Make the Punch Count: Power Development (Part 1)

Posted by: Philipp Bayer In: Articles 21 Jan 2016 Comments: 0 Tags: Philipp Bayer, Power, WSLVT

WING CHUN IS MEANT TO BE A VERY EFFECTIVE TOOL, USED TO DEFEAT AN ENEMY IN THE SHORTEST POSSIBLE TIME. AGE, GENDER, OR EVEN EXTREME PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENTS DO NOT MATTER, WHETHER A WING CHUN PRACTITIONER IS DEALING WITH ONE OR SEVERAL OPPONENTS AT A TIME.

These unique characteristics of the system are often used to capture potential students’ attention. Unfortunately, sometimes, reality hits you faster than you may have been taught it will!

Speed, timing, striking distance and accuracy are skills that allow one to be able to fight any opponent, but it all becomes useless if you do not have sufficient punching power to effectively stop an aggressor. Take a moment to visualise yourself in a situation, where blows are being exchanged, both in striking range; in such a situation, a lack of punching power would most likely have fatal consequences.

Della O’Sullivan: Gracefully Dangerous

Posted by: Kleber Battaglia In: Articles 17 Dec 2015 Comments: 0 Tags: Della O’Sullivan, Interview, Wing Tsun

Introduced to Wing Chun at a life-changing time; being a single mum in one of London’s rough suburbs, in a need to learn how to defend herself—Wing Chun was love at first sight for Sifu Della O’Sullivan.

She has trained for over eight years in a Hungarian Leung Ting Wing Tsun lineage. Sifu Della first started teaching in 2007, opening her first school in Dulwich, South London, where she continues to teach to this day.

Sifu Della has taught children of all ages in local schools, run women-only self-defence classes and seminars, assisted in teaching specialist bodyguard courses, and led countless public demonstrations both in the UK and abroad.

Paul Fernandez: A New Era of Wing Chun

Posted by: Kleber Battaglia In: Articles 23 Nov 2015 Comments: 0 Tags: Interview, Sifu Fernandez, Wing Tsun

SIFU PAUL FERNANDEZ BEGAN TRAINING WING CHUN IN 1972 UNDER THE DIRECT IP MAN LINEAGE OF GRANDMASTER CHU SHONG TIN IN AUSTRALIA, WHERE HE TRAINED WITH GREAT PASSION AND DEDICATION UNDER THE LATE SIFU JIM FUNG FROM 1972 UNTIL THE EARLY 1990s.

In 1992, Sifu Fernandez started practising the Leung Ting lineage of Wing Tsun under Sifu Stefan Fischer in Australia and remained his personal student for seven years. He later moved to Europe and became a personal student of Sifu Filippo Cuciuffo and Grandmaster Keith R. Kernspecht, and also became Grandmaster Leung Ting’s private student for about three years. During that period, Sifu Fernandez also had the opportunity to learn directly under the second highest ranked Wing Tsun master in the world, namely Sifu Cheng Chuen Fun.

In 2005, Sifu Fernandez officially founded his own system called Wing Tchun Do.

Chris Collins: A Warrior’s Journey

Posted by: Kleber Battaglia In: Articles 23 Aug 2015 Comments: 0 Tags: Chris Collins, Interview, Wing Tsun

BROUGHT INTO BOXING, COMBAT SPORTS AND KALI FROM A YOUNG AGE AND EXPERIENCING THE TOUGH LIFE OF THE US MARINES CORPS, SIFU CHRIS COLLINS IS A VERSATILE AND OPEN-MINDED FIGHTER AND TEACHER WHO APPROACHED EVERYTHING HE LEARNED ON HIS JOURNEY WITH ONE PRINCIPLE IN MIND: EFFICIENCY.

What are the most important attributes to be developed through Wing Chun training?
It’s about being able to relax the muscles and allow the joints to work by way of the tendons and ligaments. This boils down to structure. If we have good structure, then we can allow our body to trust the system completely. Once you align them it becomes supportive. It’s not the same as hyper-extending the arm—it’s aligning the joints. In order to do this, we need to understand the capsule in the elbow. It’s where the ulna and radius meet the pivot joint in the elbow. If we were to tighten the fist in any way, it would cause the forearm muscles to tighten and therefore lock up the capsule “elbow”, which means we can’t release our force. Therefore, relaxation in this joint is perhaps the most important attribute in Wing Chun.

Mauro Antonino D’Angelo: The Inner Mind of Wing Chun

Posted by: Kleber Battaglia In: Articles 21 Apr 2015 Comments: 0 Tags: Internal Wing Chun, Interview, Mauro Antonino D’Angelo

BROUGHT TO MARTIAL ARTS AT A YOUNG AGE AND EXPOSED TO DIFFERENT WING CHUN STYLES, NOWADAYS, SIFU D’ANGELO TEACHES A UNIQUE APPROACH TO THE ART, WHICH HE HAS ENRICHED WITH HIS COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH INTO THE INTERNAL STYLES IN CHINA.

Tell us a little about your martial arts journey.
I started my Gung Fu journey when I was eight, and since then I have dedicated my life to martial arts. I started teaching professionally at the age of 17. In Wing Chun, I had experiences with the Lok Yiu, Lee Shing and Wong Shun Leung lineages, and I’m still continuing my research in China, where I live today. I have always been attracted to internal styles and I’ve studied Taijiquan while travelling the world to find the most relevant master of this art. For the past 10 years, I’ve dedicated a lot of the time on the study of Baguazhang.

In your opinion, what are the most important attributes to be developed through Wing Chun training?
With Wing Chun being a Taoist style, the main core is about “Changing”. Being confident with “Change” is the best way to find new solutions to different problems. However, in order to do so, you have to eliminate tensions in your mind and body in order to apply those in your life and in real fighting situations.