Mini-tour and then more launches for CWT

Just when I thought I wouldn't have to travel that much this year, another tour is upon me.  Last year's travel schedule took me all over the globe so many times they had to add more pages to my passport.  When you become familiar with airport security personal, Hong Kong immigration officers and the like, you know you are traveling a lot.

Well I'm just about to take off to Hong Kong for the fifth time in less than two years.  After that I have short stints in Berlin, Toronto, Seattle and then finally Georgia and Texas.

During all this craziness I'm planning on fully launching our WT-Fitness program to the public (i.e. non-WT practicing folk) as well as our incredible kid's kung fu program.

Anyone figure out cloning yet?  I need one!  

Demonstration photos from the vault

Making a face "like a boss" :) Chi sau demo with an ex-student of Klaus Brand.I was very happy to see these old goodies from the vault of CWT demos past.  My mom found these while cleaning up my parent's house last week. Rare photos indeed! This was our very first demonstration for the Asian Pacific Heritage Festival which should make it around May of 2005.  Oh how I miss those days when the Festival was in Union Square, the best venue for the Festival thus far.

We posted a select few of the collection on our Facebook page.  You can check them out here. 

Something different - a funny YouTube Channel on Cantonese

For those of you who know me personally, you certainly will know that I am a big fan of learning Cantonese.  It is one of my hobbies and pursuits and nowhere near as good as I would like it to be.  Nevertheless I love finding new and creative ways to practice and to learn, which is not easy considering Cantonese is brushed off as a dialect.  I even watch TVB (a Hong Kong network TV station) as well as watch HK films.  TVB programming is so badly written one can clearly understand how much I do this for the love of the culture :)

I recently came across this YouTube Channel http://www.youtube.com/user/carlosdouh. It's by a guy named Carlos Douh, a westerner who speaks pitch-perfect Cantonese.  He has really funny videos teaching slang and introducing Hong Kong/Cantonese culture to westerners.  Check it out and enjoy!

Another feature article with us in WC Illustrated!

I'm very happy with the layout of our latest article in WC Illustrated issue 7.  This is the second article of ours that has been published for this great new magazine.  This time the article is a joint effort between me and Art of WingTsun founder Sifu Haw Kuo on the topic of preserving the soul of real wing tsun.  Associations, academies and the like have been choking WT to death with all their restrictive rules and lack of focus on the student's progress.  Sifu Haw and I have taken it upon ourselves to preserve the art, codify and streamline it as well as improve the teaching protocols.  This article gives the basic outline of our mission.

WC Illustrated magazine is dedicated to providing a voice to all lineages of the art (wing tsun/wing chun/ving tsun et. al).  The magazine can be purchase as a "print on demand" magazine or it can be viewed on an iPhone/iPad or Android phone.  For more information please visit http://www.wingchunillustrated.com/

Thanks to WC Illustrated's chief editor Eric Lilleor fo all the tremendous support again!

Three new assistant trainers at CWT!

I'm pleased to announce that we have three more assistant trainers (SG 9) at CWT!  SG 9 is the level where the white shirt student can wear the black shirt.  Ethan, Adley and Joseph passed the grueling test with flying colors.  The test includes checking all basics (steps, punches, kicks, techniques), forms, chi sau program, chi sau sparring, fighting test and finally a theoretical exam.

The requirements we have set at CWT for the assistant trainer level sets the bar much higher than what most other associations require for their 1st TG.  It's important to raise the standards of skills and this can only be done through hard training.  Unfortunately a couple of weekend seminars can not make one into a qualified instructor no matter how much they "condense" in their "instructor courses".

So congrats to Ethan, Adley and Joseph on joining the ranks of the CWT instructor's association!