Combat: With all aspects of your training you stress the spiritual elements. Is this really essential if you want to be a good martial artist?

Simon Wong: Without the mental side you will never be a good martial artist. The mental aspect is the starting point. For example, if you are firing an arrow at a target and the starting trajectory is only wrong by a few inches the arrow can miss the target by ten feet! Even when you are hungry, the thought to eat comes first then you do something about it, everything starts with your mind first. If your mind is not right, how can you be the "best" martial artist? When you are young or inexperienced we all go through that arrogant stage, before we develop the spiritual. We all think our style is the best! With the physical side you reach a peak at a certain age. Without the internal you will never have longevity. One of my Tai Chi Masters is still fast and young.

Combat: Your definition of what a Master should be is quite specific.

Simon Wong: I learnt a lot when I was studying, not just the physical but about people's attitudes. Everyone wanted to be top man, all the martial arts people had hardly any good students. That's why the old Chinese Masters only taught about fifty or seventy percent of what they knew to their students, in case the students came back one day to challenge them. They had no respect. I thought maybe one day my students would do the same thing to me because martial arts people don't teach their students the right attitude first. In one year I can teach you to be a killing machine but even after ten years you might not learn the mental side. Without this mental development I would be very embarrassed to call myself a Master. You can call yourself an instructor, that's fine, because that's like a driving instructor, you can only teach a physical skill.

Combat: Is this what you meant when you said that the real essence of Kung Fu was the Holistic approach?

Simon Wong: Yes, nowadays teaching is so commercial, one year and you have a black belt which doesn't mean anything. If you are on the street and some skinhead can beat you up, it doesn't matter if you can show him a 10th Dan certificate. It is more important that you have confidence in yourself and know what you are capable of, that you can handle the situation due to your spiritual development.