Our Story:
Some voices stay with us forever.
If we're smart we listen to the good ones.
When I was seven years old, I remember being plopped down in front of the television at my aunt's home. I'm not sure if this is true or not, but as I remember it, upon each visit I would watch "Return of the Dragon" which was originally posthumously released in 1974 featuring Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris.
Like many others who watched this film, Bruce Lee not only captured my attention, but he also captured my imagination. The things I watched on that screen in those days has stayed with me a lifetime. Turns out, it became a core memory.
I was the kid who wanted to learn that. Yet, since I grew up in an environment where learning this was neither valued, validated, nor provided, I turned toward other pursuits.
Meeting Ip Man
Many years later, having made a second home in Asia, I remember seeing an advertisement for one of the Ip Man movies. In the global metropolis that Singapore is, there Ip Man was, posted on every billboard across the city.
Truthfully, I thought nothing of it.
Until, my brother-in-law broached the subject that is.
Speaking so favorably of the story, he persuaded me to secretly watch the original release.
I thought the film is fantastic! It wasn't just a "must watch" for an enthusiast, for me, it was more. That day, the legacy of Ip Man awakened in me those desires I had as a kid.
Carrying on the Family Name
You can imagine how shocked I was to find out that Ip Man was Bruce Lee's teacher. With this fact, I was hooked. Now, as an adult I was finally free to pursue this art which seemed impossible so many years prior.
I began looking for a teacher and fell in and out of several experiences. Never wanting to speak bad about other martial art styles, the simple truth is that they just weren't right for me. They weren't Wing Chun.
This is how I found my teacher, Master Colin Ward, one of thirteen worldwide pupils of Grandmaster Ip Chun, the eldest son of Great Grandmaster Ip Man
