Student Character
The ultimate goal of the study and practice of Kung Fu is to master oneself."
Kung Fu is the study of a lifetime. The more you practice, the better you get. There is Chinese saying: "Three years to take a small step forward, six years to get better, nine years to accomplish fairly good technique." This illustrates that Kung Fu is a long-term practice.
What people do not realize (especially those who do not train) is that Kung Fu is about developing oneself, one's character. In the old days, when people entered a temple for the first time, they were not even taught Kung Fu. They worked as servants, carrying water, fixing meals, cleaning clothes, gathering and cutting firewood, and other such minutiae. This was done to help build the body, and helped the masters observe the patience and character of a person to decide whether not that person was worthy of learning Kung Fu.
Students need to have patience and keep working hard. You may see others doing all sorts of moves and forms that you may not be able (or allowed) to perform, but if you work hard and keep practicing your basics, you too will be able to perform these same moves and forms. The key is regular practice to develop strong basics. It is just like a tree: if you do not have a good strong root, you will never grow tall. Your basics (stretching, strength-building, Temple Sequence, Lian Huan Quan, Bok Pai Quan), when worked on a regular basis, will provide you with a good strong root which in turn will allow you to learn the other material and grow tall.
Each movement that you learn is the product of some former master who studied the art during the last 1,500 years. You should practice faithfully and try to understand the techniques to the point where they come out naturally. If the techniques do not come out naturally, then that is a reflection of you needing to practice more. Unfortunately, there is no shortcut to getting good at Kung Fu. The only road to travel is that of hard practice. As Master Yamamoto (one of Sigung's teachers) used to tell his students all the time, "You must be a slave to your art before you can become its master." It was his way of informing his students that they would only master what they were learning through diligent practice.
Fortunately, for the student, Kung Fu is more about mastering yourself: not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. As you train in Kung Fu, you have to spend time developing your patience and good character. Just like in the old days, your instructor will test your patience and character to determine whether you are truly worthy of moving to the next level of your Kung Fu training. These hidden examinations are many times more difficult than any physical test you will ever take for any rank. Many more students fail and quit these exams than any sash ranking. The main thing that a true student needs to understand is that a failed moral exam is a lesson for the student to learn and grow from, and not a final determination of the student's character. Only the student can make it a final determination by failing to learn and grow, and instead taking the easier road and quitting. The students must learn to be unselfish and think outside of themselves, without getting wrapped up in their own individual feelings of being right or wrong.
As Wah Lum Grandmaster Chan Pui said in his book of transcribed lectures, "In learning Kung Fu, you are not only trying to help yourself, but others as well. You cannot just try to improve yourself without helping others, because one of the more important Chinese maxims is: For the glory and the spreading of the teaching of Kung Fu." This reiterates that learning Kung Fu is for self-development, and as we grow in Kung Fu, we must help others to grow as well. This is the responsibility of the Sifu to the senior students, the senior students to the advanced students, the advanced students to the intermediate students, and so forth. Master Chan also states, "Many times, students get caught up with the amount of money they may be paying to keep the school running, pay the rent, pay for uniforms, pay for the weapons, pay to keep the car running, which drinks a lot of gas and so forth. We are not here to sell Kung Fu. What you are getting here is something which money cannot really buy." What Master Chan is trying to illustrate is that Kung Fu knowledge is earned, not bought. Although you may be paying, you must understand that your tuition only allows you to enter the training hall. The Kung Fu you learn is because your Sifu is willing to teach you as a result of your hard work and dedication. If you were to ask your Sifu to teach you a form he doesn't want to teach you, there is no amount of money you can pay for him to teach you that form. You must earn it!
In another quote, Master Chan Pui states, "You are to call him Sifu." In Chinese, there is a very strong distinction between a student and a disciple, and an instructor is not the same thing as a Sifu. A Sifu is a very involved relationship. In the old days, only disciples were allowed to call their teacher "Sifu;" all the other students would call him or her "master." Master Chan goes on to explain, "The Chinese believe in relating people to Heaven and Earth. The sky is the highest of the order, the earth is second, then the Emperor, then your parents, and then Sifu. Your parents give birth to you and feed you, but your Sifu teaches you everything you know for the second half of your life. The position of a Sifu in the martial arts is just as important as your parents. If you have any idea of Oriental culture, you know how important the relationship between the children and the parents; very close family ties. We have a maxim: if a person serves you as your Sifu for three days, you should respect him/her as your parent for the rest of his/her life.
There is a famous story involving the well-known Chinese scholar Mencius. "When he was young, his mother moved three times because she did not like the influences around her houses. Eventually she moved and lived next door to a school. Mencius began to get involved with the school and study under a very good Sifu. He became the second most important scholar in Chinese history, second only to Confucius." Master Chan recited this story as an example to show the influence of a Sifu, as well as the importance of the position in the minds of the Chinese.
Students must understand the role of a Sifu. The Sifu is just like your parents: no matter how close and friendly they may be with you, they are still your parents, not your friends. A Sifu's job is to teach you and guide you, so when you come to a Sifu, s/he is under the understanding that you are looking for knowledge, and his/her responsibility is to teach you and guide you, whether you are ready for it or not. If you cannot absorb the teaching or guidance, it is your responsibility to work on understanding it, and to come to your Sifu for more guidance and understanding. It is the Sifu's responsibility to never forget that s/he is the Sifu and the student's responsibility to never forget that s/he is the student. This is a delicate balance that must be maintained at all times, regardless of how close you may feel you are to your Sifu. A Sifu will continuously work on improving his/her art and teaching methods to better spread the art. A student will continuously work on his/her ability to retain the art, and most importantly, his/her relationship with his/her Sifu.