Hard-working Technicians with Sifu after their specialized session.

The commencing event of the Fall Event Series 2009 was the Technician Seminar on the first Friday. We covered Entrances and Endings of the 3rd and 5th Section, as well as several of their most important Applications. The eager Technicians thoroughly enjoyed hearing Sifu’s theoretical explanations and witnessing his powerful actions as much as the genuine camaderie of meeting altogether at the Headquarters. Everyone felt stronger and smarter after our seemingly short 2.5 hours of training, and left satisfied but also wanting more.

A few dedicated Escrimadors and their trustworthy weapons.

Escrima is weapons Self-Defense. Sifu shared inspiring patterns from the Student, Serrada, Dos Manos, and Espada y Daga Levels. The exercises he imparted focused on footwork to optimize body positioning and weapon distancing. We also saw how flexible the range of Escrima movements are to rapidly change and cover a wide area. Combinations and coordinations for one and two sticks were dynamically demanding but then flowed with some practice of embodied concentration. If you weren’t able to attend, don’t miss our monthly classes to access this simple and perfect complement to WingChun.

Selected scenes of the day for examining 2009 Degree aspirants.

We finished the weekend with an information-packed Instructor Seminar to culminate this year’s Assistant Degree (AD) and Instructor Degree I (ID-I) Program. Four hours flew by as Sifu explained and inquired about the didatic methodology of WingChun. Each Degree Aspirant was put on the spot to articulate concepts and demonstrate applications from various Student Levels in order to express individual understanding of the teaching Programs. Having to thus defend their ideas was both a challenge and pleasure. The focused effort and sustained poise with which all performed attested to their hard work preparing the last six months. Now we can proudly congratulate eleven newly qualified Degree Graduates:

Brian Watson, AD
Deidre Zafar, AD
Ben Campbell, AD
Manish Bhatt, AD
Norm Waleedej, AD
Brandon Solano, AD
Megan Hemmerle, AD
Chris Bobek, ID-I
Michael Murhpy, ID-I
Matt Hawkinson, ID-I

Four great hours and eleven new Degree Graduates later.