Is Kung-Fu Difficult? - Part 2

Sifu Garry McKenzie - Fighters Magazine - November 2001



Grandmaster Ip Ching and Garry in Faat Saan, outside the ancestral hall.

"Just as a school has a curriculum to guide its smooth operation and overall teaching policy, in Kung-Fu a systematical and gradual process of instruction must be devised so that progressive teaching can be done. But unlike schooling in which a gifted student may skip a year or two, in Kung-Fu we cannot skip any part of it. There is only repeating and repeating if the result is unsatisfactory."

"Kung-Fu is closely connected with developing physical ability, it cannot be rushed through. This is what makes Kung-Fu a difficult art to master. During the first three years of basic works, one must be most consistent in the training regardless of weather and personal hardship, and there can be no respite."

"There are personal sacrifices and restraints, and there are also rules and etiquette to observe. In the past when the master and student relationship was much more formal, the sifu or instructor had the utmost authority, all rules and etiquette must be strictly obeyed or the student would not receive complete instruction."

"Serious offenders were often ejected out of the establishment, some were even punished in a cruel manner. The road to success in Kung-Fu was then, and is now, a rocky and bumpy one."

Garry with Sifu Ha Ji Sing outide Bruce Lee's ancestors house in Seun Dak, Southern China.