This is a fine martial arts studio that provides you just that, the ability to study a…read morewell-designed martial arts system meant for practical applications, not performance arts. You will build upon your reflexes and ability to deflect and deliver strikes with each passing class, and if you work hard, you will feel it. I've joined as a student of Sifu Jeff Webb, the head of the National Ving Tsung Organization, to learn as much as I can during the time I have remaining in Texas, before transferring to a student of his in the North who is now also a Sifu (instructor or master, I'm not quite sure really which term is most appropriate).
Thus far I have learned a great deal, and observed the high level of skill possessed by each of his students ranked from low and high, with the higher ranked students also working as assistant instructors to provide valuable input and more skilled training partners to guide your development. I attend classes in both the North and South locations to experience a broader range of instructors and training partners to build upon my understanding more comprehensively. Classes consist of an initial period of taxing and difficult form practice that appears hella easy when done well, followed by exercises with a partner that exhibit and employ the techniques learned in the forms, generally taking up much of the class. Very straightforward, but not at all simple, with only heavy effort bringing about real improvement.
Ving Tsung/Wing Chun, made famous by Bruce Lee and Ip Man, is a center-line striking style created by a woman for close-quarters combat that requires one to be relaxed excepting the points of impact, allowing strength to be overcome by angling and reaction time, making strength all the more powerful once the style is understood, something my boxing and other training is making difficult as I'm relatively rigid and tense, so this style is helping me to learn fluidity and to better employ my power at appropriate times rather than wasting energy when it isn't essential. Yoga oddly enough I approached as a strength and stamina-building exercise, so it has done little to improve my flexibility, just power and reaction time, as I am not zen enough apparently. The wing chun perspective I will transfer into my legal studies and eventual practice, as it is an expansive philosophy useful elsewhere in life that helps you not waste energy, and have the push-through when it counts. One of the key precepts of the system constructed by Sifu Webb is something to the effect of "If the way is open, move forward", something entirely in tone with the Norse ideology of the Vikings, and I appreciate this.
The studio is absolutely worth checking out if you are serious about your training, and definitely is not a lunchtime cardio or high-flying acrobatic activity, it is a place to go to learn a fighting style with hard-working and committed fellow students and teachers that follows a logical progression and isn't going to waste your time.
