Springtide Scrolls

I have just finished uploading some new pictures to the photo gallery, but I will post them above as well=)

We have just finished earlier in the day a great seminar with the ever enthusiastic Sifu Lau, the chief instructor for North America and 7^th Level Practician. He gave a great four hour seminar covering self defense applications and more importantly, the chi-sau training methods. I hope to soon post students' testimonials on this event as well.

Congratulations to Daniel Zwilling, who received the 11^th student grade after a tough exam! He is on track for training for the 12^th student grade and afterwards his primary technician level next year! In addition, thanks go to John Noyes from the Sonoma County WingTsun school, for assisting with this examination.

Thank you Sifu Lau for coming out for this seminar! The Bay Area WingTsun schools will be inviting Sifu Lau out again for two seminars next year as well, so keep your eyes on the calendar.

Excelsior!

Sifu

Christian Mirescu: Impressions on NYC seminar with Grandmaster Leung Ting!

"I have to be honest with you; I’m still suffering through some serious WingTsun withdrawal…

Last week, I was able to travel to NYC with my Si-hing Dan Zwilling to attend Grandmaster Leung Ting’s seminar. Dan and I went a few days early to train with our WT brothers and sisters at City WingTsun. My WT immersion week started on Thursday with the intermediate/advanced class followed by private training with Sifu Alex, who so graciously agreed to stay and train late night (Hong Kong style!). 

The following day, I trained privately with Si-hing Mike Yahn and Si-hing Jay Turner, who provided some very thoughtful insights on the chum kiu set and chi sao training. Jay and I grew up together but we never touched hands, since my WT journey started only after I moved out to the Bay Area. So it was great to train with my old friend for the first time. On the morning of the seminar, everyone arrived early to begin training and welcome Si-Kung. Since Dan and I were representing the Bay Area WT community, Sifu Haw Kuo and Sifu Elmond Leung, we really wanted to do our very best. Because I didn’t know what to expect, I have to say I was bit nervous. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one feeling the energy and excitement of the event. So many things were going through my head; words of instruction from my Si-hing Haw, feelings of great respect for the father of our WT system, deep concentration, the uncertainty of new training partners, so on and so forth. But once things got going, the atmosphere of the seminar settled into a very intense but positive one. Through his lectures, corrections, encouragement, and good humor, Si-Kung set the tone for the week; listen closely and simply train hard. And let there be no questions about it, everyone was engaged and was up to the challenge. 

To sum it all up, Saturday and Sunday were great WT days for me, in many respects. First, I’ll always have the memory of touching hands with Si-Kung and learning directly from him, unfiltered. Secondly, I was able to be there when my Si-hing Jay received his first technician degree, along with 5 other hardcore students of Sifu Alex’s. Thirdly, I met a bunch of great students at City WingTsun; a dedicated group of future training partners for my trips back east. Sifu Alex should be proud. Furthermore, I’m happy to say I didn’t embarrass myself (what a relief!). 

Most importantly, I was able to see how having a clear training system can bridge people from different parts of the country (with different instructors) to create such opportunities to learn. I hope Grandmaster Leung Ting truly appreciates all of our gratitude for such an incredible experience. No wonder I’m in this withdrawal…. Well luckily, I’m going to class tonight. My SV-WingTsun brothers and sisters will certainly knock the blues out of me!" 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Chris. Train hard!

Sifu (or Si-hing, in this case)

Journal entry from Daniel Zwilling on his trip to the New York City Si-kung Leung Ting seminar!

"I just came back from a fantastic trip to Manhattan NY where Sifu Alex Richter was hosting a seminar with Great Grandmaster Leung Ting in his school. I went together with my dear friend Chris Mirescu on Thursday, taking the early flight out of Oakland, two days before the seminar. After 5 hours flight time we arrived at JFK and we went straight to the school and attended the regular class with Sifu Alex. We had heard so many good things about that school and Sifu Alex’s teaching that we were very excited to finally meet our WT brothers and sisters from the other side of the continent. The class was great: a very good mix of technical exercises and application for real world self defense.

After the class both Chris and I took an additional private lesson each with Sifu Alex. It was a great pleasure to train directly with him. His technical abilities and fighting skills are incredible and he is an excellent teacher who really knows how to motivate his students. One of Chris’ friends, Si-hing Jay –who trains with Sifu Alex- was very kind to let us stay with him for the duration of our stay. Thanks again for the hospitality! We spent the night there and then came back the next day to take privates with Si-hing Mike Yahn. The privates with Si-hing Mike very also incredibly intense and fun and we learned a lot! Thank you Si-hing Mike for kicking my ass!

The next day, finally, the seminar with Si-Jo started. Saturday morning by 10:30 everyone was in the school training hard and getting ready for Si-Jo’s arrival. After welcoming Si-Jo at 11AM he divided the students into 2 groups: students that had done only 1st section Chi Sau and students that knew sections 2, 3 or more. Since I was the only one who had just started section 2, I got to train with Steve, a student originally from Hungary who had been training in NY for a year and he would be my training partner for the next two days. We basically had our own little ‘group’ consisting of Steve and me that was directly supervised by Si-Jo. Basically, Si-Jo taught us the complete 2^nd section step by step. After showing us parts of the section he would come by once in a while and check on us, asking how things are going and making sure we did the stuff correctly.

It was great to have hands on teaching from Si-Jo. Learning directly from the highest master of our system was incredible. In between exercises Si-Jo would give all students some theoretical background by explaining concepts of Wing Tsun on the drawing board. It is a great privilege to be able to learn directly from GGM Leung Ting and for me it was a new experience to have such direct contact with him. In addition, my Si-Sok Haw had arrived from San Jose on Saturday morning and he was supporting Sifu Alex by providing additional assistance in teaching the students.

I am very thankful to Sifu Alex, Si-Sok Haw and most of all Si-Jo Leung Ting for their excellent, dedicated teaching and for creating a welcoming and friendly atmosphere. It was awesome to go there and meet so many nice people and hard working, dedicated students. I also want to mention that I realized that Si-Sok Haw’s training prepared us perfectly to blend in with the students in New York. I am glad to receive such excellent training from Si-Sok Haw and Si-bak Gung Elmond.

It was an intense weekend; basically I practiced Chi Sau and arm locks for 5 hours both days, Saturday and Sunday and my arms are sore like hell now, but every minute was worth it. Doing those hundreds of repetitions of Chi Sau application really helped me to improve and I feel much more comfortable now with the arm locks and the whole section 2. Si-Jo was great in pointing out mistakes and the frequent feedback from him helped to make all the moves smooth.

The seminar ended Sunday afternoon with a Q+A session where students could ask Si-Jo things they always wanted to know from him. It was very interesting to hear his opinions and to get him to know a bit better through that. The next day I flew back to San Francisco.

Overall, the 4 days in NY were very intense, and I am happy to be back in San Francisco with new impressions and the motivation to train even harder in the future. Although I am still very tired and my muscles are sore I am looking forward to the next seminar with Si-Jo, hopefully someday in the Bay Area.

Best,

Daniel Zwilling"

Thank you for sharing with us your impressions Daniel. Train hard!

Sifu

I am writing this blog update from New York City, where we have finished Day 2 of Si-kung Leung Ting's final two day National Seminar in the United States. I have been privileged to have seen WingTsun at such a pinnacle, and to see such hard working students of WingTsun train together in harmony. It has been truly a familial feeling, and I have learned much that now must be mentally absorbed, then practiced (perfectly) until true fluency and combat applicability. My Si-hing, Sifu Alex Richter and indeed all of his City WingTsun students, have been the consummate hosts and I wish to thank them for that.

Hearty congratulations to my kung fu nephews Mike, Paul, Jay, Claudio, Marcus, and of course my kung fu niece Nicole for achieving their promotions to primary level technician!!! I was able to learn some cutting edge concepts from Si-kung Leung Ting alongside Sifu Alex Richter, and our brains are no doubt still overloaded with the coolness of it all=) Unfortunately I had to get to the airport right after the seminar, but it has been a truly unforgettable experience. I have also uploaded a new photo album for this event, so please check it out!

Cheers!

Sifu

Just yesterday I returned after four thrilling days of training under my Si-kung, Grandmaster Leung Ting, during a National Seminar hosted in San Antonio by Si-Sok Parker. I had a fantastic time as always, receiving training directly from the source of my WingTsun, and I had the opportunity to train with old and new friends and colleagues. My sihing, the redoubtable Sifu Alex Richter, was only able to attend for one day, however I had a fantastic time hanging out with him. I trained extensively with another one of my sihing-dai, Sifu David Fiedler from Washington, during the seminar, and he was as hard working and as gracious a training partner as ever. I also ran into Sifu John Brusstar from Arizona and others that I had not seen in a while. We had a rigorous training schedule, but in the end, as always, seeing Si-kung was well worth the aggravation of the humidity and the heat. Of course you have to factor in the bruises as well, but those are badges of pride! I'm headed to New York City in another week and half to attend Si-kung's last seminar before he heads over the Atlantic to pay a visit to the formidable Sifu Norbert Maday of Hungary and his students, and sundry others.

Cheers,

Sifu