As always I like to start newsletters by welcoming our newest members and wishing them the best of luck and speed in their newly chosen martial art. It is with regret that we also have to often say goodbye to so many too due to work placements, end of university studies and so on and so on.

 Your class approach to studies will often change and appear to evolve as we focus on different areas of training as and when it seems necessary.

Over recent months I have spent time on the drills and Chi Sau and it is because of this that you can be proud of the fact that you are not over committing in your attacks and defence. I now feel however that it is time to push a little further again with the forms in either learning the new or understanding the old.

I often think to myself that if you were learning to fly, then the scariest moment must be your first solo flight. Even if you had been taught the basics and believed you understood the principles would you still be so keen to risk your life and get up in the air alone, probably not. So why is it then that we are not willing to do the same with our training in Wing Chun. Study hard and practise the basics often and true, and when that first solo flight is needed, I guarantee you’ll find it so much easier.

Please try to keep Saturday 5th April free, as this is the date that we will be joined by our extended Wing Chun family for a wonderful day of Chi Sau practise. After our little excursion to Birmingham went so well many of the students and Instructors have agreed to visit our school in Leeds.

As many of them are travelling from schools in Cheltenham, Kent, Birmingham, Solihull and Rotherham, it would be nice for you to show a similar courtesy by walking around the corner! We are hoping to start around 11am, play for a couple of hours and then have a 30min break before one more hour of training.

Hopefully you will use this 30min to have a light snack, chat with our new friends and maybe even swap email addresses etc. It’s always nice to be able to say that we have family in Hong Kong but its even better to know that we have them in our own country!

This session is of course completely free and is open to everyone, beginner to advanced. Remember we are not meeting for a fight but to share our experiences and to learn from each other in the true spirit of Ip Chun’s Wing Chun.

The next date has been in your diary a long time already, Hong Kong. Since November I have been dealing   with Thomas Cooks head office trying to create a group booking which has just been a farce.

Their latest price for flight alone was £748 as group bookings are of course much more expensive than ordinary! All students wishing to go will have known that the leaving date was always going to be around the 10th April, therefore if you are sure you want to go I request that you get the funds together quickly and put your name on the notice board. After one week I will find the cheapest flight (Air France £500 for example), book it, and inform you then to do the same.

As for accommodation, if students are seeking the cheapest option, then we can simply go straight to a hostel on arrival, these are plentiful and cheap, £20 per night. Don’t forget there is also an additional £150 per person to cover all training/booking fees etc.

The last dates I have for your diary are the 21st and 22nd June. These are the dates for the Sifu Ip Chun and Sifu Duncan Leung seminars to be held respectively. The fee for these seminars is £35 for the one or £60 for the pair, venue to be confirmed but around the Cheltenham area. This is to be run jointly as a European Ip Chun Wing Chun Association promotion. Sifu Duncan Leung will be covering street applications and Grandmaster Ip Chun covering Chi Sau.

Master Ip Chun is now approaching 90 years old and I highly recommend you try to see this wonderful man in person if possible; it would also be quite special for me to have you meet my teacher. This is open to many schools and spaces are limited so please book now, with me or online, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to secure a place, via a £30 deposit.

 On a sore point, may I please remind students that the school training fees did go up slightly at the start of the year and several of you have still not amended this. I would be grateful if you could do this rather than giving me £4 each cash month.

I would also like to confirm that private tuition is available to all and not just the elite, so please feel free to take advantage of this. Many thanks.

Yours Respectfully,

Sifu Colin Ward.
07885 432 100