Wing Chun Instructors In San Antonio Texas

[xicano7]

Hi,
I will be in San Antonio this coming January for 3 months. I am planning on learning some Wing Chun while I am there. I've looked online & saw a couple of schools which look fairly good. My question is for anyone who has some insights on which school would be recommended above the others. I am a beginner and would be able to work out 2-3 times a week. I'm looking for traditional WC & a good atmosphere. Since I will only be there for a short while, at least for now, I know that I will be very limited in what I learn, but as long as I get a good foundation I will be fine with it. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[AmanuJRY]

There is a high level Leung Ting guy there, William Parker, he's wrote some cool articles on training and chi sau and has a reputation for being a good instructor.

[xicano7]

Thanks for the reply. William Parker & Gilbert Leal were the two I was looking into. I guess I'll make my decision once I'm there & check out the classes. I was just wondering if anyone knew the good & bad of the schools to help me decide one way or another. They both look like they know their WC, so I guess I can't go wrong. Thanks again.

[EBMAS Plano]

I'd recommend you add Nico LaHood to your list.

He runs the EBMAS Wing Tzun club in S.A. and was for many years William Parker's highest ranked student-instructor.

He is an amazing martial artist who doesn't care about politics and is solely focused on training hard and smart.

Now, at risk of sounding political, i can assure my next statement is based solely on character and soul. William Parker is one of the reasons i stayed with Emin Boztepe when he split with Dr. Leung Ting and Mr. Kernspecht. While he is a very talented Wing Tsun instructor who taught me alot, it is everything else about him that helped make my decision very easy.

I'm told that Gilbert Leal is a talented and nice instructor, but i'm also told that his Wing Chun hasn't evolved from the 80's. But that is 2nd hand.

I'd recommend you try a week with each of them to form your own opinion. Though brief, three months can be an eternity if its not a good match for you.

Good luck.

[AndrewS]

Welcome, Graham!!!

Good to see you here, bro. The crew in this joint is pretty decent- the TWC guys are even mellow as long as we don't bring up old, dead controversies.

Will Parker- go make up your own mind on Will. I've heard the stories from his juniors from the generation before me, Graham, and Nico.

Nico Lahood- good guy, great martial artist. He boxes pretty seriously and I believe has cross-trained with BJJ players and thai boxers, as have his students, who have all had a good attitude, skills, and conditioning base. I can't think of anyone I could more highly recommend as an instructor.

Andrew

[AndrewS]

BTW, xicano7, I just caught that you're in LA. I've got my thing going in Silverlake, Per Hansen is down in Redondo Beach, and Si-fu Michael Casey <www.santamonicaselfdefense.com> is in Santa Monica. PM me if you want to come by. BTW- seminar w/ Rene Latosa this weekend.

Andrew

[xicano7]

Thanks for all the good advice. I guess I will have to make a decision once I'm down there. I am originally from L.A., but being in the Air Force,I've been traveling a bit in recent years. Right now I'm actually up in Vandenberg AFB, which is by Santa Maria. I've looked for Wing Chun up here with no luck whatsoever. There seems to be no traditional Kung Fu either. Thanks again.

[kyrotep]

Thanks for the reply. William Parker & Gilbert Leal were the two I was looking into.

I am currently being trained by Sifu Leal in San Antonio. I have just started, but I have experience in other martial arts schools and I can tell right off Sifu Leal is a very good teacher who knows his Kung Fu quite well (as well as other martial arts). He also teaches Shaolin style of Kung fu.

From what I can tell William Parker's school is much bigger and is more main stream whereas Sifu Leal's school is much more small and you get a lot of one and one instruction. William Parker trained under Sifu Leal many years ago and they were both under Grandmaster Leung ting system (Sifu Leal actually was trained directly by Grandmaster Leung ting), however Sifu Leal sepeparated himself from the WingTsun Association due to some disagreements on how they were conducting business among other things I have not been informed of.

Here is a link to the Dragon Martial Arts website (Sifu Leal's school): http://www.dragonma.com/

And Sifu Leal's bio can be found on this site: http://www.coursejunction.com/course_detail.cfm/id/14020

Good luck finding the teacher you are seaking.

-Jonathan

[RGVWingChun]

Ip Ching wing chun in the Rio Grande Valley....private instruction only.

Moses Flores
Traditional Ip Man Wing Chun Assocation
RGVwingchun@yahoo.com