A blend of Martial Arts and Psychology!
Kung Fu or Martial arts, while being a Self Defence system is, first and foremost a Self Development system!
It helps you build a strong connection between your mind and body which you can use for physical defence but, more importantly, for mental and emotional resilience also.
Psychology has the same goal but mainly focuses on the mind and emotions as the focus of development and growth.
The mission of Foundations is to help its students understand and cultivate the development of both sides of these systems in order to live and achieve the best possible lives they can envision for themselves.
As your competence and skill grows, so will your confidence and belief in yourself and your ability to take on more of life's challenges and responsibilities.
So how do we do all this… Let's first see what Wing Chun is?
A southern style of Chinese martial arts, Wing Chun Kung Fu is a close-quarters style of self defence that helps you harness the whole body’s natural power (through relaxation) and focus (through mindfulness and balance) to overpower and control your opponent.
While there are many origin stories related to Wing Chun and its creation, the basic principles of the system, the Foundations, are the same…
Together, all the above aims to help its practitioner use the most minimal amount of strength and energy to generate the greatest amount of force and power. This is extremely valuable when talking about any movement activity, especially self defence.
At Foundations, the aim is to use all the above to achieve the highest level of self responsibility and control possible AND that is the cornerstone of our self defence philosophy.
Psychotherapy, a western model of healing and self development, uses a varied range of treatments to help its practitioners identify and change certain mental and emotional behaviours that could be causing them distress, harm or unease.
Whether done one on one or in a group setting, Psychotherapy or Counselling aims to help a person work through the same issues that self defence systems like martial arts do…
Whether it's talking through your problems or training through them, the two seemingly different systems have much more in common than meets the eye!
As both Wing Chun and Psychotherapy essentially aim to achieve the same goals, stress relief, problem solving, control, focus and self-belief, we can use parts of both systems to get a complete picture of who we are, where we are (developmentally) and how to achieve our goals.
For example, in any physical activity the problem of tension is a big one! It restricts our movements and increases stress levels and anxiety. Understanding that tension begins in the mind then is vital in understanding what tension is AND what is needed to help get rid of it! On the other side of the coin, physical discipline and routine helps me establish healthy mental behaviours that increase my competence and hence my confidence.
The body and the mind are one. We know that one affects the other, so when we train our body but not my mind, or vise versa, we are only ever tackling half the problem. When we understand and employ the best parts of both systems, we give ourselves the best chance to live a well rounded and balanced life. Healthy mind = healthy body and healthy body = healthy mind!
How does every part of your life being better sound for a start!
While, in my personal opinion, the goals of therapy and self-defence are the same, we can use the ideas from both to achieve a level of self responsibility and respect and that only comes when we embark on the journey of personal growth and development…
When I humorously remark above that every aspect of your life becomes better, I am specifically referring to the fact that as you develop the 3 centred approach to training I outlined above, you will see that you cultivate the necessary tools needed to take on any physical, mental or emotional challenge thrown your way…
When I humorously remark above that every aspect of your life becomes better, I am specifically referring to the fact that as you develop the 3 centred approach to training I outlined above, you will see that you cultivate the necessary tools needed to take on any physical, mental or emotional challenge thrown your way…
There is no secret to the system;
like anything, the more you practice these principles, the more tools you will have to use when things don't go to plan.
Foundations is founded and led by Sifu Chris Tannous. Sifu Chris is a practised counsellor with a degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy. For the past 15 years, the he has been living and teaching Wing Chun in Hong Kong, the epicentre of the craft. Foundations is the accumulation of Sifu Chris’s experience and practice as both a well-being practitioner, counsellor and martial artist.
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