Martial Art Schools are predominately
closed minded institutions, rigid, always resisting change. Each
individual school and its branches are restricted by invisible,
yet nevertheless real boundaries. Techniques originating from different
schools are disregarded despite their capacity to improve a traditional
school in efficiency and effectiveness. |
Upon any martial art school's introduction
into society, some assimilation naturally occurs over the course
of time as part of the newly discovered openness. The assimilation
can range from minute changes to the inclusion of concepts from
entirely different ideas. Wing Chun Kung Fu, as propagated by Grandmaster
Stephen T.K. Chan is a shinning example of a martial art that has
and still is evolving, without sacrificing the deep rooted traditions
from which it originated.
The general consensus is that there are two types of martial art
master-teachers; traditionalists who believe that everything should
be conserver, unaltered from one generation to another, and eclectics,
who draw from all fighting arts different techniques with the aim
of improving on the original school. The major problem however with
some ecletics is that at the end of their development no original
roots can be found within their system, and so they are faced with
the realization that all their dreams have uprooted their past and
set them on the path of a new martial art. |
Wing
Chun Kung Fu Grandmaster Stephen T.K. Chan "The Nucleus of the Wing
Chun System; Book Cover 1983" |
Prior to my first meeting with Grandmaster Stephen
T.K. Chan, I myself was of the same opinion that two distinctly
different martial art master-teachers existed. It came as a surprise
therefore, to find a third character, the neotraditionist, and this
new master-teacher fills the middle way, with an ideology of maintaining
impartiality. Thus, through the combination of both old and new
techniques Grandmaster T.K. Chan has succeeded in establishing a
harmonious relationship between the traditional martial arts and
20th century science. |