01/05/2025
Happy birthday Sifu Augustine Fong
HOW DO YOU HONOR YOUR SIFU?
Students who have spent years often decades studying a martial art under the guidance of a Sifu, at some point with their Sifu's blessing, often decide to pay back the immense knowledge that has been bestowed upon them by sharing their knowledge with students of their own. The sharing of this knowledge is not only an honor but it is a great responsibility, to correctly pass on the art to future generations. The process of teaching helps us as teachers to develop and deepen our understanding of this martial art even more so.
For Jim and I, the study of Wing Chun with our Sifu Augustine Fong, has had an immensely profound impact on our lives. The principles and concepts of Wing Chun have seeped into every aspect of our daily life.
After spending decades learning from our Sifu, are we clones of him? Of course not, nor should we want to be. No two people move exactly alike, or learn and process information exactly alike. As students we try our best to learn and absorb as much as we can from our teacher, spending decades attempting to replicate his movements as closely as possible while trying to understand the concepts of the system as completely and deeply as we can to our teacher's instruction.
Wing Chun principles and concepts are the foundation and heart of the system and always remain the focus and core of training.
Skills are taught through methods of the system which may vary from teacher to teacher but the underlying focus and goal of what is being taught must remain intact. The challenge is to develop methods in such a way as to teach all of these concepts so students can develop to the highest level of skill.
Instead of simply regurgitating and mimicking our teachers methods, which anyone can do, we interpret what we have learned and digested over the last three plus decades, in our own way, while at the same time, staying true to the core values and concepts our teacher has passed on to us, which is crucial.
Sifu Jim and I will continue to refine and develop the way we teach, hopefully for the rest of our lives just as our teacher is doing. Sifu Fong is constantly evolving his teaching methods and words he uses to explain Wing Chun. He is our inspiration for our own continued growth and development.
Sifu Fong teaches his students to not simply copy what he does and teaches, he encourages us to think for ourselves and teach our own digestion of what we have learned from him. Every instructor must eventually forge their own path while respecting and honoring their roots. Trying to be a clone of your Sifu will only get you so far. Even Sifu Fong does not teach exactly the way his teacher taught him. His approach reflects the immense knowledge he learned from his teacher and he honors his teacher by developing his own unique style.
As Sifu Fong has said many times, he teaches us to be number one of ourselves, not to be number two of him. In order to honor our Sifu's legacy, we teach with gratitude and purpose, with the goal of developing our own unique style, to pass on an art which has so enriched our lives that it would be selfish to keep it to ourselves.
Happy Birthday Sifu, we love you.
~ Carina and Jim
