Pt 2: The Wing Tsun Wisdom Triangle
In the last post, I wrote about why it is rare to find great Masters in the martial arts. In this one, you will learn about the elements that must be present in the practitioner for a martial art to truly last—and a master to develop. I call this the Wing Tsun Wisdom Triangle.
The Time, Energy, and Aptitude Matrix
Before I go into the Wisdom Triangle, there is an overarching matrix at play: Time, Energy, and Aptitude.
To be a master, you must choose where to put your time. You must have the time to put in. And you must be capable of the work required. Just training the hours doesn’t guarantee greatness. Just having access to a great teacher or information doesn’t guarantee it either. There must be drive, responsibility, and an honest questioning of yourself:
How great do you want to be? How much do you want to be a master—and why?
Can Anyone Become a Master?
Everyone has the potential to learn Wing Tsun. It is uniquely positioned amongst the martial arts due to its principle-based approach (see our online course for more details) and is designed to be adapted to anyone’s physicality, regardless of personal characteristics.
But can everyone become a master?
Well, not without the following three elements, which make up the Wisdom Triangle…
1. Knowledge
This is the most obvious—but in martial arts, it is often one of the key barriers. This knowledge must be transmitted to you.
Wing Tsun is a wisdom art—an oral tradition passed from master to student, much like the great traditions of ancient China. If that knowledge is not passed on—whether because your teacher was not taught deeply enough, or you weren’t present enough—the transmission is broken. The art begins to die.
You can be skilled. You can even be impressive. But without transmission, you are no longer carrying the art—you are simply expressing fragments of it.
This is a key reason I created the Foundations of Wing Tsun course: so that the hard work I’ve done over the last 25 years could be built upon by the next generation of students and masters.
I was also fortunate. My teacher, Grandmaster Máday Norbert, has been devoted to Wing Tsun his entire life. That dedication has shaped the foundation of everything I know. And similarly, this art has been a huge focus of my life. But you can begin to see how this creates a kind of gate: if your teacher wasn’t trained deeply, or you didn’t show up consistently, or you couldn’t understand the transmissions, then you may find yourself locked out from the very beginning.
2. Skill
This is the kung fu—the hard-earned skill that comes from repetition, refinement, and a deep commitment to mastery. It’s where you put your knowledge into action—have the continual breakthroughs, the frustrations, and the evolving levels of training.
No amount of intellect or knowledge can make up for someone who didn’t train consistently. And as Wing Tsun is physically dependent (at least until a very high level) on the skill of the teacher—particularly in the realm of Chi Sau (sensitivity and refinement of the nervous system)—then all it takes is one not-so-committed teacher, and the mastery ends there.
3. Teaching
This is the final piece of being a master. Even if you have the knowledge and the skill, you must still be able to teach. And teaching is a skill of its own. It’s not just about talking—it’s about communicating, observing, adapting, and guiding others.
It’s also about growth. Teaching forces you to answer questions you hadn’t considered, solve problems you didn’t see in yourself, and deepen your own understanding as your students grow.
For me, this has always been a critical focus. One of my personal metrics for success is how quickly I can help others learn. Not only do I have a small library of books on education, but I continually study experts in other fields. I am constantly working on refining my methodology. Because being a master at this stage isn’t just about training hard—it’s about training well and teaching better.
The Percentages of Mastery
When you combine these three elements—knowledge, skill, and teaching—the chances of someone reaching true mastery become very small. Each of those three elements is like a filter, which means that very few people end up with all three.
Many people are held back because their teacher wasn’t deeply trained.
Others miss too many classes or never go deep enough.
And others still had a great physical practitioner, but not someone who could effectively communicate.
And then there is the basic maths of the martial arts:
Of those who train seriously, only a small percentage reach black belt—typically 1–5%.
Of those, the number who reach master level is far smaller—normally 0.02–0.05%.
And that doesn’t even account for the Wisdom Triangle above—only the fact that they kept going.
So the number decreases significantly further...
That’s where you begin to see just how rare true mastery is. But here’s the moment of truth:
You can be one of them.
Because the barriers to mastery are not necessarily what people assume. They are not your natural ability or what you were born with—they are about your attitude, your dedication, and your desire to go deep.
Not everyone needs to become a master. Many people simply enjoy training—and that’s wonderful to see. But if you feel that deeper pull, if you have the will to commit, then this path is open to you. For me, there is something profoundly beautiful about that.
In future posts, I’ll share more about what mastery actually looks like—and how there is, believe it or not, a formulaic approach to developing it. It’s simple and highly effective. But as we say in Wing Tsun:
Simple does not mean easy.
Sifu