Having been with Chan Sifu for almost 4 years now, I've learned a lot, and I also find out that I have a lot to learn. While thinking about various Wing Chun concepts that Sifu has shared with me, one lesson came rushing into memory that I think is important, and I want to share it with you.

During one class, Sifu pulled a few of us aside and wanted to talk to us.
'I have something important to tell you.' Sifu said. He then proceeded to take a water bottle and pointed to it. Sifu then spoke, 'Pretend this bottle is glass, not plastic.' He then dropped it on the concrete floor. I think myself and the other students had the, 'And so…' look. Sifu then picked up the bottle, pointed to it again and spoke:

'This 'glass' bottle represents your body or the body of your opponent. If you choose to fight, someone will end up like the broken 'bottle'. You or your opponent might be lucky enough to be put back together again, but will never be back the way you were, you'll have 'cracks'. Worse you may never be able to be put back together. So always think twice about fighting, remember this.'

We all nodded and then Sifu went on to show us a technique that could be harmful if it was executed properly.

As I thought more about his lesson on the glass bottle, something else came to light. Take that same glass full of water. It still represents your body. Assume that you've fought and returned unscathed. Now drink a little bit of water. Fight some more, drink a little more water, continue to do this with every fight you do. Soon you'll have no water left in the glass. Now assuming you're a very good martial artist (or you've become a bully), and never been injured, you've still been damaged. That water can represent your humanity, your soul, and your character. Every time you fight, you lose a little of it. The more you fight, the more you lose. Even if you fight to defend yourself, you still lose a little of it. Secondly, you're not as good of a martial artist as you think. I think Bruce Lee put it best from his Enter the Dragon movie, 'The art of fighting, without fighting.' If you truly have good Gung Fu, you'll never really need to use it. You know that risks are too high and you don't need to prove your skill.

Keep Training, Keep Praying, Keep Learning.

Chuck O'Neill is an evangelical Christian and martial artist. Over his 12 years of experience in martial arts he as had formal martial arts training in Judo, Tae Kwon Do, and Kosho Ryu Kenpo Karate. He also has had training in elements of Western Boxing, grappling, Tai Chi, and Wushu. He is currently learning Wing Chun from Sifu Nelson Chan of the Christian Wushu Fellowship, located in Toronto, Ontario.

The opinions of this article are solely those of the writer and are not the expressed opinions of the Christian Wushu Fellowship. Copyright 2004 Charles G. O'Neill

To read other articles by Chuck O'Neill check out "Modern Martial Artist"