SIFU KLEBER BATTAGLIA STARTED HIS TRAINING AT AGE NINE WITH THE JAPANESE ART OF JIU-JITSU. AS A TEENAGER, HE ALSO STUDIED WESTERN BOXING, ESCRIMA AND HARIMAU PENCAK SILAT UNTIL HE FELL IN LOVE WITH WING CHUN.
In 2010, he moved to Hong Kong to follow his Sifu, Wan Kam Leung, and later moved to Mainland China to deepen his knowledge of Nei Gong and the internal arts.
What is the essential core of the art? Are techniques and strength over-valued?
People, especially in the West, have a misunderstanding about strength. They want to isolate the muscles and use the limbs to generate power, but that way of generating power is a unilateral tension and can only give you a partial force. Real power comes from bones and tendons, from using the whole body in connection with the movement. This increases not only your power but also your speed and sensitivity. However, people use the wrong methods to achieve strength that ultimately does more harm than good. They should train their bodies to be naturally aligned in everything they do: standing, walking, sitting, and lying. Only in this way will strength come from inside out, reaching the whole body; only in this way will you find true rooting in your position. With correct alignment, the body will naturally tell you what to do for you to truly understand the core of the art. Many people focus on external techniques without realising that in doing so, they are weakening their position and power.
