Does anyone know who the first westerner to teach wing chun was?
The earliest that I know of is 1971, I believe.
I do know that Alan Lamb was the first westerner who was VTAA certified
Does anyone know who the first westerner to teach wing chun was?
The earliest that I know of is 1971, I believe.
I do know that Alan Lamb was the first westerner who was VTAA certified
When it does happen, it's fast and hard and over quick. Either I'm standing or he's standing. That's Real.
nospam
You type because you have fingers. Not because you have logic.
Phil Redmond
My bet would be Jesse Glover, Bruce's first student and training partner. Although Bruce asked him not to call what he was teaching WCK -- and Bruce himself didn't call what he was teaching WCK -- it was essentially WCK.
When it does happen, it's fast and hard and over quick. Either I'm standing or he's standing. That's Real.
nospam
You type because you have fingers. Not because you have logic.
Phil Redmond
Teaching independently or as an instructor in the school?
I think Jesse was teaching in the very early 60s.
I understand you to mean who was the first westerner to learn the entire curriculum of WCK and then teach it.
My POV is that WCK isn't the curriculum but a skill (and you don't need the "entire curriculum" to learn that skill). Lots of people have the curriculum but very few have learned the skill.
I agree
to an extent...
However, without the entire curriculum you couldn't learn the entire skill. You could, however, still be extremely effective with what you do have
their own school I guess? Although I would be delighted to hear of assistant teachers too...
When it does happen, it's fast and hard and over quick. Either I'm standing or he's standing. That's Real.
nospam
You type because you have fingers. Not because you have logic.
Phil Redmond
I trained (briefly) with Alan Lamb, in his basement. That had to be in '77.
"My Gung-Fu may not be Your Gung-Fu.
Gwok-Si, Gwok-Faht"
"I will not be part of the generation
that killed Kung-Fu."
....step.
Seems like sifu Barry Lee of WSLVT could have been teaching small groups in Australia in 1974/75. Definitely '76.
http://www.vingtsun.net.au/BLVTMAA%20The%20Machine.htm
Perhaps bennyvt or shawchemical can provide some more details?
I'm sure John Darwen was teaching under Joseph Cheng in 71
think that Alan Lamb was not long after in the UK too...
Any earlier?
When it does happen, it's fast and hard and over quick. Either I'm standing or he's standing. That's Real.
nospam
You type because you have fingers. Not because you have logic.
Phil Redmond
Going by the Chinese diaspora, you'd think it would be somewhere in N. America (Canada or USA).
Jesse Glover started teaching around 1962/63 and continues to this day. However, as Terence rightly points out, it isn't Wing Chun (calls it Non Classical Gung Fu) but closely resembles it (think Wing Chun stripped down and without forms).
Suki
"From a psychological point of view, demons represent the universal equivalents of the dark, cruel, animal depths of the mind. When we as martial artists are preparing ourselves to overcome our fear of domination at the hands of an opponent, we must go deep within our inner being and allow the darkest parts of ourselves to be revealed. In order to battle the monsters in an abyss, we must sometimes unleash the demon within" http://darkwingchun.wordpress.com/
Not sure how reliable this stuff is;
http://www.bullshido.net/forums/show...=25766&page=10
Suki
"From a psychological point of view, demons represent the universal equivalents of the dark, cruel, animal depths of the mind. When we as martial artists are preparing ourselves to overcome our fear of domination at the hands of an opponent, we must go deep within our inner being and allow the darkest parts of ourselves to be revealed. In order to battle the monsters in an abyss, we must sometimes unleash the demon within" http://darkwingchun.wordpress.com/
What is the "entire curriculum"? Each branch, lineage of WCK has its own curriculum, its own way of teaching the same fundamentals. And it is those fundamentals that you need (which is what makes them fundamental) to learn the skill that is WCK.
So, IME, you don't need the "entire curriculum" of WCK to learn WCK (the core skill itself).
All you need is the core fundamentals and you can derive the rest through practice. In fact, the "entire curriculum" is merely repetitions and variations of the fundamentals.
Without the fundamentals, you won't be able to make your WCK work.
This is why you can teach WCK with 12 points or 22 points or 40 points, with or without forms, etc. Which is the "entire curriculum"? If you grasp the fundamentals in 12 points, do you need 22?
A very complicated question. And one that can only be answered by someone deep within the VTAA of HK (if they were registered at that time)
Alan Lamb first learnt from Joseph Cheng I think so that would not have been before 1970. There were also other students of Joseph Cheng at the time who were actively 'adding' his sansou to their training and most were not Wing Chun teachers, they were known Karate or TKD instructors.
These guys, imo, would have been the first to exchange, but as for the first 'official' westerner? I will ask a few guys and see what names arise...
Ti Fei
詠春國術