practice for the first few years. However if it was not for tapping into the depth of this art, I don’t think I would still be practicing today let alone be running one of the biggest Wing Chun schools in Hong Kong. It took a few years for me (much slower than most of our students) to realize the calm, harmonious and gentle approach to Wing Chun, and since then, it has become my way of movement, way of thinking and way of life which has lead to the ability to effortlessly produce great amount of power with my movements and better yet, has given me an approach to relieve myself of Stress, Pain and many other negative symptoms that follow them, even though I’m living a fast pace Hong Kong lifestyle!
What a beautiful Art!
If you’re a fellow practitioner, keep up your daily practice in Wing Chun. Get into a habit of waking up a bit earlier so you can start the day with the Siu Nim Tao form, which will no doubt set a more relaxed tone for your day. Throughout the day, try and bring awareness to your posture and mental state as often as possible. Mindfulness takes no effort as it’s not aiming to do or achieve something, but rather ‘being’ present in the condition of the body and mind and working from this foundation to make corrections i.e. releasing tension or stress.
If you’re a fellow practitioner of this beautiful Art, What are some of your thoughts about Wing Chun and how has it helped you in your life?
– Nima King (Founder of Mindful Wing Chun)