Nord Wing Chun

Hope this starts your weekend with a laugh. While it's all very well to put an emphasis on skills development, that is not to say that you should totally neglect your health and fitness. And I've certainly been guilty of that at times! Have a good one everyone. - Mox

After midnight in Oz, so Happy Birthday to my Sifu, Mr Derek Fung! Still going as strong as ever at 82. All the best to you Sifu

10th October 2021. World Mental Health Day. On this day, and on all others, act with compassion and kindness towards others. Including towards yourself.

I've been travelling the last week, and killing time while in transit I came across this discussion about dangerous animals that are found in various parts of the world. And someone wrote that they weren't a gun person, but they'd definitely buy a gun if they were visiting a particular jungle region. Then someone wrote back and this really stuck with me. "I'm a gun person. If I think I need a gun to visit an area, then I don't visit that area". Now that stuck with me, becau...se it's a way of thinking that is very much in sync with my own beliefs. I remember asking a friend of mine some years ago about a women's self-defence course she was taking, and she said to me something like, "I'm doing this course so I can walk and go wherever I like". My reply was, "If that is how they are selling this course to you, you should quit that course immediately. I've trained and practised consistently for years, and I don't go wherever I want, whenever I want. If they are telling you that an 8 week course is going to give you that ability - LEAVE! And get a refund." Now I was thinking about these issues because I was visiting a part of the world that I hadn't been to before. And I was in meetings until late each day, but after that, I badly wanted to go out and explore the local area. BUT, before I did that, I made an assessment of the risks, the local environment and crime rate (my own checklist is far from perfect, but it includes things like the amount of graffiti or vandalism to the smell of urine in side streets - yes, I know not scientific but there is more to it than that). Long story short - I was out, had no issues and had a fantastic trip. But my point is that just as I often note here, training and practising martial arts does NOT mean that you should think that you'll be fine in a street fight, nor should you ever fight if you can safely walk away. And linked to that is that training in martial arts does NOT mean that you should stop being cautious. That for example you can walk down a dark alley as a shortcut home, especially if you've been drinking. Or not think about heading out alone in a strange city into unfamiliar areas. My view is this - don't let anyone convince you that being aware, being smart, or just being plain cautious is the same as being a coward. It's not. Being cautious is just not being careless. - Mox See more

As discussed in my last Livestream, there are some common strategies that you can employ when investing and fighting. Here are 7 basic rules that can help you preserve your capital. And your wellbeing! 1. Before you start anything, be sure that you can accept the consequences of losing. If not, walk away. 2. Have a strategy going into it - a key part of that strategy must be preservation (of capital, or your life).... 3. Avoid just "trading blows" - lots of activity doesn't necessarily bring better results. 4. Don't be afraid to act decisively - if the situation and risks turn against you, cut your losses and get out immediately. 5. Maintain your focus and don't get distracted by what others are doing. 6. Control your emotions - once you are involved, they will try and take control of you. 7. Always remember - nobody wins all the time, and one big loss can undo everything. So then, see Rule # 1... Hope you've all had a great week and enjoy your weekend. I have a work event this Sunday so I won't be online, but will be back the following week...just in time for the Snyder Cut?? See you then, Mox

Most frequent comment on any martial arts forum? "That is useless - show me a video of that vs XXX (insert person or style here) and then I'll believe it!" Sure, traditional martial arts teachers have been guilty in the past of hiding their weaknesses behind the excuse of "we can't show you because it's too deadly, so you'll just have to put your faith in me". But if you're putting all your faith just into what you can see, then you haven't escaped from being fooled. You could just be getting fooled in a whole different way.

This is the inspiring story of Asif Sultani, who fought to free himself from the refugee camps of his childhood to now being a martial artist competing at the Tokyo Olympics. "...I didn’t have a childhood that I can talk about. A normal child, for example, goes to school. A normal child may enjoy life with their friends and family but I found myself getting bullied, kicked, punched, people spitting on me, humiliating me, and telling me that I have to kill myself because I was...n’t good, because I can’t be like everyone else. Through all this, Asif never gave up, never let his poverty or his seemingly impossible challenges defeat him. He was determined to just keep going and never stop. No matter what happens in Tokyo, this man is already a champion. Asif's story is here: https://www.theguardian.com//bruce-lee-dvds-a-backyard-doj See more

Think you’ve had a stressful day? Imagine the kind of day the operator of this digger had - you turn up to work and your boss tells you that you and your relatively tiny machine have to dig out the 400m long, 224,000 ton Ever Given stuck fast in the Suez Canal. Oh and hundreds of ships are backed up behind it, costing $10 billion a day, and sending the global prices of everything from oil to toilet paper skywards. And yes, that’s a massive ship in the sea and you’re in a land based construction vehicle, but it’s all up to you! So...one person CAN move the whole world!

It's been over a year since I closed the school, and I do miss teaching. BUT, if I'm being perfectly honest, I don't miss ALL the aspects of teaching. I think that at some stage, EVERY teacher feels like this...

Back Live tomorrow at 18:30 Central European Time. https://youtu.be/yzn3SRaND8E This week, I'll be discussing service and humility, and how it relates to leadership. And yeah, maybe a little bit about that Snyder Cut. See you then and enjoy the rest of your weekend!... - Mox See more

No one likes lockdowns. And there are huge limitations to training by yourself. But if you are not prepared to stop progressing just because you have no partners, then you’ve created a partner that is ready whenever you are.

I've been looking for these for years, so I'm sharing it for anyone else who might be interested in a pair of authentic Wing Chun swords with good weight & balance. See below from Sifu Mark Spence's page - they are being made in Australia and I'm not sure about how easy it is to ship them around the world but if you are interested, you can find out more below.

Staying calm and not tensing up under pressure - is it a myth or is it possible? Definitely 100% possible. This video of an attempted armed robbery in South Africa a few days ago shows just how possible it is, but also how individuals (with different levels of training) will react differently under intense situations. So there are no "universal rules" for dealing with attacks, especially surprise ones. The driver of this vehicle is said to have extensive experience and is a... former member of an elite police unit. His armed escort has some training, but is perhaps a little less equipped to handle the stress of the situation. Quite remarkably at the end before the video cuts off, the driver is seen exiting the vehicle to confront the attackers. And I have no idea who "Robbie" or "Josh" are, but if the driver (who seems quite unfazed by this armed ambush) thinks that they are worth calling, then they must be at a level of ice cold awesomeness that I can't even imagine! See more

You may have seen this video of an incident that took place in India over the weekend. A young boy walking with his mother falls onto the railway track in front of an oncoming train. A railway worker saw what happened and sprinted down the track and risked his own life to save the boy. A true hero in my opinion! Now this says a lot about society today - instead of praising the hero, many instead are going online to attack the mother. "What kind of mother would let her child... fall on the tracks? What kind of mother would just stand there and stretch out her arms uselessly like that while the hero is actually saving her son?" Well there is a simple reason for that. The mother is blind, and she depends on her son to lead her, and when he fell, she was struggling to figure out what had happened and what the danger was. But today, as a society it is too easy for us to form opinions and pass judgements. Many find time to post hate, but have no time to look for truth. In my opinion, regardless of the mother's condition, I would much rather focus on the positive, and celebrate and express my thanks and admiration for the courage and decisiveness of that heroic railway worker. Those are the qualities that our society needs more of. - Mox See more

Most frequent comment on any martial arts forum? "That is useless - show me a video of that vs XXX (insert person or style here) and then I'll believe it!" Sure, traditional martial arts teachers have been guilty in the past of hiding their weaknesses behind the excuse of "we can't show you because it's too deadly, so you'll just have to put your faith in me". But if you're putting all your faith just into what you can see, then you haven't escaped from being fooled. You could just be getting fooled in a whole different way.

This is probably the only Wing Chun page on the Internet where you will read this but, I'm looking forward to this way more than any of the Ip Man movies. PS - as you know, I love my movies so I can also add that any fans of Gareth Evans body of work really need to check out Gangs of London - amazing fight choreography and action filming!

It's been over a year since I closed the school, and I do miss teaching. BUT, if I'm being perfectly honest, I don't miss ALL the aspects of teaching. I think that at some stage, EVERY teacher feels like this...

Most of you know Sifu Mark Spence as I interviewed him twice last year. He has just released this short video that I think nicely demonstrates how to spot a "fake" Wing Chun video (and there are quite a few out there!) To me, one sign of a "fake" is where force is delivered in one direction, but somehow the person in the video will jump and move in another direction. See what you notice here, and follow Mark's page to see more: https://www.facebook.com/ChiSauClub