Year of birth: 1974
Profession: Management technician
Place of residence: Schiedam
Transfer what you learn
At WuDae you learn to transfer everything you learn to others. You learn that you can ask for help if you don't understand something until you have mastered a skill completely. The other people who train here are also very helpful in this, and the teachers are a real source of inspiration for me. They are always very calm and help me to continually improve my movements.
The special thing is that you can also see your own progress very clearly when you try to convey a movement to someone else. It makes you realize that you couldn't do this before and how far you have come in the meantime. What I find very fun and educational is that you get to deal with many different people within WuDae. This teaches you to think carefully about how you can best teach someone something, which also helps me enormously in my work.
As a technician in installation technology, I often deal with technicians who do not yet know the field well. I then have to guide them, transfer my knowledge and give them feedback on their work. It is now much easier for me to observe carefully. I watch how the technicians apply the skills I teach them. If they don't understand me or do something wrong, I adjust my delivery method until it is completely clear to them. I am now much more patient in this than before, and I notice that people like my new approach.
If you don't train, you won't progress
When I came to live in The Hague for a while in 2009, I regularly cycled past WuDae. Previously I had always played baseball, but I thought it was time for a new sport, so I decided to sign up for a trial lesson. I knew Kung Fu from movies and I thought it would be fun to learn this too. What immediately appealed to me about Wing Chun is that you are constantly learning something new. The techniques are often simple, but also very effective. Sometimes it takes a while to master a movement, but once the penny drops, a whole new world opens up for you.
Because I moved to Schiedam in 2014, it was no longer possible to combine Wing Chun with my work and the travel time from Schiedam to WuDae. In 2022 I resumed training in Wing Chun at WuDae. I always say, "If you don't train, you won't progress." I would prefer to come and train every day, but that is not possible at the moment because I still live in Schiedam. That's why I go to WuDae every Saturday, that day is sacred to me. My girlfriend and daughter always encourage me to go these days. The Wing Chun training has made me much more aware and calmer, and of course they are happy with that too, haha.
A better world for everyone!
When I was young, I didn't have a specific dream job, although I did dream of being a superhero. Now I would like to contribute to society as a designing engineer. My goal is to make a difference to the technology industry and contribute to the energy transition, in order to create a better world for everyone.
I think that practicing Wing Chun can also contribute to a better world. To form a society in which people treat each other well. At WuDae, for example, you are really embraced when you enter. It is a place where you interact with each other in a pleasant and respectful way. Everyone is allowed to be themselves here, and you learn to take the differences between people into account. I also see this as an example of what I want to pass on to my children and grandchildren: how I want to treat my environment and what I hope society will increasingly be like.
