Realising this website took a lot of effort. Besides the usual technical challenges which had to be remedied, and the long search determining the right style of the website, the biggest challenge was the actual content selection. For a long time we were convinced that we would never strive set up such a website.
The many requests from students and enthusiasts all over the world to spread the knowledge of the Wang Kiu system globally however convinced us to realise and launch this website in 2014, after 8 years.
During the past years, we at SWK have trained hundreds of people in the Netherlands in the highly effective system of Wing Chun and with a lot of enthusiasm and dedication. The positive responses given by students and experiencing the training sessions have always motivated us to keep striving for high quality classes with valuable content.
We never felt the desire to share our knowledge outside of the organisation as there are currently already many schools, and many opinions, a new one would only add to the controversy already existent within the Wing Chun, and martial arts community. Especially on the internet, where anybody can write and claim anything without physical proof, source, self-criticism. Negative energy is not worth wasting time on, and we would not want to do so. Hence the question arose why we would even consider spreading the knowledge available to us.
Since the beginning, many years have passed, and often we asked ourselves what we wanted to with the knowledge of, and information available about the Wang Kiu Wing Chun system. GM Wang Kiu himself would have liked the information to be shared, secrets did not exist. That was the prime reason for founding SWK.
Of the 5 most well known students of GM Ip Man who were taught in Hong Kong, private student Wang Kiu has been the only one who chose not to stand in the limelight. There were several reasons for this; professionally (Wang Kiu was a highly placed government employee who was not supposed to affiliate himself with Kung Fu), personally (Wang Kiu never had the desire to do so) and financially as well (he held a well paid position within the government, so there was no incentive to teach Wing Chun for a financial benefit).
This is really quite regrettable, moreover as Wang Kiu had been the only private student who had been through University, spoke multiple languages fluently and who acted like a knowledge-sponge where it considered Wing Chun and it’s system. Additionally Wang Kiu, as one of the few, was well respected by Ip Man and the other students and he was often considered as the foundation of all knowledge of Wing Chun of the Ip Man Kung Fu system.
Wang Kiu was a true encyclopaedia when it considered Chinese culture, and Wing Chun in specific. As a matter of fact, the gathered knowledge by this “Encyclopaedia” has been available all this time, in the form of taped conversations, videos, seminars, pictures, interviews etc.
As an additional bonus, everything can be understood by almost anybody in the world as Wang Kiu was fluent in English and was therefore able to explain and transfer the slightest subtle differences within Wing Chun. This is also the reason why we have decided to offer this website in multiple languages.
In short, there are plenty of reasons not to have this knowledge disappear into oblivion!
Finally, a number of reasons have decisively convinced us to, through this website, distribute all available information internationally.
- Wang Kiu would have wanted it
- Providing honest and correct information about the history of Wing Chun and Wang Kiu (this will raise some eyebrows)
- First hand information obtained from the source himself: Ip Man
- Unique video and audio footage originating amongst others from Wang Kiu’s personal archive
- It will contain a complete reference to any knowledge available considering the Ip Man Wing Chun system
- Multilingual, and therefore the possibility to have a broad audience experience this
- The world will finally be introduced to one of the most talented Wing Chun practitioners of the Ip Man system
- It is the Ip Man Lineage
For whom is this website primarily meant to be studied?
- Every Wing Chun Practitioner and martial art enthusiast globally
- Anybody who is searching for authentic Wing Chun resources
- Anybody who is looking for an effective fighting system
- Anybody who is researching martial arts, and Wing Chun in particular
Although we will share all information available, in which we will have no secrets, we are of the opinion that it is impossible to learn Wing Chun without actually having been taught in person. We therefore invite anybody to visit us at our training facility to attend a class. It is possible to book us for seminars or workshops at any location globally.
We hope that anybody reading the information provided on this site will absorb this with enjoyment. Some knowledge will already be known, often it will be new information. Some will be amazing, but will be confrontational as well. Ultimately we hope that all will consult this website and see it as an important source of the p Man Wing Chun Kung Fu system.