Our School Motto

Our school motto is:

Ten Thousand Repetitions
Ten Thousand Victories
Ten Thousand Abundances

Skill is based first and foremost on practice. A few people may have a genetic or God–given gift to excel in a certain area, but this only helps them. It does not replace practice. Practice is the mother of skill. If you want skill you must practice.

My teacher (or Sifu), Grandmaster Wong Jackman, was a man of few words. I′ve had other teachers who would explain or talk at length–sometimes so much you could hardly get a good workout! But Sifu Wong was the best of the best in both knowledge and skill. In about 1985, I asked him how I could improve. I attended four classes a week with him. Classes were two to three hours in length. I worked hard every class and I practiced outside of class almost every day. I was hoping for a technical comment or direction. All he said was "practice more." Pretty hard to argue with that advice, so I figured out how to add a few more workouts and get more out of each one. I kept practicing. December 28, 2006 marked the last class before Sifu Wong′s retirement. Students who had not been in his class for years showed up. Many were standing around and talking animatedly, but I and a few others worked out hard. I did 19 hand forms and several weapons forms. I was covered in sweat and had already changed my clothes once. I approached Sifu, knowing it might be the last time I was able to converse with him in the class setting I had loved for 25 years. "I know you are not the sort of person who talks and gives advice much," I said, "and I am not the kind who asks for advice much. But since this is the last class and I have studied with you for many years I wonder if you could give me your advice for my future training?"

He replied, "Talk less, practice more. Do not forget what I taught you. Think about how to use the movements. Share what I have taught you, do not keep it for yourself."

I loved these words because of their simple truth and direct force. As I was dripping with sweat in a room full of talking people, he told me to practice more!

The case for 10,000 being the magic number of hours one needs to fully master a skill or craft has been made by Malcolm Gladwell, who writes for the New Yorker among other publications, in his book Outliers. If you do the math, you′ll realize is a daunting task. Practice ten hours a day, six days a week for three years straight and you have 10,000 hours. Practice three hours a day, six days a week for ten years and you have 10,000 hours.

If these hours are spent merely plodding through repetitions, they don′t count. You need to be doing your best and trying to improve your skill level consciously for them to count. If you want to become a master, a Sifu, then this is what it takes in addition to a good teacher. However, it takes a lot less than this to get the black sash or simply improve your health.

I have met many students, and though the slowest of them may not be able to learn mountains of complex forms, they can still learn martial arts. Conversely, I have met quite a few people who are too "smart" to learn martial arts. These students read every book out there on the subject, spend lots of time thinking rather than doing, and ask all sorts of questions. They talk more than they practice, but they would understand more if they spent all that time practicing!

When I began learning Kung Fu more than 30 years ago, I wasn′t athletic. I was uncoordinated, clumsy, weak and prone to illness. But I have a good visual memory–I can remember what things look like. I was also tenacious, stubborn, and would never give up. Not only did I stick with it, I trained super hard, often practicing six to eight hours a day or more for years. That′s why I know so many martial arts and have reached a respectable level in all of them. That′s the reason I am a Sifu today.

If you do the repetitions, the skill, victories, and abundance will naturally follow.

Ten Thousand Repetitions
Ten Thousand Victories
Ten Thousand Abundances

Be Good, Look Good, Feel Good