mann family school of kung fu (ip man wing chun)
Being a teacher of Wing Chun is a big responsibility and one I am proud to have.
I feel it's important you know a little about my family and my background, as we
all have our own stories to share, and it explains the reason I started training
and still train today. 8 years old I started training with my dad. My Father was
a complicated man, he was in the army for 28 years during which time he was
involved in many conflicts ranging from Ireland to the gulf. Starting as a rifle
man in 3 RGJ Royal Green Jackets, he joined at 15 years old by lieing to the
recruitment office and geting away with it. He quickly moved through the ranks
and became an SAS soldier, British Army boxing champion and left the army as a
captain and intelligence officer. My Father also helped train Andy McNab who
later became famous for an SAS operation called Bravo Two Zero where he was
captured behind enemy lines. The chief of general staff (CGS) and commander of
the British Army's land forces Sir Richard Dannatt attended my Fathers funeral
and he was cremated with full military honours and regiment bugalair, I was very
proud as you can imagine. My dad, having an interest in boxing was also
attracted to all types of martial arts. At the beginning of some time in Borneo
he told me he met someone after seeing them training Qigong just outside a town
on the edge of the jungle. I don't know much about this other than what I
remember my dad telling me but I know the person he trained with was old not
young and very powerful, but I don't know what his lineage was. After training
Iron Shirt Qigong during his time in Borneo it had an impact on his life that
changed him forever and his outlook on Kung Fu and Qigong. By the time I started
training with my dad he held instructor qualifications in karate, boxing, judo
and western sword fighting (fencing) but also was training and a teacher of Tai
Chi and Qigong because of his influence in Borneo and continued development
there after in these skills, in fact he stopped training all other skills to
focus on Tai Chi and Qigong for the rest of his life as this had the biggest
effect on him and most benefit in his opinion. After this time and because of
the high skill level he had developed through his training he was also invited
and asked to become a coach for the British Bob-sledge Team. Under his guidance
they won bronze in the 1998 winter Olympics training traditional methods along
side modern methods to develop more power and speed when getting the bob-sledge
off the track. Despite all of this and many other opportunities to become well
known due to his past he kept himself to himself. He was actually a very
thoughtful and quiet man who generally liked his own company and to be by
himself if not with family. Until I left school I would train with him most
mornings. Sometimes boxing, sometimes Kung Fu and 18 Qigong exercises as well as
just talking strategy or just about life in general and how the arts connect to
this. He used to always say to me that I was a second generation of our family
to study martial arts and this was very important to him. He would say, like
him, I must keep up training and studying my whole life so these skills can be
passed down my family and every generation would get better and achieve more.
This is one of the reasons I' ve worked towards achieving this, besides my love
for this art form. When i left school i started to follow in my dads foot steps
and became a out door instructor and fencing sword instructor, i moved to the
island of white to teach full time, however it wasn't till i came home before
also joining the army i came across Wing Chun Kung Fu for the first time.
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