This week, I was talking with one of my students, and something struck me—how often people in Wing Chun (or Ving Tsun) are drawn to what’s rapid, flashy, and impressive. The explosive hand movements, the speed drills, the dramatic demonstrations that look like magic. It’s no surprise. People are naturally attracted to the shiny things, just like gold.
Many instructors feel pressured to feed into this. If you don’t give students the spectacle they crave, they leave. So, you end up performing instead of teaching, entertaining instead of training. But here’s the thing—gold rushes have a lesson hidden in them; one most people ignore.
During the California Gold Rush, thousands of people risked everything to dig for gold. They saw the riches, the glamour, and they chased after it. But the ones who truly made fortunes weren’t the miners. It was the ones who sold the shovels and pickaxes—the unglamorous, essential tools. While others fought over specks of gold, these men saw an opportunity no one else did and built lasting wealth.
Real Kung Fu is the same way.
The things that make Wing Chun powerful—structure, relaxation, alignment, sensitivity—are the shovels and pickaxes. They aren’t flashy, they don’t look exciting in a demo, but they are the tools that let you extract real skill from your training. Instead of chasing shiny techniques, real mastery comes from asking:
• Are my joints aligned?
• Can I feel what’s happening inside my own body?
• Can I feel inside my opponent’s body?
• How aware am I of structure, tension, and force?
These are the things that separate those who truly understand Wing Chun from those who are just collecting flashy movements. But most people don’t want to hear that. Just like in the gold rush, they’re too busy chasing the glitter, rushing to gratification, to belts, to certificates—accumulating shiny things without substance.
But in the end, when the rush is over and the excitement fades, the ones who invested in the right tools—awareness, control, structure—will be the ones who actually have something of value.
So don’t rush- take a step back, look past the glitter, and invest in what truly matters, because real value isn’t in what shines, but in what lasts.