This is a question that comes from students often as they start to learn Wing Chun Kung Fu how often should we practice Wing Chun at home?
Any journey takes time and consistent movement and as the old saying goes, the more you put in the more you get out.
Should we practice Wing Chun at home?
At the very start of learning Wing Chun, well, any new skill, the practice can get frustrating especially if you are training alone.
A common stumbling block that students may face is the worry that they may be doing something “wrong” and they do not want to practice a “bad habit”.
As much as this is true, adding a bad habit to muscle memory is unwanted, not to practice at all is just as bad, if not more so.
To practice or not?
I have been very curious as to why some students will happily train at home and others are a lot more reluctant to do so.
What I found out after asking new students, students that have only been training a few months was that those that were happily training at home were keeping the techniques, forms, and exercises very simple, reviewing and practicing what they had been shown in class the previous lesson, which is extremely important. Let me explain.
Whenever anyone starts a new hobby, any hobby, not just Wing Chun, they are really enthusiastic, sometimes a little too eager and want to know more and more, trying to rush through to the next move or technique.
This enthusiasm has to be applauded but also reined in, just a little, keeping to what has been shown and trying to perfect the basics. Building a solid foundation is key for allowing skills to develop.
Talent is natural, skills have to be learned by putting in the hours.
Students that try to run before they can walk are usually the ones that either have very sloppy forms and techniques or just keeps looking for the next move, trying to progress before mastering the techniques they have been shown. SiFu YouTube…
Take your time, there isn’t a rush
When someone plants a seed and they start to see it grow, it will not grow any faster by pulling at it. With daily care and patience, they will get their reward.
I fear not the man who has practised 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practised one kick 10,000 times.
I personally recommend to my students that they train at least their forms daily.
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