ENTER THE DRAGON : Chinese New Year Celebration

January 26th, 2012

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2012 is the Year of the Water Dragon, which begins on January 23, 2012.

The Dragon is the only symbol as a creature of myth and legend in 12 Chinese Zodiac. It represents good fortune and extreme power.  In Chinese culture, the Dragon is said to be a deliverer of good fortune and a master of authority. Therefore, those people born in Dragon years are to be honoured and respected.

In this special occasion, SiFu Lau would like to wish you and your family lots of love, joy, good health and success in the New Year!

劉家燊師父恭祝各位 身體健康  萬事勝意 龍年行好運


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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

December 19th, 2011

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To a joyful present and a well remembered past.

Best wishes for happy holidays and a magnificent New Year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Sifu

Great Grand Master Leung Ting Seminar 2011

October 29th, 2011

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We are so pleased to have Great Grand Master held a 2 days seminar on last week Saturday and Sunday.  During this seminar, GGM Leung Ting had revealed many awesome Wing Tsun’s technique and theory to us.  All students had a great time practicing and polishing our WingTsun’s skills.  Also, we are very happy to meet with our WingTsun kung fu brothers from our country.  Special thanks to two guests, Sifu Jason Bolanz from Dallas, USA and Sifu Georgios Meletakis from Berlin, Germany support and attended this seminar.

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Kung Fu Trivia #1

October 17th, 2011
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Imagine you have just finished a very intensive kung fu practise session.  Feeling completely exhausted after hours and hours of heavy training, you hope to re-energize yourself by having dinner with your kung fu brothers and sisters.  What type of food would you like to have?  Would you like to go for beer and wings in a nearby sports bar?  Or would you prefer to have something else that is not only nutritious, but also will distinguish yourself as a martial artist at the same time?

In the ancient days, when kung fu practitioners have finished training, congee is the food that they would customarily have together.   As this tradition continued, the Chinese idiom 吃夜粥, which literally means eating congee late at night, was developed.  The figurative meaning of this phrase is having previously taken up kung fu training.  If a person is said that to have previously eaten congee late at night, it usually implies he or she is a well trained martial artist.

The most common explanation of why kung fu practitioners would have congee after training is because many years ago, most SIFU’s would ask their best students to help out at the kung fu schools.  These students put in long hours of work to not only teach classes and ensure the day to day operations were running smoothly, but also they needed to train hard themselves.  By the time they were ready to leave the school for the day, it would be very late at night.   To show their appreciation for the students who had been helping out, the SIFUs’ would ask their family to help prepare large pots of congee and treat them to dinner at the end of the day.
There are other explanations as well.  For example, congee is rich in carbohydrate and high in water content.  When martial artists have been sweating and exerting high amount of energy through long hours of intensive training, congee is a type of food that can help them re-hydrate and refuel them with energy.  Also, the price of congee is not expensive.  As a result, another explanation of why kung fu practitioners would like to have congee after training is because back in the old days, martial artists were generally not rich.  Congee would fit their budgets if they were to have late night snacks on a consistent basis after training.
The next time you have finished an intensive training session, have a bowl of congee afterwards.  You too can proudly claim that you have previously “had congee late at night” and share the same experience that our kung fu ancestors went through.
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*Written by Edwin Lau (First Level Technician), based on the ideas contributed by Stanley Lee, Simon Lo, and Roger Lam

First Level Technician Promotion: Congratulations to Isaac Lau and John Wan

August 6th, 2011

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We are so pleased to announce that Isaac Lau and John Wan passed the First Level Technician exam!

Both of them would like to share some of their thoughts and experiences, in their WingTsun journeys.

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ISAAC LAU:
I have been practicing Wing Tsun under Sifu Carson Lau’s guidance for the past 3 and a half years. Learning Wing Tsun has been my life-long goal. It is practical. Period. At the same time, I get the necessary physical exercises.

One may ask: why IWTA (International Wing Tsun Academy) ?
The answer is extremely simple. It is its friendly environments. All members of IWTA (may it be abroad or local) are very friendly. It is like working out and learning from family members. This is totally attributed to the spirit of teaching from Sifu Lau. Sifu & all the Si-Hings take time to teach, correct and keep reminding me what to do, what not to do. And that’s how I improve my skills.

Unlike traditional kung fu, IWTA offer! s a curriculum with exams at various stages of our learning. This serves as an important feedback to all the students at each level on how well each of us masters the skills we have learned from sifu and apply the skills appropriately and intelligently. Without this kind of curriculum, one will wonder and doubt his/her progress on the skills s/he has acquired. Another key point is that si-hings can pass on the skills to si-dai’s, and this will serve as a skill revision for the si-hings too (J).  This circles back to what I mentioned earlier regarding the “family atmosphere” of learning WingTsun at IWTA.

I am so lucky to be able to train under the guidance of Sifu Lau. He has recently been promoted to the 8th level Practician - who is the highest ranked Sifu in the whole American continent! Mind you that very few people in the whole world has achieved! this exceptionally high rank! We, in Markham, have the advantage of consulting Sifu Lau in “real time”! Sorry, guys/gals in the States, we have this “unfair advantage” over you J. I am still amazed (sometimes shocked) by Sifu’s ability to do certain moves; and how fast his reactions are. I am shockingly surprised by Sifu Lau that a human being can produce that much power in such a short time and with such a short distance. It is an out-of-this-world experience (eye-wide-open with jaw drops to the floor, no kidding, people).

We all joked about white-shirt levels are being similar to Primary Schooling; Black-shirt levels being Secondary Schooling; while Technician levels being University Schooling. I have been fortunate to be able to take and pass the Primary Technician exam. I am heavily indebted to Sifu Carson Lau, all si-hings, si-dai’! s and si-mui’s who taught me so much and trained with me in my WingTsun life here at ITWA. To all IWTA members under Sifu Carson Lau’s guidance, please accept my sincere thank-you. I will not be here writing this if it is not for your help. Really appreciate you all!

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JOHN WAN:

My journey to WingTsun began many years ago. My friend said this form of martial art can be practised in tight space, like in my office, so I was introduced to it.

I was fascinated by it from the beginning. It is an intelligent fighting art and it is most suited for persons of smaller build.

When I started training under Sifu Lau I found sparring challenging and fun to do. The sparring takes on more individuality of the players. It is a good exercise and helps bonding amount students.

With the successful passing of the First Level Technician test I look forward to more training beyond this, above all I want to say thank you to Sifu.

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8-Level Practician Promotion

May 9th, 2011

It is with great pleasure to announce this happy news to all our WingTsun family members. Sifu Lau has been promoted to 8th-Level Practician. He is the first person to earn this great achievement in North America. In fact, there are very few in the world who holds this title.

In this special occasion, Sifu Lau would like share some words with his students, family and friends.

“It is my great honour to receive the title of the 8th level Practician of IWTA. My acceptance and receipt of this accomplishment and honour would not be complete without paying tribute to many who have made this a reality. Five to six years ago, I was a 7th level practitian and have focused my practice to spread the Arts of WingTsun throughout North America. I would like to pay special tribute to Great Grand Master Leung Ting for making this accomplishment possible. My other thanks go to all of my students, family and friends. I express my deepest gratitude for their support through this journey.”

Sifu Lau

New Technicians! Sidney Yik and Alan Tang

March 7th, 2011

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Sidney Yik

IMG_3500I couldn’t have imagined that I will be a Wing Tsun Technician back then.  At the age of 53, this is one of my greatest accomplishment so far. Initially, I was looking for something to do to reduce my stress from work.  I am glad that I found Wing Tsun.  I still remember the first time I met Sifu one Friday night at the gym more than 3 years ago.  I always wanted to learn martial arts and I wasn’t sure I will do it, but Sifu’s friendliness and sincerity made it an easy decision to join.

I like the training because I can work out and at the same time learn something practical and unique.  Once you get into senior level, you begin to appreciate Sifu Lau’s in-depth knowledge of Wing Tsun and self-defense.  It is a great privilege for me to learn from Sifu Lau, the highest ranked IWTA instructor in North America.

I would like to thank Sifu for his guidance and I will need it more in the coming future for the advance level.  Also, I would like to thank all the Si-hings, Si-dai, Si-Je, Si-mui for their support throughout the years.  We are just like a big family, helping each other out.  Of course, I won’t forget to thank my wife and my kids as they allow me to go to Wing Tsun.  Lastly, the red stripe pant and golden WT logo T-shirt really look better in style.  Folks, please keep up the good work and if I can do it, so can you!
 
 

Alan Tang

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After 3+ years of Wing Tsun training, I have finally reached an important milestone(Primary technician). I am so excited and happy, that I have an opportunity to learn more advanced WT skills.

Wing Tsun was the Martial Art I always dreamed to learn when I was young, but lack of schools in Canada, instead I had the Taekwondo training.

Wing Tsun training has provided me an opportunity to exercise regularly, and more importantly enhanced my self-defense/hand fighting skills. But this is not possible without SIFU’s instructions, and support from all my training partners.

Thank You SIFU and all SI-hing/dai/Je/Mui.

Let’s all train hard, have fun and progress.

Chinese New Year Celebration

February 7th, 2011

According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2011 is the Year of the Golden Rabbit, which begins on February 3, 2011.

A rabbit year is characterized by quiet, gentleness, and wisdom, and to celebrate the rabbit’s special qualities the IWTA Richmond Hill gym this year’s celebration, bringing up the dragon dancers and dinner party with a lot of joy.

In this special occasion, Sifu Lau would like to wishing you and your family lots of love, joy, good health and success in the new year!

劉家燊師父恭祝各位兔年身體健康,萬事勝意,心想事成.

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Canada-HK New Horizon Lions Club Gala

January 20th, 2011

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We are so grateful to join the gala event, which held by Canada-HK New Horizon Lions Club.
During the gala, we had perform a 15 mins demonstration. We weren’t just get the spotlight, in fact we got the whole audience’s attention.

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How Important is Building a Strong Foundation.

December 11th, 2010

Mini seminar concerning Siu Nim Tau theory and foundation of Wing Tsun.

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Siu Nim Tau is the first form that every WingTsun students learn from day 1. If we all pay attention enough, then we will notice Siu Nim Tau did help us emerge into the Wingtsun’s main concept instantly and effectively. First of all, it tells us we need a strong solid stance. Secondly, the centerline theory is implanted in most of the movements. In order to achieve successful, lasting and effective WingTsun practice, all students should begin by focusing on a strong foundation. An important attitude to develop is attention to small details. During this mini seminar, Sifu Lau revealed some key details of Siu Num Tau and demonstrated how it is implemented in WingTsun training. All students gained so many insights and benefit from Sifu’s teaching.

Below are the testimonial from the students who attended this mini seminar :-

ki-head Ki Nosworthy: Back to basics, the fundamentals. Sifu Carson Lau takes us through a detailed step by step look at the first form of Wing Tsun vital to the training. Whether you’re at a beginner level or an advanced level the Siu Nim Tau is a key to Wing Tsun training, and will help open future doors towards a WT skill set. I highly recommend any future seminars put on by Sifu Carson Lau.
fumi-head Fumi Chan: As a feather weight female Wing Tsun student,I know how important it is for me to perfect my technique with speed,viciousness,accuracy and power to compensate for my lack of physical strength. Siu Nim Tau Seminar provided me with the perfect opportunity to acquire accurate knowledge of the most fundamental form. With this defined
understanding,all I need to do is practice over and over again until I attain perfection. In time,the other three elements will develop with hard work and will power.
daniel-head Daniel Cheung: Too often, when training in a martial art, people rush to learn how to fight. Although we start off with the fundamentals in various forms, it is all too easy
to get sloppy and forget rudimentary details that make any given martial art unique. Like any language, every martial art has its own grammar; for Wing Tsun, that grammar is contained in practicing Siu Nim Tao. For this reason, the Siu Nim Tao workshop is invaluable not only to reinforce the basics, but to also remind students of its benefits for healthy living, not just for fighting. The
basic advice is to not rush and make every move precise. If someone takes their time and does it correctly with proper breathing, they can actually become healthier. The precision required can make offensive and defensive movements that much more effective. I highly recommend that students of Wing Tsun at any level seriously consider the Siu nim Tao seminar.
edwin-head Edwin Lau: I highly recommend this seminiar to all Wing Tsun members who already know the entire Siu Nim Tau form. SIFU explained each Siu Nim Tau movement in great
detail in a very clear manner. Using the information gained from this seminar, I can improve my own Siu Nim Tau form, for I now have a much better understanding of what my body position should be at the end of each Siu Nim Tau movement. The better is my Siu Nim Tau form, the stronger will be my Wing Tsun foundation.

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