International Academy of WingChun
Great Britain
Student Reviews
After years of trying to persuade my son to do a Martial Art, I met a gentleman (Neil Tuff) at a 40th Birthday meal who was a WingChun Technician. After some drunken discussion, I agreed to go for a no obligation taster the following week. I thought I would be far too old in the tooth to start a Martial Art, although it was something that I had always wanted to try. My son and I (who was 13 years old at the time) went to the lesson & were hooked straight away! Training as much as possible, my son Jordan & I progressed through the student levels under the watchful guidance of Greg Willis. My daughter joined at 11 years old & training as a family unit was great fun.
Megan and I started teaching WingChun Tigers in 2016 to children from 6 years old. Although like herding cats at times, it was fantastic fun! Although Jordan & Megan have both grown-up and moved away, I know that they both miss training. There is definitely nothing like a bit of ol’ fashioned bone crunching to help forget about the daily worries. I still have the same passion & excitement to train that I did when I first joined & have made some very good friends over the years. I am very fortunate to have been a Practitioner for the past 3 years & will continue to train, listen & learn from Greg
Phil Mardle
I’ve always been interested in martial arts and combat sports my whole life. I’ve dipped in all sorts over the years, boxing, karate, Muay Thai and more recently Tai Chi Chun and Sanshou. I love the thought of preparing the body but also the mind and find martial arts does that. To me fighters are heroes, whether it be on the big screen, in a sport or someone who is a practicing martial artist. I guess being an 80s kid will do that to you.
Throughout my whole life I’ve always focused on my chi and balance. If I felt strong and knew some form of martial arts it would lead to a healthy mind. After moving to Caterham and Tai Chi being too far, there was a big void in my chi.
Unfortunately last year my chi become very off centred. Probably for the first time ever, I felt extremely vulnerable. I was in a situation in a road rage incident where an attempt was made on my life. Also last year I had to come to terms with having an autistic and mentally disabled son. Throw in the rest of 2020 and I felt in a bad place. Fight or flight action had to be taken.
I’ve been aware of the IAW and the Caterham class for about five years but could never take part as I get home from work way too late. What attracted me was a hard style of Wing Chun that could be fast, quick and effective in a real life situation. Wing Chun is something that I have always admired from a far and liked the look of this hard fast style at IAW. With working from home now the norm, I wanted to take advantage and joined you guys.
Thanks to the teachings from Greg, I have found what I call my Chi slowly returning. Wing Chun has instilled into me a new sense of confidence that had been long gone. I now feel proud and hold my head tall. I feel confident out and about in public with my son. What’s so great about this is I feel it’s only the beginning. Wing Chun has done my mind and body wonders. With the lockdown restrictions I find it difficult not attending a class as it’s been the highlight of my week. Training at home is often difficult with my son around. So instead I find myself thinking about Wing Chun and I get lost in the thought of the moves. Hence typing out my thoughts now. But most importantly I feel Wing Chun has given me hope. Hope for the future and hope for better days. Hope for regaining my Chi. Thank you Greg.
Marks Wing Chun: Confidence and Hope.
Mark
My reason for learning Wing Chun is that I want to get to a good level and understanding so I can start teaching my little girl when she turns 8. 4 years to go!
Neil
My reason for learning WingChun is that around two years ago I realised I'd be a train wreck if I got stuck in a situation that required me to fight back. Thankfully I was with a group when some older kids tried to jump us, but it was enough to convince my parents to let me learn WingChun in case it were to happen again. Although I have much more to learn, I feel I definitely have the confidence and some knowledge to retaliate should it ever happen again. I'm really glad to be learning this style of martial arts, as it really focus' on real life situations and has brought together a really cool, mini community and I'm happy to be apart of it! Thanks so much Greg for your time, I really appreciate it and can't wait to learn more
Marie-Guilaine
My reason for learning Wing Chun, is partly being more aware that i didn't have a clue how to defend myself if i needed to but having started a family being more aware of the potential need to protect them should something happen. Also walking home at night after commuting back from London and walking up Waller lane in the dark made me feel quite vulnerable at times. Hope to get my kids involved in Wing Chun when they are older, and to teach them so they have some self defense knowledge as they grow up.
Aaron
For many years I wanted to learn some form of self defence and rightly or wrongly thought that Martial Art classes would be full of big egos with people that wanted to hit the living daylights out of each other. However when I first met Greg some 5/6 years ago what a pleasant surprise, the classes were full of people like myself that wanted to use the art as a form of defence and as I think you have all said to give a massive confidence boost. For me it has been massively enjoyable and the old style grading were quite intense at times but always give you a great sense of achievement. With the pressures of work and everyday life training is a time where you can clear your mind of all those pressures around you. Thanks Sihing Greg!
Shaun
My reason for learning Wing Chun was to rebuild my self-esteem and confidence which had wained over the years. I had trained Lau Gar kung fu when I was younger and did boxing from age 13-18, and lots of weight training which I still do. A friend of mine set me a challenge in early 2015 and that was to start to train wing Chun and have the courage to walk into a club and hold my head high. I started training with the WCK UK in 2015 and was doing well until I questioned the instructor as he was quite bullying and heavy handed at times and thought this is not acceptable so I challenged his methods and mentioned this bullying was, and thanked him for teaching me to stand up to bullies, then I parted company with that organisation.
In February 2016, I heard about IAW Caterham and met Sihing Greg and trained privately with Greg every week for 2 years, it was by far one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life, and the effect on the mind too, as you feel confident and assured when you know some Wing Chun and that is projected through the person and it seems that's others can perceive this and don't want to start trouble or arguments with you. I wasn't keen at first of joking class due to my experience from the WCK UK, but one Sunday morning after my private lesson with Greg, the class came in for their lesson and Greg asked me to hang on for a few minutes, and I did some training with the class and over the next few weeks, I felt comfortable in the class environment and wish I joined in with them two years previously, a great bunch of guys who always help if you're not sure and always up for a laugh too, at the right time!! I would like to thank Greg as its nearly 5 years since I joined the IAW and I've learned so much and hope one day to pass my knowledge on to others too. So here's a big thank you to Greg, a great guy and first class instructor.
Tim
My reason for learning Wing Chun was that I always had a fascination for the Martial Arts and how it brings out confidence and purpose in a person. I started 4 years ago with my daughter, as I wanted us to learn together, and the more time I spend, the more interesting it gets. My favorite parts are the practical real life applications, and detailed technical side of it. Missing the classes, and can't wait to get back to actual combat training! Thanks Greg, for being a great Sihing on each of our journeys!
Ravin
I have been a student of Wing Chun Caterham for a few months now and I’m enjoying every lesson. Wing Chun Kung Fu is great because everyone can learn this Martial Art, no matter of age. It’s good to learn self defence, improve body mechanics and gain extra confidence. Training sessions are realistic and in good atmosphere, Sihing Greg Willis is highly experienced and supportive teacher, I can truly recommend Wing Chun Caterham to all, its very easy to claim free trial lesson.
I've been going to this class now for 18 months and cant rate it high enough. If you want to learn a form of self defence that actually works in real life then this is the class for you.
Greg is an excellent instructor and takes the time necessary for individuals to learn at their own pace.
Classes are small and the tuition dynamic so that something new is learnt each week reinforcing previous learnt techniques
I was always interested in martial arts growing up but never really found a club to join. In 1996 I returned from Hong Kong where I had been working for 18 months even more interested in martial arts, particularly kung-fu. I found a wing Chun class not far from where I lived. I really enjoyed this for about 4 years until I moved home and couldn't find any other classes near enough to travel to. Then in 2017 whilst visiting Caterham leisure centre with my children I saw a poster advertising I.A.W. I spoke with Greg who asked if I wanted to come down and see what I thought. Four years have passed since and I thoroughly enjoyed the patient and friendly teaching. Wing Chun has given me much confidence in any situation and I would highly recommend others do the same.
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