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1 ON 1 WITH SIFU ED CRUZ

Student: You finally got your article publish in Inside Kung Fu, any changes because of it? Sifu Ed Cruz: Now that we’re known more, we get more criticism.
Student: Does it bother you what others have said about your article? Sifu Ed Cruz: Actually it doesn’t bother me at all. You see, if you ever get criticized, and it ends up bothering you, in some way there must be some truth behind it. The fact is I know why I do my Wing Chun my way. And, in the end that’s all that matters.
Student: What’s been the overall response to it? Sifu Ed Cruz: Some liked it, others didn’t.

Student: Can you mention some of the responses you go that were negative? Sifu Ed Cruz: The age-old debate for some, how to properly do a tan sau?
Student: So you don’t believe there is a debate on whether tan should be flat or not? Sifu Ed Cruz: On paper you can debate all day, whether tan is flat or not. But, if you physically test the structure of a flat Vs straight tan, there’s no question, which is more sensitive and structurally sound.
Student: Any other comments you get about the article? Sifu Ed Cruz: The other debate came about the placement of the elbow. In our line we don’t force it in the center.
Student: What’s the purpose of having the elbow in the center? Sifu Ed Cruz: This is believed to cover or protect one’s centerline?
Student: And doesn’t it protect the centerline? Sifu Ed Cruz: Yes, it does protect the centerline but at the same time it collapses the triangle that protects your sides.
Student: Can you explain further? Sifu Ed Cruz: If you can picture both your hands extended in front of you, what you have is a triangle. This triangle guards the center as well as the left and right side. If you force the elbow into the centerline, what you end up doing is exposing the left or right side for attacks. In addition to that, for many forcing the elbow into the center is unnatural.
Student: Would you then say that Wing Chun is based on natural movements? Sifu Ed Cruz: In the end yes, in the beginning no. When you first start doing Wing Chun, things like the punch, YGKYM, footwork, etc, etc. may seem awkward at first, but eventually you learn that the motions and positioning of how things are done are actually quite natural. Take footwork in Wing Chun, its done in our line 50/50. The benefit of 50/50 is to allow for mobility in fighting. If you look deeper into mechanics of the footwork, it’s based on how we walk in everyday life.
Student: So are you saying the different stances like 100/0 or 70/30, etc are wrong? Sifu Ed Cruz: I understand the principle of why these stances exist, as well as the advantages in choosing these stances. But, if we base our Wing Chun on the zero point concepts, all the other stances go against this idea. If you think for a second and ask yourself this simple question, how would I charge into a person? When you run or walk you have a 50/50 stance. The day I see people run or walk at 100/0 or 70/30 etc is the day I’ll change my 50/50 stance.

Student: What’s the zero point concept? Sifu Ed Cruz: I define zero point as the natural way. Thus zero point is natural motion that requires the least amount of muscle to generate the maximum amount of force. Everything we do has a zero point.
Student: You never answered my previous question, is 100/0 or 70/30 wrong then? Sifu Ed Cruz: As a gung fu man, you’ll come to understand that there really is no such thing as right and wrong. In the end, right and wrong is all based on a certain point of view.   Student: A certain point of view? Sifu Ed Cruz: Many of the truths that we cling to depend greatly from our point of view. Regardless of what I say about 50/50 there are those who swear by 100/0 or other stances. Think about it for a second, everyone always thinks there way is better, everyone always believes there Sifu is more capable. In the end, it comes down to us making choices. Hopefully for many, they chose the right side.
Student: Do you have plans to have more articles get published? Sifu Ed Cruz: I have 3 that are almost ready to go, but just need to be finalized before we send it out.
Beginners
Student: Any tips that you have to help beginners get off to a fast start? Sifu Ed Cruz: Don’t focus so much on what you haven’t learned but on what you have learned. Also, be consistent in your practice, if you follow these 2 simple advices from me, your Wing Chun will improve exponentially.
Student: Would you like to expand on what you just said? Sifu Ed Cruz: In other words, learn the alphabets before you start creating words. I’ve seen people who’ve been in the art 15+ years and can’t even hold their YGKYM stance. The last thing you want to do is create an inverted triangle as the foundation of your Wing Chun. In addition to that, be consistent. Try practicing everyday, even it if it’s only for 10 minutes a day. That’s a lot better than practicing once a week for 4 hours. If you’re consistent you can build on your progress, but if you only practice in mass quantities once a week, you start from scratch each time.
Student: So what your saying is anytime you want to get good in something, concentrate on the basics? Sifu Ed Cruz: Exactly, you have to go back to the mother motion and perfect that. Say for example your footwork isn’t so good, first make sure you got YGKYM down, and then turning, practicing these mother motions will eventually improve your footwork dramatically. If you want your form to look good, then work on the punch. If you want to have good blocks and attacks while chi saoing, get the chi sao roll down first.

Student: What’s the most difficult thing for a student to understand in the beginning? Sifu Ed Cruz: The importance of patience. Yes, chi sao is the bread and butter of Wing Chun, but working on YGKYM, SLT and punch play a more important role in the beginning. Thus, the student needs to understand that he has his entire lifetime to get better in Wing Chun.
Student: In your classes, punch still remains your main focus in the beginning, why? Sifu Ed Cruz: Punch represents the mother motion for all the hand movement in Wing Chun, since its lead by the elbow. The sharp motions you develop for SLT as well as the roll, all stem from how good you can deliver the punch. In addition to that, the punch is the 2nd best weapon you have in self-defense, next to common sense. Within the first year, most students can deliver a punch that can in fact be lethal, however the main problem is the consistency of things. Can you deliver the punch when the time counts?
Student: Any last words of advice for beginners? Sifu Ed Cruz: Yes, don’t eat Steak with Pizza.
Student: Huh? Sifu Ed Cruz: In other words, stick to Wing Chun only. Don’t mix it with anything else. You cannot combine Wing Chun with any other arts, the philosophy, strategies, and principles are quite different. If you do you’ll slow down your own progress.
Student: Isn’t an art like Tai chi similar enough to mix with Wing Chun? Sifu Ed Cruz: If you look at an apple and an orange, yes they both are fruit. But if you were to compare them with one another, then there’s definitely a difference between the taste of an apple to that of an orange. Many beginners think that Wing Chun and Tai chi have similar concepts, that sticky hands and push hands take different paths with the same end results. However, if you look deeper at how sticky hands is done, it goes beyond just simple redirecting.
Student: So, why do you think so many beginners end up wanting to cross train? Sifu Ed Cruz: People cross train when either their art or their teacher cannot satisfy their question with the proper answer. Picture for a second, you have a full course meal. Imagine having an appetizer, soup, salad, main course, and dessert. Now instead of eating it separately, what if I asked you to mix it all together, what would you get?
Student: You’d get a mess Sifu Ed Cruz: Exactly. Now, after it’s all mixed in, what if I asked you just to pull dessert part out. Could you do it? Of course not
Student: In UFC fights don’t they mix grappling with striking? Sifu Ed Cruz: If you watch those fights, they still end up playing their main game. Sure they may have studied some striking art like Thai boxing or added some grappling into their game plan, but when it boils down to playing their game, the striker still strikes and the grappler still grapples.
Student: So you don’t believe in any kind of cross training? Sifu Ed Cruz: Actually if you’ve got a solid understanding of Wing Chun, all the other arts are pretty easy to grasp. But, at the same time if you understand Wing Chun, you won’t need to study any of the other arts. It can do anything the other arts can do, and more efficiently at that.
Teaching
Student: Any new insights now that you’ve been teaching for a while? Sifu Ed Cruz: There’s such a fine line between teacher and student. In many ways I learn almost as much from my student as they do from me. The only difference is that they don’t charge me when I learn from them.

 Student: What is it that you pickup from the students? Sifu Ed Cruz: By teaching you can see into the art deeper. This is one of many examples, when I first started teaching, I had 3 simple rules to follow for Wing Chun footwork: no bouncing, 50/50, and stay square. Now, over the years and through teaching I’ve added 2 more rules to help explain it further to the student: Feet shoulder width apart and heels are in place like G.I. Joe dolls. This only came about because I taught it.
Student: What are some of the traps that happen when you become a teacher? Sifu Ed Cruz: The most common stems back to ones ego. Just because you’re a teacher doesn’t mean you should stop learning. All to often, people think that they learned all that they can from their Sifu. For example, I could go up to Sifu Fong and say explain to me the punch and then Sifu will explain the details of the punch. Now you go home and practice and believe, “wow I’ve mastered the punch.” In some ways you may have digested what your teacher has taught you, but Wing Chun must be looked upon in chapters. Yes, your Sifu taught you details of the punch, but that could merely be chapter 1 only.
Student: Isn’t that being sorta secretive of the teacher? Sifu Ed Cruz: The way I see it, I would say no. Students can only digest a certain amount of information as well as a certain level. If you’re a newborn baby and I try to feed you an pizza, you won’t be able to eat or digest it. You can only handle at that time milk. Thus, as a teacher I have to feed you just the right amount which you can handle as well as the proper level for you to digest.
Student: Can you share some of the differences on how men and women learn? Sifu Ed Cruz: I can only base this from my own students, thus I’m not sure if all men and women fall under the same mold. Men can grasp things such as drills that much quicker than women, but they stumble on their own ego when it comes to learning how to relax in order to generate the power. The women that I’ve taught seem to have a hard time remembering the drills, but when it comes down to learning motions and mechanics of Wing Chun they grasp the concept within seconds. Also women in general need to learn the aggressiveness in the art, and that’s something that doesn’t come as natural to them as it does to guys.
Student: In what other ways have you changed since you’ve been teaching? Sifu Ed Cruz: I’ve definitely improved on my own patience, but it’s still a work in progress. When you understand the main principle behind the art, everything that you do seems so easy. And, now that I can break down in cliff note form how to do things for my students, at first I was like, here’s the secret, do this, this, and this, and you should be able to master it just like that. That’s ego talking for you. In addition to that you don’t fight the force in the art, as well as in teaching?
Student: Can you explain what you mean about don’t’ fight the force in teaching? Sifu Ed Cruz: Certain things comes to my mind when I say this. First of all students come and go, and with all my students I still keep in contact with them even if they haven’t been to class for a long time. But not once have I ever said, hey how come your not coming to class. The way I see it, if the student wants to learn he/she knows where I am. If he’s in class that means he wants to learn, if he’s not in class then for whatever reason he’s not ready yet. There’s definitely no resentment on my part even if they decide to stop learning Wing Chun all together. But that’s one example of not fighting the force in teaching.
Student: When I was looking for a Martial Arts school, I recall the hard sells I would get from the different places I would visit, I notice when you talk to potential students you almost don’t put any effort behind selling them Windy City? Sifu Ed Cruz: If people show an interest in our Wing Chun, I answer the questions they may have. I'm not here to sell them a used car or reveal the secrets to the Wudan manual. The fact is I know the product that we offer. If I were selling a used car that had problems I'd have to put more effort, but pretty much if you have a Porsche for sale, it pretty much sells itself.    Student: Do you ever plan on teaching kids? Sifu Ed Cruz: The day I plan on running a baby sitting service is the day I’ll start teaching kids?
Student: Why don’t you want to teach kids? Sifu Ed Cruz: On the outside Wing Chun are simple concepts that involve common sense. But, looking deeper into the art, the theories and principles are beyond anything a kid can comprehend. Also if I ever start marketing classes called Powerpuff girls to bring in kids, I’ll vomit.

Student: So you don't believe in teaching kids martial arts? Sifu Ed Cruz: If it teaches kids to have confidence and more discipline, than it served its purpose. Beyond, that I think Martial Arts does more harm then good.
Student: Can you explain further? Sifu Ed Cruz: If your going to teach kids martial arts, you have to make it clear to them that its for fun and exercise, and not for self defense. Let's face it, that kid in Jurassic Park 3 would've been toast by himself on the island. Thus, kids trying to use what they learned in Martial Arts class will end up losing their milk money to the local bully.

Student: What’s your thoughts on the term Grand master Sifu Ed Cruz: If my ego ever gets so big, maybe one day I'll refer to myself as grandmaster. But, for the most part grandmaster is just a title people give themselves.
Student: Why do you think so much politics exist between Wing Chun lines? Sifu Ed Cruz: If you have to point a finger on how the politics all started I would have to say it starts from ones Sifu. Take for example kids, they aren't born racist but they are taught it. That's why I have the utmost respect for Sifu Fong. When I first met him and till this day, he still says never talk bad about anyone.
Student: How come you don't spend so much time with the history of Wing Chun? Sifu Ed Cruz: If you've got time to kill while sitting in the bathroom, then go ahead and catch up on reading. But the fact is, what Yipman did 30 years ago, or what Ng Mui may or may not have done in the past, isn't going to effect my Wing Chun one way or another. The way I see it is history is being created by what we do today.
Student: So the talks about Ng Mui not really being a women doesn't concern you? Sifu Ed Cruz: Whether NG Mui was man, woman, or even alien doesn't matter. Even if Ng Mui was a guy who liked to wear women's clothes doesn't deny the fact that Wing Chun regardless of who created it, is an incredible art. Thus, the time you spend debating about these nonsense, is time you could've spent training.   Student: What's the strangest question you've ever been asked? Sifu Ed Cruz: It wasn't towards me, but at a seminar someone asked can you do chi sao without any arms?  Student: What was the reaction after that question? Sifu Ed Cruz: This was the reaction and this is what I was thinking.
Chum Kiu
Student: Can you tell us the main purpose behind Chum Kiu Sifu Ed Cruz: Once you can maintain your center in SLT, the next step is to be able to do that while in motion.
Student: Is that the reason we have the turning in Chum Kiu? Sifu Ed Cruz: Yes, turning is the easiest way for us to lose balance. Thus, in Wing Chun we practice turning in order to help us develop maintaining our center.. If we can then turn and still maintain our center we’ve achieved our goal.
Student: When we turn do we do that with the ball of the foot or the heel? Sifu Ed Cruz: The whole purpose of turning is to maintain the center. If you turn with the heels in place you maintain that center. Once you shift with the ball of the foot, you lose it.
Student: What's the purpose of the double lan sau with the shift? Sifu Ed Cruz: Besides, "turning" your learning pai jong. Which happens to be listed as the #6 elbow out of 8.
Student: How can you apply this? Sifu Ed Cruz: You can apply this anyway you want. Once you understand the principle behind the motion. Remember every motion in Wing Chun can be applied as an attack, block, shi-na, and takedown. Its up to the student to be able to digest it and not be a slave to the technique.
Student: What's the purpose for the double bong sau? Sifu Ed Cruz: Its to block double huen sau. Bwahahaa. Seriously, that's not its purpose at all. It helps with the extension of the motion as well as teaches you to kick your elbow out when doing the low bong sau motion.
Student: The structure in the low bong sau is different? Sifu Ed Cruz: Yes, unlike regular bong sau, when performing low bong sau the wrist is not out but behind the elbow. This is done this way to stop motions you block low from sliding up and hitting you.  Student: In the 2nd section you step with bong sau and then adjust, why is that? Sifu Ed Cruz: If you step into someone and the bong sau isn't formed yet, your going to eat that punch. That's why when you do it in the form, by the time you step your bong is up. As for the adjustment at the end, your doing step slide, you need to adjust to make sure you end up 50/50 still. Thus, this is the last thing done when doing this motion in the form.
Student: What does Chum Kiu mean? Sifu Ed Cruz: Chum Kiu means searching the bridge, however the technique involve means sinking the bridge.
Student: Do the forms in Wing Chun represent different ranges in fighting? Sifu Ed Cruz: Yes, SLT represents punching distance. Thus, you can apply motions in a simple straight line. While Chum Kiu is closer since its elbow range. Because your closer, you can’t simply follow the straight line, you need to make a more circular motions in order to generate power. And of course Bue Gee is body to body range. Since your literally touching your opponent, its impossible to go centerline because of the range, Bue gee involves huge circular motions either for emergency technique or to regain ones center.
 
Chi Sao

Student: Can we talk about chi sao? Sifu Ed Cruz: Don't we always  Student: Do you think most people understand what chi sao is all about? Sifu Ed Cruz: From my experience I would say no. Just coz your hands touch, doesn't make it chi sao. If that were the case, than you could classify patty cake as a form of chi sao.
Student: How come when I roll at times, especially with my bong sau it feels like my shoulders are burning?  Sifu Ed Cruz: Improper structure. This could be caused by several things, the shoulder isn't relaxed and the drilling motion could be wrong. If that were the case, when the force comes in against your bong, it shots back up into your shoulder, instead of drilling downward.  Student: It seems like when I chi sao, there's so many things to keep in mind, what should I be thinking of? Sifu Ed Cruz: Yes, in the beginning its natural to be overwhelmed with your posture, positioning, staying relaxed, etc, etc... But, for the most part concentrate one how you feel, not what you feel from your opponent.
Student: I thought it was more important to know what he's doing? Sifu Ed Cruz: If you practice on the feeling of others you'll constantly need a different partner to improve, since everyone feels different. Thus, once you touch with your opponent you create a feeling. Once this feeling changes, that's your signal to attack.
Student: Can you talk more on how one should attack? Sifu Ed Cruz: Attacking means the line should be controlled by you and the attack hand has nothing to hinder its motion. Thus, the ideal situation is to control both the opponent's hand with one of yours while the attack hand is clear. Worst case scenario is don't drag your attacks.
Student: Don't drag your attacks? Sifu Ed Cruz: By that I mean, when you block you should stick. But when you attack, you don't want to be sticking to your opponent. Think of how you naturally walk. Do you walk dragging your feet?  Student: Where should your eyes be when you chi sao? Sifu Ed Cruz: You should be looking into his eyes as well. When you do that you can see the entire picture. Believe me, this is harder than you think.
Student: Is it better to roll with people that are on the same level, lower, or higher than you? Sifu Ed Cruz: Its good to roll with everyone. But if you want to get better, you roll with beginners. You can see things more clearly when you roll with beginners. Higher level individuals will always control you and the lines of attack as well as blocking aren't so visible.
Student: Can you name some mistakes that you see when people roll? Sifu Ed Cruz: Besides the normal structure of the roll which is common. The idea of don't fight the force. Simple things, such as when someone lop sau's you, many want to muscle from the motion instead of going with it. Mentally, they know not to do it, but they still fight it when it occurs.
Student: I do that allot, any way to fix that problem besides you just saying practice? Sifu Ed Cruz: I really thought about why this happens even though we know in our minds not to fight the force. And, it has to do with ego. If you look at it from this perspective, ego in the sense that you don't want to get hit. Also, no one wants to be told what to do. When your parents say one thing, you normally do the opposite. Thus, if someone lop sau's you forcing you into a motion, by nature you still want to fight against it.
Student: Any last tips on chi sao? Sifu Ed Cruz: Concentrate on having a good solid roll. Make sure your comfortable on both sides, doing inside gate, outside gate, and the regular chi sao. Everything stems from being able to do the proper drill motion from the roll. Once you can do that, everything from your attacks to blocks will improve.  Martial Arts
Student: What’s the state of Martial Arts right now? Sifu Ed Cruz: If you look at it right now, I believe it’s in a state of confusion. Martial Arts is trying to figure out a way to balance teaching and running a business.
Student: What’s the problem that exist between the two? Sifu Ed Cruz: The business side is winning. The way I see it Martial Arts teacher hold a greater responsibility than other teachers. The majority of people take martial arts for self-defense, now a days you can get a black belt in a year and a half. The selling of false confidence in order to retain business is somewhat evil.
Student: Can you explain further? Sifu Ed Cruz: If I go to a cooking class and learn a bad recipe, the worst thing that happens is my cakes taste awful. If I go to a Martial Arts school and they tell me this stuff should work on the street, the ramifications are totally different, especially in Wing Chun.
Student: Why more so in Wing Chun? Sifu Ed Cruz: If you learn Wing Chun, the improper way, you end up hurting your body. Wing Chun is based on the natural way. If your stomach is grumbling, that means its time to eat. If you start to yawn, its time to take a nap. If your body hurts when your doing Wing Chun, your doing it wrong.
Student: So what’s the complaint, do you believe what they are teaching doesn’t work? Sifu Ed Cruz: The best sell in martial arts today is still, use your opponents force against them. Size does not matter.
Student And? Sifu Ed Cruz: While that maybe the spoken rule, where today does martial arts prove this to be true? In the Olympics, martial art tournaments, UFC everything has weight categories to it The last time I saw a little guy hold his own verses a big guy was when Yoda fought Count Dooko.
Student: Have you seen the movie “Enough”? Sifu Ed Cruz: First of all, if Jennifer Lopez is into Krav maga, I’m completely changing the school to Windy City Krav Maga, ASAP..hehehe Let’s be realistic for a second, in the movies it works really well. In reality, watch Celebrity boxing 2 as Joey Buttafuko pummels the crap out of Chyna. Keep in mind Chyna isn’t as big as she use to be, but for a 170lb women, who goes muscle Vs. muscle against a guy, reality sets in.

Student: I heard she trained in Krav Maga to prepare for the movie, do you know anything about that? Sifu Ed Cruz: First of all I’m not here to badmouth any martial art. If a martial art makes you a better person, then there must be something to it. As far as what I know about Krav Maga its definitely the latest craze in martial arts. Its an Israeli fighting system designed for quick results in a short period of time. They have no forms, no meditation, anything goes, and lots of techniques on how to deal with situations. If Krav Maga brings you a sense of awareness to avoid fights, then it does a good job. However, from what I’ve seen Krav Maga was designed for soldiers, for men, with some beef on them to back up their moves. However, I still don’t see how it answers the age old question of martial arts of giving the smaller person the advantage.

Student: So do you feel it’s a good form of self defense? Sifu Ed Cruz: My judgment may not seem so fair since I’ve never taken a class on it, but just simply watch videos of it. But much of what they do seems technique based. In other words, if situations A happens then you have option B, C, or D. The problem with technique based teaching is, that in the gym this works real well. In real life situation, things don’t go so smoothly. When you deal with techniques your dealing with preset rules and motions, in real word situations, you have to detach from these ideas and just go with the flow.
Student: It seems like they go by the no pain no gain, and let them experience some pounding to see how things really happen? Sifu Ed Cruz: Just coz your dripping in a ball of sweat doesn't mean your doing good Martial Arts. I’m not a believer of no pain, no gain.   I believe in the universal balance of things and that of common sense. You beat up your body today, and it will beat you up later. That fact that you experience semi hard punch to your gut doesn’t make you anymore prepared in the future if you get hit by a real punch. In my opinion Martial Arts is about training, if you injure yourself were you can’t train, then you’ve achieved nothing
Student: Are you still struggling with the debate on whether a little knowledge is better than no knowledge at all, when it comes to self-defense? Sifu Ed Cruz: Yes. Let’s say you take a 2 month course on self-defense, you learn awareness and handful of techniques. What do you get for what you paid? Awareness is nothing more than common sense. For example, don’t jog late at night, don’t have the headphones or talk on the cell phone at night, don’t walk down a dark alley. DUH! As for the techniques they show you, to me they seem questionable as well. Self defense isn’t like riding a bike. You don’t learn a handful of techniques for 1 or 2 months and then expect to apply it in a danger situation without any practice. To me, if a little knowledge gives you a false sense of security that can be considered dangerous.
Student: Why do you feel the techniques are questionable? Sifu Ed Cruz: Some of the things I’ve seen for these self defense courses, is some guy dresses up from head to toe with all this protective gear, the women punch, elbow, kick and scream. The guy goes down and everyone is happy. When I see them throw any kind of strikes, its still a case of muscle Vs. muscle. The problem is if you’re a girl, you throw a punch, and you don’t take out the guy. The term “bitched slapped into the next century” comes into mind.
Student: So size does matter? Sifu Ed Cruz: Yes it does. Thus, if a guy has a 25, 50, 75, or 100lb edge on a girl, throwing random kicks and punches won’t do the job. You can’t fight the force. You’ve got to have both the mental and physical readiness to finish the job.
Student: What do you mean? Sifu Ed Cruz: Let’s say for example, someone tries to mug you. At that moment in time, you’ve got to decide then and there, yes or no, do I fight. If you decide to fight, then keep in mind once that decision is made you unleash hell on the SOB, no mercy. This decision process is extremely important, there is no half way when doing so. The last thing you want to do is second guess yourself in a fight situation.   At the same time, keep in mind this guy is attacking you, so already you know he doesn’t play by the rules. So, anything coming out of his mouth, assume it to be a lie. Thus, you don’t know if his intentions are for money, rape, or even to kill you. If your lucky its only for money, but do you want to leave that decision up to him. Thus, a quote from the movie Untouchables, “he pulls out a knife, you take out a gun. He sends your guy to the hospital, you send his to the morgue.” That’s my opinion.
Student: But, aren't the punches and kicks they learn, isn't it from boxing, karate or some other martial arts? Sifu Ed Cruz: I'm sure it is. Boxing is great. Karate is great. But once again size does matter. 110lb girl may have a sweet right hook, but will it take out a 200lb guy?    That's why structure Vs muscle works. Muscle Vs. muscle doesn't.
Student: So you believe Wing Chun to be the best self-defense for men and women? Sifu Ed Cruz: Especially for women and smaller individuals. Simple concepts like centerline and structure makes the playing field even against bigger opponents.
Student: Do you feel Wing Chun goes further than fighting? Sifu Ed Cruz: If you look at Wing Chun as only self defense you miss the entire beauty of the art. While it is extremely effective self defense, that’s only a small part of what the art is about.
Written by Sifu Ed Cruz

Windy City Wing Chun Gung Fu Federation, Inc © 2012