Tag Archives: Berkeley

Music of the Bones

Posted on by
5

The following post is a personal essay my student Mariano Wechsler. He shares his sensory experience of “becoming WingChun”:

Root down, branch out.

I drive my legs to the ground rooting myself down in the Earth. Like an old Oak sucking water from deep among the soil, I draw the energy from my feet into my legs and up to my torso to deliver power through my arms.

This pulse of energy passes through my body again and again like waves crashing ashore, one after the next.

I exhale sharply at the end of each movement as every muscle locks in clock-like synchrony. Continue reading →

Spotlight on Tyler Gouvea

Posted on by
2

WingChun is something you can take anywhere.

My job is my joy! I feel lucky that we have attracted such great people to our WingChun family. By this I don’t just mean diligent students but genuinely amazing individuals who I look forward to spending quality time with several days a week. If you’re a friendly, pragmatic person, please join us!

Tyler is one such unique member of our training community. He is respected for his outstanding skills and loved for his enthusiastic personality. I have complete confidence in his capable, approachable and sovereign expression of our system. For these reasons, I trust him to assist me in teaching classes.

It is my hope that his potential be fully actualized through the practice he is well on his way upon both as a practitioner and instructor of the art. Tyler is a positive example to others and a helpful inspiration for me. Please read on as he shares his experience below: Continue reading →

Groups We’ve Worked With

Posted on by
Reply

We are proud to have worked with the following groups that include schools, centers, dorms, students, staff, residents and employees. Let us know if you would like to invite us to conduct a WingChun Self-Defense workshop or demonstration for your personal or professional, community or corporate group.

It would be our pleasure to share valuable information in a dynamic, interesting and professional way. Just tell us your ideas and we’ll be happy to help plan a successful event for you. You may contact us via email at HQ@IAW-US.com or phone at 510-214-2987.

Interested? Get our FREE Newsletter.

WingChun Demo at LeConte Elementary

Posted on by
Reply

On June 1, Sihing Brandon Solano and I were invited to present WingChun at LeConte Elementary School in Berkeley as part of their Asian American Heritage Month. We joined the Cal Raijin Taiko Drummers and the Fei Tian Classical Chinese Dancers in presenting our art to nearly 100 kindergarten through fifth grade students, teachers and parents. Even their mascot, Coco the Panda, learned to apply a key WingChun coordination movement: a Dap Bo (Striding Step) and Tsong Kuen (Thrusting Punch) to the delight of all.

In a ten-minute performance, we were able to demonstrate a Lat Sao (Casting Arms) combination sequence, the Siu Nim Tau (Small Intention) form, applications from our Basic Level programs and the 7th Student Level Chi Sao (Adhering Arms) flow. The background of WingChun was also explained along with what the IAW offers. The children were a great audience and very enthusiastic about the action. It was fun to interact with many of them after the show. Perhaps you will see some of them as WingChun Tigers soon.

We were also happy to meet several staff members such as Secretary Donna Chan Chu and Coach Smiley. A very special thanks to Mr. Alan Wang for organizing the successful event and Principal Cheryl Wilson for hosting us at her wonderful school.

Fall WingChun Seminar

Posted on by
Reply

USHQ261009C2_500

The grand finale of the 2009 Fall Event Series was a fitting finish to the variety of topics we offered. It was indeed a broad and interesting mix of material which you were able to access. From Escrima weapons to WingChun applications, from Instructor to Basic training, everyone had the chance to appreciate the depth and quality of the IAW curriculum directly from its creator and founder, Sifu Klaus Brand. With the sure gratification of all that we accomplished, perhaps the only disappointments were that you missed some teachings and that the two weeks, now suddenly over, went by so quickly.

USHQ261009C1_500

It was a pleasure to witness everyone’s determination to learn with unflagging and focused effort. Once again, one of the most pride-worthy characteristics of our WingChun family, both here and abroad, is this personal culture of doing your best. Nothing speaks more to the goal and intent of our community, its leaders and members, than the demonstration of ongoing passion for the art. Part of that means always being patient enough to invest in your own progress, an advancement that must be proven at the completion of each Program such as the following graduates did this day:

USHQ261009_500

Austin Liu, 1 SL (Berkeley)
Cinna Wu, 1 SL (Berkeley)
Alex Hansen, 1 SL (San Francisco)
David Luevano, 1 SL (Santa Cruz)
Antal Beryeni, 4 SL (Berkeley)
Leslie Foss, 4 SL (Berkeley)
Will Haskell, 4 SL (Berkeley)
Deidre Zafar, 5 SL (Santa Cruz)
Marty Patin, 5 SL (Berkeley)
Brian Watson, 5 SL (Santa Cruz)
Ben Campbell, 6 SL (Santa Cruz)
Jim Allen, 6 SL (Berkeley)
Manish Bhatt, 7 SL (Berkeley)
Evan Kha, 7 SL (Berkeley)
Tyler Gouvea, 8 SL (Berkeley)
Justin Yang, 9 SL (Berkeley)
Chris Bobek, 10 SL (Berkeley)
Norm Waleedej, 10 SL (Berkeley)
Brandon Solano, 11 SL (Berkeley)
Eric Swing, 11 SL (Berkeley)
Michael Murphy, 11 SL (Berkeley)
Megan Hemmerle, 11 SL (Berkeley)
Alfred Lee, 11 SL (Berkeley)