Five new 1st Level Technicians!
The recent grading this past Saturday, September 27 at 7:30 P.M. and Monday, September 29 at 1:30 P.M., held at the Richmond Hill Branch of IWTA-NAS, not only resulted in the promotion of many students but also produced five new Primary-level Technicians!
Student exams are held every quarter-year in the curriculum-styled structure of the Leung Ting WingTsun teaching system. These exams serve as an opportunity for the review of a student’s abilities and techniques, so that they can advance to higher levels of learning.
Sifu Carson Lau (7th level Practician, the highest ranked instructor in North America) is an examiner who always surprises the students with creative exams. For example, the exam for 1st-level Technician was divided into four seperate tests.
The first test examined the student’s familiarity of the Si-Nim Tao and Chum-Kiu forms. Instead of just asking the student to perform the entire form, they were asked to perform excerpts of sequences chosen from arbitrary starting points.
The second part required the student to perform the first three Chi-Sao forms. Sifu Lau expected each form to be performed accurately, as they are fundamental for most of the Chi-Sao sparring movements.
The third part involved the famous WingTsun Chi-Sao sparring. In this part, examinees were required to apply all the Chi-Sao components learned thus far. Two students teamed up to spar in three, 1-minute sessions. Both students were expected to demonstrate their achievements in technique application, economy of movement, physical endurance, and the use and control of power.
The Chi-Sao sparring was both exciting for the spectators to watch, but also exhausting for the students — However, the exam did not stop there. It continued into the finale, which was the dramatic simulation of a 2 vs 1 ambush. This required two additional participants to simultaneously attack the examinee with a punch and/or kick, in a free-from environment. It definitely gave the gym a fight-club vibe with the spectators standing at the edges of the room, trying not to get caught in the middle. In this test, examinees were evaluated based on how well they controlled their attackers with angles by using WingTsun foot-work.
Special thanks go out to: Jaime Loo, Roger Lam, Isaac Lau, and Vahid Zolfaghari, who participated as attackers in the 2 vs 1 scenario. They did an excellent job and showed no fear, no pain and no mercy to the examinees. We have hence forth dubbed them the “Invincible White T-Shirt” team — a new breed in our gym.
Last but not least, all of the students from the Richmond Hill class would like to thank Sifu Lau for his dedication in teaching us what true WingTsun is.
