Shaun
Rawcliffe
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Shaun began his Martial Arts training in
Judo, at the age of twelve, though he soon left to join a local Karate school
where he studied for over six years attaining 2nd Dan, before a chance meeting
led to him begin studying Wing Chun in 1979. Between 1979 and 1989 he was
fortunate to study with Sifu Stephen Chan, Sifu Brian Hook, Sifu Simon Lau and
Sifu Samuel Kwok.
After more than three years of intensive
study and training, mostly through private tuition, and having just moved to
Birmingham, Shaun was given permission to open his first school. The first
class opened in the Hall Green area in February 1982, where he still teaches
today. From that first small group the Midlands Wing Chun Kuen has grown into a
large family-like association both nationally and internationally with branches
now operating throughout England, South Wales and Northern
Italy. |
In June 1985, Wing Chun Grandmaster, Ip
Chun, came to England to give a series of seminars including one at the
Midlands Wing Chun Kuen in Birmingham. Shaun was so impressed with his depth of
knowledge and openness that every year between 1985 and his retirement from
international teaching in 2008, Master Ip Chun gave at least one seminar, often
two seminars, each year at the MWCK schools.
During these UK visits, Master Ip Chun
would often stay for several days with Shaun, giving him plenty of
opportunities to practice and improve his skills. It was following one of these
seminars in 1989, Master Ip Chun gave Shaun a personal invitation to come to
Hong Kong to train with him; an opportunity that was not to be missed.
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Shaun's first visit to Hong Kong in May
1989, lasted just over six weeks, but it was six weeks of intensive one-on-one
training at the home of Master Ip Chun. However, before he was allowed to begin
training and was accepted as one of his students, Master Ip Chun took him to
Fanling in Hong Kong's New Territories to visit Ip Man's grave and to pay his
respects.
Training at the Master's home covered all
aspects of Wing Chun training and teaching during these intensive training
sessions. Some afternoon's during a break in the training, Master Ip Chun would
accompany Shaun to meet other famous Wing Chun Sifu's such as Lok Yiu, Tsui
Shun Tin, Leung Ting, Wong Shun Leung, Siu Yuk Men and Ip Ching to further
discuss Wing Chun. At the end of his stay Shaun was made a permanent member of
both the Ving Tsun Athletic Association and the Yip Man Martial Arts
Association. The Ving Tsun Athletic Association also presented him with an
instructor's certificate. |
Since 1990 Shaun has continued to return
to Hong Kong at least once, if not twice a year, clocking up over 42 trips to
date and maintains a very close relationship with his teacher and his kung fu
brothers. Each trip helps him to refine both his Wing Chun and his teaching
skills, either privately at his teachers home, at the Ving Tsun Athletic
Association or at Master Ip Chun's school in Shatin, New Territories, where he
also trains with his kung fu brothers, most notably Patrick Leung Ting Kwok,
Raymond Lo, Ho Po Kai, Law Kam Tak and Leung Wai. During one of those visits to
Hong Kong, Master Ip Chun and Shaun visited Fatshan in China, the 'home of Wing
Chun' where Ip Man lived before he fled the communist take over to settle in
Hong Kong in 1949. There, Shaun had the opportunity to meet and discuss Wing
Chun with several Sifu's including Pang Nam and Lun Kai, and visited the former
homes of Leung Jan and Ip Man. Whilst in Foshan, Shaun and Master Ip Chun gave
a Wing Chun demonstration at the Ching Wu Association as a prelude to Master Ip
Chun starting a Wing Chun class at the University in Foshan. |
Today, having trained under the personal
tuition of Master Ip Chun for over 17 years, Shaun has attained and more
importantly, maintained a high degree of mastery of Wing Chun. He is a senior
representative for Master Ip Chun, a certified Instructor and the certifying
officer of the Ip Chun Wing Chun Martial Arts Association; one of only forty
instructors in the world to have earned and been awarded an instructors
certificate from and be allowed to officially represent Master Ip Chun. In
addition, Shaun is a certified coach with the British Council for Chinese
Martial Arts and a member of the National Coaching Foundation (Sports Coach
UK). |
Shaun prides himself on the high
standard of the Midlands Wing Chun Kuen's teaching and strives for perfection
by continuing to visit and train in Hong Kong with his teacher. He continues to
teach Wing Chun in the same manner that he was taught in Hong Kong (the same
methodology used by Grandmaster Ip Man to teach his students, including his own
sons), traditionally and informally. He now heads an international association
but still refuses to teach Wing Chun for a living, preferring instead to
concentrate on the quality, rather than the quantity of his students.
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Training at each of the Midlands Wing
Chun Kuen schools is on an invitation only basis, following an introductory
course during which the beginner is assessed to determine their suitability for
training, whilst the student has the opportunity to assess the class.
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"I enjoy my teaching and
training, and I love the Wing Chun system. I want to see it taught correctly
and passed on accurately and so I run small classes of students who have been
invited to join upon completion of an introductory series of lessons. Because I
do not teach for a living I do not have to worry about the size of the class or
the numbers of students, I can therefore concentrate on passing across the Wing
Chun skills." |
"Grandmaster Ip Man
taught hundreds of students in his classes between 1949 and 1968, when he died
in 1972 he left the Wing Chun legacy with his sons Ip Chun and Yip Ching and
with his senior students including Lok Yiu, Tsui Sheung Tin, Wong Shun Leung,
Hok Kin Cheung, Siu Yuk Men etc... Since then Grandmaster Yip Man's legacy of
Wing Chun Kuen has now spread to all corners of the world. Sadly, however, as
Wing Chun has spread in some cases much seems to have been lost in translation
and its teachings misunderstood, not necessarily due to the teacher, but
perhaps due to the interpretation of the students." |
"It is Ip Chun Sifu's
wish that the essence of Wing Chun Kuen as taught by him and his father be
maintained and taught correctly so that his fathers understanding and knowledge
be preserved. I made a promise to Sifu Ip Chun in 1989 that I would teach pure
Wing Chun in the traditional manner, and that is what the Midlands Wing Chun
Kuen stands for."
Web site:
www.wingchun.co.uk
Mobile: (+44 ) 07831 437164
E-mail:
sifu@wingchun.co.uk |
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