Practical Wing Chun Workshop - Sifu Jon Abdey & Seminar Report

On Sunday 27th February 2011 at 4pm - 6.30pm at Moreton Hall Health Club - Mount road - Bury St Edmunds, IP32 7BL

Sifu Jon Abdey will be conducting an Introduction to the Wing Chun methods of his Sifu Wan Kam Leung, a very highly regarded master and direct student of the late Wong Shun Leung.

Jon is the only UK representative of the grandmaster and im sure he will help us understand the methods and drills in an open way and make the event an enjoyable experience for all.

£25 per person - as usual with these events please try and make payment before the event or let me know your availability at the earliest convenience.

All Wing Chun enthusiasts welcome regardless of lineage as always.

Further information of Jon's group can be found on his website www.wklwingchun.co.uk

 An Excellent workshop introduction to the Wan Kam Leung Practical Wing Chun methods held by Sifu Jon Abdey and some of his students on Sunday 27th February 2011 at our 'Next Level Wing Chun' club in Bury St Edmunds.


Jon led us through their version of the Siu Nim Tau form and the differences to other interpretations and more importantly explained why it was different, then explained the concepts behind the movements and thinking and demonstrated how that related to application both in Chi Sau and fighting scenarios.
It was clear from the offset that this system is a very in-depth, sophisticated method of Wing Chun that favours the more controlling and subduing aspects of kung fu over the bullyish smashing down of an opponent from the off..which isnt always necessary in some situations although is there within the system if needed...anyone can punch someone else but it takes real skill to be able to control them and at least give them a chance to calm down before it escalates further.


There were some unique aspects such as a different setting of stance and 8 punching methods, 5 centreline's and 135 degree structure angles in the techniques and some terminology which we were not familiar but essentially many common similarities in relaxation, elbow and waist power generation and Duen Kiu Lik (short bridge power).


For myself I have found another like minded friend in Jon Abdey who has extended his friendship and we have talked already on meeting up again to spend more time looking into their methods and training together in the near future to exchange ideas for the benefit of both of us. There are in my opinion still far too much politics and back biting in modern day Wing Chun and its refreshing to leave that for others and crack on with training and learning more about Wing Chun Kung Fu.


I would like to thank all the students who made the commitment to support the event including those who traveled from London,Cambridge and Norfolk as well as Sifu Jon and his students who made the three hour drive from Reading in Berkshire to help us understand how they roll. I look forward to my next meeting with Jon and exploring further into the Wan Kam Leung Practical Wing Chun.

Chinese New Year Celebrations 2011

Chinese Lunar New Year this year begins on 3rd February for one week and to celebrate this we are planning a visit to our local Chinese Restaurant on:

Sunday 6th February 2011 at 7.30pm (table booked for 8pm) - Training is still on this evening and will be Chi Sau based.

Canton Chinese Restaurant, 15 Hatter Street, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 1NE

2 course set menu is £18 per head - so £20 each will cover the tip also and we can buy our own drinks on the night...Please pay all monies in advance to Gary Lisseman in class as soon as possible - maximum numbers for this are 14 as the restaurant is already busy so book your place soon...first come first served.

Gong Hei Faat Choi!!!

The class meal 06/02/2011

Developing an Open Minded Training Mentality

Pictured: Bruce Lee in 'Enter the Dragon' Pak Sau scene


In 2011 I have decided to adopt an even more open minded, dynamic approach to my personal training and teaching within the 'Next Level Academy'.
I am in agreement with the modern martial thinking that cross training is nigh essential if you wish to become a fully accomplished martial artist and worthy of teaching an effective method.
There are still in my opinion too many with the traditionalist mindset that choose to stay nicely within their bubble and not risk getting their feet wet by even trying other arts or looking at alternative perspectives to modern day combat methods.
Although my main passion will always be Wing Chun Kung Fu and I do see it as a complete system that amply covers many potential street situations of danger to us, I have discovered first hand in recent years by dropping any ego and fanciful ideas that Chi Sau will miraculously save us from a violent encounter, that by cross training it enhances our base skill set and keeps us in a beginners perspective, eager to continue our studies and further our skills.

This coming year I will be returning to cross train in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to broaden my knowledge of grappling and fighting from the ground as well as stepping back into the realm of Muay Thai classes for fitness conditioning and fight training and even trying out some Jeet Kune Do classes and seminars as they more than anyone are open minded to varied ideas and methods of close quarter combat...

In my classes in 2011 I am planning to break the common Wing Chun traditions found in many schools and aim to cover and teach ALL aspects of the Wing Chun system including Wooden Dummy (pictured above) - Long Pole (right performed by Ng Wah Sum) and Butterfly knives (below) to all levels - opening up the teaching and making these so called 'advanced' areas available so that students can appreciate a full flavour of what Wing Chun has to offer!!

Some will gain much from this attitude, others not so much but at least you will have had the opportunity to see how the system fits together like a puzzle and then choose for yourselves if cross training may enhance some areas of practice as I feel it has done to mine or whether you remain loyal to Wing Chun - its your choice, best to make an informed choice once you better understand what the options are.

I will also be teaching various empty hand energy flow drills to improve speed, reaction time and co-ordination learnt over my 15 years experience that I had put to the back of my mind but now see as potentially very beneficial to you as students and myself as a teacher.

On top of this we have visiting Instructors from various Wing Chun lineages coming to our club in Bury St Edmunds to hold workshops/seminars on their methods to help us better understand the diversity available in training our art...more details to follow...

Have a great Christmas and New Year and be prepared for a hectic, fun and dynamic training year ahead!!


''If you always put a limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them''.
Bruce Lee 

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!!

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...

'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

''Killing Two Birds With One Stone''

Efficiency = (def) The ratio of the energy delivered (or work done) by a machine to the energy needed (or work required) in operating the machine. The efficiency of any machine is always less than one due to forces such as friction that use up energy unproductively.

 WSLVT Coach Ernie Barrios cutting off a student's actions with one move

In our Wing Chun practice we often hear or read about the effectivness of our system, its directness in dealing with an opponents attack and its inherent efficiency in the process of doing so....but have you ever considered and analysed the methods YOU actually use or have been taught to use in your own practice and actively tried to understand how and why they work (hopefully!) and perhaps if they could be more streamlined and direct???

The reason I ask is because I have - due to my own personal research, both into alternative Wing Chun methods and lineages and also into my own understanding and abilities as a practitioner and teacher of Wing Chun Kung Fu - a choice which has both shocked me and enlightened me and certainly has enriched my understanding of this facinating close quarter fighting system.

Firstly, I must say this article is NOT a political onslaught towards certain lineages or methods employed nor a promotion of any others, im simply documenting my own thoughts and personal findings and your own opinions and/or experiences may differ greatly.

After over 12 years of study and practice into Wing Chun, predominantly with the Ip Chun system, I completed my Baat Jaam Dao (eight cutting knives) form and application training and felt elated that I had reached the end of my formal training into the system.
Daily I practiced my new found knife skills until my shoulders burned and my wrists and forearms could take no more!! I had reached the peak, the end - the two years of Wing Chun Long Pole training (Luk Dim Boon Gwun) preceding this was undoubtably the toughest training I had endured since starting and id come through to finish with the knives....BUT......

 Paul Blissett drilling Biu Gwun 2008

I still had more questions...ALOT more questions!!! - some things simply didnt add up or correlate with what id read in Wing Chun publications and articles....the Wing Chun system advocates simple, direct actions to deal with an attack...agreed??

Though I was teaching and being taught aspects such as countering a single straight punch or grab with, say, a Bong Sau  bridging technique deflection, with a turn or side-step then a Laap Sau to pull the attcker forward then a Fak Sau, chopping action with the elbow high above their shoulder level to attack the throat...with a whole host of potential follow up techniques

So...including footwork/stance changes my attacker does 1 action - I reply initially with 4 actions before I even follow my counter up!! Hmmmm???...not very direct is it?

Firstly I research the written Wing Chun sayings, concepts and theories (Kuen Kuit - Wing Chun was said to passed on orally in its early development) which are the backbone of genuine Wing Chun...I find;

1/ Bong Sau should only occur when there is a force sufficient to create its need - as ive used it as my first bridging technique im not following this one :-/

2/ Face the Opponents Centreline with your Own - Chiu Ying (Facing) a basic Siu Nim Tau concept - though as I turn and drop the weight onto my rear anchor leg or side-step offline my 'facing' is temporarily lost to deflect the attack

3/ Laap Sau - Cantonese for Deflecting or Warding off hands - im not warding him off, im pulling him onto me!

4/ Mai Jaang - sink elbow structures where possible to maintain triangulation and connection with the hip and stance, conversely with the ground 'rooting' - a core concept in all Chinese Kung Fu - nope! - my elbow is up at ear level and I feel vunerable even though im attacking, but not always aware due to the compliancy of my partner who lets me hit him

5/ ''Strike your opponents strike - kick your opponents kick'' - or Attack the Attack a concept known in a broader form as 'Lien Siu Dai Da' linking defence to bring in offence - it also states; often poorly translated as simultaneous defend and attack...ie; Taan Sau and Punch - or 2 actions to deal with 1 action - good...but not as direct as it could be.

Further into the system we also find concepts relating to directness in the  weapons practice: ''Gwun Mo Leung Heung'' the pole does not make two sounds - meaning the attack and defence is 1 action, not stopping the pole (or other weapon) then attacking the person wielding it, not stopping the pole then sliding down to attack the hands - but attack and defend in one motion
Also ''Dao Mo Seung Faat'' - the moves/methods of the knives are not repeated - a reminder again to economize our actions by attacking and defending in one move wherever possible.

Secondly I began my own practical research into the Wong Shun Leung methods of Wing Chun which are highly regarded amongst many followers of Wing Chun around the world...I still am just as open minded to all approaches to teaching Wing Chun but needless to say in the 18 months ive been putting these methods into practice lightbulbs have gone off almost daily!!... and the methods have shown me a way to 'streamline' my Wing Chun making it simpler, more direct and more efficient in all areas.

In the Wong Shun Leung Ving Tsun system this direct approach to combat is drilled in from Day 1 in the form of the 'Siu Nim Tau' concepts of the Fook Sau and Taan Sau concept punches - here with 1 basic action, in many cases a punch, employs Chiu Ying facing, triangulation of the bridge and structures, simplicity and directness by either 'subduing' (fook) the attacking bridge from an outside gate position or 'dispersing' (taan) from an inside gate position to attack the centre of mass of the attacker - actions or tools such as Taan, Paak, Jut, Jum, Bong etc...are only needed if the attacking line gets blocked and become secondary to the more basic punch, facing and stance - thus dealing with an attack in the most simple direct and efficient way possible killing TWO birds (the attack and attacker) with ONE stone (our attack which is also a defensive action)