Tuesday 23 November 2010

Dates for your diary

Hi all, with Christmas fast approaching please make note of some upcoming important dates for our club:

Unfortunately the Seminar held by Sifu Michael Yan Choi Seminar (Gary Lam Wing Chun) on 19/12/10 had to be postponed due to adverse weather conditions and will be re-scheduled for the new year as and when the weather improves and is safe for driving.

Tuesday 21st December - Last 'Next Level Wing Chun Academy' class of 2010 - Xmas drinks afterwards at Benson Blakes, up the road from the hall - this is not a big event just a get together for those who wish to attend..this is again subject to the snow/ice as we've had a very heavy snowfall in Sudbury...please feel free to attend the drink/meet should you wish regardless of whether I can make it safely.

Sunday 9th January 2011 - First class of the new year and we have at least 4 Seminars booked at our club during the year, the first being held on Sunday 27th February 4pm - 6.30pm Sifu Jon Abdey, the only UK Representative of Sifu Wan Kam Leung, again £25 per student...and in the following months visits also from Sifu Ged Kennerk a representative of WSLVT under Sifu David Peterson and Alan Gibson is due to return again too...as well as other events which we may attend in London and Southampton.

We will also get together for a meal for Chinese New Year early February, most likely at the Canton Chinese Restaurant in Bury St Edmunds more details to come.

An exciting year ahead for us im sure!!! You'd be a fool to miss out!!

In the meantime I hope you all have a very merry Christmas holiday and New Year celebrations and return in 2011 ready for an action packed year!!

Wednesday 17 November 2010

Training exchange

Pictured above: Sifu Chris Thompson (Grandmaster Sam Lau lineage) and a selection of his students visited our club on Tuesday 16th November 2010 to experience how we practice our Ving Tsun.


Southend based, Sifu Chris Thompson and myself have similar training backgrounds being linked with James Sinclair and Kwok Cheung  during our Wing Chun history but also both decided to explore other areas and methods and both now have settled with lineages that suit our ideas about Wing Chun practice and teaching.

We have been in touch via e-mail and phone contact since the Summer and he asked to visit our club so his students could experience a taste of different approaches to Wing Chun and I was happy to accept them up to take them through a class of exploring WSLVT ideas.

I began by taking them through our version of Siu Nim Tau as a group then worked through some of our base level drills which emphasize certain conceptual ideas and structures found within the form.
First on the list was the 'Sei Mun Da' - 4 Gate Hitting drill to work the Chiu Ying 'facing' concept, disruption  and attacking the attack, also covering the differences in our low Gaan action which covers in a straight line enabling us to strike directly should we have to use it and  also structurally stronger than if the elbow faces out.

After this we moved onto the continuous Paak Sau drill, ensuring students were not chasing the hands but the centre and working in the Lien Siu Dai Da concept 'Linking defence to bring in offence' and following the attack moving, closing and staying in VT range and therefore control.

Lastly we addressed regaining a lost facing position using the structures and sharp energy tied in with waist power (Yiu Lik) to regain an attack line and again following the attack and closing in on the centre of mass.

Sifu Chris's group were very open minded to the differences, asked lots of questions and were a joy to teach.

We intend to return the exchange in 2011 by taking some people down to Southend to see how their group train Wing Chun.

To round the evening off, one of Chris's youngest students, a girl of 12 called Ripley demonstrated a very sharp, accurate version of the Cham Kiu form and I engaged in some Chi Sau with her...she has 6 years of experience in Wing Chun to date and has already completed the 3 empty hand forms and dummy and is commencing the pole training..very skilled indeed!..(wish she was my student!!) :-) - Pictured below...

Thursday 4 November 2010

'Gary Lam WSLVT Seminar' - Sifu Michael Yan Choi

(Pictured Sifu Michael Yan Choi)

It is with great pleasure that I can confirm the visit to our Bury St Edmunds club of Sifu Michael Yan Choi, a UK Representative of a household WSL Ving Tsun Master, Gary Lam.

Sifu Choi was honoured when I considered him to visit us to hold a seminar on the Ving Tsun methods of his Sifu and this will mark the first of many other workshops due to be held by various members linked to the lineage of Wong Shun Leung in the coming year, as well as the twice yearly visits from Wing Chun Federation Coach Alan Gibson whom we have built a very positive working relationship with already.

Sifu Choi's visit will be held on:

Sunday 27th March 2011 - 3.30pm - 6.30pm at our Sunday venue of Moreton Hall Health Club, Mount Road, Bury st Edmunds, Suffolk IP32 7BL at a cost of £25 per student.

Please make payment asap to confirm your place as numbers may be limited.


As my students know, I feel it is important to see and experience different  interpretations of Wing Chun and make friendships within the Wing Chun community and to avoid the politics which can be rife in the martial arts world. No-one has all the answers and there will always be something to learn from someone, im sure we will offer him a warm welcome and learn a great deal from his experiences.

For more information please visit Sifu Choi's website - http://chisau.com