I have been involved/interested in martial arts most of my life with the utmost respect for them all. To be honest, what drew my attention to Wing Chun was seeing the unique movements and the use of the wooden dummy in movies, and let’s not forget Bruce Lee. It was 2007 when I met my Sifu Jim Kragtwyk. At this point of my life I was involved in power-lifting and was around 230 pounds. Even with my size, muscle and strength my Sifu moved me around like a rag doll, “Like water ” Bruce Lee would quote. Sold! “Will you teach me?” I asked. Since then my understanding of the Wing Chun system has changed. It has become much more than just a fighting system. The analogy I could use to explain this would be the following: When a rock hits a calm pond, that impact could represent the martial/fighting skill you acquire. All the positive attributes you attain through the system would be the water rippling outward through your life and relationships making a better more clear way of living. A system that not only gives you the physical skill, but also creates a better quality of living. It is the whole package in my view. For these reasons, I have decided to take on teaching and leadership roles to give people the same opportunity to experience this wonderful system and life.

Welcome. Wing Chun (aka Ving Tsun) called to me at the relatively late age of 25. I was at a crossroads in my life where my lifestyle was unhealthy and unsustainable. My Wing Chun path was and still is a significant part of my physical, philosophical, emotional, psychological and spiritual being. Taken to its deepest and most authentic meaning, Kung Fu is a way of life, not just a hobby.

I started my Wing Chun training in 1991 when I was fortunate enough to meet and be accepted by my Sifu Walter Jakimczuk and the Sunny Tang Kung Fu family. Sifu Walter is an amazing teacher as well as a profound martial artist. I knew then that I had found my family and my Sifu. I knew it would be a path of many years and a commitment to myself and my new family. I feel truly blessed for the gifts, experiences and relationships that Wing Chun has bestowed upon me.

I was born in 1965, the youngest of seven children, in Aylmer, Quebec. Growing up as a child and teenager, I was strongly influenced and attracted to martial arts by watching Bruce Lee movies and the movie and tv series “Kung Fu” in the 1970’s. Bruce Lee inspired me to believe that anybody, despite his or her body size or strength, could be a master martial artist. The Kung Fu TV show modeled the humble, philosophical, moral and spiritual side of martial arts.

I have been training and teaching Wing Chun for over two decades. I am a certified Gold Sash Instructor from the present Grandmaster, Sunny Tang. I am also a 5th level certified coach of the Confederation of Canadian Wushu Organizations. The Sunny Tang Family is one of the few Wing Chun lineages that has direct lines to the Grandmaster Ip Man (aka Yip Man), via Moy Yat. As a young man, Sunny Tang spent many hours together with his teacher, Moy Yat, and neighbour, Ip Man. Many people have trained Wing Chun, but very few were shown the complete system in all its depth and applications. Our lineage has maintained the purity of knowledge in this system that few can claim.

I have had many amazing moments and experiences through my Wing Chun journey. Some of the highlights have been competing in and winning the National Champion in the advanced sparring at the National Kung Fu Championships in Toronto in 1994, participating in the many martial arts demonstrations in Ottawa and Toronto for the Sunny Tang Family, a recipient of a Marital Excellence Award from Wushu Canada in December 2016, the many incredible relationships and bonds created with my Kung Fu brothers and sisters, and building our own student base/school in Victoria.

I am a strong believer in living a balanced and healthy life. My other passions include wilderness backpacking and travel, playing in an Afro-Brazilian percussion and movement band, Gabrielle Roth’s 5 Rhythms Dance, fitness, philosophy/spirituality, movement therapy and continued growth towards personal integrity.
I hope that Wing Chun speaks to you as deeply and intensely as she has with me.