Wing Chun schools in London

[JThorne]

Hello to all forum members, this is my 1st post on here.

I want to learn WC and am based in West London and wondered if anyone knew of a good school in Central or West London?.

Having done some looking around on the net, I feel that the Samuel Kwok network might be the one to contact but would greatly appreciate any feedback from more experienced folks.

Any replies very much appreciated.

ps, would travel much further for a very good teacher.

best wishes to all

Jon

[Frank Exchange]

There is a lot of Wing Chun in London, and it depends what you are after. Victor Kan, Austin Goh, Sam Kwok, Simon Lau, Kamon, Leung Ting's WT, probably Boztepe's EBMAS, and dozens of others.

Some are very marketing oriented, lots of gradings, levels, compuslory seminars and cost.

Some are very formal, with lots of bowing and chinese nomenclature, lots of hierarchy.

Some are great workouts, with lots of calesthenics and warm ups at the start and end.

Some are defensive, some aggressive, some focus on the art, some on real fighting techniques.

Some schools train so you will get minor injuries, cut lips and black eyes. Some will never make contact.


My advice would be to go to as many as possible, observe the class, and see if it is what you feel comfortable with.


Well, since everyone is going to recommend their own school, :) if you are interested in the Wong Shun Leung way, I suggest you take the 20 minute Thameslink ride from Kings Cross to St.Albans, where you will find a very informal, friendly school with instructors who each have over 30 years WC experience:

http://www.wongvingtsun.co.uk/

Simple, direct, efficient. No uniforms, gradings, monthly fees, just old school informal in-depth teaching, just like in Hong Kong.

Plus we have a yearly November trip to Hong Kong, where there is nonstop training, sightseeing and partying with the locals for a week! Not to be missed.

Come along, see if it floats your boat.

[kj]

Hi Jon,

I am not in the UK, but ...


Originally posted by JThorne
ps, would travel much further for a very good teacher.


... this is definitely the right attitude! :cool:

Regards,
- Kathy Jo

[Mckind13]

JThorne

Alan Orr is in London. I just got back from a two-week vacation and training session with my Kung Fu brothers out there.

Alan is an exceptional teacher and his students work hard. The curriculum is challenging, the classes are tough but fun and the students have a real esprit de corps so that every one is there to help everyone else.

You can read more when I post a seminar review for the Robert Chu seminar and I would recommend checking out his sight and giving him a call.

http://www.alanorr.com

David McKinnon

[black and blue]

Alternatively.... :D

You could try the Kamon organisation (which I train with).

Monthly fees (pay it and train at as many classes as you wish during the month), a grading syllabus to uniform teaching and development thoughout the org, optional seminars etc etc.

There is a class in West London (Ealing), which is taken by Lee Saunders. See our site for more details

www.kamonwingchun.com

At Kamon things are very combat/street orientated. Classes begin with some stretching and maybe some exercise, then form work, some drills, some Chi Sau and some Feeding Techniques.

I would recommed getting to one of Kevin Chan's classes. In the London area he teaches in Covent Garden and Croydon.... pop along and say Hi.

Regards,

Duncan

[marcoma]

try this site:

www.totalwingchun.com

[marcoma]

try this site:

www.totalwingchun.com

[Jim Roselando]

Hello,


I know a gentleman teaching Pan Nam WC and YMWC in the London area. You may want to visit a few clubs and see which fits you best!

Let me know if you want contact info..


Regards,

[JThorne]

thank you very much for all of your excellent replies.
you have all given me plenty of info to think on.

I am in Ealing and very near to the Kamon club, I guess I didnt realise just how much the varied approaches to WC differ.

I would like to go to a club/school where they are sparring orientated as I believe that contact is very important and so, would probably lean towards the more combat/street defence/reality type of approach.

I would NOT be keen to go to a club where there is never any contact made


once again, thanks for the great info everyoe.

[JThorne]

Frank Exchange do you by any chance have a website or other contact details for some of the names you mentioned, particularly Victor Kan, Austin Goh and Simon Lau?, I will do some searches. Thanks for your very detailed reply above btw.

Mckind13, thanks, I had a look at the Alan Orr site, found it ok but have to say that I don't really want to learn from yet another one of those NHB macho fighters, oh and why do they 'all' seem to have that same old "big peacok" type of tattoo on their forearms??, I hate that tatt' thing, why would someone want to look like a yob??.

black and blue, thanks a lot, yes I have already had a close look at Kamon (due to being in the W5 area) and would consider checking out the Covent Gdn class with KChan, thanks for your info.

Jim Roselando, thanks a lot, btw, what is "Pan Nam" and YM ?? & yes please to your offer of contact details.

crimsonking, yes I agree very much with what you say but am simply of the view that there really should be at least some contact in order to get a 'feel' of what works well under pressure etc..I am also well aware that WC is not Boxing and in fact have chosen WC over KB myself.

regards to all.

[Frank Exchange]

Hi Jon

Victor Kan is at http://www.vkcvt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk, for the others, I would try googling, see what comes up.

If you want my opinions, which are merely that, I would avoid Simon Lau, purely on the basis that he is notorious for not letting prospective students view a class before hand. That does not instill confidence in me, but I know nothing about the quaility of his teaching.

I went to Austin Goh for a month prior to joining the WSL school. Classes are very fitness based, great cardio workout at the start and end. If this is your kind of thing then great, I would rather pay my money to learn wing chun, rather than pay someone to allow me to do pressups in the training hall, but that is just my opinion. The school was open most evenings, and for a monthly fee you could train as often as you wanted.

However, while Austin's personal fighting skills are excellent, I found the teaching of beginners utterly abysmal. No attention was paid to them at all, you had to muddle along as best you could. I quite literally learnt more in one evening in the WSL class than I had in the entire month at Austin Goh's!

Victor kan was a friend and contemporary of the famous Wong Shun Leung, and my instructor has always said that if you cant find a WSL school, then go to Victor Kan. He has been doing it for years, one of the original old school Yip Man students. There are reports that he is personally aggressive and hard to get along with, but all these things must be taken with a huge pinch of salt.

His students make a big thing of him being the King of Chi Sao, for what that's worth. One the other hand, Wong Shun Leung was known by everyone as the King of Beimo, challenge fights.

One thing to look out for, taking on board your comment about Alan Orr (whom I dont know anything about, no criticism intended), is to be wary of schools with a high proportion of muscle bound types or body builders. In my experience, that is usually because the teaching lacks something, so they go down to the gym to get strong to make up for it. Not that there is anything wrong with being strong, if the skill is there first. Just a warning.

There is unfortunately a lot of politics in WC; misinformation and outright lies abound about many schools and teachers. Hence, the best thing is seriously to visit as many as you can, see what fits your mindset. And then, come to the Wong Shun Leung school and see what you are missing ;) (ducks and runs...)

[JThorne]

Frank Exchange,
i have spent a while this morning reading through a lot of your schools website and found it to be very interesting.

i am very tempted to come up to st Albans and try a few classes as your description ie.
Simple, direct, efficient. No uniforms, gradings, monthly fees, just old school informal in-depth teaching, just like in Hong Kong

could be just what I am looking for as it sounds very good indeed.

I will come up there despite the fact that for me it is app. 1 hour on the miserable tube to get to KingsX & then onto the main line etc... btw, how far from the main St albans station is it?

[Frank Exchange]

I usually drive, so I dont know exactly, but I suspect about 10 minutes walk. There is a bus stop right outside the school, opposite Safeway, and a bus depot right outside the train station, so if you cant be bothered to walk there is that option. I would guess look for a bus towards Hatfield, that will go down the Hatfield road, then get off at Safeway.

Give Clive the instructor a ring for more details. He is back from seminars in Turkey tomorrow, he will be more than happy to help you out. Tell him James from class sent you!

Regards

James

[Mckind13]

Frank wrote:
--- One thing to look out for, taking on board your comment about Alan Orr (whom I dont know anything about, no criticism intended), is to be wary of schools with a high proportion of muscle bound types or body builders. In my experience, that is usually because the teaching lacks something, so they go down to the gym to get strong to make up for it. Not that there is anything wrong with being strong, if the skill is there first. Just a warning. ---

Frank, either you have something against Alan or you were just looking to insult someone you know nothing about.
Alan is fit because he trains allot.
Alan has a few big students but most are of average to small build.
He is solid, his Wing Chun is solid and his students train **** hard.

I think your comment about what people can or Kan't do should be left up to personal experience.

Please visit Alan before posting something like this in the future.
You might be very suprised.

David

[Mckind13]

JT wrote

Mckind13, thanks, I had a look at the Alan Orr site, found it ok but have to say that I don't really want to learn from yet another one of those NHB macho fighters, oh and why do they 'all' seem to have that same old "big peacok" type of tattoo on their forearms??, I hate that tatt' thing, why would someone want to look like a yob??.

Hi JT,

Go visit the school,

I think the Tatoo's are optional:P . They are anything but macho at the school, and they train NHB from a Wing Chun perspective to increase awareness of what happens when you get shot in on or taken to the ground.

Take the time and look.

[Frank Exchange]

McKind13 says:
>> Frank, either you have something against Alan or you were just looking to insult someone you know nothing about.
Alan is fit because he trains allot. <<

I have nothing whatsoever against Alan Orr, for all I know he is a fantastic teacher, I had never heard of him until this thread, hence the "(whom I dont know anything about, no criticism intended), " in my original post.

My comment was a general one in response to Jthorne, who had gained a negative "macho" impression of his school based on his website and the image he portrays. Perhaps I shouldnt have associated his school particularly with my comment, as no insult was implied.

[Mckind13]

Thanks Frank,

It seemed you were associating them but if you wernt, no harm no foul.

David

[Jim Roselando]

Hello,


My friend who does Yip Man WC and Pan Nam WC is on vacation for a few weeks but here is his e-mail address;


ahloong@fatshan-wingchun.co.uk


Visit a few places and see what suits you best!


Regards,

[Alan Orr]

If you would like to visit my class before making comments about me or my students, then please do so. The web is full of people with views about things they have no idea about. Don't be one of them. I would be happy for you to view a class and give feedback to the forum. At lease then you will have seen what you are talking about.

Regards

Alan Orr

[reneritchie]

Hey Alan,

Welcome to KFO!

[Mckind13]

Cheers

Hey Alan welcome aboard.

It would be cool if you started a thread introducing yourself to everyone.

David

[reneritchie]

And telling any/all funny stories about David in the UK...