Name: Assaph Mehr
Occupation: IT Product Manager
'I have been practising various martial arts for the past 25 years, primarily Krav Maga, Tae Kwon do and Lao-Hu kung fu (I only count arts I have done seriously and reached a certain level of mastery - I dabbled in many more :)
While these styles have taught me valuable lessons, I have always missed the calmness and structure that the internal arts have. With Wing Chun as Phil teaches it, as a structural internal art, I found what I have been missing. This is the perfect balance between the direct offensiveness of the arts I am familiar with and the energy flow, body posture and structure of internal martial arts.
I have now been studying Wing Chun with Phil for over 2 years, and I feel like I have so much more to learn. This is a very deep art with many levels, and I highly appreciate Phil's understanding, continued learning, as well as his teaching style.'
Name: Thomas Wakim
Occupation: Carpenter
'Wing Chun is an amazing way of moving, the power generated is unique. I use this word unique because the power is generated purely from body awareness and an in-depth understanding of how the body moves with alignment of structure and joints.
The concept for me at first was hard to grasp, the concept of being able to develop power with–out using any muscle. This seemed to intrigue me the most and the more I trained the better understanding I gained.
I’ve been doing this style for 6 years now; I’ve been over to Hong Kong last year, I went with Phil to train with Grand-master Chun Shong Tin. I got to meet and experience the people who trained with him over the many years.
The whole experience was amazing and it gave me even more appreciation for the art, I saw and experienced first-hand of how deep and powerful a well-trained Wing Chun person can become.
In any martial art a person needs to train hard and efficiently to obtain skill, speed, power ect. I feel it comes down to the individual on how far they want to go, in saying this it’s also important to be taught the right way.
Phil has trained me for 6 years, he has a great understanding of Wing Chun but even more importantly he is able to teach in a way that will give you great confidence in using this unique style.
Phil teaches in a relaxed, patient way and makes time for the individual; he knows the skill level of every student and is always dedicated to the improvement of everyone. '
Name: Chris Thompson.
Occupation: Rock Climbing Instructor, Radiography Student.
'At first I was cautious in wanting to learn Kung Fu. I was not interested in learning how to defend myself specifically, however I wanted to improve myself and Kung Fu sounded very appealing. During the first month I received a lot of new information that took a while to process, however after staying on a few months everything started to make sense and i'm glad I made that initial effort.
I have been studying Wing Chun Kung Fu with Phil for almost two years now. I am constantly amazed at the subtle intricacies of this martial art. It offers an almost meditative way of increasing awareness of your body movements, and this awareness allows you to generate incredible force. Wing Chun does not require you to be strong or fit – instead I find that it requires a certain level of thoughtfulness – if you give it this thought, it absolutely offers to you a martial art which is both useful (defensively and offensively), and enjoyable (physically and mentally).
Phil is an excellent teacher of Wing Chun. He takes the time with each student to make sure they are able to understand and then perform concepts and techniques. He teaches in a professional and dedicated way, but keeps the class informal and friendly which I thoroughly appreciate. Also, he shows a refreshing ability to analyse and integrate information from a wide variety of sources and then to effectively pass on his ever increasing depth of knowledge to his students.
I cannot recommend this martial art and this class enough – it is an absolute pleasure to study.'
Name: Owen Dyson
Occupation: Jeweller
'After beginning my martial arts endeavours with Qi Gong and Tai Chi, I was amazed when I found myself training at Sifu Phil Warburton's school in North Sydney. It was then I decided I would make Wing Chun Kung Fu a lifelong passion.
Incredible defence so effective it can defend and attack an opponent in one move in close combat, yet incredibly simple and easy to learn. Wing Chun has changed my lifestyle, I feel much more confident, my lifestyle has been enhanced and i am really into the philosophy of this martial art'
